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The Canonicity of Scripture

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Many people wonder who decided which books should be placed in the Bible.

The simple answer is that God decided which books should be in the canon. He was the final determiner. J.I. Packer writes:

The church no more gave us the New Testament canon than Sir Isaac Newton gave us the force of gravity. God gave us gravity, by his work of creation, and similarly he gave us the New Testament canon, by inspiring the individual books that make it up (J. I. Packer, God Speaks To Man, p. 81).

Canonizing and Collecting

A distinction needs to be made between canonizing and collecting. No man or council can pronounce a work canonical or scriptural, yet man was responsible for collecting and preserving such works. F. F. Bruce writes:

One thing must be emphatically stated. The New Testament books did not become authoritative for the Church because they were formally included in a canonical list; on the contrary, the Church included them in her canon because she already regarded them as divinely inspired, recognizing their innate worth and generally apostolic authority, direct or indirect. The first ecclesiastical councils to classify the canonical books were both held in North Africa-at Hippo Regius in 393 and at Carthage in 397-but what these councils did was not to impose something new upon the Christian communities but to codify what was already the general practice of these communities (F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1960, p. 27).

Hence the books we have as Scripture were inspired by God and recognized such by man.

What Criteria Were Used in Determining Which Books Belong in the Bible?

The books admitted to the canon of Scripture were inspired by God. There were, however, many false books that claimed inspiration. How did the people judge between the true and the false? The Bible does not give any set of criteria that were used to determine which books were to be considered Scripture. We are not told how the determination was made. Though we do not know the exact criteria which were used, they may include the following:

Prophetic Authorship

For a book to be considered canonical, it must have been written by a prophet or apostle or by one who had a special relationship to such (Mark to Peter, Luke to Paul).

Only those who had witnessed the events or had recorded eyewitness testimony could have their writings considered as Holy Scripture.

Witness of the Spirit

The appeal to the inner witness of the Holy Spirit was also made to aid the people in understanding which books belonged in the canon and which did not. Clark Pinnock writes:

The Spirit did not reveal a list of inspired books, but left their recognition to a historical process in which He was active, God’s people learned to distinguish wheat from chaff, and gold from gravel, as He worked in their hearts (Clark Pinnock, Biblical Revelation, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1973, p. 104).

Acceptance

The final test is the acceptance of the people of God. Jesus told His disciples:

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things Which I said to you (John 14:26).

We have the promise of Jesus that His disciples would given total recall by the Holy Spirit of the things He said and did. These same disciples either wrote the New Testament books or had input into which works were accepted as Scripture. Any book that claimed canonical status, yet diverted from the truth of the life of Christ, would have been rejected by Jesus’ own disciples who were, eyewitnesses to the New Testament events. Thus the acceptance of God’s people is an important criterion for book to be considered canonical.

How Do We Know the Correct Books Are in the Bible?

The Bible, as we have it today, consists of sixty-six books. The fact that these books belong as Holy Scripture is confirmed by the testimony of Jesus Christ.

First, with regard to the Old Testament we have the testimony of Jesus to the existing books. He confirmed the accepted three-fold division of our canonical books.

These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me (Luke 24:44).

The Promise of Jesus

As far as the New Testament is concerned, we have the promise of Jesus.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you (John 14:26).

Though we do not have His guarantee after the fact, we have this promise that a New Testament would be given. Thus, we have Jesus “pre-authenticating” the New Testament.

Nature of God

Another reason we can be assured the correct books in the Bible is the nature of God. It has been estimated there are a quintillion stars in the universe and the Bible says God calls them by their names. If God is able to do this, He certainly is able to preserve intact His Word for the benefit of mankind.

Conclusion

Since we have the testimony of Jesus that God preserved the Old Testament for His people, we can also be assured that God took the same care in preserving the New Testament books. When the evidence is examined, we find it consistent and credible.

Comments

  1. Science declares the glory of God and Technology sheweth his handiwork! Scientists too. God of truth, word of truth, gospel of truth, Spirit of truth, love of the truth. Life itself IS a tremendous True/False Question, a treacherous MCQ. Only one answer is right, the Key. All else are subtle distracters, mere misleaders, sheer snares(Ps.91;3) of the fowler.He is the key..Col.2:10GNB. If you ask for evidence, the first one is I, my life.Glory be to the God of glory.Amen
    Poor and needy one,
    Mathew

  2. All I can say on all points is AMEN. It is written here in a manner that gives accurate vocabulary to my own conclusions years ago in a thorough search for the accuracy of Scripture. And yes, is God not able to ensure we have exactly what we need?

