MODULE 4 – THE CANON OF THE SCRIPTURES

Introduction:

Using the writers' own writing styles and personalities, God shows us who he is and what it's
like to know Him. There is one central message consistently carried by all 40 writers of the
Bible: God, who created us all, desires a relationship with us. He calls us to know him and trust
him.

The Bible not only inspires us, it explains life and God to
us. It does not answer all the questions we might have, but
enough of them. It shows us how to live with purpose and
compassion. How to relate to others. It encourages us to
rely on God for strength, direction, and enjoy his love for
us. The Bible also tells us how we can have eternal life.

Who were the authors of the Bible and when did they
write? The identity of a book's author can sometimes give
great insight into its meaning and intent. Some of the
books of the Bible have easily identifiable authors while
others remain a mystery to this very day.

Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Enumerate the writers of the Scriptures
2. Familiarize the writers and their occupation
3. Identify the backgrounds of each of the Books of the Scriptures

Definition of Key Terms: (Meriam Webster Dictionary)

TERM: DEFINITION:
CANON a. the books of the Bible;
b. a body of writings considered sacred or
authoritative
WRITERS/AUTHOR the writer of s literary work (such as a book)
OCCUPATION a. an activity which one engages;
b. the principal business of one’s life
BACKGROUND the circumstances or events antecedent to a
phenomenon or development

1
Discussion:
One of the terms used in describing the books that belong in Scripture is the word CANON.
The word comes from the Greek kanwn ; Hebrew qaneh ; Akkadian, qanu. Literally, it means:

a) a straight rod or bar;

b) a measuring rule as a ruler used by masons and carpenters; then
c) a rule or standard for testing straightness.

A canonical book is one that measures up to the standard of Holy Scripture. Thus, the canon
of Scripture refers to the books that are considered the authoritative Word of God.

The Canon consists of the 39 books of the Old Testament which form the Bible of Judaism,
while the Christian Bible includes those books and also the 27 books of the New Testament

Here are some important considerations for Canonicity:

1. Self-authentication.
It is essential to remember that the Bible is self-authenticating since its books
were breathed out by God (2 Tim. 3:16). 
The books were canonical the moment they were written.
Their canonicity was inherent within them, since they came from God
No Bible book became canonical by action of some church council.

2. Decisions of men.
Men and councils did have to consider which books should be recognized as part
of the canon.
There were some candidates that were not inspired. Some decisions and choices
had to be made, and God guided groups of people to make correct choices (not
without guidelines) and to collect the various writings into the canons of the Old and
New Testaments.

3. Debates over canonicity.

In the process of deciding and collecting, some disputes arose about some of the
books.
These debates in no way weaken the authenticity of the truly canonical books, nor
do they give status to those which were not inspired by God.

4. Completion of canon.
Since A.D. 397 the Christian church has considered the canon of the Bible to be
complete.
Since it is complete, it must be closed. Therefore, we cannot expect any more
books to be discovered or written that would open the canon again and add to its
sixty-six books.
The more recent books of the cults which are placed alongside the Bible are not
inspired and have no claim to be part of the canon of Scripture.

2
 The Old Testament Canon
Hebrew Scripture or the Old Testament of our Bible, relates God's Creation of the world and
his Word to Israel. God reveals his undying love for his creation mankind, in spite of man's sin
and disobedience, through the promise of a Redeemer.

The Old Testament is known as Torah or the Pentateuch which started out as stories (oracles)
passed from one generation to the next. The Jews had a clearly defined body of Scriptures that
was fixed early in the life of Israel.

The same books are there as in our Old Testament, but not in the same order.
THE LAW was the first five books, known as the Pentateuch, which
means “five rolls”—(parchment scrolls).

THE PROPHETS consisted of the Former Prophets (these included Joshua,

Judges, Samuel, and Kings) and the Latter Prophets
(Isaiah, Jeremiah which included

LAMENTATIONS Is grouped together with the 12 smaller prophetic books.

THE WRITINGS gathered up the rest.

The total amounted generally to 24 books because many books, such as 1 and 2
Samuel and Ezra and Nehemiah, were counted as one.

When was the canon of Old Testament settled?

The simple response is that if we accept the position that each of the
books was written at the time of its history—the first five at the time
of Moses, the psalms of David during his lifetime, and the prophets
written at the time they were given. Certainly, the Jews generally held
this to be true.
There is a lot of internal evidence that the books of the Old Testament
were written close to the time they record.

Here are some examples:

1. In 2 Chronicles 10:19, we have a record from the time of Rehoboam that “Israel has
been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.” Clearly, therefore, that must
have been recorded prior to 721 B.C.
2. The words of the prophets were written down in their own lifetime; Jeremiah had a
secretary called Baruch for this very purpose (Jeremiah 36:4).

3
 SAQ # 1 : Give at least one (1) evidence that the Old Testament was written during the
time that the situations actually happened.

The Apocrypha and the Septuagint

The Apocrypha -is 14 books, which were written sometime between the close of the Old
Testament (after 400 B.C.) and the beginning of the New.
-They were never considered as part of the Hebrew Scriptures, and the
Jews themselves clearly ruled them out.
Short Background:

The Apocrypha generally consists of 14 booklets of which 1 and 2 Maccabees and 1 Esdras are the
main documents and form the bulk of the apocryphal writings. First Maccabees is an historical account
of the struggle of the Maccabee family and their followers for Jewish independence from 167 to 134 BC.
Second Maccabees covers the same ground but dramatizes the accounts and makes moral and
doctrinal observations. Other books are Tobit, Judith, Baruch, Ecclesiasticus, and The Wisdom of
Solomon. Since neither Jesus nor the apostles make any reference to the apocryphal books, most
Christians have regarded their authority as secondary to that of the 39 books of the Old Testament.

