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The Canon of the Bible |
The term "canon" means rule or measuring rod. When used in a discussion about the Bible, it refers to the list of writings that are regarded as inspired and authoritative for governing our faith. As we touched on in the lesson on "preservation," efforts were begun very early among the Hebrews to collect and preserve a body of authoritative sacred literature [Kiel, pp. 132-133]. It was customary for ancient civilizations to preserve their cultural and religious writings in temples; the Hebrews were not an exception to the custom. The First Century Jewish historian Josephus records, "Our forefathers took no less care about writing records...they committed that matter to their high priests and to their prophets...these records have been written all along down to our own times with the utmost accuracy." ["Against Apion," I.6]. When Moses had completed the Books of the Law, he handed them over to the Levites and Priests to place beside the Ark of the Covenant {Deuteronomy 31:9-13,24-26}. That we have here an authoritative body of literature can be seen in the fact that the written Law was to "serve as a witness" against the Israelites {Deuteronomy 31:19-27; see 4:2; 12:32}. We also saw that not only was the "rule" collected and preserved, it was also widely circulated among the people that they might know its precepts and abide by them {2Chronicles 17:7-9}. The king was to have his own copy of the Law {Deuteronomy 17:18-20}. The Law was frequently read to the people {Nehemiah 8:1-3;13-15}. The writings of the prophets were collected, given wide distribution, and read {Daniel 9:1-2}. By the time of Jesus, an authoritative body of sacred writings had been collected and identified as "Scripture." It could be appealed to as the final word in a discussion with the formula, "it is written" {Matthew 4:3-10}, or "have you not read" {Matthew 12:5; Mark 12:10}. Jesus chided the Sadducees for not understanding the Scriptures {Mark 12:24} and reminded the Pharisees that "Scripture cannot be broken" {John 10:35}. Thus Jesus positively asserted the authority of the Scriptures, but which writings constituted Scriptures? OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA AND EXTRA-BIBLICAL WRITINGS:Jews and Christians alike wrote many more books and letters than now appear in our Bibles. For example, within the Bible reference is made to "the Book of Jashar" {Joshua 10:13; 2Samuel 1:18}; the "Book of the Wars of the Lord" {Numbers 21:14}; the writings of Iddo {2Chronicles 9:29; 12:15; 13:22}; and a letter to the Laodiceans we apparently know nothing about {Colossians 4:16}. There are books not named in the Bible that some feel belong in the Bible. If you look in the Table of Contents of a Roman Catholic Bible, you will find listed after Nehemiah the books of Tobit and Judith, after Esther will be 1 and 2 Maccabees, both Esther and Daniel will contain additional paragraphs not to be found in Hebrew or Protestant Bibles, and there are other books. These are commonly called the Old Testament Apocrypha (meaning "hidden") by Protestant scholars or Deuterocanonical by Roman Catholic scholars. NEW TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA AND EXTRA-BIBLICAL WRITINGS:There is a book published by World Bible Publishers provocatively titled THE LOST BOOKS OF THE BIBLE AND THE FORGOTTEN BOOKS OF EDEN. In its introduction it erroneously claims it contains those works which were eliminated from the Scriptures by various church councils. As one scholar stated, "the church does not control the canon, the canon controls the church." [Lightfoot, pg. 87]. What the book in question actually contains is abridged works of the New Testament Apocrypha, such as the Gospel of James, some letters from Second through Fourth Century Christian Fathers, and some Jewish writings from the Second and First Centuries B.C. belonging to what has come to be called the Pseudepigrapha (meaning false writings). With all these books and letters in circulation, how was it that some came to be in our Bibles and others did not? Why do some of the books appear in Catholic Bibles but not in Protestant Bibles? How was it determined which books were inspired and belonged together and which did not? The answer to these questions is the story of the canon of Scripture. It is an important story to know for those who cherish and diligently study the Word of God. BIBLICAL GUIDELINES FOR CANONICITY: The Bible itself suggests certain guidelines for determining authenticity:
