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The Canon of Scripture Lesson 19

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The Canon of Scripture Lesson 19 The Canon of Scripture Lesson 19 I. Recognizing the Canon How did the Bible come to have 66 books? Are there any missing books? Are there some books that should have been included that are not? Who decided which ones to include? Have not recent discoveries revealed other documents that should be included? Second Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God….” So, we know that all Scripture is inspired. The question is what is ____scripture___________? How do we know the right books, and all the right books, were included? All of these questions relate to what we call __canonicity_________. While inspiration is the means by which the Bible received the authority, canonization is the process by which the Bible received its acceptance. A. Canonicity Defined The word “canon” is derived from the Greek Kanon which, in turn, comes from the Hebrew Kaneh meaning reed or rod. The reed was used as a ____measuring rod____________ or ____ruler_____________ and consequently came to mean ___standard______. The word was used to denote the standard by which different writings were evaluated. Eventually, it came to mean the list of books recognized as given by God’s inspiration. Thus, we refer to the “canon” of Scripture. B. Characteristics of Canonicity It is important to note that the church did not create the canon; it did not determine which books would be called Scripture - the inspired Word of God. Instead, the church recognized, or ____discovered______, which books had been inspired from their inception. Battle for Truth Lesson Nineteen/page 2 Stated another way, “a book is not the Word of God because it is accepted by the people of God. Rather, the people of God accepted it because it is the Word of God.” That is, God gives the book its divine authority, not the people of God. They merely recognize the divine authority which God gives to it. Let me restate these distinctions differently. The writings are not authoritative because they are included in the list; they are in the list because their authority has been recognized. Divine authority comes first; canonicity follows and is dependent upon it. C. Criteria for Inclusion in the Canon From the writings of biblical and church history we can discern at least five principles that guided the recognition and collection of the true divinely inspired books. 1. Is it authenticated by the __apostles______? (apostolicity) Was it written by an apostle or in the company of an apostle, presumably with his help and endorsement; that is, does it have apostolic approval. All of the books of the New Testament were written by an apostle except for Mark, who was Peter’s assistant (Acts 12:12; 1 Peter 5:13), and Luke who was a close associate and partner with Paul (2 Tim. 4:11; Philemon 24). The Greek word for Scripture is graphe, which literally means writing. It is important to note that _every___ time it is used in the New Testament – which is some 51 times – it is used to refer to __sacred__ __writings_______, specifically ____scripture______, not just other generic writings or documents in existence. The use of the word Scripture, or graphe, is reserved in its definitive and particular sense for only the authoritative and canonical books of Holy Writ. Battle for Truth Lesson Nineteen/page 3 For those who wrote the books of the New Testament to describe any other books by this technical word amounts to claiming inspiration for them. As such, Peter claims that Paul’s writings constitute inspired Scripture (2 Peter 3:15,16). Here Paul's writings are considered Scripture in the same sense as the Old Testament writings referred to earlier in the same passage (cf. 2 Pet. 3:5, 7-8). In 1 Timothy 5:18 the apostle Paul quotes from Luke, placing it on the same level with the rest of Scripture, using the introduction "for the Scripture says" (with reference to Luke 10:7). In 2 Peter 3:2, Paul equates the Apostles' writings and commandments with the holy prophets of the Old Testament. So the New Testament claims to be Scripture. Paul calls the gospel writers Scripture. So, Peter corroborates Paul, Paul corroborates Luke and the gospel writers. Did anyone corroborate Peter? Note Jude 17; he's referring to Peter (2 Peter 3:3). The Apostles of our Lord spoke the words of God. We should note here that from the very beginning of Christianity there were inauthentic and non-apostolic writings in circulation. See Luke 1:1-4; 2 Thess. 2:3; 2 Thess. 