The Septuagint -(meaning 70) is a translation of the Old Testament into Greek during
the third century B.C. (70 men involved in the translation)
-It was the Greek Septuagint that the disciples of Jesus frequently used
since Greek was the common language of the day.
Short Background:

The Septuagint is the Old Greek version of the Bible. It includes translations of all the books found in
the Hebrew (Old Testament) canon, and as such it is the first known Bible translation. It also includes
the so-called Apocryphal or deuterocanonical books, some translated from Hebrew originals and others
originally composed in Greek.

It's called the Septuagint after the Latin word for "seventy" (septuaginta). According to an old tradition
(recounted in the Letter of Aristeas), the first five books of the Bible, known as the Pentateuch, were
translated into Greek by about seventy elders sent to Egypt by the high priest Eleazar in Jerusalem at
the request of King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Alexandria, who wanted to add the Jewish Scriptures to
his library. Although the story originally applied only to the Pentateuch, the tradition expanded to include
the other books as well. In time, the entire Greek version came to be known as the Septuagint, or the
version of "the Seventy," and is abbreviated with the Roman numeral LXX (70).

SAQ # 2 : If you were one of the people who are authorized and chosen to canonized
the Bible, will you approve the addition of the Apocrypha in the Bible? Why
or why not?

4
 The New Testament Canon

Regional church councils made declarations about the canon (Laodicea, Hippo, Carthage).
But these regional councils did not just “pick” books they happened to like, but affirmed the
books they believed had functioned as foundational documents for the Christian faith. These
councils were declaring the way things had been, not the way they wanted them to be. The
shape of our New Testament canon was determined by a broad and ancient consensus.
Facts about New Testament Canonization:
There were only ever the four Gospels used by the churches for the life and ministry of
Jesus. Other pseudo-gospels were written but these were immediately rejected by the
churches across the empire as spurious.
The Acts of the Apostles and 13 letters of Paul were all accepted without question or
hesitation from the earliest records.
Apart from James, Jude, 2 and 3 John, 2 Peter, Hebrews, and Revelation, all other New
Testament books had been universally accepted by A.D. 180. Only a few churches
hesitated over these seven.
Clement of Rome quoted from or referred to more than half the New Testament and
claimed that Paul wrote “in the Spirit” and that his letters were “Scriptures.”
Polycarp, who was martyred in A.D. 155, quoted from 16 NT books and referred to them
as “Sacred Scriptures.”
Irenaeus of Lyons, around A.D. 180 quoted over 1,000 passages from all but four or
five New Testament books, and called them “the Scriptures” given by the Holy Spirit.
Tertullian of Carthage, (A.D. 200) used almost all the NT books. They were equated
with the Old Testament, and he referred to “the majesty of our Scriptures.”
By A.D. 240, Origen of Alexandria was using all our 27 books, and only those, as
Scripture alongside the Old Testament books.

SAQ # 3 : Can you think of one (1) personal good reason when choosing what book/s
to be added on the Bible?

IS THE BIBLE REALLY FINISHED?

Once we have confidence that the books of the Bible really are what God intended to be
included, the question arises – do we have them all? We may be correct in discovering the
writings that belong in the canon of Scripture, but did we discover it completely?
We believe yes, and here’s why:

1. The providence of God: It seems highly unlikely that God would have inspired a book
that He did not preserve.

5
 2. Theologically the canon is closed: God used to speak through the prophets of the
Old Testament, but in the ‘last days’ he spoke through Christ (Hebrews 1:1) and the
apostles whom He empowered. But because the apostolic age ended with the death of
the apostles, it may be concluded that God’s ‘last day’ revelation is complete.

3. Historically the canon is closed: The immediate successors that followed the
apostles did not claim any new revelation from God nor did they display any
confirmatory signs such as the apostles and prophets did.

4. Principle taken from the Jewish concept of the Old Testament canon: The Jews
believed that if a writing came after the time period of the Old Testament prophets, it
could not be scripture because scripture was written by prophets. (This same principle
can be applied to all Scripture and relates to the fact that the canon is theologically
closed.)

The canon of Scripture gives us confidence that the Bible we study today is truly the inspired
and complete Word of God. It is the “rule of faith” by which we can live our lives, and it has
been preserved by God’s grace so that we have all we need to live life with Him.

Summary:
Canonization describes the process by which the community of God's people accept certain
scriptures as divinely inspired and authoritative. Note three special aspects of this process:

• Progressive collection of authoritative scriptures

• Written by recognized anointed men of God
such as prophets and apostles.
• Recognized and accepted as authoritative by
the community of God's people

We need to remind ourselves that no one person or council made a book 'scripture.' God's
church through a process over time came to a common recognition which books were indeed
inspired.

Reference:
http://images.acswebnetworks.com/1/2798/HowtheBiblecametobeCanonized004.pdf

Evaluation:
Instruction: Enumerate what is being asked in the following:
1-4. Enumerate the four important considerations for canonicity.
5-8. List the four proofs why we believed that the Bible is finished.
9-10. Give the Two Divisions of the Bible.