Cracking the Code:
How Ancient Texts Became the Bible We Know Today
Have you ever wondered why some books made it into the Bible and some, like The Gospel of Thomas, and The Book of Enoch did not? Some say it was a conspiracy at the Council of Nicaea, or a plot by Constantine to develop his own version of Christianity. The truth is books of the Bible were not discussed until many years later at the Council of Carthage in 397AD.
Nonetheless, these attempts to explain away the Bible's historical authenticity fail to take an honest look at how the Bible came to be. There are 66 books in the Protestant Bible and the recognition of these books is formally known as “the Canon.” I invite you to walk with me and open your mind for just a moment as I briefly explain the Canon and the canonical process.
Cyprian - Bishop of Carthage
What is the Canon?
Here’s a historical fact many may not know. As mentioned earlier, the Bible is not just one book. It’s actually a Library of 66 books written by 40 different writers over a period of 1500 years. It was also written on three different continents and in three different languages. What’s really fascinating is that the great majority of these writers didn’t know each other. Yet, every book points to the promise of a Messiah. The Bible calls this Messiah, Jesus Christ. Now, I know that might be a lot to take in, but stay with me, I promise I’m going somewhere with this.
The term Canon comes from the Greek word, kanon, and it means – “a rule or standard of measurement.” This formal term has been used for a very, very, long time. In fact, since the fourth century, kanon has been used by Christian scholars to represent an authoritative list of the books belonging to the Old and New Testaments. This means that whenever someone uses the term “Canonicity,” they are describing the standard those books had to meet in order to be recognized as Holy Scripture. With that said, the Canon is a list of books that are considered authoritative and inspired by God. However, in order for that book to be included in the Canon, each book had to meet a certain standard before being placed on that list.
Image by: Joe Aboumoussa
What Was the Standard?
At this point, you might ask, “Well, how did the Early Church leaders determine what books should and should not be included in the Bible?” However, it should be noted that Church councils and leadership never really “determined” or “chose” which books were canonical, they simply “recognized” what had already been accepted throughout the Christian world. For example, in the book, “How We Got the Bible,” Professor of New Testament, Neil R. Lightfoot said this, “About the middle of the second century, a Christian writer, Justin Martyr, stated that on Sundays in the Christian worship assemblies the ‘memoirs of the apostles’ were read together with the ‘writings of the prophets’.” In other words, before there was the Bible as we know it today, the New Testament writings were being read on Sundays or at gatherings, all throughout the Christian world. The Old Testament was also read, but by this time, the O.T. was already considered the authoritative Word of God. The New Testament was also recognized as authoritative, but these letters had not been officially canonized yet.
To say it another way, even though the N.T. letters were looked at as Gods Word, there was no official announcement or decree stating the Gospels and the Letters as the New Testament of God’s Word, and that no other documents stood next to them in comparison. However, the time came when the Early Church Fathers or Leaders recognized the need to canonize Scripture. That is to say; They recognized the need to decide and make a list of all the books that the Church at large held widespread recognition for as the inspired Word of God. During this process of canonization, each book had to meet certain requirements.
What Were the Requirements?
1. The book had to have been written by an apostle or a disciple of an apostle.
2. It had to have been accepted by the entire Christian Church spread all across the known world.
3. It had to have been consistent with all of Scripture.
4. It had to have been written within the first century.
Before Cyprian, there was Tertullian, an Early Church Father from Northern Africa
With the increase of other religious writings and other teachers whose teachings were not consistent with what the Apostles taught, Church fathers had no other choice but to ask these questions when deciding what books were inspired and what were not. As mentioned earlier, what had been accepted was read throughout the Church during regular gatherings. So, the development of the Canon, or list of authoritative and inspired books, started very early in the Church’s history.
Nonetheless, it would not be long before false teachers came into play, and some attempted to add to or take away from what had already been recognized as official. The first documents to be recognized were the Four Gospels, Acts, and most of Paul’s letters. 1st Peter and Revelation would soon make the list. Initially, some regions disputed over James, Jude, 2nd Peter, and, 2nd and 3rd John. But eventually, after much textual criticism and debate, they were eventually recognized as inspired.
Therefore, according to history, and after weighing up all the evidence, the Church fathers did not necessarily have to choose what to include in the canon. They simply recognized what books had already made an impact on the Christian community. Through sound reasoning, they would also determine, if it had not been written by an apostle or a disciple of an apostle, and if it had not been written during the first century – the time of the apostles and eyewitnesses, then it would be safe for the Church to close the Canon. So, the Canon was not created, it was officially recognized.