  3. Love your quote from Packer. Isn’t it just like mankind to want to take credit for something wholly created by God…..

  4. Who my LORD JESUS have you given power to that they could eliminate any of these words or pick and choose what should be said or not

    HELP US LORD JESUS

  5. However, many denominations have books included in the Old Testament that are not in the Hebrew writings and not recognized as canonical in other denominations. Tobit, Judith, Ecclesiasticus, I & II Maccabbees, just to name a few. Why would some denominations have ADDITIONAL Old Testament books in their canon?

  6. Tom C. , RE:Tobit etc.
    You’re reffering to the extra books in the ‘Catholic’ Bible. The answer to your ? is in history. With the Reformation in the 1500s, many of the dogmas of R.C.ism came under scrutiny. I believe it was at the Council of Trent, called by the R.C.C. in the mid 1500s that the ‘Apocryphal Books’ (of which Tobit is one), were
    ?Canonized?. Certain R.C. dogmas could only be legitimized from these un-inspired books. Several authors such as those cited and others such as David Hocking have treated this subject. Contact them for a more detailed study.
    Blessings,
    Tim

  7. Interesting post. I would recommend reading Lee M. McDonald on canonization if you haven’t already. His books contain a lot of solid historical information on the details of the process of collecting.

  8. As regards Tom’s question, the answer is basically as follows. The Roman Catholic Old Testament contains all the books of the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament that was completed a few centuries before the birth of Christ. This translation was extremely popular among Greek-speaking Jews, and it is quoted many times in the New Testament. Jerome’s Vulgate, which was the standard Latin translation of the Bible in the West for over one thousand years, used the Septuagint – which consisted of only the Old Testament – as the basis for most of its the Old Testament translation.

    Flash forward one thousand years to the Reformation. Humanists like Erasmus have made it clear that the Vulgate is a defective translation and that there seemed to be a number of problems with the text of the Septuagint (think of Origen’s Hexapla). Knowledge of Hebrew had increased, and the early Protestants decided to produce vernacular translations of the Old Testament from Hebrew manuscripts (as well as fresh translations of the New Testament from Greek manuscripts, not the Vulgate). However, books like Judith and Tobit, which are found in the Septuagint, could not be found in Hebrew manuscripts. Thus, the early Protestants decided not to include them in the Bible. True, there were some theological concerns about some of these books, such as the books of Maccabees, but the lack of Hebrew manuscripts was decisive for many books that posed no theological problems whatsoever. Although I am Reformed myself, and I think that the early Protestants ultimately made the right decision of which books to include in the Bible, I also know that their reasoning was often quite mistaken, and that they were greatly ignorant of many important facts about Biblical manuscripts that modern scholars have learned. For example, it isn’t so clear that the alleged problems with the Septuagint were always genuine problems. And, there is good evidence nowadays that some of the apocryphal books were originally written in Hebrew, contrary to what the early Protestants believed. (We should remember here that half of Daniel is in Aramaic, not Hebrew.) So, the Spirit worked through these men, but the men didn’t always have a very good understanding of what they were doing. So it is with all of us.

    • “but the men didn’t always have a very good understanding of what they were doing.so it is with all of us”.

      Wow, what a statement!!!!!!

      This statement is VARY WRONG, not good my man, not good.

      Be careful what we say.

      Let me tell you something, God new what He was doing back in the day when He worked within the Holly men of God.

      God picked these men, called these men and they believed in Him.

      God has foreknowledge and He would know IF His men wouldn’t understand or not. God new HOW to communicate to each individual, because that spirit within each individual was made for that believer.(Holly man of God hand picked)

      Don’t make God look like an idiot, commits like this one.

      OK, God, when He communicates to individuals, He makes sure that believer will understand things before He communicates. WHY WOULD GOD COMMUNICATE TO SOMEONE AND THE INFORMATION NOT MAKE SINCE??????

      Love ya my man, but Bro, just be careful.

      By your statement, You make God look like He’s not a Orderly God.

      Do a study on Orderly God and this will clear up things for ya. You will find out, God is an orderly God, He only communicates in order, God commands US to communicate in order, keep our believer meetings in order, keep our conversations in order, keep our words in order, He make everything on the earth to stay in order, just how the human eye, how it works with the brain is in order and when something stops the order of the eye, you cant see anymore. But God set it all up for us, God knew what He was doing, when He put all this Word of God together.

      I think I said enough, if you have problems with this message, respond back and I’ll expound more, because the last thing I want is to cause confusion and have undone business with a Bro.

      We all Love God and God loves us, we all have to be careful how we communicate when is comes to the Word of God. The Word in perfect, ALL we have to do is get to the TRUTH.