OLD TESTAMENT CANON:It has already been noted that since the time of Moses even down to Jesus, there was an authoritative body of writings called Scripture that was appealed to regularly with such expressions as "it is written." One pointed observation concerning this collection is that, "the distinctive feature of this collection was that all the writings within it were Holy Scripture, and all the writings outside it were not." [Bruce, pg. 88]. Yet which writings were outside the Old Testament canon at the time of Jesus? The writings collectively called Pseudepigrapha by modern scholars at no time approached canonical status. They were largely written in the first three centuries before Christ [Willis, pg. 43]. A time when it was generally recognized among the Israelites that the Spirit of prophecy had been taken from them {Zachariah 13:2-5; Micah 3:6-7; Song of the Three Youths 15; 1Maccabees 9:27; 14:41}. While the Pseudepigrapha is not and has not been accepted as Scripture, some of the Apocryphal works are considered canonical by the Roman Catholic church and certain Eastern Orthodox churches. Does the evidence support canonical status for the Apocrypha? No, for the following reasons:
In point of fact, "The attentive reader of the Apocrypha will be struck by the absence of the prophetic element...The introductory phrase, `thus says the LORD,' which occurs so frequently in the Old Testament, is conspicuous by its absence from the books of the Apocrypha." [Apocrypha, pg. xiv]. So the Apocrypha itself makes no claims to inspiration. Nor does it bear the marks of inspiration. It contains internal contradictions {2Maccabees 1:10-16; 9}. It contradicts Biblical statements and doctrines {Baruch 1:2 vs. Jeremiah 43:6-7; Wisdom 8:19-20 vs. Psalm 139:13-16 and Rom 9:11; Judith 9:2-6 vs. Genesis 34; 49:5-7.}. It contains obvious scientific errors {Tobit 6:1-17; Wisdom 7:1-2; 11:17}. It is known for its Historical error {Judith 2}. Further, Jesus didn't use the Apocrypha. In Jesus' day, there were essentially two versions of the Bible one could use--the Greek Septuagint or the Hebrew text. The Septuagint arranges the Old Testament books in the same order as in our English Bibles--Genesis-Malachi. The Hebrew Bible, however, is arranged differently. It begins with Genesis but ends with 2Chronicles! The Hebrew Bible is divided into three sections: the Torah (meaning "The Law"--Genesis-Deuteronomy); the Nevi'im ("The Prophets," beginning with Joshua-Kings, then Isaiah-Ezekiel, lastly the twelve minor prophets); and the Kethuvim ("The Writings," beginning with Psalms, ending with 2Chronicles with all the remainder in between. The Septuagint was not divided into these three sections. How does this prove Jesus didn't use the Apocrypha as authoritative Scripture? It can be shown from the New Testament that Jesus used the Hebrew Bible which positively did not contain the Apocrypha. In Luke 11:47-51, Jesus tells the Jews that the blood of the righteous, from Abel to Zechariah, will be on their heads. Abel is the first righteous person killed in the Bible {Genesis 4:8}; Zechariah is the last martyr named at the end of the Hebrew Bible {2Chronicles 24:19-21}. By going from Abel to Zechariah, Jesus was including the whole Hebrew Bible. In Luke 24:44-45 reference is made that Jesus taught them from Moses (Torah), the Prophets (Nevi'im), and the Psalms (Kethuvim), the tri-fold division of the Hebrew Old Testament. Neither Jesus, nor the New Testament writers quoted from the Apocrypha. They never alluded to or referred to the Apocrypha or Pseudepigrapha with the authoritative formula, "it is written." That does not mean these works contain no truth. They do quote Scripture after all. Sometimes truth can be found in uninspired or largely erroneous works. Paul, for example, quoted from the inspired book of Job {5:13} when he writes in 1Corinthians 3:19. Yet the person Paul quotes is Eliphaz, a man God chastises for not speaking what was right, overall, about God {Job 42:7}. In spite of Eliphaz' error, what he said of God in the instance Paul quoted was apparently true. Paul is also known to have quoted pagan poets when what they said was true {see Titus 1:12; Acts 17:28; 1Corinthians 15:33}. Citation of a source does not endorse the entire document or hold it up as inspired. It simply acknowledges truth where it is found. In like manner Jude is believed to have quoted a passage from the Pseudepigraphic works The Assumption of Moses and 1Enoch {Jude 9,14-15}. Yet