Meredith G. Kline supported conservative views of canon by arguing that
ancient Near Eastern treaties and Deuteronomy contained canonical
clauses, meaning that their texts were authoritative for the vassal community
when they were written, as were biblical books performing functions
governing that community. Based on discontinuities between the Old and
New Testament forms of the covenant community, Kline redefined canon
as documents structuring and implementing the polity of the various
phases of the vassal community. Thus, the Old Testament counts as Scripture,
but not canon, for the church. Critical scholarship perceives Kline’s views as
conservative dogma rather than historical argument; conservatives approve
his demonstration that all Scripture is covenantal, but dislike his distinctions
between faith, individual-life, and community-life (polity) norms.