Today's post considers a subject that is vital in any discussion about the Bible - namely the issue of canonicity. Let's note two Biblical texts that set the tone for today's post. Proverbs 30:6 "Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar." Revelation 22:18 "I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book."
When we talk about the "canon of scripture", we're not talking about armaments used in physical warfare (i.e. "cannon"). Strictly speaking, the term "canon" comes from a word meaning "standard", "measuring rod" or "measuring stick". To say that the Bible is composed of "canonical writings" simply means that the 66 books and no other set constitute the "standard" or "measuring rod" of God's truth.
The practicality of the question of canon touches upon the daily Christian life and the life of the local church. If I do not know which books are to be believed, preached, and heeded as God's authoritative Divine revelation, living the Christian life or even proclaiming the Gospel will be jeopardized. Furthermore, Christians ought to know reasons how they can know that the books in our Bibles today are the right books, as well as knowing how they came to be revealed, inspired, recognized, used, and publicly endorsed as God's collection of authoritative Divine revelation.
People who tried to "add" to God's Word or replace it
The practicalities of the subject of the canon of Scripture have their historical illustrations in church history. As early as the days of the apostles, Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 of a group who were forging his letters:
"Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come."
Throughout the history of the church there have been groups inside the church, as well as outside, who attempted to "add" to the 27 books of the New Testament canon. One group, called the "Gnostics", lived and taught in the 2nd and 3rd centuries (100-200 years after Jesus and the Apostles). We won't go into all the details surrounding what the Gnostics taught but suffice it to say, they combined elements of pagan thought, Jewish mysticism, a smattering of Greek philosophy, and vestiges of Christianity in their worldview.
Awareness of the Gnostics' attempts to attack early Christianity and the New Testament Scriptures (as well as the Old Testament) is an important piece to the fascinating story behind the canon of scripture. To spread their heresies, the Gnostics used a method that was popular in the ancient world of attaching famous names to documents (called "pseudepigraphy).
Sometimes such a practice would reflect whatever theological portion of Scripture the writer relied in conveying their work (for example, the Old Testament Apocryphal letter of Baruch, which tried to reflect the canonical book of Jeremiah).
The Gnostics decided that in order to get their works to circulate, they would attach names of apostles or prophets to their writings and thus pass them off as genuine writings (books such as "The Gospel of Peter", "The Gospel of Thomas" and others).
The rise of Gnosticism forced the early church to publicly clarify what they had already understood among themselves regarding the revelation, inspiration, and authority of the books comprising the New Testament.
The truth about the development of the New Testament Canon
So, did the early church wait nearly 300 years to pick its own books for the New Testament to the exclusion of the Gnostic gospels? When we read history and the Bible, we discover that canonicity was not something that the church decided to make up to suit its own political interests. Norman Geisler, a late evangelical scholar wrote in his book (co-edited with William Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible):
Since the New Testament books were immediately recognized by God’s people within or shortly after the apostolic age, then from a historical standpoint, the early church was already using many of the Books of the Bible even before the apostles died out.
Inspiration determines canonicity. If a book was authoritative, it was so because God breathed it and made it so. How a book receives authority, then, is determined by God. How men recognize that authority is another matter altogether (see discussion in chap.13 ). As J. I. Packer notes, 'The Church no more gave us the New Testament canon than Sir Isaac Newton gave us the force of gravity. God gave us gravity, by His work of creation, and similarly He gave us the New Testament canon, by inspiring the individual books that make it up.' [1]
Since the New Testament books were immediately recognized by God’s people within or shortly after the apostolic age, then from a historical standpoint, the early church was already using many of the Books of the Bible even before the apostles died out.
More next time....
Endnotes:
[1] Geisler, N. L., & Nix, W. E. 1996, 1989. A General Introduction to the Bible. Includes a short-title checklist of English translations of the Bible
