Canon of Scripture
CANON of Scripture
Who decided which books should be in the Bible?
What books are inspired and should be recognized as a part of God’s authoritative revelation? Are any inspired books missing? Are any books included that should not be in our Bible? Is our Old Testament Bible the same as the Lord’s and is our New Testament the same as the Bible of the church fathers? These are obviously vital questions for the people of God to determine.
The Canon is the list of books officially recognized as Holy Scripture. The Greek (Kanon) and Hebrew (ganeh) words mean “reed”, which was sometimes used as a measuring rod, so the Canon is a standard rule, list or index.
Biblical Canon
There are two cannons of Scripture, the Old Testament with 39 Hebrew books, and the New Testament with 27 Greek books. The biblical canon is the 66 books specifically inspired by God.
A book first has divine authority based on its inspiration, and then attains canonicity due to its general acceptance as a divine product. No church council by its decrees can make the books of the Bible authoritative. The books of the Bible possess their own authority and, indeed, had this authority long before there were any councils of the church. - Neil R. Lightfoot, “How We Got the Bible”
The Old Testament Canon
The thirty-nine books that make up the Old Testament are the books that, from the 4th Century, B.C., have been accepted as the books of the Hebrew Bible. In that Bible, they were numbered as twenty-four, with the twelve ‘Minor’ Prophets counted as one book and the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles counted as one book each. Also, Ezra and Nehemiah are counted as one book. This explains the difference between an Old Testament of twenty-four books and later, of thirty-nine.
In the Hebrew Bible these books are divided into three divisions: the Law, the Prophets and the Writings. The Law comprises the five books of Moses. In the ‘Prophets’ are included the ‘Former Prophets’ as well as the ‘Latter Prophets’. The ‘Writings’ contain firstly the Poetical books and secondly a group of five books called the ‘Five Scrolls’, followed by the Historical books.
The Hebrew Bible then consisted of:
The LAW
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
The PROPHETS
Former:
Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings
Latter – Major (not more important – just longer)
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
Latter – Minor (not less important – just shorter)
The Twelve (one book)
The WRITINGS
Poetical
Psalms, Proverbs, Job
Five Scrolls
Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther
Historical
Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles
The Septuagint
The Bible quoted in the New Testament and used by the early Christians was a Greek translation completed in 180 B.C. called the Septuagint. The name comes from a Latin phrase that is translated “the interpretation of seventy men”, a historical reference to the 72 Jewish translators who completed the work. It is also known as LXX, the Roman numeral for 70. This was an extremely important work because it was the most accurate translation of the Old Testament into the common language of the people of the day. It also established to order of the books that are used today.
The major headings for grouping the books in the Septuagint are:
HISTORICAL
Pentatuch
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy
Pre-Exilic (Before the exile)
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles
Post-Exilic (After the exile)
Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
POETICAL
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon
PROPHETICAL
Major
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel
Minor: Pre-Exilic
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakuk, and Zephaniah
Minor: Post-Exilic
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Romans 3:1-2 tells us that the divinely appointed manager of the Canon of Inspired Hebrew Writings was Israel with its Priests & Prophets who were the official librarians. The writings were preserved in Israel’s religious Center, the Tabernacle or Temple. Then, the CANON was OFFICIALLY SEALED in the 5th Century B.C so that from that time on – no books were ever added or deleted from the collection.
The Septuagint was important because ________________________________________
and because ________________________________________
The term Canon means ________________________________________
The APOCRYPHA (Old Testament)
“Apocrypha” means hidden, secretive and concealed. In A.D. 340, Jerome put a preface to the official Latin Vulgate Translation after the completion of the Old Testament translation. The words used were “Anything outside of these must be placed within the Apocrypha”. The Hebrew Canon consisted of 39 books and was closed in 500 B.C. The Apocryphal writings consist of 15 books and were written from 200 B.C. to A.D. 100. The Authors are unknown, though are believed to be Alexandrian Jews. The books are:
1. I Esdras *
2. II Estras *
3. Tobit
4. Judith
5. Addition to Esther
6. Wisdom of Solomon
7. Ecclesiasticus
8. Baruch
9. Letter of Jeremiah
10. Prayer of Azariah & Song of 3 Men
11. Susanna
12. Bel and the Dragon
13. Prayer of Manasseh *
14. 1 Maccabees
15. II Maccabees
* Not included in the Roman Catholic Apocrypha
Historical Perspective on the problems with the Apocrypha
The books included in the Apocrypha were:
Never accepted by Jews as part of the Hebrew Canon
Never accepted as canonical by Jesus & the Apostles
Not accepted by Jewish historians of First Century A.D. – Philo & Josephus
Not accepted by much of the early church (i.e., Origen, Jerome)
Not officially accepted by the Roman Catholic Church until the16th Century A.D.
