The Doctrine of Scripture Series: Jesus In All 66 Books Of The Bible - How He Is Personified In Job Through Song of Solomon

Introduction:

    Over the last several posts, we have explored how we see Jesus Christ illustrated, mentioned, or appearing in the 66 books of the Bible. We noted how He is patterned in the Torah or Books of the Law. We also observed how He was anticipated in the historical books (Joshua through Esther). For those who want to review these previous posts, you may click on the following links:

1. To see Jesus patterned in the Books of the Law, click here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/01/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series-jesus.html.

2. To see Jesus anticipated in the historical books of the Old Testament, click here for how we see Him in Joshua to 2 Chronicles http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/01/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series-jesus_7.html. To note how we see Jesus in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, readers may click on that link here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/01/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series-jesus_13.html.

    In today's post we will explore what are referred to as "the poetic books" or "wisdom books". In the Hebrew Bible, these five books (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon) appear in a slightly different ordering (Psalms, Job, Proverbs), with Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs placed also in a different ordering with other canonical books of the Old Testament that the Jews call "The Writings" (or "Ketiviim").

Different names for the same five books

    It is worth understanding why Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon are referred to, as a collection, by different names. Most today refer to these five as "poetic books", due to their high content of poetry. Hebrew poetry, and poetry in the ancient world, differed from what we English readers may think of as poetry. 

    Hebrew poetry wasn't so much about rhyming words as it was in placing certain ideas in parallel lines to one another. Such "parallelism" served to either reinforce an idea, called synonymous parallelism (Psalm 23:1-2) or to contrast to ideas, referred to as antithetical parallelism (compare Ecclesiastes 3, with its contrasting ideas). Poetry in the Old Testament could also include painting word pictures (Isaiah 5), use of metaphor (implied comparison, Psalm 23), or speeches of judgment or blessing utilizing various figures of speech (the nine speeches given by "Job's friends" are put into this poetic form, mostly accusastory speeches). The purpose of Hebrew Poetry in the Old Testament was to evoke the imagination of the listener to connect with the truth of the text.
    
As for referring to Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon as "wisdom books", this designation refers to how wisdom was understood by the ancient Jews. "Wisdom" or "Chachma" (the "ch's" pronounced like "k's:) had to do with the skill of godly living or carrying out life as one applied God's truth to everyday situations. 

    In the wisdom literature, the emphasis tends to be more on the practical rather than the philosophical. With that said, there is no denying that books such as Ecclesiastes do indeed handle certain themes one would encounter in asking the "big questions of life", particular the area of life's meaning. Job tackles the problem of evil and God's Sovereignty. At times, the various Psalms will explore how sometimes the godly life is fraught with hardship (see Psalm 73). Still, even in probing such big topics often encountered in philosophical circles, the wisdom literature always drives at taking what is learned and applying it in life, to faith, and to relationships.

    Then as a final introductory note on these books, we come of course to that title of "writings" or "ketiviim" given by Jews as they recognized the inspired, canonical Old Testament in its Hebrew and Aramaic form. Jesus taught that He was mentioned in Old Testament through what He termed "The Law, the Prophets, and the Writings" (Luke 24:44). The Jews had Hebrew names for each division. The Law was the "Torah", meaning "that which guides, teaches". Then, they spoke of the prophets or "Neviim", using the Hebrew term for "prophet", ordering this section of the Hebrew Bible as "former prophets" (Joshua-Nehemiah) and "latter prophets" (Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and then the minor prophets, or what they called "the twelve". 

    The third section, "the writings" or "ketiviim", began with Psalms, Job, and Proverbs. Then would follow Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, corresponding to those books of the writings that referenced King David or his son Solomon. The next part of the writings, following Ecclesiastes, are read in Jewish festivals, are called "The Megilloth", meaning "scrolls" - namely Lamentations, Esther (the other aforemention books, Ruth, Lamentations, and Esther, are often put in along with Lamentations and Esther as part of the festival readings). Then rounding out the list of "the writings" are Daniel, 1 and 2 Chronicles.

    Whenever you consider how Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs are ordered in our English Bibles, they personify the Lord Jesus in the three titles we explored. He is personified as our Wisdom from above (compare 1 Corinthians 1:30-31), who came as the way, the truth, and the life for obtaining eternal life by faith and living the Christian life by His strength. He is also personified in the poetic content of these five books to bring to our attention the reality of His personality as foreshadowed, speaking, and acting in the history of his people and the future to come. Lastly, He is the fulfillment of these five as "writings", as "the Word", since He Himself is unfolded in every book of the Bible. What follows below is a quick summary of how we find Jesus in these poetic books.

Job = Jesus our man of sorrow.

    As we arrive at this third section of the Old Testament, we find further pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Job, we find Job as a man acquainted with sorrows and heavy with grief. At one point, Job pleads in Job 9 for an intercessor between himself and God. For Job, I find Jesus our sufferer, since He too is described in Isaiah 53 as acquainted with sorrows.

Psalms = Jesus our praise.

    Psalms is composed in five installments or "books", cycling through the process of God's promise to sustain his people, restore Israel, and preserve His promises to David. Book one of Psalm is composed of Psalms 1-41, all written by David as he was getting established as King over Jerusalem. Book 2 of Psalms covers Psalm 42-72, detailing the times in David's reign when he would triumph, experience betrayal, and at times fail. Now of course, Jesus never failed at anything, however, like David, He did experience betrayal by his friends, attacks from his enemies, and ultimate triumph by achieving salvation for our sakes. In Book 3 of Psalms, Psalm 73-89, we find the David throne seen towards the end and after David's reign. Would the throne of David persist? Would God keep His promises to David and his descendants which He made in 2 Samuel 7:13-16? Jesus of course came as the final end and fulfillment of the Davidic line, coming as The Son of David to inaugurate his reign in heaven upon His ascension and completing the promises to David upon His soon return to earth.

    Books 4 and 5 of Psalms (Psalm 90-106 and 107-150) were mainly written in the time of Israel's remaining history in the Old Testament (Psalm 90 being composed by Moses as the exception). Here we see how God's people are portrayed in poetic form, with God promising to walk with them and restore them. Jesus came as the Savior and sustainer of His people. This is why Jesus is the praise of the entire Psalter. Finally, many, many Psalms are quoted in the New Testament as pointing to Jesus (Psalm 2; Psalm 16; Psalm 110, just to name a few.

Proverbs = Jesus our wisdom.

