Kanon: Eenheid en diversiteit

Abstract

Canon: Unity and diversity

An analysis of the present post modern situation indicates resistance to the idea of “canon” understood in terms of a normative final collection of literature. The disciplines of textual criticism and canon history show that canons function in a larger social context and cannot be understood only in terms of its literary aspect. At present two parallel viewpoints on canon are found in the Christian church. The “objective” viewpoint stresses the final literary form of the Biblical canon. It cannot, however successfully indicate the unity of the canon without acknowledging the social context of the users of the canon. The ”subjective” viewpoint clearly indicates the contingent aspect of the canon, but has problems with the way its authority operates. The probable way to go about the postmodern society is to acknowledge the paradigmatic character of the canon’s contents and the dynamical process of canonization and decanonization in which a canon is involved.