The Roman Catholic Church and the official acceptance of the Apocrypha
The Problem – Reformation challenges to Catholic tradition. Many traditional doctrines & practices had no Scriptural support. Martin Luther said “Don’t give me tradition, give me Scripture.”
The Solution
In order to address Martin Luther and others who were against the practices of the church that were not found in Scripture, the church decided that they would officially recognize the Apocrypha as Scripture. This allowed for them to openly advocate many extra-biblical concepts, including:
Prayers for the dead – II Maccabees 12:44
The expiatory (atoning for guilt) sacrifice (Mass) – II Maccabees 12:39-46
Almsgiving with expiatory value (pay money to get forgiven) – Tobit 12:9; 4:10
Intercession prayers to the Saints – II Maccabees 15:14; Baruch 3:4
Worship of angels – Tobit 12:12
Purgatory (redemption of souls after death) – II Maccabees 12:42,46
COUNCIL OF TRENT (A.D. 1546)
This meeting of 255 delegates (2/3 Italian) was to make significant decisions on spiritual matters of the day. The extent of the Canon was NOT on the agenda.
On April 8, 1546 A.D. during the 4th (and final) session of Council (a prolonged session) only 53 delegates remained – No historical scholars; ALL Vatican delegates. The leadership raised unexpected business, the Canonization of the Apocrypha. The remaining delegates passed the Decree “Sacrosancta” with regard to the Apocrypha. Anyone not receiving the Apocrypha as Holy Scripture were declared anathema. This approval did not include I & II Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh. The decision was not ratified until the Vatican Council of 1869-70 A.D.
The approval of the Apocrypha became a wedge to drive challenges even further between the Roman Catholic Church and those interested in the sufficiency of Scripture. Scholars have repeatedly commented about the problems with these additional books, as with the following quote from Merrill F. Unger:
“The internal as well as the external evidence is overwhelmingly decisive against the canonical claims of the Apocrypha. Their historical, geographical and chronological discrepancies, their inferior moral and spiritual tone in teaching false doctrines and fostering practices contradicting inspired Scripture and their fictional, legendary and artificial characteristics prove conclusively that there is a distinct line of demarcation between the Apocrypha and the canonical books of the Old Testament.”
Merrill F. Unger, Introductory Guide to the Old Testament
Why did the Roman Catholic Church press for the inclusion of the Apocrypha in the Canon of Scripture?
What are some of the practices that are taught in the Apocrypha but that are not found in the rest of the Bible?
The NEW TESTAMENT - 27 Inspired Greek Writings
The Old Testament was primarily focused on the prophets. The New Testament is focused on the Son, specifically that JESUS CHRIST is the SON OF GOD (Hebrews 1:1-2).
The New Testament Canon developed over the course of the first 250-300 years of Christian history. No one particular person made the decision which books to include. The decision was not made at a church council. The particular writings that became those of the New Testament gradually came into focus and became the most trusted and beneficial of all the early Christian writings.
The criteria for canonicity fall into two main categories – apostolic teaching and apostolic authority. In other words, is it the voice of Christ and is it written by or sanctioned by an apostle?
A little history may be helpful at this point. In the early church, there was much being said and written that was attributed to the apostles. Some of this was accurate, and some was not. A problem for the early church fathers was how to distinguish between the two, and to let the people know which writings they could trust. To this point in history, nearly everything was shared orally, though some Christian writers and historians were beginning to capture these oral traditions in writing. The question for the church fathers then, was how to determine which writing to include in the official group of New Testament texts. They examined several factors to make this determination, and it is important here to recognize that they did not decide which to include but instead, determined which books had been accepted by the greatest number of Christian writers, churches and Believers that fit with the guideline that the work must be inspired.