    When we arrive at Proverbs, here we find wisdom for living the godly life before the presence of the Lord. Wisdom is that skill to live for God in daily life. I find here that Jesus Christ is our wisdom, as stated plainly in 1 Corinthians 1:30.

Ecclesiastes = Jesus, the meaning of life.

    The general author of most of the Proverbs (Solomon), is the same author of Ecclesiastes. Proverbs is written by Solomon, advising his son, or what we could say from the stand point of middle age. Ecclesiastes represents a Solomon who is near the end of his life - full of regret. Whenever you read Solomon's life in 2 Kings, you find the tragedy of a man who started well for God, compromised, and nearly lost his soul. Only the preserving grace of God saved Solomon. It is here I find Jesus as the one who provides meaning, since He Himself is the meaning of life. Solomon repeatedly sought for meaning, crying out the refrain: "meaningless, meaningless". It is only that the end of the book that we find the source of meaning - God Himself.

Song of Solomon = Jesus, love of my soul

    Song of Solomon is literally love poetry between a husband and his wife. It begins with a young Solomon in love with perhaps his original wife. Psalm 45 aids greatly in interpreting this book, since there we see a young Solomon, presumably at the beginning of his reign as king in Israel and on his wedding day. Remarkably, Psalm 45 is quoted in Hebrews 1 as referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. As you read Song of Solomon, you find Solomon and his soon-to-be-wife pining for one another. We read in Ephesians 5:22-33 "husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church". Christ is the lover of His people, and calls us to love Him.

Closing thoughts:

    In the next post, we will see how we find Jesus in the prophetic books of Isaiah to Malachi.

The Doctrine Of Scripture Series: Jesus In All 66 Books Of The Bible - Faithful, The Rebuilder, The Preserver (Ezra-Esther)

Introduction:

    As we continue in our journey through seeing Jesus in the 66 books of the Bible, let us first review where we have journeyed. In the Books of the Law, we see Jesus Christ patterned. As we saw in Genesis through Deuteronomy, Jesus is found in the following patterns.

1. In Genesis, He is my Creator and Sustainer.

2. In Exodus, Jesus is my Redeemer, as seen 

    in the patterns of the Exodus and 

    Tabernacle.

3. In Leviticus, Jesus is my High Priest, as 

   patterned in the Levitical preisthood.

4. In Numbers, Jesus is that Great Shepherd 

   that leads His people through the dry 

   times.

5. In Deuteronomy, Jesus is the source of
    life, physically and spiritually.

You can read the post associated with Jesus in the Books of the Law here: http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/01/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series-jesus.html.

    We then witnessed how Jesus Christ was anticipated in the historical books, looking last post at Joshua through 2 Chronicles.

1. In Joshua, Jesus is the Captain of my 

   salvation.

2. In Judges, He is the deliverer of my soul.

3. In Ruth, Jesus is anticipated as that 

   kinsmen-redeemer who took on my debts 

   and liabilities so I could be espoused to     

   Him, being credited with His riches and 

   benefits.

4. In 1 and 2 Samuel, we saw Jesus
anticipated as the King of Kings. We also
observed by the contrasts of King Saul in
1 Samuel and King David in 2 Samuel the
foreshadowing of the original Adam and
second Adam. Saul failed like first Adam.
David would be a man after God's own
heart, forecasting Jesus (the "seed of
David", Romans 1:1-3) who would come to
be the "Second Adam" (Romans 5:12-21).

5. In 1 and 2 Kings, we saw Jesus as our 

   Sovereign, exercising Providence in the    

    course of the kinglines of the Northern 

    and Southern Kingdoms of Israel and 

    Judah respectively.

6. In 1 &2 Chronicles, we identified the same 

    theme of "Sovereign Lord" we saw in the 

    books of Kings. The books of Chronicles 

    cover from the beginning of creation to 

    the particular history of the Southern 

    Kingdom of Judah. This anticipated the 

    bloodline that would bring about the Lord 

   Jesus' humanity, stretching from Adam to 

    Noah to Abraham to David to Jesus (see 

    Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3).

Readers may review the post associated with our observations about Jesus in Joshua through 2 Chronicles here: http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/01/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series-jesus_7.html

    In today's post, we will observe Jesus in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

Ezra = Jesus is faithful

    Ezra depicts for us the first two returns of the Jewish people of Judah from their seventy year sojourn in Babylon. In reality, it is likely Ezra himself compiled 1 & 2 Chronicles, with Ezra and Nehemiah being the sequels. Ezra and Nehemiah operate in relationship to 1 & 2 Chronicles like Luke's Gospel in the New Testament, providing "volume one" and the follow up sequel of the book of Acts supplying "volume 2". The book of Ezra is divisible into two halves, with each providing an anticipation of Jesus Christ as our Faithful One.

    Ezra 1-6 captures how the first group of Jews returned from their seventy year exile in Babylon under the leadership of Zerubabbel. Zerubbabel was a direct descendant of the Davidic bloodline, being a legal heir to the throne of Jerusalem. The prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah would feature God restablishing the continuance of David's throne through Zerubbabel (see especially Haggai 2:23). 

    Zerubbabel was faithful in the discharge of his duties. Those duties included governing the people as they heeded the prophetic calls from Haggai and Zechariah to begin rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. It proved difficult. Zerubbabel needed encouragement, but he saw them through the first twenty years after their return to a ruined city. Jesus Christ presides over His church. He is called "Faithful and True"in Revelation 19:11.

    Ezra 7-10 records the second group of Jewish returnees from Babylon, some 57 years later, under the leadership of the faithful scribe and priest called "Ezra". Ezra 7:10 records the following description about Ezra:

"For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel."

    Ezra would come to be the first great expositor of God's Word. His diligence to study the Scriptures and to expound them give us a pattern for Biblical preaching. Jewish history would record how Ezra established the so-called "great Synagogue", the precursor to the Jewish Synagogues that would dot the Mediterranean world in the centuries between the Old and New Testaments. 

    We know the Lord Jesus Christ came to preach the Scriptures and to fulfill them. The faithfulness of Jesus going to the cross and rising from the dead would result in the sending of the Holy Spirit and the formation of the church. No doubt, Ezra's activities were used by God to point the way to Jesus Christ in later centuries.

Nehemiah = Jesus is the rebuilder of lives.

    Nehemiah gives us the details of the third and final return of the Jews back to Jerusalem. Between the end of the Book of Ezra to Nehemiah's actions would span a twelve-year gap. It was likely that Nehemiah and Ezra's efforts overlapped. 

