What Belongs In The Bible & What Doesn't? Part 2 - The New Testament

The writing of scripture has always been in connection with God’s redemptive acts in history – how he saves and deals with his people. In the Old Testament, this begins with the call of Abraham. This continues with the lives of Abraham's descendants; the Exodus and wilderness wanderings; the establishment of the nation & monarchy of Israel; and the Exile & return from captivity. Each of these significant events of how God interacts with his people is interpreted for us in scripture, for example through the writings of the prophets. The OT closes with the expectation of the Messiah to come – the next stage of redemptive history. No further scripture could have been written until this next and greatest event in the history of God’s people occurred.

Whereas the OT prophets, priests and kings were witnesses to God’s redemptive acts, the NT witnesses are the apostles. It is these men – and those close to them – who are given the ability through the Holy Spirit to remember, record and interpret the words and deeds of Jesus for subsequent generations. Verses such as John 14:26 and John 16:13-14 show us this.

The apostles claimed an authority equal to the OT prophets in their writings, for example 2 Peter 3:2 and 1 Cor 14:37 among others. This means that their writings are equal in truth, status and authority to the OT scriptures. This is because the Holy Spirit inspired their observations, commentary and applications concerning the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Therefore the apostolic NT writings can be placed with the OT scriptures as part of the canon of scripture. 2 Peter 3:16 shows us the Apostle Peter viewed the Apostle Paul’s writings as of the same authority and weight as the OT.

Therefore, most of the NT can be included because the different books contained within it have been written by those that the NT itself calls an apostle: Matthew; John; Paul; James (1 Cor 15:7 and Gal 1:19); and Peter. This leaves five books: Mark, Luke, Acts, Hebrews and Jude, which were not written by apostles. So why are they included?

Mark, Luke and Acts were commonly acknowledged very early on in church history, probably because of the close association and influence the writers had from the apostles: Mark with Peter, and Luke with Paul. Jude may have been accepted for two reasons, firstly his close association with James, and secondly the fact that he was the brother of Jesus.

This leaves the book of Hebrews. The author is unknown, although sometimes authorship by Paul is assumed. However, Paul always made his writings clear as his other NT works show us. So ultimately, we do not know who wrote it. The reason for the inclusion of the book of Hebrews must have been down to the content of it. The book contains such truth, value and insight that the early church must have been convinced that its ultimate author was indeed the Holy Spirit – just as many of its readers today are convinced of the same.

Therefore, we have considerations when concluding whether something belonged in the NT canon or not, namely:

i) Apostolic authorship – has the work been written by a NT recognised apostle?

ii) Apostolic endorsement through association or influence – has the work been written by someone with firsthand interaction with a NT recognised apostle?

iii) Consistency with the rest of scripture – does the work echo or reinforce teachings in the rest of scripture?

iv) Self-attesting – does the Holy Spirit lead the overwhelming majority of believers to a perception that the work is clearly ‘God-breathed’, for example Hebrews?

This process would have been used over time, as writings were circulated, to compile what is today the NT. This process ensures not only the inclusion of all writings that would be inspired, but prevents inclusion of any that are not. Within one hundred years, the NT canon was by and large settled by the majority of early church leaders – all within one generation of the apostles.

So can we expect any more writings to be added to the canon? Hebrews 1:1-2 answers this for us – it tells us that the God’s former way of speaking to us was through the OT prophets, but in the “last days” God spoke and revealed Himself through the person of Jesus Christ. There is no further revelation to come, as the NT itself is in essence teaching us about this final revelation. There would be no sense in ‘another revelation’ after Jesus. And faith in the sovereignty of God suggests that all inspired writings concerning the revelation of Christ has already been made available to all generations of Christians through the last two-thousand years of history. This also addresses the question of what would happen if, for example, a new writing of Paul was suddenly discovered – would it be included in the canon? The fact is, none has - and we must trust in God's sovereignty that any such key writings would have been. So such a question is ultimately unhelpful.

So, how do we know we have the right books in the canon of Scripture we now possess? Firstly, our confidence must be in the faithfulness and sovereignty of God. God loves his people, and would provide them with all they need for knowing Him. He would ensure nothing had been left out, nor nothing added.

Therefore we have, in written form, the final record of everything God wants us to know about the life, death and resurrection of Christ, and its meaning for the lives of believers for all time. Since the greatest revelation of God is Himself – in the person of Christ – no more canonical writings are to be expected now that the canon is now closed, as Revelation 22:18-19 also shows us.

Today, there exists no strong case for any known written work to be added to the existing canon. Also, there exists no strong objection for the removal of any book contained within the NT. Faith in God’s faithfulness to his people must convince us that no writings are missing, nor are any included in error.

The Bible – both OT and NT – contains all that God wants it to include, and will remain that way until the next phase of redemptive history takes place – that is, the return of Christ.

Key Verse

Heb 1:1-2 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

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