CANONICITY OF THE BIBLE

How did the Bible we have come about? Why do we accept the 39 books of the OldTestament and the 27 books of the New Testament as the Word of God? This iswhat the study of Canonicity of the Bible is all about.

The word canon comes from the Greek word kanôn,which basically means “reed” or “cane.” Later it took on the meaning: “rule” or“standard,” since a stiff reed was used for the purpose of measuring. This wasthe meaning of the word when Paul says in Galatians 6:16, “And as many as walkaccording to this rule [i.e., canon], peace be on them, and mercy.” The canonhere would refer to rules of faith that Paul has laid down—namely,justification by faith alone. And again in Philippians 3:16, “let us walk bythe same rule [canon], let us mind the same thing.”

Historically, the word canon is used to refer to a list ofbooks, which arerecognised by believers to be inspired of God.Notice the subtle difference between this definition and the erroneous one: “itis a list of books officiallydeclared to be inspired of God.” TheChurch did not declare the inspiration of any book. She simply recognised theinspiration of it. The Bible is a collection of authoritative books, ratherthan an authoritative collection of books. In AD 364, the Council of Laodiceaordained that none but canonical books should be read in the Church—namely, thebooks in the Old and the New Testaments. The council did not stamp an imprimateur onany of the books to say: “the church hereby declare that the book is inspired.”The inspiration was recognised and the books deemed to be canonical. Theword canon is therefore used by the Church to denote thedivinely authorised standard, to which everything is subjected and by whicheverything must be tested.

But the question before us is, what were the criteria that the Church used todetermine whether a writing is canonical. In other words, how and why did theChurch recognise each of the 66 books in our Bible as canonical and so affirmthat the Bible is the Word of God? This, I submit to you, is a most importantsubject.

Importance of the Subject

For firstly, the Bible contains all the truth on divine subjectsaccessible to man. The Bible contains the will of God; it speaks about the fallof man, and the way of salvation, the responsibilities of man and the eternaldestiny of man. If we are unsure of the Canon, how can we be sure of any ofthese important subjects? How can we even be sure of our faith?

Secondly, understanding the canonicity of the Bible is important becausethere are those who would add to the Scripture, and so require doctrines andpractices that are foreign. I refer particularly to the apostate Church of Romewhich in AD 1546, in the Council of Trent, in reaction to the Reformation,declares that the 14 extraneous books of the Apocrypha be canonical. We have nodoubt that that violated Revelation 22:18, which we believe applies to thedivinely inspired Canon: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the wordsof the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shalladd unto him the plagues that are written in this book.” But how do we knowthat the Canon that we have is correct?

Thirdly, there are those who claim to be Protestants, who add to therevealed Word of God. I refer to the Charismatics in particular, who would takeextra-biblical revelation as having the same authority as the Scripture. Now ifwe do not know why we accept the Bible we have as the Canon, how do we respondto such who hold to extra-revelation?

Fourthly, there are those today who would deny the inspiration ofnumerous books in the New Testament, and so overthrow the confidence of theChurch in the Word of God. These are not only liberal scholars, but someactually claim to be evangelical scholars. How can our faith remain firm in theface of such godless scholarship, unless we know why we believe what webelieve?

There is much that can be said of the subject, and it can be very technicalbut, for our purpose, I propose that we approach the subject very simply byanswering two questions: (1) Why do we accept the OT Canon? (2) Why do weaccept the NT Canon?

Why Do We Accept the
Old Testament Canon?

The reason why the Church accepts the Old Testament Canonis a very simple one: the Lord Jesus Christ accepted it. And since our Lordaccepted it, there is no reason whatsoever for us to question any further whyit is accepted. But how do we know that the Lord accepted the Old TestamentCanon?

Consider first of all His words to the disciples in the upper room after Hisresurrection:

These are the words which I spakeunto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, whichwere written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms,concerning me (Lk 24:44).

What was the Lord referring to by the designation “the Law of Moses,… prophetsand… the psalms”?

Well, we must realise that the Hebrew Canon was already in place before Christwalked in Israel. Many believe that it was Ezra who led the council in about300 BC to affirm the canonicity of the OT books. By the time the Lord was born,the Hebrew Bible was already in place.

It was however organised in a manner that is quite different from the OT weknow. It has three divisions: (1) Torah (Law—Pentateuch);(2) Nebi’im (Prophets—Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings and allthe prophetic books, except Lamentations and Daniel); and (3) Kethubhim (writings—therest of the books, including the poetic books and Chronicles, which is the lastbook in the Hebrew Canon).

Now, if we look at Luke 24:44 again, we see that Jesus was in fact referring tothe Hebrew Canon. The Law of Moses, of course, refers to the Torah;the Prophets refers to the Nebi’im; and the Psalms refers tothe Kethubhim because it is the largest book in that division.It is thus very clear that the Lord Jesus accepted the canonicity of the OTCanon.

But just in case anyone is still in doubt, let us look at another text:

That the blood of all the prophets,which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between thealtar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of thisgeneration (Lk 11:50–51).

What did the Lord mean? Was He referring to all the prophets who were martyred?Well, Abel, who was killed by Cain, was indeed the first martyr (see Genesis4:9). But Zacharias was certainly not the last prophet to be martyred. He waskilled during the reign of Joash (see 2 Chronicles 24:20–21). The last prophetto be martyred, according to Old Testament chronology, was Urijah who waskilled during the reign of Jehoiakim, some 200 years later (see Jeremiah26:20–21, 23).

Did the Lord Jesus make a mistake? Obviously not. Remember that 2 Chronicleswas the last book in the arrangement of the Hebrew Canon. The Lord Jesus was,obviously, referring to the order according to the Hebrew Canon when He spokeof “the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias.”

Thus we have no shadow of doubt at all that our Lord accepted the canonicity ofthe OT Canon. Although the order of the books in the Hebrew Canon may bedifferent from the order in the English Bible, the actual books and contentsare the same. And if the Lord Jesus Christ accepts these books, we who bearsHis Name must also accept them wholeheartedly.

Why Do We Accept the
New Testament Canon?

The NT Canon, as we know it today, was firm by the Third Council of Carthage inAD 397. This Council, we must be reminded, did not pronounce any of the booksto be inspired. Rather, it simply recognised that the books, which were alreadyin use in the local churches, were inspired. It also confirmed that the Canonwas closed.

But how did the Council, or the Church in the first place, determine that aparticular book was inspired? This is a question that has been debated over theages since documentation is scant. Scholars, such as B.B. Warfield, argue thatthe Church accepted the inspiration and authority of the books because theywere either written or authorised by the Apostles and prophets who were deemedas having divine authority. Others, such as R. Laird Harris, simplify theproposition to the sole question of whether the individual book was written byan Apostle.

I would tend to agree with Warfield, while at the same time placing a greateremphasis on the self-authenticating nature of Scripture and the testimony ofthe Spirit of Christ bearing witness with our souls to give us a fullpersuasion and assurance that what we have is the very Word of God (cf. WCF 1.5).In any case, I think it would be helpful for us to see some evidence, whichindicates the authenticity of the New Testament Canon, so that our faith may bebolstered should there be occasions of doubts, and so that we may be able togive further reasons to what we believe when we are asked. For this purpose, Iwould propose five criteria according to the following heads: (1) Authorship;(2) Authority; (3) Agreement; (4) Applicability; and (5) Acceptance.

Note that, by themselves, none of the points can give us infallible assurancethat all 27 books in the New Testament Canon are inspired, but all fivecriteria together bounded by the testimony of the Spirit leaves us no doubtthat what we have is indeed the very Word of God: complete (in so far as the NTis concerned), sufficient and authoritative. By and large, the Church comprisesfallible men who do make mistakes in judgements.

Authorship

The question is, whether a particular book is written by anApostle, or an apostolic man approved by the Apostles? We derive this test fromthe words of the Apostle Peter, who urges us to “be mindful of the words whichwere spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us theapostles of the Lord and Saviour” (2 Pet 3:2). We have seen that the words ofthe writing prophets in the Old Testament were taken as inspired by our Lord,here we see Peter declaring that the words of the Apostles stood on par withthe words of the prophets.

The books in the NT are generally known to be written by the Apostles exceptfor Mark, Luke, Acts, James, Jude, and possibly Hebrews.

Mark was not an Apostle, but the early Church Father Papias indicates that Markwas the interpreter of Peter, so that the Gospel of Mark was most likelyPeter’s account of the sayings and works of the Lord (cf. 1 Pet 5:13; 2 Pet1:15).

Luke was a close associate of Paul. So it is sometimes said that Luke was notan Apostle but apostolic. Sometimes it is even said that the Gospel of Luke isreally the Gospel of Paul (but see also next point).

Many believe James was the son of Alphæus (Lk 6:15; not James the son ofZebedee, who was executed by King Herod Agrippa I, Acts 12:2), and Jude wasJudas not Iscariot (Lk 6:16; cf. Jn 14:22). That would solve the issue ofapostolic authorship. But it must be admitted that most scholars today believethat James and Jude were the brothers of the Lord in His human family. Thisstatus, coupled with their proven ministry in the early church, carried withthem apostolic sanction. In fact, the Lord Himself appeared to James after Hisresurrection (1 Cor 15:7), and the Apostle Paul seems to include James amongthe Apostles (Gal 1:19; see also 1 Corinthians 9:4).

The authorship of Hebrews is uncertain. Many believe that it is Paul, but inany case, the recipients were certainly familiar with him, and the letterdefinitely carries a content of apostolic stature. Were it not authenticallyinspired, it would definitely have been rejected by the first centuryChristians not only because of its polemic stance, but because the special giftof discerning between spirits (1 Cor 12:10) was still available then.

Authority

This criterion is closely related to the first, but adds adimension of auto- and cross-claims of being the authoritative Word of God.

Some books of the NT testify to their own authority. For examples, (1) TheApostle John informs us that when he wrote Revelation, he was writing based onwhat was revealed to him by the Lord Jesus Christ, who said to him: “Write thethings which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things whichshall be hereafter” (Rev 1:19). (2) The Apostle Paul claims that his writingsare the commandments of the Lord: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, orspiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are thecommandments of the Lord” (1 Cor 14:37; see also 2 Thessalonians 3:14–15).

Other books in the New Testament bear testimony to the inspiration of theircontemporaries. For examples, (1) Peter confirms that Paul’s writings are onpar with the Scripture: “As also in all his epistles, speakingin them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, whichthey that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the otherscriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Pet 3:16; italics emphasis mine).(2) Paul confirms the Gospel of Luke to be Scripture on par with the Torah whenhe threads a verse from Deuteronomy together with a verse from Luke into onestatement: “For the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadethout the corn [Deut 25:4]. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward [Luke10:7]” (1 Tim 5:18).

Agreement

Here the question is, whether the content of each bookagrees internally and externally with the other inspired books whoseinspiration is without doubt based on other criteria. By this criterion, booksthat are clearly contrary to the Christian faith, which may be derived from thealready accepted books, are rejected because they could not have been inspiredby God, seeing that God cannot contradict Himself.

Were there not some doubts pertaining to the book of James, because itcontradicts “salvation by grace through faith”? Yes, but these were easilyresolved. James was writing about evidence for faith, Paul was writing aboutcondition for salvation. Works is necessary upon salvation, but it is not acriterion for salvation. There is no contradiction.

What about the objection that, because of this criterion, it must be said thatit is the Church which created the consistency of the Bible? Well, those wholevel this objection have probably not read the Bible, for the Bible is notonly consistent but also demonstrates progression and beauty. Consider, forexample, how the book of Revelation beautifully closes the Canon begun atGenesis. Genesis speaks of the entrance of sin and death, Revelation speaks ofthe destruction of sin and death. Genesis speaks of the paradise lost, and theTree of Life forbidden, Revelation speaks of paradise regained and the Tree ofLife made available.

Applicability

The Apostle Paul tells us: “All scripture is given byinspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, forcorrection, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may beperfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim 3:16–17). Thisindicates that through the effectual operation of the Holy Spirit, any of theinspired books, when read or heard with meekness, should transform lives (Jas1:21). Therefore, knowing that historically a book has proven to have had theability to inspire, convict, edify both individuals and the local congregation,should give us assurance that it is inspired of God.

This is, of course, a posteriori argument; but the child ofGod reading the inspired Word of God would respond with gratitude andobedience, and know that this cannot be but the very words of God. The LordJesus Christ anticipated this experience when He says, “My sheep hear my voice,and I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27; cf. 1 Jn 2:26–27).

Acceptance

The Old Testament was committed to the Jews and was, in theirearly history, kept in the temple. I submit to you that in the case of the NewTestament, it was the same. The Apostles and apostolic men, after writing theScripture and knowing them to be inspired, would have committed their writingsto the believers in the early church. And there is no doubt that the earlychurch held their writings in very high regards.

The fact that they were widely used and circulated in the early church provesthis. In those days there were no printing machines and they had to hand copy.What would they copy so dedicatedly but what they considered to beauthoritative and inspired. The large number of lectionaries—copies of Bibletexts for public reading—testify to this fact.

Conclusion

The Bible is an extraordinarily unique Book of books. Not only are theindividual books but the entire collection of books is kept pure in all ages byGod’s singular care and providence, so that there is no book comparable to theBible in its scope, beauty, consistency, progression and majesty. Only theLiving and True God could use over forty different human scribes to write HisWord, over a period of more than two thousand years, and still keep itconsistent. A diligent student of the Bible, illumined in his heart and mind bythe Holy Spirit, will not fail to see that the Canon is in fact an organicwhole, and so there is ultimately only one Divine Author. It is for this reasonthat there are no contradictions at all in the Word of God. It is for thisreason too that we can find one central theme in the Word of God, and that isthe Redemptive Work of Christ. Indeed, it is for the same reason thattheologians are able to write rigorously argued and logical systematictheologies based on the facts and doctrines revealed in the Bible.

Let all who name the Name of Christ therefore spend much time to read the Biblereverently; to meditate on it expectantly; to memorise it lovingly, to teach ithumbly; to live by it obediently; and to defend it fervently—for we have in ourhands the very Word of God.

—J.J. Lim