how we got the bible #5 the canon of the scriptures: -what does this mean? -how was/is it...

How We Got the Bible #5

The Canon of the Scriptures:

-What does this mean?

-How was/is it determined?

How We Got the Bible #5 The Canon of the Scriptures

• We sometimes possess a myopic view of first & second century biblical and extra-biblical writings.

• We seem to think that the only books (letters/writings) being then written are the ones contained in our Bibles.

• This is patently not true.

• In fact, there were many, many things being written during this period pertaining to Christianity.

• Some were by inspired men- and other by uninspired men.

• Some which rightly claimed inspiration- and others falsely.

• Some were written by Apostles & Disciples- and others by subversives- these are called psuedopigraphic.

• Some were intended only to encourage and inspire other Christians and never claimed inspiration.


• Given all these potential challenges,

How are we to determine which books/letters/writings are to included

as “scripture” and which are to be excluded as such?

• The answer is again lies in the field of Textual Criticism.

• Let’s see if you can find it.


I. What is meant by the Canon of the Scriptures? “Canon” is a word from the Greek word kanon

and the Hebrew word qaneh- it refers to a reed. Reeds were used for measuring rods- therefore

the word came to mean a standard or rule. It is also used to refer to a list or index. So when it applies to the Bible, it has to do with

those books which measured up to the list or index of those accepted as Holy Scripture.


Thus, Canonical writings are those regarding as having Divine Origin/Authority (and makeup our Bibles).

However, one thing has to be clearly understood:

While Canonicity and Authority are closely linked,

They are not the same thing. Canonization refers to the process by which

books were accepted as scripture. This process might take many years….


But inspired writings had authority from the moment they were penned, 1Cor.14:37.

A book then first has divine authority based upon its inspiration, and later attains canonicity due to its general acceptance as a divine work.

The Point? Men may establish canonicity based upon

perceived merits, but authority is inherent in the book itself based upon its origin.

Men don’t make the books of the Bible authoritative- God does!


II. Proofs of Inspiration: Canonical Tests. Initial Observations-

-There is a certain criteria which must be met for books to be accepted as scripture.

-But, understand that these criterion were largely formedafter the fact of acceptance of most of the Bible.

-People contemporary with the writings themselves largelydetermined the canon by the acceptance of some works and rejection of others.

-Canon was largely formed to explain what had for the most part already happened !

Canonization then, is as much about keeping old

text as it is about adding or excluding new text.


II. Proofs of Inspiration: Canonical Tests. Internal Claims of Inspiration.

-Obviously, claiming inspiration doesn’t make it so….

-But, any work which doesn’t even make the claim of beinginspired by God, certainly should not be assigned such aposition by an external source.

-For instance, note a few notable passages which claim inspiration: 1Cor.2:10-13 14:37 2Tim.3:16-17 Eph.3:3-5.

-The Writings Apostolic Fathers (a collection dating from 80-180AD) were mostly letters written to edify and encourageChristians during persecution. They never claim inspiration though others have sought to assign it.


II. Proofs of Inspiration: Canonical Tests. Unity/Harmony/Consistency.

-Any document that contradicts itself, or other scripture,fails to harmonize all passages (on the subject underconsideration), or is inconsistent on its treatment of some subject,

must be rejected as being inspired and therefore cannot be proper for canonization, 1Cor.14:33.


II. Proofs of Inspiration: Canonical Tests. Scientific, Historic, Geographic Accuracy.

-No work with known errors in these fields could be counted as inspired.

-But, the Bible has certainly out-paced human knowledgein these fields. For example, Scientific

foreknowledge:

Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873) noted that Psalm 8:8 spoke of “the paths of the sea”. He investigated and discovered the circulatory systems of our oceans & seas as well as the interaction between wind and water. His text on oceanography is still considered a basic text for studies of this sort. Psalms was written mostly during the tenth century B.C. Man’s knowledge sometimes has to catch up!


II. Proofs of Inspiration: Canonical Tests. Agreement/Harmony with, and Recognition by,

other Accepted or inspired works.-This was a major factor in the formation of the OT.

-Luke 24:44 where Jesus recognized “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms”.

-There are also other clues, Luke 11:51; Mt.23:35 whereJesus chronicles the history of the biblical text by itsmartyrs: Abel - Zachariah (2Chron.24:20-21).

-It must be remember that 2Chronicles is the end of theHebrew-arranged OT text (the books are located between Gen. & 2Chron.).


II. Proofs of Inspiration: Canonical Tests. Acceptance as Inspired by Contemporaries or

Near-Contemporaries.-As per Peter’s recognition/acceptance of Paul’s writings,

2Peter 3:15-16.

-Or as historians such as Josephus and Philo of the first century or Origen and Jerome (~400 A.D.):

“We have not 10,000 books among us, disagreeing with and contradicting one another, but twenty-two books which contain the all the records of all time, and are justly believed to be divine.” (Jospehus, Against Apion, I.8)

(22 books of the Heb. OT correlate directly to 39 Eng. OT)


II. Proofs of Inspiration: Canonical Tests. Absence of Obviously Fictitious or Legendary

Accounts.-This is be more obvious when dealing directly with theApocrypha.

-So much of the Bible can be verified from externalsources that this becomes a source for determininginspiration and therefore canonicity- especially withregard to historical accounts:

-The Hittite nation (Gen.23:7; 2Kings 7:6) were for a longtime used by skeptics to try to discredit the Bible.Eventually, archaeology verified their existence.


II. Proofs of Inspiration: Canonical Tests. Fulfilled Prophecy.

-This is a great source of confirmation of biblical books.

-When specific prophecies made (and historically verified)hundreds of years in advance and often against alllogical assumptions can be shown to be accuratelyfulfilled, the veracity of the text is mightilydemonstrated.

>Cyrus was named by Isaiah 44:28 - 45:25 as thedeliverer of Judah from Babylonian captivity.

>Both Isaiah and Cyrus can be confirmed from history to have lived approximately 150 years apart!


II. Proofs of Inspiration: Canonical Tests.

Generally, these are the tests used:

>Internal Claims of Inspiration

>Unity / Harmony / Consistency

>Scientific, Historic, & Geographic Accuracy

>Recognition & Acceptance by other Inspired Works

>Acceptance as Inspired by Contemporaries or Near-Contemporaries.

>Absence of Obviously Fictitious or Legendary accounts.

>Fulfilled Prophecy.


III. Conclusion:While all that we’ve mentioned helps to bolster our confidence in the text we now have and helps explain

why some works are excluded, it can all be boiled down to 2 primary factors:

1. Was its claim of inspiration accepted by the early church?

2. was it written in the first century by either an Apostle or close Disciple of Jesus Christ?

The other seven tests are really by subdivisions of these primary two.

how we got the bible #5 the canon of the scriptures: -what does this mean? -how was/is it...

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