Canonicity

On the topic of “canonicity,” Christians say that God sovereignly (or providentially) oversaw a process of men recognizing the books and letters that He had literally “breathed-out” and collecting them into one Book – the Holy Bible. This collection of 66 books is called the Biblical Canon (canon is an “establishment,” a “rule,” a “measurement,” a “basis for judgment,” or a “standard”/“criterion”).

1. Old Testament Canon:
Christ, Himself, gave His stamp of approval on the 39 books of the Old Testament. In Luke 24:44, He referred to all the things that must be fulfilled “which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms (Writings) concerning Me.” These 3 sections make up the entire Old Testament. Please see 2 Timothy 3:16-17 as well.

2. New Testament Canon:
In A.D. 397, the final collection of books and letters that make up the Protestant New Testament was officially recognized at the Council of Carthage. This council of early church leaders did not simply and arbitrarily declare a book or letter to be inspired; it merely recognized the inspiration and authority that was already there. Additionally, I would again cite 2 Timothy 3:16-17 here as having direct bearing on the “inspired” nature of the New Testament as well as the Old. For a good and brief article on this, I highly encourage you all to read the “Sufficient & Profitable” series by Vincent Cheung (especially parts 5-6). This was recommended to me by a good friend just a few days ago and I thoroughly benefited from the reading of it.

To get to that, just simply click on the following link: http://www.vincentcheung.com/2005/10/14/sufficient-and-profitable-5/ .

I offer the following verses in support of using the 2 Timothy passage as having relevancy to the Divine inspiration of all 66 books of the Bible: John 16:13, 2 Peter 3:15-16, 1 Corinthians 2:13, 1 Corinthians 14:37, & 1 Timothy 5:18 (where Paul prefaces both Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7 with the expression, “the Scripture says”).

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In trying to determine if a book or letter was inspired by God, the church used a number of criteria:

[a] it had to be written by an Apostle or one close to an Apostle (such as an apprentice or disciple of the Apostle); [see John 16:13]
[b] its content had to be consistent with other recognized Scripture;
[c] it had to have been recognized and accepted by the early church;
[d] it had to conform to the high standards set by other Scripture;
[e] people’s lives had to have been changed by it . . .

I hope this helps.