      II Timothy 2:15

      God Bless, Love ya all

      • Order, order! Take the case of a classic dinner, there is an order of serving and an order of eating!Gen.43:33. Also 1Kings.10:1,2Chr.9:1 note the admirable decency and order!
        Hebrews speaks of ‘High Priest AFTER THE o r d e r OF MELCHISEDEC & THE MINISTRY AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHISEDEC. That is the only authentic, acceptable(Heb.12:28) Ministry. What does that mean?
        Salvation is ordering our cluttered conversation aright (Ps.50:23). Firstly.., secondarily.., thirdly.. Simply, put first thing first! Seek ye first..First be reconciled.., then..(Mat.5:24)
        What manner, ORDER, of c o m m u n i c a t i o n s….? Lk.24:17. Even my/our communications have to be after the manner, order of Melchisedec! The manner of the King (Heb.7:2) One greater than Joseph, Solomon…. What MANNER of persons ought ye to be…conversation& godliness(2Pet.3:11)
        LORD, DISSOLVE ME, LET ME (I) GET DISSOLVED IN YOU, YOUR WORD, YOUR SPIRIT, BEFORE THE FINAL DISSOLUTION.Amen
        Poor and needy one,
        Mathew

        • Oops..! I beseech you..suffer the word of exhortation (Heb.13:22)Watch the order of resurrection in Nature. I find an intelligent design, so to speak, there! First, Crocus, then Hyacinth, Daffodils, Tulips..Don’t you see it too? Where there is no order, a law and order situation crops up. Hence Paul says strive lawfully. (2Tim.2:5). Thanks.
          Poor and needy one,
          Mathew.

      • If anyone adds to these words, God will visit him with all the plagues described herein! If anyone takes from these words of this prophetic book, God will take away his share in the tree of life and the holy city described here. There were 46 Old Testament Books ad 27 New Testament deemed canonical and inspired by the Holy Spirit for 1200 or so years before you guys came along trying to justify the Protestant Reformation. The Moslems are more respectful of the Canon of Scripture! Shame on you. We are praying for one, holy catholic and apostolic church but so far the Body of Christ instead of one body, has over 35,000 christian denominations all cailming to be the Church of Christ. I’ll continue praying for you guys. My prayer is that you study the bread of life discourse in Hebrew and tell me why you don’t believe in the Eucharist. (Jonn 6:25-59) Remember the Jews quarreling among themselves, saying, “How can He give us His flesh to eat?” and Jesus replied, “Let me solemnly assure you, if you do not eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” Please return to the Catholic Faith (the fullness of the one true universal Church) before you justify yourselves into oblivion.

  9. Wow what great comments. I love the scriptures and find in them such comfort. I am thankful that we have the advantage of looking back. We can see more clearly the mistakes and humanity of the men involved in putting this great work together. God said the law was written by his own finger. I think the judge of all the earth can be trusted to get it right. If you ain’t in the word the word ain’t in you.

    • Amen. We are broken instruments, but God is perfect, and He accomplishes His will perfectly. This is a great post. Christians need to be reminded that whatever the historical process behind the collection of the books of Scripture, the whole process was guided by God, and God gave us precisely the books that He intended.

  10. How do we know if the translations are accurate? How do we know that tradition or popular interpretation of the time didn’t make its way into the scripture and thus into the cannon? What assurances can we give that man has not changed the scriptures.

  11. Very good dialogue above…

    I had a conversation (I just listened mostly), with a very sincere brother who was converted to RCC recently. He was particularly captured by the dogma and the TRADITIONS of RCC when compared to some modern day main-line protestant denomination’s ever-changing theology. It gave me an interesting perspective. My friend was well versed in the Septuagint and Hebrew manuscripts issue. It made me think that pure traditionalism (esp. when it is error-prone) should not be a factor in our theology. Reliance on the ‘nature of God’ is so important.

    Thanks for the book reference you gave:

    “God’s people learned to distinguish wheat from chaff, and gold from gravel, as He worked in their hearts (Clark Pinnock, Biblical Revelation, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1973, p. 104).”

    • Eye-popping sense of discrimination and finger dexterity; they distinguish, sort out, separate and display the various items from the 110s (ie.110 big, bold cashew nuts make a pound), even the small radicle connecting the cotyledons, the peel, oil and shell all by winnowing,culling and hand-picking! If unlettered, rustic women can do it, how much more ” the finger of God” and His ‘Bezaleel’s and ‘Aholiab’s?
      Now grace teaches (Titus.2:12),builds up, strengthens & we are His wonderful workmanship,masterpiece (Eph.2:10). And he led captivity ( mind you,the quality,not the captor!) captive, and gave gifts unto men..apostles,prophets, evangelists,pastors and teachers (Eph.4:7-) to fill us with U N I T Y (v.13). These Beauticians are compacting (Ps.122:3;Eph.4:16) us, shaping us into the Bride that John saw (Rev.21:2). Have you ever seen a Bride presented without the touches of a band of Beauticians? “Touch of grace..beauty for ashes….Hallelujah. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
      Grace be with you all.
      Poor and needy one,
      Mathew