    Under the first return led by Zerubbabel in 536 b.c., the people came to rebuild the temple. During the second return under Ezra in 458 b.c., the people needed to rebuild their spiritual lives and finish the temple. In the book of Nehemiah (444-432 b.c.), we find the people rebuilding the wall and needing to reinforce the spiritual ground lost in the course of time.

    Walls provided protection and stability for ancient cities. As you read the book of Nehemiah, you find Nehemiah's faith, prayer-life, and leadership used by God to finish the rebuilding of the city walls in less than two months. The Book of Nehemiah provides a wonderful picture of how Jesus Christ rebuilds what the enemy had torn asunder. Jesus Christ is the Author and Finished of faith. It is He who teaches us that His project of sanctification is meant to rebuild what the enemy tore apart, thus making us into a people of God. As Nehemiah 8:10 reminds us: "the joy of the Lord is my strength".

Esther = Jesus our Preserver

    Esther was used by God to save her people from destruction. Although Esther does not directly contain the name of God or Yahweh, it nonetheless portrays His providential actions in undoing the wicked schemes of the wicked Haman. Hebrew scholarship has identified a potential acrostic in the Hebrew text of Esther that hints at the name of the Lord. Although He is hidden in Esther, God is nonetheless guiding the scenes by His Providence. 

    The setting of Esther occurs in the days following the Babylonian empire. The Persians are in power as the world's leading empire. God had his hand on His people. We read in Esther 7:3 the following actions of Esther on behalf of her people:

"Then Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me as my petition, and my people as my request."

    Queen Esther risked her life. Her entry into the King's court without announcement was grounds for execution, since Persian law forbade anyone from entering before the king without invitation. Nevertheless, Esther came before King Ahasuerus. He extended his scepter toward her for her to touch, indicating He found her favorable in His sight. She pleaded for her people. Haman was condemned. The Jewish people were saved.

    Truly the Lord Jesus Christ undergirds the believer in seasons where it seems He is absent. He preserves the believer in their faith, interceding in the heavenly realms (Hebrews 7:24-25). Jesus is the Mediator and Intercessor for His people. He is ever acceptable before the Father. As man, the Lord Jesus Christ lived a sinless life and earned by His life, death, and resurrection the salvation which the sinner must receive by grace through faith. As eternal God, Jesus the Son has ever been the Beloved One, ever pleasing in the Father's sight, with Whom He, the Son, and the Holy Spirit share in that blessed union as the One Triune God. As eternal God and man, Jesus is the Word made flesh, peerless and alone qualified to be our Advocate (John 1:14; 1 John 2:1-2). 

    

    Just as Esther pled for her people before the King, Christ ever intercedes for His people before the Father. He is the One who preserves His people.

Closing thought:

    In our next post, we will explore how Jesus Christ is personified in the poetical books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

The Doctrine of Scripture Series: Jesus In The 66 Books of the Bible - Joshua through 2 Chronicles

Introduction:

    In our last post here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/01/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series-jesus.html, we began to consider how we find Jesus in the sixty-six books of the Bible. We looked at the first five books, assigning them the overall purpose of showing us the pattern of Christ. In our explorations of Genesis through Deuteronomy, we noted the following:

1. In Genesis, we see Jesus as the Creator       

   and Sustainer.

2. In Exodus, He is the Redeemer.

3. In Leviticus, He is foreshadowed as our 

    High Priest.

4. In Numbers, we Find Him as our Guiding 

    Shepherd.

5. In Deuteronomy, we discover Jesus as the 

    life giver.

    It is truly exciting when exploring Christology (the study of Jesus Christ in the Bible, including His Person, natures, work and offices). It is the preincarnate Christ whom Adam and Eve would come to know as that voice and Christophany in the Garden. It was He who would appear to Abram in Ur of the Chaldees (see Acts 7:3). He was that mysterious man that wrestled Jacob in Genesis 32 ( compare Hosea 12:4). 

    The patterns revealed by the Books of the Law would persist. Genesis 22 would give us a picture of the Son and the Father enacting the Son going to the cross, as seen with Abraham's offering of Isaac. Joseph in Genesis 37-50 gives us the fullest pattern of Christ in the life of Joseph. We see in Exodus the pillar of cloud by day and the fire by night. The God who appeared on the mountain to Moses (perhaps a Theophany of the Father) is by nature the Redeeming God that guided the people of God day and night in a Christophany pattern. God's revelation of the Tabernacle in Exodus, which we didn't even mention, has dozens of foreshadowings of Christ's person and work. 

    Then in Leviticus we see not only the priestly ministries of Aaron and his sons, but the sacrifices presenting a pattern of Jesus as our substitutionary atonement. Numbers, which we noted was titled in the Hebrew "in the desert", gives us a pattern of Christ as that Shepherd. One pattern we note in Numbers is the number forty. It was forty years of time in which the Jews wandered in that dry land. The number "forty" would signify a time of testing or a period for growth and development. Moses himself had three such forty year periods in his life. Jesus of course would be tempted of the Devil in the wilderness for forty days. Then we saw Deuteronomy, and how in that book, Jesus is that life giver, both physically and spiritually.

    In today's post we want to now look at what are called the "historical books". These books stretch from the conquest of Canaan in 1400 b.c. to the time of Queen Esther in 380 b.c. History truly is "His-story", meaning that God's providence guides the wills of men, the course of nations, the physical creation, and flow of time in bringing forth His glorious purposes. It is for this reason I assigned the general theme of the historical books as anticipating the Lord Jesus Christ. Due to the size of this section of the Old Testament, today's post will look at how we see Jesus from Joshua to 2 Chronicles.

The Historical Books (Joshua-Esther) = Christ is Anticipated.

Joshua = Jesus, the Captain of Salvation.

    We find that the author of this sixth book of the Bible, Joshua, has the same meaning in his name as Jesus. Joshua and Jesus both mean "Jehovah" or "Yahweh is salvation". Joshua would lead God's people through a 13 year conquest of the Canaanite nations to lay claim on the promised land pledged by God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Book of Joshua historically speaks of the settling of God's people into their land. Exodus portrays the Christian's salvation, with Leviticus and Numbers giving ussome illustrations of what can be the fits and starts that come with the early days of Christian growth.

    When we come to Hebrews 3-4, we dicsover that Joshua's spiritual emphasis portrays the Christian taking responsibility and living out the Christian life and fighting the good fight of faith. The Christian life is not only about my position before God in saving faith, but also about me taking possession of the "land" of my Christian walk in continuing faith. 

