What Belongs In The Bible & What Doesn't? Part 1 - The Old Testament

‘Canon’ means ‘reed’ or ‘cane’. In this sense it means something straight, or something to keep straight; and therefore also a rule, or something ruled or measured. Similar in concept to a spirit-level used by builders to check a wall is flat and at a correct angle. Therefore, ‘canon’ refers to what books should be in the Bible to ensure we can be are spiritually level and correct.

The canon of Scripture is the list of all the books in that belong in the Bible. This is an important question because:

i) The words of the Bible are the words by which we nourish ourselves spiritually.

ii) To add or subtract from God’s words would be to prevent God’s people from obeying him fully. Commands subtracted would not be known to us, and words added might require false obedience or false hope.

iii) If there is any doubt over sections of scripture, we will not consider them to have absolute divine authority and we wouldn’t trust them as we would trust God himself.

1. The Old Testament Canon

The Bible itself tells us about the historical development of the canon. The Ten Commandments were written down, and form the beginning of the biblical canon. Throughout Israel’s history, this collection of words from God grew. Moses wrote additional words (Deut 31:24-26), as did Joshua (Josh 24:26). There are many other instances where others, usually prophets, wrote additional words from God. This continued until approximately 435 BC, where there are no further additions to the Old Testament canon. Several sources of Jewish literature refer to a time of silence that no prophets have spoken in. Also, writings of Josephus – arguably the greatest Jewish historian of the first century – also indicates that he did not feel that there had been any writings worthy enough to add to the OT after this date.

In the New Testament, we have no record of Jesus and the Jews disagreeing about the content of the Old Testament, or any records of any New Testament writers questioning the OT canon. In fact, both Jesus and the NT writers quote from the OT a number of times, indicating their belief in its authority.

----------------
Listening to: DC Talk - Between You And Me
via FoxyTunes