In Heb 6:13-18, the writer speaks of God’s promise to Abraham. “People swear by something greater than themselves”, writes the writer of Hebrews (Heb 6:16a), thus God sealed the promises with an oath (Heb 6:17), so that by “two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb 6:18a), we have a strong and sure assurance.
Because God is who is His, His nature lends credibility to His speech. And the Bible records for us the things God says! Tonight, we’re taking a closer look at the books which are included in the Bible and we hope to end this study also with a greater confidence that the right books have been included in the Bible that we have and hold. In our previous study, we’ve learnt that God is a speaking God and He uses words to communicate with us! God uses words to communicate his intentions and purposes. He expects that those words would be understood and received. If He did not expect this, he would be speaking gibberish.
We’ve also looked at the following characteristics of His words recorded for us in Scripture:
Does he need help to communicate? No, because Scripture is sufficient.
This means that God’s word is effective to achieve his purposes. If he wanted to scold, the words that he spoke would have served the intent for which they were spoken. The words, intent, purpose and effect would thus all line up. If God speaks, he does not need help as his word is sufficient to effectively achieve his purposes.Does God intend to be understood? Yes, because Scripture is clear. "
Scripture is clear and has been given for our understanding and application.Does God’s word need to be proved by another source? No, because Scripture is authoritative.
Scripture cannot be proven by any other source than itself. It is not subject to other sources to be confirmed. It does not need other sources to confirm it, such as history or science. It can be proven in those terms, but those terms do not make it scripture. Scripture does not borrow its authority from other sources.Do we have alternatives to God’s spoken word? No, because Scripture is necessary.
Scripture is thus for our reception in knowledge and obedience.
Now then, if Scripture is this perfect word, how do we know that what we have in the Bible matches that standard? What then are the recognised books? That is what we will be looking at today.
(A) Understanding the Canon: To know which books are ultimate and Scripture, we need a SELF-AUTHENTICATING Scripture
The question of “canon” (“rule”, or the recognised list of Bible books) asks which books should be recognised as Scripture, and hence, ultimate and totally authoritative. How could we go about identifying and recognising “Scripture” books?
There are 3 possible criteria that can be adopted to select the books:
Recognised corporately by the community of faith.
This means that God’s people should be able to recognise whether or not their God has spoken. They will be the starting point of whether God has spoken or not, and is the practice of the Roman Catholic church.External criteria e.g., perfection, truth, harmony, beauty, unity
This is the classical theory for how we recognise scripture.Self-authenticating
This means that the books themselves tell us which are the books which are considered canon.
These 3 different models are possible, but Heb 6 suggests that we only need 1 of these 3 models that have been mentioned. In Heb 6:13, God had nobody greater to swear by, and so he swore by himself. This tells us that the corporate recognition of the community of faith is an insufficient criterion. This is because the community of faith cannot tell you which of the words are God’s words. That would put the community of faith at a higher epistemological place than God himself.
Similarly, when we look at Heb 6:16, it tells us that there are no things or criteria greater God. Truth is truth because God says it is truth. Truth cannot be a criterion above God. All these external criteria cannot be lifted above God’s word. These criteria do not make God’s word true. God’s word is true because it is above those things. God’s words would certainly bear those traits, but it is not because of these traits that we consider them truth.
Thus, we must have a self-authenticating scripture if we are going to have an ultimate Scripture. Scripture must tell us which books are Scripture. The criteria must be inbuilt and not externally derived, or else those books would be subject to a criterion more ultimate than itself. This is in line with Heb 6:13b which tells us that the only authority that God can appeal to is Himself.
Before we move on, we also need to define what “Scripture” refers to. Jesus Himself speaks of Scripture in LK 24:44-28. He gives us three clear categories that are referred to as Scripture in Lk 24:44— the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. There is also one more category that falls under Scripture — the “words that I spoke to you while I was still with you”. Here in Luke, Jesus was speaking to this specific group of people who would go on to teach these words of Jesus. It therefore would encompass the Gospels and certainly the rest of the NT, where His disciples would bear witness to Him.
Scripture also has a unifying message (Lk 24:46-47). When Scripture is understood rightly, the disciples were led to see how the OT was also about the sufferings, death and resurrection of Christ that repentance and forgiveness of sins is possible and proclaimed to all the nations. Jesus is saying that if you understand the OT rightly, you will get the gospel message.