    Certainly, Joshua shows how God would initially fulfill the land grant He pledged to Abraham, with its full realization yet to be accomplished in Christ's future earthly reign. Jesus Christ is that Captain of the Lord of hosts met by Joshua in Joshua 5. He leads God's people in their pilgrimage through this world to their heavenly home (see 1 Peter 2:9-12).

Judges = Jesus is our Deliverer.

    If the book of Joshua pictures the Christian life lived out before God in obedience and dependance, then Judges gives the mirror opposite of what occurs when the Christian backslides. We encounter a specially called people designated "judges", tasked by God to deliver the Jewish people from nations that subjugated them. Throughout Judges, we find the refrain: "the people did what was pleasing in their eyes". Despite the unfaithfulness of the nation of Israel, God kept His Word. The deliverance wrought by God through the imperfect judges points ahead to the Perfect Deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ruth = Jesus is our Kinsmen Redeemer

    Ruth would become the maternal ancestor of King David, who in turn would figure prominently in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ (see Matthew 1:1-17). Ruth's story centers around God's providential leading of her (a Moabitess) to become the wife of Boaz (a prominent Jewish man and ancestor of King David). The pivot point of the plot of Ruth would involve a certain law that required a near relative or "kinsman" to marry a woman whose husband had died to carry on the family bloodline. 

    The nearest relative of Ruth's first husband refused to perform his role, thus leaving Boaz as the next kinsmen. So much could be said, but suffice it to say, Ruth pictures the bride that none wanted, an outsider. Boaz portrays to us a kinsmen willing to redeem this unwanted bride. Boaz would take on Ruth's debts, the scorn she would undoubtedly had retained as a Moabitess, and the reputation of having been an outsider. Boaz redeemed Ruth for His own, much as Christ would redeem His church for His own - the Kinsmen Redeemer.

1 & 2 Samuel = Jesus our King

    As we move onward through the historical books, we come to meet two important kings: Saul in 1 Samuel and David in 2 Samuel. David is God's choice man, a man afater God's own heart. Saul and David are contrasts of one another, setting up a wonderful example of how the historical books anticipated Christ. Saul in many respects was like the first Adam, failing in his duties before God who had called him. 

    What was needed as a better King, a "second Adam-like figure". God told Samuel the prophet that in rejecting Saul, he had chosen David (see 1 Samuel 15-16). The covenant God would make later with David in 2 Samuel 7:13-16 would provide a key covenant promising the eternal kingship and throne for the Lord Jesus Christ (see also Psalm 110).

1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles = Jesus our Sovereign Lord.

    Although these four books may seem upon first glance to cover the same ground, they present the history of God's people in different respects. 1 & 2 Kings gives the sequel of what occured following the death of David. Solomon his son would become the final king of the United Kingdom. Eventually, Israel would divide into two kingdoms (Israel to the North, Judah to the South). By the time it was all said and done, each kingdom would experience 20 kings, mostly evil, and with only the Southern Kingdom of Judah having a handful of Godly Kings. By 722 b.c. the Northern Kingdom would be sacked by the Assyrians. Later, in 586 b.c., the forces of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon would destroy Jersualem in Judah and carry of the people to exile.

    It is in 1 & 2 Chronicles that we find the entire history of mankind rehearsed, with the narrative quickly getting us to King David and what would follow in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. I define these four books as having to do with the Sovereignty of Christ, since the winding paths of God's Providence guided the bloodline of the kings of Judah, as well as the destinies of the Jews who went into exile, to become the cradle that would bring about the humanity of our Lord through the virgin Mary. In the Hebrew Bible, 1 and 2 Chronicles are the final books. They help us to see how all of history flows in one ultimate direction towards what would be the incarnation and arrival of the Son of God into our world.

More next time....

The Doctrine of Scripture Series: Marks Of Divine Inspiration For The Old And New Testament Canons

Introduction:

    As we have taken time to survey the doctrine of Scripture, we have done so in what I would call three stages. The first few posts handled introducing the subject as it pertains to the characteristics of Scripture itself and explaining the doctrine of inspiration. 

    Then, in “stage two” of this series, we investigated the Old Testament canon. We explored how it was the early Jews and Christians who came to recognize the 39 books of the Old Testament as Divinely inspired. Along the way, we explored the so-called “Apocryphal books”, evaluating whether or not they belong in the Old Testament canon, having concluded that they did not. 

    The third stage of this series has explored the New Testament canon. So far, we have noted the formation and collection of the New Testament books. Thus far have we traveled in our journey. For interested readers, I have preached a series of messages on Sunday nights dealing with the above topics, which readers can access at our church's website here https://www.youtube.com/@NewHopeBaptistChurchWatertown.

    In this post I want us to look at what Bible scholars refer to as "marks of Divine inspiration" or what others sometimes refer to as "tests for Divine inspiration". When one reads the early church fathers, such as Irenaeus of Lyons work "Against Heresies" (2nd century) or Eusebius' work "Ecclesiastical History" (early 4th century), certain criteria are inferred from how the early Christians recognized, received, and began to use the books of the New Testament. Similarly, when one reads through Jewish authors such as Philo of Alexandria, or Josephus, or the writings of the various Rabbinical schools (found in such volumes as "The Talmud"), similar sorts of criteria are noticed.  In my own study over the years, scholarship on canonicity done by such men as Norman Geisler, Gleason Archer, Michael Kruger, R.C. Sproul, Ben Witherington III, and David Alan Black have sharpened my thinking. What I share below are gleanings on such "marks of Divine inspiration" that I have discovered over the years, notwithstanding of course the gifted insights of Godly individuals such as those I just mentioned.

1. Why it is important to know which books are the Word of God.

    This issue of knowing which books are inspired or “canonical” has never lost its importance. Paul already had to deal with false teachers posing with their false documents claiming Divine authority. We read in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 “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.”

    Luke, Paul’s aide in the ministry, wrote his Gospel to ensure the accuracy of the Gospel being preached throughout the Mediterranean world. He writes in Luke 1:1-4

“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; 4 so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”

    Paul especially would urge his readers to have what he wrote read in the churches, that is, preached and taught, as we see in 1 Thessalonians 5:27 "I adjure you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brethren." Having the right books is vital to establishing sound churches. One more example that demonstrates the importance of having the right books involves Peter’s words in 2 Peter 3:16-18

"as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."