So, the process was that the writing was:
FIRST: Accepted by the churches
SECOND: Validated by the church fathers
And FINALLY: Ratified by the Church Councils
Some of the indicators that a work was a true apostolic writing include:
● Revered as Holy Scripture & used in worship
● Collected by individual assemblies
● Copied for wider circulation
● Quoted by Church Fathers in their writings
For example, Polycarp, a student of the apostle John, wrote in A.D. 150 quoting Matthew, John, 10 Epistles of Paul, 1 Peter, and 1&2 John. Later, Irenaeus wrote in A.D. 170 quoting every book of the New Testament. These references, together with other indicators, helped to identify the 27 books we now accept as the New Testament.
The process for canonizing New Testament writings involves:
First____________________________________
Second __________________________________
And Finally
CHURCH COUNCILS
Many people think the New Testament writings were agreed upon at the Council of Nicea. There were 20 canons (church rules) voted on at Nicea and none dealt with sacred writings. The first historical reference listing the exact 27 writings in the orthodox New Testament is in the Easter Letter of Athanasius in 367 AD. His reference states that these are the only recognized writings to be read in a church service. The first time a church council ruled on the list of “inspired” writings allowed to be read in church was at the Synod of Hippo in 393 AD. No document survived from this council – we only know of this decision because it was referenced at the third Synod of Carthage in 397 AD.
“It is important to emphasize that no church council made the canon of Scripture. No church by its decrees gave to or pronounced on the books of the Bible their infallibility. The Bible owes its authority to no individual or group. The church does not control the canon, but the canon controls the church.” (Neil Lightfoot – How We Got the Bible)
New Testament Apocryphal Writings
As with the Old Testament, there are additional writings that some think valuable to understanding some aspect of Christianity during the time of Christ. These writings were largely rejected for a variety of reasons, including:
- They were classified as heretical writings of the 2nd & 3rd Centuries
- They were obvious imitators of biblical New Testament genre (Gospels, Acts, Epistles, Apocalypses)
- They were written by anonymous authors under assumed names
- There was no connection to the early church Apostles
- They were often highly imaginative, mystical and fanciful
- They were never accepted as Holy Scripture by the churches, church Fathers or church councils.
The Effect of Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a belief in a capacity to claim a higher spiritual knowledge and mystical experience. It literally means in Greek – gnosis, or knowledge (i.e., prognosis – to know beforehand). The essence of this belief is that one can be saved through knowledge. Gnostics believe that they have secret knowledge about God, humanity and the rest of the universe of which the general population was unaware.
The danger of gnosticism is easily apparent. It denies the incarnation of God as the Son. In so doing, it denies the true efficacy of the atonement since, if Jesus is not God, He could not atone for all of mankind and we would still be lost in our sins. It was obviously a problem within the early church. Gnosticism taught that the God of creation was so remote from the creature that he ruled the universe by a number of intermediate deities (gods) some good, and some evil. These gods decreased in dignity as they got nearer to mankind. Gnostics also had a graduated scale of mankind: (1) The Higher Knowledge Class (the gnostics themselves, of course). (2) The "can be saved" class (believing their faith plus their works would save them). (3) The hopelessly lost class.
Many Gnostic ideas are still present today in the form of Mormonism (with its teaching of attainable godhood) and Roman Catholicism (with its mystical concept of the sacraments and its teaching of a remote God Who can only be approached through intermediaries such as saints, angels, and Mary, and its division of men into higher and lower orders, as well as its emphasis upon asceticism). In The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown's scenario of conspiracies and codes treats the Catholic clergy like a pack of sinister liars who covered up truth. He recycles propaganda from folks who dislike orthodox Christianity and favor the ancient world's rival secret-knowledge ("Gnostic") sects. Oprah Winfrey, for example, has popularized a Gnostic (New Age) spiritual Jesus that can be discovered within every person’s consciousness. She has helped popularize the New Age author, Echkhart Tolle, and his book, New Earth, in which he presents Jesus as a Spiritual Master, along with Buddha and others, who have tried to help humanity discover the “Christ consciousness” or “God consciousness” that is already residing within every person.
When it comes to the task of knowing the real Jesus, we cannot rely on personal experiences or esoteric visions. We must be firmly grounded in the Christ of Scripture. Only by acquainting ourselves with the real Jesus of the Bible will we avoid being led astray by the many Gnostic/false christs that Jesus Himself said would appear in the last days. “For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” (Matt. 24:4,5,24).
True / False – the Council of Nicea approved the New Testament Cannon. _____________