What Is the Canon of Scripture — Meaning Explained

The canon of Scripture is one of the most important topics for understanding the Bible's authority and trustworthiness. The word 'canon' comes from the Greek kanon, meaning a measuring rod or standard. The biblical canon is the officially recognized list of books that are accepted as the inspired, authoritative Word of God. The Protestant canon contains sixty-six books: thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New Testament. The formation of the Old Testament canon was a gradual process that unfolded over centuries. Moses wrote the first five books (the Torah or Pentateuch), which were immediately recognized as authoritative and placed beside the ark of the covenant. The prophets wrote their books under divine inspiration, and their words were preserved and recognized as God's Word. By the time of Jesus, the Hebrew canon was largely settled, divided into the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. Jesus acknowledged this threefold division when He said, 'These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.' The Jewish council at Jamnia (AD 90) is often cited as the formal closing of the Hebrew canon, though the process was more organic than legislative. The key criteria for Old Testament canonicity were: written by a prophet or someone with prophetic authority, consistent with previously revealed truth, accepted and used by the Jewish community, and manifesting the power and authority of God. The New Testament canon was recognized through a similar process in the first four centuries of the church. The apostles had unique authority as eyewitnesses of the risen Christ and recipients of His direct commission. Their writings, and those of their close associates (Mark, Luke, Jude, James), were recognized as bearing the same authority as the Old Testament Scriptures. Peter referred to Paul's letters as 'scripture.' Paul commanded the churches to read his letters and exchange them. The early church fathers quoted the New Testament books as authoritative from the very beginning. The criteria for New Testament canonicity were: apostolic authorship or apostolic endorsement, consistency with apostolic doctrine, universal acceptance by the churches, and the self-authenticating character of the books as bearing the marks of divine inspiration. By the end of the fourth century, the canon was universally recognized in the church. Athanasius listed exactly the twenty-seven New Testament books in AD 367. The Council of Carthage (AD 397) affirmed the same list. The Reformers maintained this canon, rejecting the additional books known as the Apocrypha that had been included in the Latin Vulgate but were not part of the Hebrew canon. The doctrine of canonicity is rooted in the belief that God has sovereignly preserved His Word. 'The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.' The church did not create the canon by its decisions; it recognized the canon by the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit and the external evidence of apostolic authority and universal acceptance. The canon is closed because the foundation of the church has been laid. The apostles and prophets are the foundation, and Christ is the cornerstone. No new foundation can be added, and no new books can be added to the canon. The sixty-six books are sufficient, authoritative, and complete — 'thoroughly furnished unto all good works.'