Appendix A

A More Sure Word

The Canon

Since the Scriptures are written by men, critics also question the choice of books to include in the Bible. There were many other writings that could have been included, why weren't they considered sacred as well?

The canon refers to all the Scriptures that were deemed inspired and collected together to form our present Bible. The word "canon" means reed or cane, hence implying a straight line or rule. The Old Testament began formally to be canonized by Ezra and his scribes around 538 BC as they gathered different scrolls into three groups:

The New Testament was officially canonized in 397 AD at the Council of Carthage.[8] There were many letters that were considered and rejected by various groups. The twenty seven books of today's New Testament were first compiled by Bishop Athanasius (who also defined the doctrine of the trinity) in 367 AD, which were listed in a letter to his clergy. St. Jerome (the translator of the Latin Vulgate) published his list in 385 AD which was identical to Athanasius's list. It is interesting to note that there was a short lived controversy over the books of James, Hebrews, and Revelation as to whether they should be included in the canon.

As believers we need to know how they determined which books to include in the Bible. For the Old Testament there seems to have been a Spirit led assemblage of the Scriptures without specific council judgment. We need to remember that the blood sacrifices of bulls and goats allowed temporary experiences with the Holy Spirit - particularly when the Jews understood that this was a type for Christ. So the anointing of God was upon some writings and not others. Common consensus agreed upon those writings. When Ezra began his work, most of the literature had been accepted as sacred writ. There may have been oral traditions and utterances of the patriarchs to guide them, as well. It is known that the Old Testament Canon was well established by the Maccabean era. Christ made ready reference to the Scriptures throughout His ministry, which is a deciding factor in the Protestant Bible .[9]

The Early Church came with an established canon of literature for reference when assembling the New Testament. Christ's many references to the Tanak, along with His habitual usage of the Tanak in teaching His disciples; and the apostle's appeal to the Tanak as divine authority, are two reasons for retaining the Old Testament in the Christian Canon. Unlike the long span of time that produced the Old Testament (over 1,000 years), the New Testament was defined by the Council of Carthage in 397 AD (less than 400 years).

In determining criteria by which to choose the New Testament Scripture, the first criterion was inspiration. Inspiration was demonstrated by three characteristics. First, by their intrinsiccontent which is centered on the person of Jesus Christ. Second, by their moral effect which has the power to transform human behavior. And, third, by the historic testimony of the Christian Church which placed value upon the letters, which by the time of Carthage were almost 400 years old.[10] Furthermore, in reading the different epistles, there were internal testimonies that further substantiated the canonicity of a letter. That is to say that the epistles provided corroboration to one another in referring to one another. Likewise there was also an external testimony that came both informally, as the church fathers made reference to them (Polycarp and Barnabas referred to the epistles as "Scripture" in the post apostolic era), and formally as specific lists were drawn up such as Athanasius's Easter letter [11]. It is important to remember that the canon of the New Testament was not determined by the Church councils, but rather recognized by the councils. Additional criteria that determined Holy Writ includes reference to Old Testament passages; the apostle's claim that their letters were of equal authority to the Old Testament; and their direction for public readings of the epistles. This became known as apostolicity which means the letter was bequeathed to the church with apostolic sanction. The collection of letters into one volume occurred in stages, with heretical books purged out along the way. The term "canon" did not come into use until the fourth century.

For both Testaments there were Spirit led decisions based on the life changing quality of the Scriptures. As stated in the Old Testament: "At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established" (Deut. 19:15b). And again by Jesus in the New Testament: "If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me" (John 5:31, 32, & 39). In short, the canon was determined by many witnesses who've had the Spirit of Christ upon them through many generations. No one man, or group of men, made that decision. It is because of the unchanging God who reveals Himself from generation to generation that the canon of scriptures had been determined. That work is complete and no new scriptures shall be added. "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life" (Rev. 22:18b & 19a).

Once again, I am confident in the reliability of the Bible to base this work upon, as I trust that you, the believing reader shall do so, too. It is my prayer, that just as the Spirit bears witness in your spirit to the veracity of the Bible, that He will also bear witness to the truth written in this work.