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The Bible did not fall from heaven pre-preprinted. Neither is it made up of just one book but a collection of books. So where did we get the Bible in its present form? How can we be sure we can trust that every book is divinely inspired?
Since we are staking our salvation on the truth of God’s Word, we need to know exactly and infallibly which books contain divine truth. Otherwise we might look to the words of men for the Word of God. Thus we need an authoritative list (canon) of the inspired books of the Bible. “Canon” means a measuring standard. The canon of Scripture refers to a standard, or official list of inspired books that make up the Bible.
The Old Testament
The city of Alexandria in Egypt possessed the greatest library in the ancient world and during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 BC), a translation of the entire Hebrew Bible (Palestinian Canon) into Greek was begun by 70 or 72 Jewish scholars – according to tradition – six from each of the twelve tribes. From this Alexandrian translation (completed between 250-125 BC) we get the term “Septuagint”, Latin for 70 (LXX), the number of translators.
This Greek translation of the Old Testament was very popular because Greek was the common language of the entire Mediterranean world by the time of Christ. Hebrew was a dying language (Jews in Palestine usually spoke Aramaic), and so it is not surprising that the Septuagint was the translation used by Jesus and the New Testament writers. In fact, 300 quotations from the Old Testament found in the New Testament are from the Septuagint. Remember also that the entire New Testament was originally written in Greek.
The Septuagint contains 46 books. The Hebrew canon contains only 39. Why are there seven fewer books in the Hebrew canon?
The Hebrew canon was established by Jewish rabbis at Jamnia in Palestine about the year 100 AD, perhaps in reaction to the Christian Church, which was using the Alexandrian canon. The Jews at Jamnia rejected seven books from the Hebrew canon found in the Septuagint – Wisdom, Sirach, Judith, Baruch, Tobit, and 1 and 2 Maccabees (as well as portions of Daniel and Esther) – chiefly on the grounds that they could not find any Hebrew versions of these books which the Septuagint supposedly translated into Greek.
The Christian Church continued to use the Septuagint. When the Church officially decided which books comprise the canon of the Bible (Councils of Hippo in 393 D and Carthage in 397 AD), it approved the 46 books of the Alexandrian canon as the canon for the Old Testament. For 16 centuries the Alexandrian canon was a matter of uncontested faith. Each of the seven rejected books is quoted by the early Church Fathers as “Scripture” or as “inspired”, right along with the undisputed books.
The New Testament
The first word of the New Testament was written about 50 AD (1 Thess), the last word between 90-100 AD (Rev), for a total of 27 books. Who determined the New Testament canon of inspired books?
Various bishops developed lists of inspired books: Mileto, Bishop of Sardis, c 175 AD; St Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, 185 AD and Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, c 325 AD.
Pope Damasus in 382 AD, prompted by the Council of Rome, wrote a decree listing the present Old Testament and New Testament canon of 73 books.
The Council of Hippo of the Catholic Church (in North Africa) in 393 AD approved the present Old Testament and New Testament canon of 73 books.
The Council of Carthage of the Catholic Church (in North Africa) in 397 AD approved the same Old Testament and New Testament canon.
Pope St Innocent I (401-417) in 405 AD, approved the 73-book canon and closed the canon of the Bible.
The canon of the Bible was officially determined in the 4th century by Catholic councils and Catholic popes. Until the canon was decided, there was much debate. Some were of the opinion that certain canonical books - Hebrews, Jude, Revelation, 2 Peter - were not inspired, while others held that certain noncanonical books, Shepherd of Hermas, Gospels of Peter and Thomas, the letters of Barnabas and Clement, were inspired. The formal Church decision settled the matter for the next 1100 years.
Historically, the Catholic Church used her authority to determine which books belonged to the Bible, and to assure us that everything in the Bible is inspired. Apart from the Church, we simply have no way of knowing either truth.
Crucial points
1. Historically, the Bible is a Catholic book. The New Testament was written, copied, and collected by Catholic Christians. The official canon of the books of the Bible was authoritatively determined by the Catholic Church in the 4th century.
2. Logically, the Church with the authority to determine the infallible Word of God must have the infallible authority and guidance of the Holy Spirit. As we have seen, apart from the declarations of the Catholic Church, we have absolutely no guarantee that what is in the Bible is the genuine Word of God. To trust the Bible is to trust the authority of the Church which guarantees the Bible.
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