neither writer ever called these works Scripture. Since the evidence is decidedly against the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha as being inspired Scripture, every follower of Christ should take the same view. "When one compares the books of the Apocrypha with the books of the Old Testament, the impartial reader must conclude that, as a whole, the true greatness of the canonical books is clearly apparent." [Metzger, pg. 172]. However, as Paul and Jude demonstrated, the Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha are not without value to the student of the Bible. They provide us with a social, historical, and cultural context or picture of what was going on in Palestine and in the philosophical life of the Jews in Jesus' day. They help us know what was going through the minds of the people Jesus lived with and preached to. NEW TESTAMENT CANON: Christians also had a canon of Scripture that eventually added 27 new books, our New Testament, to the Old Testament. Again, the writings of the New Testament were read and circulated widely {Acts 15:22-31; 16:4; Colossians 4:16; 1Thessalonians 5:27; James 1:1; 1Peter 1:1; Revelation 1:11}. In addition to criteria for canonical acceptance stated on page 16, there are two to three more criteria that were apparently exercised toward New Testament writings:
Very soon after the close of the Apostolic Era, various sects and even well-intentioned people began to write "scripture" under the names of New Testament characters to either promote a heretical new belief or fill in the "gaps" about the lives of Jesus and the Apostles. It was acknowledged that only the Apostles had the authority to "give orders" to the churches. About 110 A.D. a Christian father, Ignatius, wrote a letter to the Romans in which he said, "I do not give you orders like Peter and Paul: they were Apostles..." ["To the Romans," 4:3]. Therefore, these Apocryphal New Testament writings often assumed the name of an Apostle. But the Church detected and rejected these writings using the criteria previously stated. One early church leader, Serapion, "wrote to refute the false assertions of the `Gospel of Peter,'...`We brethren,' says he, `receive Peter and the other Apostles as Christ Himself. But those writings which falsely go under their name...we reject, and know also that we have not received such handed down to us.'" [Eusebius, pg. 231]. A church elder in Second Century Asia Minor wrote the "Acts of Paul." Its fanciful content (for example, it had Paul baptizing a lion) and recent composition quickly exposed it and the elder was removed from office [Ferguson, pp. 8,58ff, 170ff; Bruce, pg. 264n.]. These works contain historical and geographical errors, and betray "obvious dependence upon popular traditions of the after-life" ranging from Homer, Plato, and Vergil. [Metzger, pp. 250-251]. There is obvious scientific error: the weasel is said to conceive through its mouth {Epistle of Barnabus 10:7,8}. But perhaps the best way to see why the apocryphal literature was excluded from the New Testament is to read a few excerpts. And another time, when the Lord Jesus was coming home in the evening with Joseph, he met a boy who ran so hard against him that he threw him down. To whom the Lord Jesus said, `As thou hast thrown me down, so shall you fall and never rise.' And that moment the boy fell down and died. {1Infancy 19:22-23}. And when the Lady Mary had washed the swaddling clothes of the Lord Christ, and hung them out to dry upon the post, the boy possessed with the devil took down one of them and put it in his head. And presently the devils began to come out of his mouth in the shape of crows and serpents. {1Infancy 4:15-16}. One author has pointed out that virtually all the apocryphal literature betrays "a fascination for the far-out that is not found in their New Testament counterparts...They picture Jesus not as a boy, but as a Barnum." "There is no question of any one's having excluded them from the New Testament; they have done that for themselves." It is noted that these writings are the products of hyperactive imaginations [Connick, pg. 64]. Amen to that! Just as we can be assured that the text of the Bible has been preserved and handed down to us virtually unaltered, we can be assured that the books that are in our Bible are meant to be there. They've withstood the tests of inspiration, time, investigation, and use. Those books that are not in our Bibles are right where they belong.
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