We have a challenge ahead of us in this post because this topic is as vast as it is deep, and I want to keep our time short enough to engage. Our focus is on why we have the books in the Bible that we do.
Our Bibles comprise 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. But people haven’t always and still don’t agree on exactly what books should make up the Bible. For example, the Roman Catholic Bible includes the apocryphal books, but do they belong in our collection of Scriptures? To challenge our thinking even more, the Greek and Russian Orthodox Bible has 79 books, and the Ethiopian Bible 81. What if someone finds another letter the apostle Paul wrote? Should that letter be added to the Bible? How did Jews and Christians first decide which books belonged and which ones did not? When we ask questions such as these, we raise the issue of canon.
What is Canon?
The word comes from the Hebrew word qāneh and the Greek word kanōn. Both words originally described a reed or measuring standard. The biblical canon is thus the measuring stick with which we compare and align our lives. The canon could also describe the standard to which the biblical writings must conform to be accepted as God-inspired. This collection of canonical books is authoritative for faith and life.
How did the books that we have make it into our Bibles?
The Jews closed their canon of Scripture in 90 AD at the Council of Jamnia to prevent any Christian writings from being added to it. They believe Malachi to be the last prophet, writing around 430 B.C. While we have the same books in our Old Testament as the Jews do in our Scripture, we have more than they do, and in a different order. But again, we have the same content. The difference in number is because of how the Hebrew Bible organizes its books compared to how the books of our Old Testament are divided. For example, we have twelve separate books for the minor prophets. These twelve books in our Scripture are one book in the Hebrew Bible. Click here to see how the Hebrew Bible is organized.
How did the Jews determine which books to include in their collection of Scripture?
The Hebrews recognized texts as divinely inspired if they passed the following three tests.
- Was the piece written by a prophet or a prophetically gifted person?
- For the Jews to accept writing into their canon of Scripture, the author had to be a prophet or someone with the gift of prophecy. Human authors could not know the mind of God apart from the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:11; 2 Peter 1:20-21). The first test a piece of literature had to pass for the Hebrews to be recognized as Scripture was that its author had to be someone who knew the LORD or someone He worked through.
- Was the piece applicable to all generations?
- While each book was applicable to the original audience, its message and application had to be timeless to measure up and be part of the collection of Scripture. Though a biblical author may have written to a particular audience if it was God’s Word, followers of Yahweh could profitably apply its teachings to their lives (Hebrews 4:12).
- Was the piece in agreement with previous revelation?
- A book part of the canon could not contradict a teaching from another book of the Scriptures. For example, if they were examining a piece that contained a teaching that contradicted one from Genesis, they would rightly conclude that it is part of God’s progressive revelation of Himself. New information about God’s plans and purposes were accepted as long as they never headbutted with existing Scripture.
Before moving along, I believe it is important to note that while scholars debate precisely what took place at the Council of Jamnia, they agree that the council did not determine which books belonged in the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament) but instead confirmed the books that had been recognized as God-breathed for generations.
How did the early Church determine which books to include in the New Testament?
We briefly explained how we came to have the Old Testament books that we have today, but how did we end up with the 27 books of the New Testament?
Hints from the New Testament
Jesus says that His disciples will testify about Him.
After Jesus finishes the Last Supper with His disciples, He speaks with them on His way to the garden to pray. As they journey to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prepares His disciples for His nearing departure and the Holy Spirit’s arrival. Included in His teachings on the Holy Spirit, Jesus tells them what He will do.
John 14:26
But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
John 15:26-27
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. 27 And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry.
The Messiah told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would come as His representative to teach and remind them of everything He had told them. What were they to do with the Holy Spirit’s testimony about Jesus? They were to testify about Him since they had been with Him since the beginning of His ministry. Now, of course, they would tell others about Him verbally but also through written form, whether they knew at the time or not.
From this teaching of Jesus, we see His disciples would be His witnesses, leaving the means for doing so open to any avenue. Eventually, Matthew and John would record a written account of Jesus’ life and ministry, carried along by the Holy Spirit, and therefore, their testifying all about Him included a written account!
Peter’s Written Testimony
Outside of John and Matthew, the apostle Peter also pens letters testifying about Christ’s person, His work, and its effects on life. He calls us to holy living, provides instructions for living relationally within family units and the church, and provides insight into our Lord’s return. It is interesting to know that while John Mark wrote the gospel of Mark, it is widely believed that Peter was his source. Peter’s testimony of Jesus’ life and work was recorded for us through John Mark.
Jesus’ words to His disciples became a reality in many ways, including writing documents recognized by the early Church as inspired. We can accept new written revelation from the disciples since Jesus said that they would be taught and led by the Holy Spirit so that they could testify about Him, but what about Paul, who was not part of Jesus’ audience on that night of betrayal?
What About Paul’s Writings?
Paul wrote 13 of our 27 New Testament books. We have Scripture support from John’s gospel for a new canon of Scripture to form for the New Covenant, with the disciples contributing as authors, but what about Paul? Peter possibly wrote his second letter right before his death around 64 AD at the order of Nero. Within thirty years or so of Christ’s death and resurrection handwritten testimonies are being written by the apostles and others like Paul. Peter is aware of Paul’s writings and refers to them as Scripture.
2 Peter 3:15-16
And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— 16 speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.
So, you never said how the Early Church selected the books to include in the New Testament canon…
You’re right; well, let me say that if something’s not broke, don’t fix it. The Church required every document included in the canon to pass three tests similar to what the Jews had for assembling their Hebrew Bible.
- Was the piece written by an apostle or someone close to an apostle?
- For a document to be part of the New Testament canon, it had to be written by an apostle or someone close to an apostle (apostolicity). In the Old Testament, a prophet or prophetically gifted person had to author a piece.
- Did the writing contradict any previous apostolic or Old Testament teaching?
- Each book that made its way into the collection of New Testament Scripture could not contradict apostolic or Old Testament teaching. A text could reveal something new but not contradict something already revealed. Is the piece applicable to the original audience and generations of followers to come?
- Is the piece universally accepted as Scripture by the Church?
- It had to be wholly accepted by all of the early Church. These early writings circulated among the people of God. For a letter or book to be recognized as God-breathed, the Church as one had to receive it. This means that any document accepted only in a region or two was not canonized, only writings universally accepted by the Church.
Conclusion
There is so much more to be explored when it comes to canonicity or how we have the books in our Bibles and why we don’t have the ones we don’t. For now, I’ll summarize. The selection and rejection of books for both testaments were not made by a few who were off to themselves in some remote location but by faith communities, the Jews for the Old Testament and the Church for the New Testament.
Secondly, when it comes to the New Testament, the Church never disputed any of the Gospels, Acts, Paul’s letters, 1 Peter, or 1 John! Not only were Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John never doubted, but no other gospels were ever suggested, even those that didn’t contradict other teachings like the Didache, Barnabas, and the Shepherd of Hermes.
Finally, with these two truths in mind, rest assured that we have all that we need to know the Lord, commune with Him, and live in a way pleasing to Him – for His glory, our good, and the benefit of others.
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