The Canon of Scripture

The English word "canon" comes from the Greek word κανών, which means "list," "rule," or "standard" (Klein 2017, 165). This Greek word is used in Philippians 3:16, where Paul tells the Philippians that we should all walk by the same rule, the underlying Greek word for "rule" being κανών. In the context of studying the Bible, the word "canon" refers to the authoritative list of books that make up the Holy Bible. For evangelical Christians, that list consists of 66 books from Genesis to Revelation. 

All the books which now make up the New Testament were written in the first century A.D. In the following centuries, these books were read, preached, and used by Christians in various parts of the world. However, other texts like the Epistle of Barnabas and the shepherd of Hermas also enjoyed relatively short-lived popularity in certain Christian circles (Klein 2017, 174). These texts would ultimately be discarded as non-canonical. Early Christians ultimately felt the need for an authoritative canon of scripture due to heretics like Marcion, who removed anything from the New Testament that did not fit his heretical theology (Ibid.). An authoritative list would prevent true scripture from being removed, and it would also prevent spurious scriptures from being added. 

There were a few basic criteria for a book to be considered for the New Testament canon. First, it needed to be tied to an apostle. All the books of the New Testament are either written by apostles, or by men who were closely connected to an apostle or with Jesus (Ibid., 179). Second, it needed to be in harmony with the rest of the New Testament with respect to its doctrine. Another way of saying this is that it should not contradict any other book of the New Testament (Ibid.). Third, it needed to have the widespread acceptance of Christians in general, as opposed to only having been accepted by a certain group or certain geography. Books that made it into the canon had stood the test of time and had been effectively used by Christians throughout the world. 

In my opinion, the most important criterion for canonicity is that a book be in harmony with the rest of the New Testament. If a book were to teach heretical doctrine, it could not possibly come from God, and it therefore should not be included. I think the least important criterion is that a book be tied to an apostle. The human author is not the most important consideration when determining canonicity. If we think about the Old Testament, there are very many books whose author is completely unknown. We know they are God's word because of their power and their consistency with the rest of scripture.

It is important to note that "[t]he process of canonization did not grant biblical books their authority" (Klein 2017, 180). The production of an authoritative list of books for the New Testament simply formalized something that was already de facto agreed upon by the majority of Christians. The books of the New Testament are authoritative because they stand out as being divinely inspired. Another way of saying this is that the scriptures are self-authenticating. Without self-attestation, something other than the scriptures would have to be our final authority. The scriptures show themselves to be the word of God by having a power that man-made books simply do not have. 

If someone claimed to me that the canon of scripture should still be open, I would point out that any new discoveries at this late date could not possibly be God's word. God promised repeatedly to preserve his word (e.g., Matt. 5:18, 24:35) so something that has been buried for centuries does not fit that bill. God clearly preserved the rest of his word over the past 2,000 years, so it would make no sense that he had allowed part of the Bible to perish for thousands of years, only to be rediscovered later. 

Bibliography 

Klein, William W., Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard, Jr. Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017.