    The New Testament evidence overwhelmingly shows us the importance of having the right books. I could also take the time to rehearse how the early church in the centuries after the Apostles worked through affirming and defending the New Testament canon. 

2. How we know that the books we have are the Word of God.

    Since Christianity proceeds on the basis of God’s Word, knowing which books are the Word of God is of utmost practical, as well as theological importance. Below are a series of “tests” that theologians have drawn from reading the early church father’s writings about the early church, their practices, and what they had to say about the Scriptures.

A. Old Testament marks of Divine inspiration.

    We must realize that it was the inspired books as God’s canon that formed God’s people, rather than God’s people formulating the inspired books that belonged to the canon. As each Old Testament book was composed, its recognition as inspired (and thus canonical) was immediate. Just as Isaac Newton came to recognize the law of gravity already present in creation, God’s people would recognize certain books already revealed by their Creator. So what principles were used? Let me mention two principles for how God’s people recognized the inspired books of the Old Testament Canon from insights gained in reading Normal Geisler’s “A General Introduction to the Bible” and Gleason Archer’s “A Survey of the Old Testament”.

*Miraculous Test. Was the writer confirmed by acts of God? See Exod. 4:1-9; Num. 16-17;
1 Kings 18; Mark 2; Acts 2:22; Heb. 2:4.

*Salvation Test. Can the book bring someone to saving faith? See Is. 55:11; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Pet. 1:23

    The Canon’s use would be used of God to call the people of God back to Himself. 2 Kings 22:9-11 “Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and said, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” 10 Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. 11 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.“

B. New Testament marks of Divine inspiration.

    The “tests” we just looked at are similarly used in how God’s people came to recognize the New Testament books. When it comes to those, we can note three other such “tests”.

*Prophetic or Apostolic Test (Apostolicity). Was the book written by a prophet or Apostle of God, or an associate? In Exodus 24:4, we read of how Moses wrote down the words of God. Luke, and associate of Paul, writes in Luke 1:3-4 

“it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; 4 so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”

*Recognition Test. (Catholicity). When I use the term "catholicity", I mean not the Roman Catholic church. Instead, "catholicity" refers to "what was believed upon by all Christians, everywhere and at all times" (the term "catholic" derives from a Greek term meaning "universal"). In this test, we ask: was it recognized by the people of God? The Old Testament’s books recognition is demonstrated by how quickly they went into use after their writing. This observation fits too with the New Testament books. When one reads 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul cites Deuteronomy and Luke's Gospel as sacred Scripture. The dating of 1 Timothy (62-66 A.D.) and Luke's Gospel (60-62 A.D.) indicates immediate reocognition, reception, and use by God's people. 

    For an Old Testament example, in Joshua 24:26, we read of Joshua’s book being included alongside the first five books of Moses or “The Law”. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:27 “I adjure you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brethren.” That phrase "read in all the churches" was Paul's way of saying "treat what I just wrote to you as auhthoritative Scripture". 

*Truth Test (Orthodoxy). Did the message tell the truth about God, the human condition, and the world? See Deut. 13:1-3; 18:21-22. For the New Testament, the preaching of the Apostles functioned as a standard while
the New Testament books were being written, recognized, and completed. 

    Daniel Wallace describes the three main doctrines comprising the orthodox Christian preaching (called “regula fide” or “rule of faith”): 

1. God as Creator with creation being good.

2. Jesus as truly human and truly God.

3. Creation needing redemption. 

    As the early church grew and confronted error and persecution, this “rule of faith” was a lens through which the early Christians understood the canonical books of the New Testament. Ultimately, the Old Testament Canon, Christ’s resurrection, and the completion of the New Testament canon provided the triple foundation for the
truth handed down to the saints. Jude 1:3 reminds us: 

“Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the
faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.”

Closing thoughts for today:

    We have then five “tests” or marks of Divine inspiration: 

1. The miraculous test.

2. The salvation test.

3. The prophetic or apostolic test. 

4. The recognition test.

5. The truth test. 

    These types of standards are how we can tell that we have the inspired books that comprise the Old and New Testament canons. But now, what of other books which claim Divine inspiration? For that, we will reserve for our next post.

The Doctrine Of Scripture Series: Why Knowing Which Books Belong In The Biblical Canon Is So Important

Introduction:

    As we have taken time to survey the doctrine of Scripture, we have done so in what I would call three stages. The first three posts introduced the characteristics of Scripture itself and explaining the doctrine of inspiration. Then, in “stage two” of this series, we investigated the Old Testament canon, exploring how it was the early Jews and Christians came to recognize the 39 books of the Old Testament as Divinely inspired. Along the way, we explored the so-called “Apocryphal books”, evaluating whether or not they belong in the Old Testament canon, having concluded that they did not. The third stage of this series has explored the New Testament canon. So far, we have noted the formation and collection of the New Testament books. Thus far have we traveled in our journey.

    In this post, I want us to understand why the question of the canon is so important to Christians today. This post and the next one will evaluate how we can know for sure we have the right books in the Bible, as well as examining claims of Divine inspiration by other religions for their literature. 

Why it is important to know which books are the Word of God.

    This issue of knowing which books are inspired or “canonical” has never lost its importance. Paul already had to deal with false teachers posing with their false documents, claiming Divine authority. When we turn to his second letter to the church at Thessolonica, we find the first reason why the topic of canonization is important.

1. Defending Christianity - The Apologetic task of the canon. 

    We read in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 

“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.”

    There were those in Paul's day who were going around, claiming that the eschatological Day of the Lord and the end of the age had passed by, leaving those behind who were never really redeemed. Imagine how much disturbance this sent through the church at Thessalonica. One of the reasons for the canon, and the New Testament canon in particular, was to provide an "apologetic", that is, a defense of the claims of Jesus' death, resurrection, ascension, and soon return. 

    So, we see the apologetic value of having a canon of inspired books wherewith we can defend the faith. But now what about proclaiming the Christian faith to those who already believe the Gospel? This brings us to Luke's introductory remarks in his Gospel, and the second reason for a canon of Scripture.

2. The Preaching Task - The Expository Function Of The Canon.

    Luke, Paul’s aide in the ministry, wrote his Gospel to ensure the accuracy of the Gospel being preached throughout the Mediterranean world. He writes in Luke 1:1-4

“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; 4 so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”

    Paul especially would urge his readers to have what he wrote read in the churches, that is, preached and taught, as we see in 1 Thessalonians 5:27 

"I adjure you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brethren. Having the right books is vital to establishing sound churches." 

