Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 18
November 24, 1966
NUMBER 29, PAGE 9b

A Study Of The New Testament Canon (I)

Harry E. Ozment

As you noticed the title of this article, some of you might be thinking, "That's no Bible subject, Cruden's Concordance doesn't list it. Why is an article such as that in a religious journal? And, what's more, why should I need to study this subject? This is for fellas in college."

Let me assert, first of all, that this is very much a Bible subject! Although the word "canon" is not found in the Bible, a study of the same is germane to the unshakeable faith of a Christian. Now, let me be more specific. Many so-called "religious" books were written during the period of the Old and New Testaments. Many men aside from the writers of the books of our present Bible claimed inspiration; and, although they were not inspired, these men tricked many into believing that what they wrote was indeed from God. I can sympathize with the early Christians who were confronted withal of these different letters and books -- all claiming to be inspired! Of course, these Christians knew that the apostles were inspired, and that what they wrote was from God. But what about books like Luke and Acts -- how did they (as well as we) know that they were inspired, since they were not written by an apostle? How did they (as well as we) know that the First Epistle of Clement was not God's will? All of these questions, and others are answered in a study of what we call the "canon". The "canon" merely refers to those books which rightfully belong to the Bible. A study of this subject is simply how this canon was formed -- in other words, on what grounds were some writings accepted as Scripture and others rejected? You see, then, that these early Christians had to be on their guard as to what to accept and what not to accept as being from God. That's why Paul wrote in Gal. 1:8-9: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." Therefore, a study of the canon is a Bible subject.

Someone might say, "But this matter was resolved a long time ago. The Bible is already here. This subject doesn't concern me." Well, let's see if it doesn't. Has anyone ever come up to you and asked, "How do we know that the books of Mark, Luke, and Jude belong to the Bible? The writers were not apostles. How do we know that they were inspired?" How would you answer that question? Some might resort to the following: "The providence of God has seen to it that we have these New Testament books. God's providence would not let us study these books all these hundreds of years if they were uninspired, " However true this is, such an answer would not satisfy an unbelieving university professor, a babe in Christ who lacks understanding, or any other such person. To answer such a question properly, we would need at least some understanding and knowledge of how God's providence worked -- i.e., how the present Bible was formed -- and this involves a study of the canon. We should "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." (I Pet. 3:15)

In studying the canon, perhaps we should clarify a misconception that has possibly cropped up in the minds of a few readers -- there is a difference between a book's canonicity and its authority. Without authority, a book cannot have canonicity. When the inspired men of God's choosing wrote the New Testament books, those works had authority from that moment on. However, these same books did not possess canonicity until years later, when they were generally and universally accepted as divine because of their authority.

Through the early years of Christianity, there were, generally speaking, four "points of determination" which various churches and Christians used in deciding whether or not a book was canonical:

(1) Was the book written by an apostle?

(2) Did the sundry elements of the book compose great and outstanding spiritual value?

(3) Was the book generally regarded by all as possessing divine authority?

(4) Was there evidence, either internal or external, that the book was divinely inspired?

In future articles, we shall follow the formation of the canon and see how the different books were either rejected or accepted. This article was designed to show five things:

(1) A study of the canon is a Bible subject.

(2) A study of the canon is important to you and me.

(3) The canon refers to those books which rightfully belong to the Bible.

(4) There is a difference between a book's canonicity and its authority.

(5) There were several factors which Christians and churches used in determining a book's canonicity.

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