Jun 10 2007
Mapping the canon
John Hobbins continues his series on the canon on his blog, returning to the main line of his argument. Generally I’m learning a lot from his posts on this topic. He particularly notes the pluriformity of the traditions both the textual tradition, and the traditions concerning which books are actually canonical. Read the post if you’re at all interested in the question of canon.
One comment puzzles me, however:
But the Jewish and Christian canons both have a canon within the canon. That of Christianity, like that of Judaism, is a mix of narrative, promissory vision, and precept – the four Gospels. The model and equivalent in Judaism: the five books of Moses.
That’s certainly so in some Christian traditions: I’m not at all sure that there’s anything quite comparable to the Jewish privileging of Torah. I’m sympathetic to the idea in many respects, but not sure where the evidence for this core comes from.