    When Jesus ascended into Heaven, the early Christians had two foundations upon which they built their faith. They had the Old Testament canon. Then, they had the preaching of the Apostles that formed a body of doctrinal truth about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This body of truth would become codified in early creeds, some of which appear in the New Testament, and others of which appear in the second and third centuries of the early church (for example, the old Roman creed that would form the basis for the later "Apostle's Creed"). Such body of teaching came to be known as "the rule of faith" ("regula fide").

    However, as Jesus had indicated to His disciples, the Spirit was sent to make known to them all He had taught them. This meant that a third foundation for the Christian church would come along that functioned alongside those first two foundations - namely the canonical books of the New Testament canon ("regula canona").

    As the books of the New Testament were composed, the preaching of the early church became stronger, more stable, and more accurate. It was not the church that formed the New Testament. Instead, the New Testament would come to make the early church what it came to be. So, we have found that the canon of Scripture is vital for the apologetic task, the preaching task, and then one more. 

3. The Sanctification Task - The Discipleship Building Function Of The Canon.

    One more example that demonstrates the importance of having the right books involves Peter’s words in 2 Peter 3:16-18

"as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."

    Peter alludes to what was an already completed collection of the Apostle Paul's writings. He connects the Old Testament canon and Paul's writings, representing the New Testament canon, to the imperative of discipleship. Note again what we says in 2 Peter 3:18 "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."

    You and I cannont grow apart from the canonical Scriptures. In Romans 15:4, we are reminded of the need for the Old Testament in growing the Christian faith. Then of course, Peter's words reinforce the need for the New Testament canon. Unless we build Christianity upon the canonical Scriptures, our Christianity will die on the vine. 

Closing thoughts:

    Today we found three reasons for knowing which books belong in the Biblical canon.

1. The Apologetic Task - Defending the Faith.

2. The Expository Task - Preaching the Faith.

3. The Sanctification Task - Growing in the Faith. 

The Doctrine Of Scripture Series: What We Have Explored In The Last Several Posts And Looking Ahead

Where we have journeyed thus far

    In our last post we looked carefully at how the New Testament canon was motivated by missions (in terms of the Spirit's inspiration of it, its writing, it recognition, and its distribution). Readers who want to review the last post may do so here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2022/11/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series-how.html.

    The many attacks upon the Bible today warrant us knowing the history of how we got our Bibles. As for the New Testament, we explored the beginnings, receiving, recognition, and message of the New Testament canon here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2022/11/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series-jesus.html. 

    Over the course of the last several posts, we have discussed the New Testament canon. We discovered that almost all the New Testament books were immediately recognized and used as inspired books by the end of the first century – or the days of the Apostles. In this blog series, I have had us explore issues surrounding the canonization of the Old and New Testament canons, as well as the doctrine of Divine inspiration and its correlary truths of inerrancy and infallibility. Readers are more than welcome to look back through the archives of this blog to see how this series began back in September of 2022. 

Making sure we are clear on what canonization is and is not.

    By the first two-thirds of the second century, every book of the New Testament was universally recognized as inspired, with the first canonical list (The Muratorian canon list) establishing that the 27 books we have today were well in use by the end of the 100’s A.D. (or second century). Contrary to popular skeptics, who claim the early church had hundreds of books to choose from, and only selected the 27 some 400 years into church history, we find history paints a different picture. Canonization was not about kicking out books that were not liked, but rather recognizing inspired books that were qualified to be in the canon.

The Triple Foundation Of Christianity

    Then finally, we noted how the message of the New Testament canon, namely in portraying, preaching, explaining, and prominently exalting Jesus Christ, shaped the New Testament church. It was Christ’s resurrection and the writing and then preaching of the New Testament books that came to define the first century church. Coupled with the already established Old Testament Canon which we’ve discussed in previous posts, we find an important point emerge. Christianity was built on a triple foundation of the Old Testament canon, Christ’s resurrection, and New Testament canon. It is this same foundation that the Holy Spirit is using today to call and regenerate sinners from every nation – until He comes.

Looking ahead

    As we aim to continue in this series, we will explore what criteria were used in the recognition and use of the New Testament books. Also, we will explore other sorts of literature that, though influential in the early church, yet were not regarded as canonical by Christians in every place, everywhere. Some interesting topics, such as the so-called "lost Gospels" or "lost books of the Bible" will be briefly explored. At least for such books as those, we will see that they were not really "lost", but instead were well-known, and immediately rejected books regarded as fraudulant by the early Christians. We will then want to consider contemporary attacks on the Bible. Amazingly, attacks on the Bible, especially in the last three centuries, do not differ in principle from attacks that went on in the first three centuries of the church. As God gives strength, I hope this series will prove useful to whomever reads these posts.
 

The Doctrine Of Scripture Series: How The New Testament Canon's Beginnings Was Motivated By World Evangelization

Introduction:

    In my last post I introduced reader's to how the New Testament canonical books came to become the collection we know of today as "The New Testament Canon". For those wanting to read the last post, simply click on the following link here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2022/11/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series-jesus.html. One detail thatcannot be overlooked is how the growth and expansion of the church was due to her carrying out the command of Jesus to tell those around her, and the world, about the goodnews of His death, burial, and resurrection. When we discuss evangelism and missions, three New Testament passages are helpful to know. The first of these is called "The Great Commission", and stems from Matthew 28:18-20, which we could term "The Plan for Missions":

"And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

    We then have a second text, Acts 1:8, which we could designate as "The Strategy for Missions". This is to say, where one shares the Gospel in their community ("Jerusalem"); their region ("Judea and Samaria"); and then everywhere else ("the ends of the earth"). 

"but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

    Then the final passage that speaks about the Christian's responsibility in worldwide missions is what I would call "personal responsibility to do missions". 2 Corinthians 5:20-21

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

    One New Testament scholar, David Alan Black of South Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has by his books aided me greatly in seeing canonization aimed at getting the message of the Gospel out to the nations. What follows derives partly from Black's analysis of the relationship between canonization and missions, and partly from observations I've come to conclude over the decades.

The New Testament Canon Followed the Pattern Of World Evangelization

    

    To chronicle how the New Testament was composed and used, we can follow the development of the New Testament canon along the lines of Jesus’ final instructions to the Apostles and church in Acts 1:8.  The mission strategy of the early church was to begin in Jerusalem, then to Judea and Samaria, with the final stage being that of the ends of the then known world. My point in what will follow is to demonstrate that God's revelation and inspiration of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, as well as His Providential guiding of the church in their canonization, was to provide the basis for doing missions. 