3:17; 1 Tim. 1:3-11; Gal. 1:6,7; Rev. 2:20. As a result of spurious books circulating, there was a selecting process at work in the early church. Every alleged word about Christ, whether oral or written, was subjected to authoritative apostolic teaching. If word or work could not be verified by those who were eyewitnesses (see Luke 1:2; Acts 1:21-22), it was rejected. The apostles who could say, "That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you" (1 John 1:3) were the final court of appeal. See also 2 Peter 1:16. Thus the living "canon" of eyewitnesses became the criterion by which the earliest canonical writings were recognized. 2. Is the book ___authoritative______ – does it claim to be of God? Let us illustrate this principle of authority as it relates to the canon. The books of the prophets were easily recognized by this principle of authority. Battle for Truth Lesson Nineteen/page 4 The repeated, “And the Lord said unto me,” or “The word of the Lord came unto me,” is abundant evidence of their claim to divine authority. 3. Is it ____authentic/accurate_________ – does it tell the truth? Is it accurate? Any book with factual or doctrinal error could not be inspired of God. God cannot lie; His word must be true and consistent. Much of the Apocrypha was rejected because of the principle of authenticity. Their historical anomalies and theological heresies made it impossible to accept them as from God despite their authoritative format. They could not be from God and contain error. 4. Is the book ______dynamic______ – does it posses the life- transforming power of God? “The word of God is alive and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12). As a result it can be used “for teaching, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). 5. Is the book received or _____accepted_____ by the people of God for whom it was originally written – is it recognized as being from God? The people of God immediately accepted the books of Moses. They were collected, quoted, preserved, and even imposed on future generations. Paul’s epistles were immediately received by the churches to whom they were addressed (1 Thessalonians 2:13) and even by other apostles (2 Peter 3:16). Some writings were immediately rejected by the people of God as lacking divine authority (2 Thessalonians 2:2). Another indication that the process of New Testament canonization began immediately in the first-century church was the practice of official __public reading_________ of apostolic books. See 1 Thess. 5:27; Col. 4:16; 1 Tim. 4:13). The public reading of authoritative words from God was a practice of long standing. Battle for Truth Lesson Nineteen/page 5 The role of the people of God was decisive in the recognition of the Word of God. God determined the authority of the books of the canon, but the people of God were called upon to discover which books were authoritative and which were not. To assist them in this discovery were these five tests of canonicity. D. Collection of the Canon 1. The catalyst for collection There were several forces at work in the early days of Christendom which served as a catalyst for assembling a list of canonical books. • ___Ecclesiastical____ • ___Political_________ • ___Theological______ As we just noted, pastors were instructed to read the Scriptures to their congregations, and preach from the Scriptures. This instruction, coupled with the fact that many false letters were making the rounds called for someone to put together a list of canonical books. The Scriptures already existed and were being read and preached from in individual form, but there was not list. So, in 140 AD, Marcion, a heretic, published a list of what he considered the canonical books – Luke and ten of Paul’s letters – which he edited to suit his own theology. Incidentally, he rejected all of the Old Testament. So, by a heretic formulating a list, it stimulated the church to establish the canon of the New Testament which we have today, according to the criteria we have previously set forth. 2. Church Fathers The early church fathers provide abundant evidence of the early discovery of the canon. Church fathers are those prominent believers who lived immediately following the apostles and were their contemporaries – that is, Battle for Truth Lesson Nineteen/page 6 they knew each other. Let me just name a few to give you some idea of who they are and why they are important. • __Polycarp_________ • __Ignatius_________ • __Clement_________ • __Irenaeus_________ Athanasius (AD 367) gave us a list of New Testament books that corresponds exactly to our present New Testament. Others like Jerome and Augustine circulated lists which were identical. 3. Church Councils At least four church councils were convened over the issue of the canon. • Hippo (393) • Carthage (397) • Carthage (419) One authority states that though the New Testament canon was declared by the Council of Hippo in 393 AD, “these books were read and distributed as Scripture for over 300 years by individual Christians and church’s long before their church councils claimed to give us the Bible.” F.F.
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