Redemptive History and the New Testament Scriptures

by Herman Nicolaas Ridderbos

Publisher:

P&R

, 1988

(6)

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Overview

“Any scientific investigator of Scripture repeatedly confronts the issue of the character of the Bible’s authority,” writes Herman Ridderbos in the opening lines of this book. From there he goes on to examine the basis for the Church’s acceptance of the New Testament as canonical. More than a merely academic question, the canonicity of the New Testament remains a vital concern for the Church today. It is a question of whether these 27 books are in fact God’s holy Word and therefore authoritative for our faith and life.

Ridderbos stresses that the foundation for the Canon lies in the history of redemption itself, wherein Christ gave distinctive authority to his apostles. On that basis, Ridderbos examines the authority of the New Testament as it is characterized in the content of the text itself—in terms of the redemptive-historical categories of kerygma (proclamation), marturia (witness), and didache (doctrine).

Save more when you purchase this book as part of the Herman Ridderbos Collection.

Questions of Principle
Canon and Redemptive History
The Recognition of the Canon
The Authority of the New Testament

Top Highlights

“In its redemptive-historical sense, the canon is not the product of the church; rather the church is to be the product of the canon.” (Page 25)

“God’s authority as canon is not limited to His great deeds in Jesus Christ but extends to their communication in the words and writings of those He specially chose and equipped to be the bearers and instruments of divine revelation, and the written tradition they established, in analogy with the writings of the Old Testament, thereby became the foundation and standard of the coming church.” (Page 24)

“For the communication and transmission of what was seen and heard in the fullness of time, Christ established a formal authority structure to be the source and standard for all future preaching of the gospel.” (Page 13)

“Thus in this study we are not seeking an extrabiblical basis for faith. Rather, we are seeking to delineate the essence of Scripture and the nature of its authority within the framework of the history of redemption; we are seeking to clarify the relationship between the history of redemption and Scripture.” (Page ix)

“The announcement of redemption cannot be separated from the history of redemption itself.” (Page 15)

Title: Redemptive History and the New Testament Scriptures
Authors: Herman Ridderbos
Publisher: P&R
Publication Date: 1998
Pages: 91
Christian Group: Reformed
Resource Type: Biblical Theologies
Topic: Scripture

Herman Ridderbos (1909–2007) was professor emeritus of New Testament at the Theological School of the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands at Kampen, where he served for over 40 years. The author of many scholarly publications, Ridderbos was the editor of the Reformed Weekly (Kampen), one of the Netherlands’ leading ecclesiastical periodicals. He became well-known in America through his volume on Galatians in the New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament.