III. The Canon of Scripture

     Questions about the “canon” of Scripture refer to the determination of which writings should or should not be included in the Bible as “Scripture.”  Why did Judaism and Christianity arrive at the listings of “inspired” writings that they did?  Were some inspired writings missed in the past?  Were some non-inspired works mistakenly included in the canon?  Are there more “inspired” materials being produced today, which we fail to recognize because the canon is “closed?”  We shall try to answer these questions in this section.

     Because the inspired writings appeared over a 1500-year period, during which time other written works appeared as well (Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, pseudo-Acts/Gospels/ Apocalypses), it is quite understandable why a “sorting/distinction” process would have to take place.  Accordingly, standards had to be determined for such a distinction and this whole process is referred to as “canonization.”  The word canon (reed) denotes a measuring stick or straight line ("rule of faith" - the standard, authoritative doctrine by which other things are measured).

The Hebrew Canon

        While the Hebrews considered their sacred writings to be “Scripture,” they did not refer to them as "canonical".  This term was coined by 4th century A.D. church fathers to distinguish "Scripture" from the many other writings that had surfaced over the years.

        The presence of various written works is attested in the Bible books.^[1]  The OT Scriptures clearly claim to be recording divine communication.  YHWH "wrote His words on the stone tablets.”^[2]  We then read that Moses "wrote"^[3] and he also "took the book of the Covenant and read it" (Exodus 24:7) publicly.  After this, the Law was to be "publicly read" throughout Israel every seven years (Deuteronomy 31:10:13).  Joshua "wrote a copy of the Law" (Joshua 8:32) and wrote additions "in the book of the Law of God" (Joshua 24:26).  There are more references to the "book of the Law"^[4] and the "Law of Moses."^[5]  Samuel "wrote the ordinances of the kingdom in a book" (1Samuel 10:25).

        There are several non-canonical source records that were cited by the writers of Bible books, such as the “Book of Jashar” (Joshua 10:13; 2Samuel 1:18) and the prophetic chronicles of kings.^[6]  After decades of corruption and apostasy, there is mention of discovering the "Book of the Law" in the temple (2Kings 22:8,13) and the "book of the covenant" (2Kings 23:2).

        As to the collection and limitation/distinguishing of inspired materials, there is evidence that the OT Prophetic canon was considered closed around 400 B.C. (Zechariah 13:3; 1Maccabees 14:41; 2Baruch 85:3).  Several sources indicate that the bulk of OT Writings were collected, generally agreed upon, and divided into three groups before the appearance of Jesus.^[7]  The three divisions were: The Law, The Prophets, and the Writings.  During the Intertestamental era, there is mention in the apocryphal Wisdom of Sirach (49, Prologue, ca. 180 B.C.) of "The Law and the Prophets and the other books of our fathers."  The book of first Maccabees refers to attempts to eradicate “the book of the Law” (1Maccabees 1:55-57).  Jesus made clear reference to “the Law,” the "Law & Prophets,"^[8] the "Law, Prophets, & Psalms" (Luke 24:44), as well as the “Book of Psalms" (Luke 20:42) and even included the Psalms as part of the "Law" (John 10:34,35).  Jesus testified that "Moses wrote" (John 5:45-47) and also mentioned the "Scriptures of the Prophets" (Matthew 26:56; Acts 13:27; Romans 16:26).  The New Testament writings indicate that there was a commonly accepted body of OT writings by Jesus’ time (Luke 24:44).  Around the time of Rome’s destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (70 A.D.), there are two separate sources of information about the writings the Jews held sacred.  The Dead Sea Scrolls, which were preserved by the Qumran Community (ca. 66-70 A.D.), contained all of the OT books except Esther, along with numerous writings associated with that religious community.  Shortly after Jerusalem was destroyed by Rome in 70 A.D., the first century A.D. Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, made clear mention of a well-established canon of Scripture for Judaism,

"I had also the holy books by Titus concession" (Life of Josephus 75)

"we have only twenty-two^[9] books, which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine; and of them, five belong to Moses, which contain his laws, and the traditions of the origin of mankind till his death.  This interval was little short of three thousand years,...the Prophets...in thirteen books.  The remaining four books contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct of human life...no one has been so bold as either to add anything to them or take anything from them." (Against Apion 1:8)

     Around 90 A.D., with Jerusalem/Temple destroyed, the only functioning center for Judaism in Palestine was a rabbinical academy established at Jamnia/Jabneh.  This academy discussed the Jewish canon and agreed with the canon of the 39 books commonly accepted from then on.  Questions were raised about Jonah; Ezekiel; Proverbs 26:4,5; Esther; Ecclesiastes; and Song of Solomon, but all were kept.

     A post-apostolic Christian scholar, Melito, sought out the exact listing of Jewish Scripture around 170 A.D. and his record of the listing is as follows,

"...to obtain an accurate account of the Ancient Books, as regards their number and arrangement,...I accordingly proceeded to the East, and went to the very spot where the things in question were preached and took place; and having made myself accurately acquainted with the books of the Old Testament, I have set them down below, and herewith send you the list.  Their names are as follows: - The five books of Moses - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and the four books of Kings, the two of Chronicles, the book of the Psalms of David, the Proverbs of Solomon, also called the book of Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Job, the books of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, of the the Twelve contained in a single book, Daniel, Ezekiel, Esdras."^[10]

     The oral traditions of Judaism gradually accumulated and were handed down along with the canonical Scriptures, with these traditional matters eventually written down several centuries after the time of Jesus in the Talmud.  The tractate Baba Bathra contains a summary of Judaism’s traditional understanding of the authorship of their Scriptures.

Who wrote the Scriptures?  Moses wrote his own book and the portion of Balaam and Job. Joshua wrote the book which bears his name and [the last] eight verses of the Pentateuch.  Samuel wrote the book which bears his name and the Book of Judges and Ruth.  David wrote the Book of Psalms, including in it the work of the elders, namely, Adam, Melchizedek, Abraham, Moses, Heman, Yeduthun, Asaph, and the three sons of Korah.  Jeremiah wrote thc book which bears his name, the Book of Kings, and Lamentations.  Hezekiah and his colleagues wrote Isaiah, Proverbs, the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes.  The Men of the Great Assembly wrote Ezekiel, the Twelve Minor Prophets, Daniel and the Scroll of Esther.  Ezra wrote the book that bears his name and the genealogies of the Book of Chronicles up to his own time.  This confirms the opinion of Rab, since Rab Judah has said in the name of Rab: Ezra did not leave Babylon to go up to Eretz Yisrael until he had written his own genealogy.  Who then finished it [the Book of Chronicles]?-Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah.^[11]

The Development of the New Testament Canon

     While the Gospels were obviously produced after the earthly life of Jesus occurred, there is good circumstantial, historical, and traditional evidence for assigning them a relative chronology.  According to numerous records from early church leaders, Matthew was the first Gospel written, perhaps first in Aramaic (ca. 45 A.D.?).  The second Gospel record to be written was probably Luke – since Luke’s second volume, Acts, ends with Paul in Rome awaiting trial (ca. 60-62 A.D.), then his “first account” (the Gospel) must have been produced prior to that date.  Luke asserted that he had “researched” his material from other first-hand sources (Luke 1:1-4).  Mark wrote Peter’s Gospel material for the Roman Church (ca. 64-70 A.D.), while John’s Gospel was written last (after 70 A.D.?).  At least some of Paul’s letters were being exchanged (and probably copied) between churches during his lifetime (cf. Colossians 4:16).  Second Peter (3:15,16) refers to a body of Paul’s writings and compared them with the “rest of the Scriptures.”

     The slow development of the New Testament canon is very understandable, when you consider a couple of facts.  First, the New Testament writings themselves were originally addressed to diverse locations, which would contribute to their “scattered-ness” rather than their “collection.”  Letters were sent to Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, and Thessalonica, as well as to individuals (Timothy, Titus, Philemon).  Peter wrote to Christians in Asia Minor, while James was probably written to Jewish Christians in Palestine.  Even under the best of conditions, it would reasonably take some time for all of these (especially the personal letters to individuals) to eventually circulate so that all churches around the Mediterranean would know of and possess copies of each.  The first of the NT writings was probably made no earlier than 45-50 A.D.

      A second factor retarding the development of a commonly accepted collection of NT “Scripture” would be the political and social setting in the Roman Empire between 65-325 A.D.  The Churches around the Mediterranean could have probably arrived at a fixed canon much earlier if they had been allowed to openly meet to deal with such issues.  However, from 65-313 A.D., Christianity was an “illegal” religion and from time to time it was actively persecuted by the Roman government.  After Constantine declared Christianity a “tolerated” and legal religion (311, 313 A.D.), the major council meetings began to occur as leaders from around the empire could openly meet to deal with heresies and other situations.  The first of these major councils was held at Nicea (325 A.D.) and it was during this century that the “fixed listing” of 27 writings was officially produced.

     Evidence from the Church Fathers.  From the late first century A.D. onward, it is obvious that the NT writings were spreading from their original recipients and more people were becoming aware of them.  In addition, there were a number of non-apostolic, but orthodox letters (Barnabus, Shepherd of Hermas, Clement of Rome, etc.) circulating, as well as false gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses beginning to appear in the second century.  While they may have possessed other writings they did not choose to quote from, we can know some of the books the early church’s leaders were familiar with by the quotations and citations that appear in their letters, apologies, and commentaries produced during the first few centuries after the apostolic age.

     Clement of Rome (ca. 95 A.D.), a personal friend of the Apostles, wrote a letter to the Corinthian church.  He made reference to Matthew, Luke, Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Hebrews, First Timothy, and First Peter.

      Polycarp (80-165 A.D.), a disciple of the Apostle John, wrote a letter to the Philippian church about 108 A.D.  He quoted from ten of Paul's epistles, 1 Peter, 1 John, Acts, and possibly 2 Peter.

        Ignatius of Antioch (?-115 A.D.) wrote seven letters on his way to martyrdom in Rome.  He quoted Matthew, nine epistles of Paul, 1 Peter, 1 John, and perhaps Mark, Luke, and John,

        Papias (80-164 A.D.), Bishop of Hierapolis and disciple of the Apostle John, testified that Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew, and that Mark wrote a Gospel under the Apostle Peter's direction.

        Justin (100-167 A.D.) wrote two Apologies and a Dialogue in which he quoted freely from all four Gospels, which he said "were drawn up by Jesus' Apostles and those who followed them."  He also quoted from several of Paul's letters, 2 Peter, and Revelation.

        Marcion (ca. 140 A.D.), a heretic with anti-Jewish prejudice, drew up a list of Scripture in which he rejected all books not written by Paul or Luke.  He edited the “Jewish” elements out, but even in this he testifies to the existence of all 27 books which we have today.

        The Muratorian Canon (ca. 200 A.D.), probably written by a contemporary of Pius of Rome, listed all New Testament books except 2 Peter as genuine.

        Irenaeus (130-202 A.D.), a disciple of Polycarp, quoted from all New Testament books except Philemon, 3 John, and Jude.

        Tatian (ca. 155-170 A.D.), made a harmony of the Four Gospels, called the "Diatessaron," which testifies that four gospels and only four were recognized among the churches.

        Tertullian of Carthage (160-200 A.D.), living while the original manuscripts were still in existence, referred to the Christian Scriptures as the “New Testament.”  He quotes from all New Testament books except James, 2 Peter, 2&3 John.  He says that Apostles wrote Matthew and John, while “apostolic men” wrote Luke and Mark.  He lists all of Paul's epistles in the order we have them.  He frequently quoted Acts and ascribed it to Luke.  He quoted by name 1Peter, 1John, Jude, and Revelation.  He attributed Hebrews to Barnabas.

        Clement of Alexandria (165-220 A.D.), quoted by Eusebius, mentioned all 27 books of the New Testament, although some were disputed.  He considered Hebrews to have been written by Paul through Luke.

        Origen of Alexandria (185-254 A.D.) considered the 27 books that we have as being canonical.  He did not consider Hebrews to be the work of Paul, but he did consider it to be canonical and apostolic.

        Eusebius of Caesarea (264-340 A.D.), the “Father of Ecclesiastical History,” studied extensively and produced a catalog that contains all 27 books of our New Testament.  He lived through the Diocletian persecution, following which he was asked by the Emperor Constantine to prepare 50 Bibles.  Careful copyists made these and the New Testament portion contained the 27 books that we have today,

        Cyril (315-386 A.D.), Bishop of Jerusalem, accepted all of the New Testament books that we have, except for Revelation.

        Athanasius (326-373 A.D.), Bishop of Alexandria, wrote to Christians of his day.  He accepted the 27 books that we have as the canon of New Testament Scriptures.  He also added the following warning, “These are the fountains of salvation; in these alone the doctrine of religion is taught; let no one add to them or take anything from them.”

        The Council of Carthage (397 A.D.) officially recognized the 27 books that we have as the canonical Scriptures for the Christian Church.  There were other popular writings at that time, but these were not accepted as apostolic.  The purpose of the Council was not to "make books canonical,” but rather to officially recognize the generally accepted 27 writings and, thus, identify the growing body of apocryphal and pseudepigraphal writings that were not generally accepted as non-canonical.

        Until the invention of the side-bound codex, which could accommodate a collection of writings, each book of the Bible (except for short books on a single scroll) was on a separate scroll.  However, from the 4th-5th centuries, codex manuscript collections exist.  The Codex Sinaiticus (ca. 300-350 A.D.) contains all of our present New Testament (300-350 A.D.).  The Codex Alexandrinus (ca. 400 A.D.) contains all of the New Testament, except for a few missing pages.  The Codex Vaticanus (ca. 350-400 A.D.) contains the New Testament Matthew through Hebrews 9:14.  The Codex Ephraemi (ca. 400 A.D.) has fragments of all NT books except for 2 Thessalonians and 2 John.

        Final thoughts on the Canon.  The time between originals and copies supports the Bible’s validity.  The Dead Sea Scrolls jumped what had been a 1,000-year gulf between pre-Christian OT manuscripts and the oldest existing copies of the OT writings (9th century A.D.), proving the tremendous accuracy of the Hebrew copyists between 100-900 A.D.  As for the NT writings, one parchment scrap of the Gospel of John (P⁵²) is a Coptic (Egyptian) translation that probably was made within 30-50 years of the original gospel record.  Passages can be checked against numerous manuscripts, versions (translations), and quotations in the apostolic fathers.

        The early church councils did not arbitrarily “create” the canon, assert “inspiration” for books that should not have been included, or exclude some which should have made it.  Authentic Apostolic writings were read very early in the churches (1Thessalonians 5:27), circulated between churches (Colossians 4:16) during the apostles' lifetime, and, thus, the "canon" slowly and unofficially grew as the various writings became known to more and more churches.  However, spurious writings were also appearing in the second century and continued to do so throughout the era of persecution (until 313 A.D.).  The Councils did what Christians at large wanted – distinguish the authentic from the spurious and officially settle the issue for everyone’s benefit!  The "canonizing councils" (after 325 A.D.), much closer to the historic situation than we, met to officially affirm those writings long accepted by the church and exclude those which could not meet the criteria of age, apostolic authorship, and basic doctrinal harmony with accepted writings.  “Authenticity” was a major concern - a writing had to be traceable to the Apostles or their close associates (especially known by churches that would have originally received a letter), it had to be in doctrinal agreement with other Scripture, and it had to have widespread and continuous use by the churches.  Having done their job well, later Councils testified to the already commonly accepted collection of NT writings - Laodicea (363), Hippo (393), Carthage (397,419).

        Are we missing any “inspired” writings?  In what we call “First Corinthians,” Paul refers to something he had already written to them (1Corinthian 5:9,11) and no one is sure what Paul’s “letter coming from the Laodiceans” (Colossians 4:16) was.  However, we can be confident that God caused “sufficient” information to be preserved so that we can know what the Apostles taught in the churches (1Corinthians 4:17; 7:17). 

    The Roman Catholic Council of Trent did not add the Jewish Apocryphal books to the canon of their Bibles because of any new information that came to light suggesting that these were inspired "Scripture," but because there were things in these writings that supported current Catholic practice (prayers for the dead, etc.) and as another move to distance themselves from the traditional canon Bible-oriented Protestant movements.

    ^[11] Michael L. Rodkinson, New Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, vol. V (XIII), (Boston: New Talmud Publishing Society, 1916), Tractate Baba Bathra, 15a (p. 45).

A Ministry of Severn Christian Church (Severn, Maryland)

Unless otherwise noted, all material produced by Charles E. McCoy

All Scripture citations/quotations from the New American Standard Bible

To send a question to Chuck: chuck@severnchristian.org