The Early Church had its beginnings in Jersualem.
    

    As for the “Jerusalem phrase”, we begin with Matthew and James. Matthew is our first Gospel, and arguably among the first books of the New Testament, composed as early as 45-50 A.D. It gives us the life of Christ from a Jewish perspective. He revealed Himself as God in the flesh (Matthew 1:23). He acted in history by way of His earthly ministry, miracles, crucifixion, and resurrection. 

    Following Matthew’s account, Jesus’ half brother James would write a short letter (45-50 A.D.) to the fledgling Jewish church in Jerusalem. It is in James’ letter or Epistle that we get a snapshot of the early church some 15 years after Jesus’ ascension. Matthew would provide the foundation for the first century church’s understanding of Jesus. James would shape how the church would live out the message of Jesus in its ethical and cultural commitments.

Early Christianity spreads to Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the known world.

1. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus and the writing of Romans to Philemon – 34-62 A.D.

    As Peter and the Apostles began to spread the message of the risen Christ, God wondrously converted a persecutor of the church named “Saul of Tarsus”. Upon receiving his call to become a missionary to the nations or Gentiles in Acts 9, Saul would conduct three missionary journeys and be imprisoned multiple times. Paul’s mission efforts and two of his imprisonments covers Luke’s companion volume to the Gospel of Luke, otherwise known as “Acts of the Apostles”. 

    The book of Acts covers the first thirty years of the Christian movement, with Acts 1-12 detailing the ascension of the risen Christ, the ministry of the Apostle Peter, and call of Saul of Tarsus. Acts 13-28 handles three of Saul’s missionary journeys (at which point his name would be changed to “Paul”), providing the background for the thirteen letters he wrote, which appear in our New Testaments, stretching from Romans to Philemon. Galatians and 1 & 2 Thessalonians were among his earliest writings (49-52 A.D.) Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians were written during his third missionary journey (55-57 A.D.) Then Paul’s letters to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon were all composed during his first Roman Imprisonment, which we see at the end of the Book of Acts (60-62 A.D.)

2. Two more Gospels are written, along with Acts – Mark and Luke. 60-62 A.D.

    As the early church went from being predominately Jewish and Jerusalem centered to more Gentile and focused on reaching the world, the Holy Spirit saw fit to raise up Apostolic authors and books to spread the message of Jesus. Next to Jesus, the most influential persons in the New Testament were the Apostles Peter and Paul. Peter is credited in church history as preaching a series of sermons on Jesus’ life, which would become written down by John Mark into what we know today as “The Gospel of Mark” (roughly 60-62 A.D.) 

    As Peter preached these sermons, he is alleged to have used a newly written Gospel by an associate of the Apostle Paul, known as Luke. This book would become known as “The Gospel of Luke” and would serve the Christians well in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a largely Greco-Roman audience. Mark’s Gospel served to validate both Luke’s Gospel and the message preached by Peter as matching closely with the Gospel of Matthew (again, roughly 60-62 A.D). 

    All three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, are known collectively as the “Synoptic Gospels”, since they portray the life of Jesus in a somewhat similar way, focusing our attention mostly on His humanity while giving glimpses of His deity. We have already made mention of the Book of Acts. It was the companion volume to Luke’s Gospel, functioning as a Divinely inspired history of the Church from Jesus’ Ascension to Paul’s first Roman imprisonment, stretching from 33 A.D. to 62 A.D.

3. The remaining New Testament letters, John’s Gospel, & Revelation. 64-95 A.D.

    As we round out our survey of the composition of the New Testament books, we can note first a collection of eight letters known as the “General” Epistles. The reason for this naming of the group is that the letters are addressed to more generalized groups of believers or churches, rather than to specific persons or specific churches. 

    The book of Hebrews is most intriguing, in that we do not know the identity of the author (though many think it was Paul, however that remains to be proven with certainty). James, as we already commented, was among the earliest of New Testament books. The letters of Peter and the three letters of John urge faithfulness and defense of the faith in the face of persecution. Then lastly, the little book of Jude urges the reader to contend earnestly for the faith.

    The Apostle John was the only Apostle that did not die a martyr’s death. In 85-90 A.D. he composed his Gospel, which functions as a supplement to Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Then, as we already noted, he composed three short letters which function to enumerate the essentials of the Christian faith. It is that final book of the Bible, “Revelation” or “Apocalypse” which crowns the New Testament and finishes both canons (Old and New).

    The Gospels lay the foundation, as the Law laid the foundation in the Old Testament. It is by the Gospel accounts we find Jesus portrayed. Acts corresponds to the historical recounting of the early church, just as the historical books deal with Israel’s founding and history with God. It is by studying the Book of Acts we see Christ preached. The letters of Paul and the remaining New Testament letters (General Epistles) parallel the “writings portion” or poetic books of the Old Testament. It is in the Epistles we see Christ explained. Lastly, the Book of Revelation is the most prophetic book in all the New Testament, pointing us to Christ’s second coming, as the 17 prophetic books of the Old Testament pointed to the first coming. The Book of Revelation shows us Christ preeminent.

    In our next post, we will pull together our discussions about the canonization of the New Testament, exploring why it is relevant to Christians today. 

The Doctrine Of Scripture Series - Jesus' Promise Of The New Testament, Its Recognition, Collection, And Overall Arrangement

Introduction:

    In my last post, I began to consider the canonization the New Testament. Readers can review the last post by clicking on the following link http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2022/10/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series-how.html. 

    In today's post, we want to continue looking at the canonization the New Testament books by noting how Jesus Christ Himself is the reason behind it. Jesus anchors any discussion of Old Testament or New Testament canonization. He on the one hand affirmed the 39 book Old Testament we know today, as well as having fuliflled its hundreds of prophecy about Him. On the other hand, He also promised what would become the New Testament. The point of the New Testament is to portray (Gospels), proclaim (Acts), explain (Epistles), and show as preeminent (Revelation) the Lord Jesus Christ. This post will look at what exactly Jesus did promise about the forthcoming New Testament that would follow after His ascension into Heaven. We will also look at how the early Christians began to recognize and receive the New Testament books.

Jesus promised the "then" forthcoming books that would be The New Testament.

    Jesus promised his disciples that when He sent the Holy Spirit following His ascension into Heaven, the Holy Spirit would remind them of all He had taught them. John 16:12-15

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”

    Just as the Old Testament began and grew with the cycle of God’s revelation, acting redemptively in history, and subsequent recording of both revelation and act in Scripture, we see this same cycle in the New Testament.