The one basic principle is that these categories testify to Jesus, the man God chose (Lk 24:48). The Old Testament (OT) didn’t exist separately, but the words Jesus spoke and His actions flow from the OT and amplify it. It is thus incorrect for us to think that the story of Jesus begins from the New Testament (NT). Jesus teaches us how we should think about and approach the canon of Scripture!
(B) Formation of the Canon: Words spoken and written in THE LAW, THE PROPHETS and THE PSALMS that ANTICIPATE Messiah
Now, let’s take a look at the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms.
Writing the books of the Law
How does the law first get written? In Ex 32:16, the law was provided by God through Moses. Moses descends from Mt Sinai with the 2 tablets with the 10 Commandments. The first writing of Scripture was when God, with His own finger, wrote the 10 commandments. This is the beginning of Scripture! 2 chapters later, in Exo 34:27-28, there are additional words to be added under God’s command. We see how Exodus is a record of God’s words as it comes down to them slowly.
Numbers is a movement logbook for God people as we see in Num 33:2. At this point in Israel’s history, they are no longer waiting and camping in one place, and Moses records their “starting places, stage by stage, by command of the Lord” (Num 33:2). God intended for this part of their history to be recorded.
In Josh 8:30-32, 34-35, we reach the point in Israel’s history when God has led them into the Promised Land. They are now under the leadership of Moses’ successor, Joshua, and the covenant with God was to be renewed. Joshua sought to copy out the Law (Josh 8:32), which indicates to us too that there was some functional law by this point. The people in Josh 8:31 knew the commands in Lev to Deut and were responding to Scripture. Scripture was also read out loud in front of the whole nation (Josh 8:34-35). Everyone came to read Scripture together. They knew what God’s word says and came together to read and practice it. This means that as early as Josh 8, they had a functioning view of God’s Word. They knew that God spoke and His words were written down for their reading and understanding. Their faith was practiced by reading of the words of God. That was how they lived and died.
This high view of God’s word was constantly demonstrated. Deut 5:22-24 also shows how Moses taught the people to have a lofty and exalted view of God’s words. It is a reminder to us not to take God’s words lightly, and this is critical for us to understand. In Deut 4:2, Moses tells all of Israel not to add or take away from the words of God.
Writing the books of the prophets (and history)
We know that the Scripture doesn’t end with the books of the Law. Books are added beyond the Law books and they also fall into a variety of genres!
In Josh 24:25-26, we see that Joshua adds to the words of the law! Joshua would have known the warning in Deut 4:2 about adding to God’s words, thus, he’d feel confident only if he was convince that his writings were not of his own, but were God’s words.
We see this continue to take place as Israel develops as a nation, and more and more books are written. In 1 Sam 10:25, God’s people have settled in the Promised Land. God raises up a prophet named Samuel, and he is the one speaking on behalf of God. God’s people were living in God’s land, and had just received a king. The prophet Samuel now taught and recorded the duties of kingship.
God continues to speak to His people during the periods of the kings, and as God speaks to his people, he also leads men to write down specific words which tell us which are the words. From verses like 1 Chron 29:29-30, we see how the kingship books are being tweaked as Israel goes along. Scripture attests to it own authenticity in this way.
Thus, the books between Joshua and 2 Chronicles serve as the history of Israel. However, in 2 Chron 32:32, the vision of Isaiah is recorded for us, and this introduces to us another huge section of the Old Testament — the writings of the prophets.
Writings of the Prophets
The introduction of Isaiah in 2 Chron helps us to see how the prophetic books are also linked to the historical books. The prophets do not write and record anything they wish. In Isa 30:8, God told Isaiah to put God’s words down in writing! Similarly, in Jer 36:1-32, God tells Jeremiah to write down all that He is saying. This includes the context for the words, and who it is for. In this account, the king hears the words of God but cuts up and destroys everything that he did not agree with (Jer 36:23). However, this rather petulant and brazen act did not hinder God’s words. This defiance sees almost comical because God just told Jeremiah to write a new set (Jer 36:27). What a great reminder that we need not fear the challenges to a physical Bible because God’s words are His words, and He will bring it to bear.
This rather long survey of the different genres in the OT serve to show us again and again how God directs men to write His words and events down, and these form the Scripture that we have. This is the OT that Jesus says has a unifying message and ultimately points to Him!
