The Bible
The Canon of the Bible
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness
NKJV
The list of books included in the Bible is referred to as the "canon." Canon is a transliteration of a Greek word which means rule, rod, or straight line. In other words, the books of the Bible are the "straight line of God." Other works which might claim some divine origin are not part of this straight line. Being crooked, they do not represent God's truth.
The Canon, then, is the collection of 66 books properly recognized by the early church as the complete authoritative scriptures not to be added to or subtracted from. In general, certain semi-specific tests could be used to determine the Canon.
- Does the work carry the concept of being authoritative ("Thus saith the Lord"?)
- Is the work prophetic, that is, does the author set forth the "claim" of being a "a man of God" (2 Peter 1:20)? A book in the Bible must have the authority of a spiritual leader of Israel (Old Testament - prophet, king, judge, scribe) or an apostle of the church (New Testament - an original apostle. This does not have to mean an Apostle actually wrote the book, merely that it be connected to an Apostle in some fashion. Likewise, the same may be said for the books of the Old Testament.).
- Is the book otherwise consistent with other revelation of truth?
- Does the book change lives?
- Has it received, accepted and used by the nation of Israel and / or the Church? This test is not as simple as it may sound. Remember there were no copy machines in those days. All of the manuscripts were hand copied. And while for most of its life, the nation of Israel had the Tabernacle or the Temple as a storehouse for the Old Testament scrolls, much of the New Testament is a series of letters written to the early Church and circulated between cities.
How was the Canon actually formed? God the Holy Spirit formed the Canon (2 Peter 1:20-21). But, man being man, had to go through the motions of "forming" the Canon so as to ultimately accept which books God meant to have in Scripture. Here are but a a few of the highlights:
- As far as the Old Testament goes, the books were probably collected by Ezra and appear to be in tact by about 250 B.C. when they are translated into Greek.
- The New Testament refers to Old Testament books as "scripture" (Matt.21:42, as an example).
- The Council of Jamnia (A.D. 90) recognized our 39 Old Testament books.
- Josephus (A.D. 95) indicated that the 39 Old Testament books were recognized a authoritative.
- The New Testament books were determined by the early church.
- The apostles claimed authority for their writings (1 Thess.5:27)
- The apostle's writings were equated with Old Testament Scriptures (2 Pet.3:2,15,16).
- The Council of Athenasius (A.D. 367) and the Council of Carthage (A.D. 397) recognized the 27 books in our New Testament today as inspired.
In 1546 the Roman Catholic Church accepted certain books generally referred to as the apocrypha as being part of the Bible. Protestants do not accept these books as part of the Canon. Among the major reasons for not accepting these books is that they frequently contradict parts of the Old Testament. Further, there are other "gospels" and letters written after Christ. They claim to contain other knowledge about Jesus. They, too, are not part of the Canon, for they have no apostolic origin, nor are they consistent with the other books of Scripture, Old or New.
It should be noted that the apocrypha is never quoted as authoritative in scriptures. Further in Matthew 23:35, Jesus says that the close of Old Testament historical scripture was the death of Zechariah (400 B.C.). This excludes any books written after Malachi and before the New Testament.
The books of the apocrypha are as follows:
- Letter of Jeremiah (317 B.C.)
- Tobit (250-175 B.C.)
- Baruch (200 B.C.-A.D. 70)
- Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) (190 B.C.)
- Additions to Esther (180-145 B.C.)
- Judith (175-110 B.C.)
- Song of the Three Children (167-163 B.C.)
- 1 Esdras (150 B.C.)
- Bel and the Dragon (150-100 B.C.)
- Prayer of Manasseh (150-50 B.C.)
- Wisdom of Solomon (150 B.C.-A.D. 40)
- 1 Maccabees (103-63 B.C.)
- 2 Maccabees (100 B.C.)
- Susanna (100 B.C.)
- 2 Esdras (A.D. 70-135