The reception and recognition of the New Testament Books.

    As we now turn to recounting the historical formation of the New Testament canon, we must recognize that the Holy Spirit’s providential work through the church in this process was motivated by several factors. Norman Geisler in his book “A General Introduction to the Bible”, has noted that persecution, fighting heresy, the need for established churches, and world evangelization were used by God to prompt the church to verbalize what books it already recognized as Scripture.

    When we survey how quickly the church received and recognized the New Testament books, we find that 20 of the 27 books were immediately and universally received and recognized before the end of the 1st century. Those twenty books are the four Gospels, Paul’s letters, 1 Peter, 1 John, and mostly the Book of Revelation. 

    The other seven books (Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2,3 John, Jude, and in a few cases, Revelation) were recognized and used by most churches in many parts of the Roman Empire by the end of the first century, with a few hold-outs trying to determine whether those books were inspired.

    The reader can note the above listing of the New Testament books. As for the overall development and formation of the New Testament canon itself, we can note the following observations.

1. The Gospels, Acts, and Paul’s letters were immediately recognized and put into use as Divine Scripture. As we’ve noted already, the Apostle Peter mentioned Paul’s letters as Scripture in 2 Peter 3:16 and Luke’s Gospel is quoted in 1 Timothy 5:18. 

    The citation of Luke’s Gospel carries with it the automatic acceptance of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, being Luke had literary dependance on those first two Gospels, as well as his sequel to the Gospel of Luke – namely “Acts of the Apostles”. Also, John’s Gospel, his first letter, and Peter’s first letter came into immediate circulation and use as well. 

    The great church historian Eusebius called these books “those accepted by all”, without question, or what are deemed “homolegoumena” (confessed by all).

2. The General Epistles (Hebrews, James, 2,3 John, 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation) were immediately accepted and used by most, with some quarters of the Western and Eastern church being cautious. According to the church historian Eusebius, these works were accepted by most, and gradually accepted by all, with a few initially disputing their legitimacy. The term “antilegoumena” is attributed to these books. 

    Thankfully the question of canonicity for these books did not last too long, persisting for only 50 years past the death of the Apostle John and being full recognized by all well within the middle to third quarter of the 100’s A.D. (second century).

    I could elaborate further here, but the interested listener may want to consult Eusebius’ Church History, Book 2, chapters 14 and 15 for the Gospels and Book 3, chapter 3 for the canonization of the New Testament letters and Revelation.

The Shape Of The New Testament Canon

    As for the "shape" or overall arrangement of the canon itself, you have the foundation, being the Four Gospels, corresponding to the Old Testament’s foundational books being that of the Law books or Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy). Then, you have a book of the history of the church, "Acts", which corresponds to the historical books of our Old Testament (Joshua to Esther). Thirdly, we see letters to the churches that stretch from Romans to Philemon and the eight general letters (Hebrews to Jude), which correspond to the “writings” or “poetic books” of the Old Testament (Job-Song of Solomon). Then of course we have the Book of Revelation, the final prophetic book of the New Testament, corresponding to those seventeen prophetic books in our Old Testaments (Isaiah to Malachi).

Closing thoughts:

    So, we have considered the recognition and formation of the New Testament canon. In the next post we will look at how the the formation of the New Testament Canon conveyed a certain, overall message about Jesus Christ and the Christian faith.

The Doctrine Of Scripture Series: How The New Testament Provides Clues For Its Canonization

Introduction:

    In this series thus far, we have introduced the subject of “the doctrine of Scripture”, followed by a message on how we got our Old Testament and the question of the Old Testament canon. In our last post, we touched upon the question of the so-called “Apocryphal books”. These fifteen books, though affirmed by the Roman Catholic Church as inspired by their use of the term “Deutero-canonical”, yet were demonstrated that, in the final analysis, they cannot be considered as part of the Old Testament canon. For those interested in seeing the last post, please click here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2022/10/the-doctrine-of-scripture-historical.html. 

    Having surveyed the issues surrounding the formation and completion of the Old Testament canon, we now turn our attention to the New Testament canon, its message, and why it matters.

The New Testament Canon.

    As we begin to study the beginning and formation of the New Testament canon, we can find evidence by looking at the New Testament documents themselves. As a reminder of what we mean by "canon", the term refers to those books that, being inspired by the Holy Spirit, are received, recognized, and used by ealry Christians as authoritative Scripture. In future posts we will examine "tests" or criteria used by early Christians to identify which books belong in the canon. As we saw in our posts on the Old Testament canon, canonicity is not a process of "kicking out" books which the church had to choose from a large body of literature to suit a certain orthodox agenda (a common assumption in skeptical scholarship). Rather, canonicity is recognizing which books are to be allowed in to a s relatively small collection of literature deemed as inspired. In time this important distinction will be discussed. For now, we turn our attention to how the process of canonicity was well underway before the close of the first century.

How the New Testament provides clues for its canonization.

    To anchor this post, let us turn to three passages that set the tone for our discussion of the New Testament Canon. The first is found in Luke 1:1-4 and the second is found in 1 Timothy 5:17-18. Luke’s Gospel was written in the early sixties’ of the first century. In his prologue (introduction), Luke claims to write an inerrant record.

“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; 4 so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”

    Amazingly, Paul would write only two years later in 1 Timothy 5:17-18 about "Elders", quoting Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7 as Scripture.

“The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”

    My point in mentioning the above Scriptures is to show that the canonization of the New Testament followed a similar pattern like we noted in our previous message on the Old Testament canon. 

    We see God’s revelation of Himself in the Person of the incarnate Son – Jesus Christ. Then, we see Jesus act redemptively in human history by His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. The beginning and growth of the New Testament canon is the Holy Spirit’s effort in expounding what Christ achieved, and how the church is to proclaim this message with twenty-seven inspired books crafted for each generation of the church to use until He returns. Note a third New Testament passage, 2 Peter 3:14-18.

“Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

    Peter’s writing of 2 Peter was in 66 A.D, only a couple of years before his death. We find evidence that all of Paul’s letters were already recognized and used as authoritative Scripture, considered on equal footing with the Old Testament Scriptures (designated by Peter as “the other Scriptures”).

Closing thoughts:
 

    We begin to consider the canonization of the New Testament books. The books themselves provide primary evidence concerning the beginnings of this process. In our next post, we will examine Jesus' promises to His disciples that would provide the underpinnings for the writing of the New Testament books.