(C) Recognising the Canon: Words written in the GOSPELS, EPISTLES and REVELATION that TESTIFY to and RECORD about Messiah
Returning to Luke 24, Jesus helps us understand the tight criteria for NT canonical books. Reading Luke 24:44, 48 again, we see that the books that tell us about Jesus are the ones that contain the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ teaching. These books will contain the teachings they have received from Jesus (Lk 24:44).
In 2 Pet 1:20-21, Peter teaches us that these were not produced by man alone, but the Spirit works to brings Jesus’ teachings to us. Being an eyewitness of Jesus is also a criteria when the disciples came together to replace Judas in Acts 1:21-22. Only such a person is qualified to join the apostles, and occupy this special office. Why is this so? Ephesians tells us how we should understand the role of the eyewitness. Eph 2:20 says that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Jesus as the cornerstone. We’ve already read about the importance of prophets, in the earlier section. In earlier times, God spoke through the prophets. The apostles form the foundation of the NT because these men, being present from the beginning and being witnesses at the resurrection, are the men that Luke 24 speaks about that will speak of Christ, having received the teaching from Jesus himself. The NT books are held together by the apostolic authenticity.
We’ll take a closer look here to see how the various NT books can be authenticated.
Apostolic authorship
This refers to books written by the apostles, such as Peter, James, John. Peter writes 1 and 2 Peter, James writes James, John writes the gospel of John, 1, 2, and 3 John (1 Jn 1:1-2, 5:13), and Revelations (Rev 22:18-19). In 2 Pet 1:16, Peter refers to himself as an eyewitness, in the same term that Jesus uses in Luke 24.
Pauline epistles
As the term suggests, the Pauline Epistles refer to Paul’s writings. He writes Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon. All of this is Paul.
In 2 Pet 3:15-16, Peter writes about Paul, declaring that Paul’s writings are scripture. Peter must be sure because remember Deut 4:2 — he would not declare someone else’s writings as scripture if it isn’t! Peter then writes it down in his own words, which is also captured as scripture. This verse gives us confidence because the Bible (and the apostles) acknowledge that sometimes the Bible will be hard to understand and some will twist it but we can trust its source — it is from God! This is also important for us to be sure of Paul’s credentials as an apostle. It is addressed in great lengths in Galatians.
The Gospels
The book of Matthew and John are written by apostles. Even as Paul was writing he recognised the authenticity of these books. In 1 Tim 5:18, Paul makes a reference to Deut 5:24, which was already part of the Scriptures that they read. But Paul also refers to Jesus’ words in Matthew and Luke. This tells us that Paul recognises Matthew and Luke as Scripture, and is able to quote Jesus because he has access to the gospels of Matthew and Luke!
Affiliated with the apostles
There were also those that were not apostles, but were also closely affiliated with the apostles, and thus, would have similar credibility. Tertullian referred to these writers as “apostolic men”. These books contained teachings from the apostles, and wrote down what these men taught them. This would include books like Luke and Acts, both written by Luke. Mark is known as the earliest gospel, having the influence of Peter. It is recognised by the church that Mark was writing through Peter’s eyes, giving a voice to Peter. The letter written by Jude was also recognised by the church as having been affiliated with his brother James.
This more or less deals with the books in the NT. Having this guide helps us to discern and deal with the extrabiblical books that exist and seem to threaten the canon of Scripture. Books like the Shepherd of Hermas, “Paul’s letter” to Laodiceans, Gospel of Thomas, etc were never affiliated with the apostles.
By the time of the early church father Athanasius, there seems to be a working and fixed canon of the NT and He writes:
“Again it is not tedious to speak of the [books] of the New Testament… These are fountains of salvation, that they who thirst may be satisfied with the living words they contain. In these alone is proclaimed the doctrine of godliness. Let no man add to these, neither let him take ought from these.”
What does this mean for us? If this is all true, that we have received a word from God that is so comprehensive, trustworthy and reliable, are we reading it? Is it precious to us? Does it thrill our heart and give us the desire to know God more? Would we trust and believe that when God gave us the Bible, he was giving us an expression of his love? He was telling us something about himself so that we would know him and love him. This is why we believe that it is so important that we treasure every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Let us not despise a word of scripture, but let it be our treasure and our joy, as this is what God gave us. Let us give thanks for the Bible that we have received, a Bible that thrills us and excites us in our jadedness and cynicism. These are the words from God on every page, given to us because he loves us.