Recently my wife told me about a friend of hers who didn't feel that the Bible was necessarily complete. She felt that there were “more books” to discover.
For this reason she’s open to considering such books as: The Book of Enoch, The Gospel of Thomas, The Apocalypse of Peter, The Epistle of Barnabas, The Gospel of Judas, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene and other historical literature as potential scripture.
What my wife's friend doesn't know is that these books are considered Pseudepigraphal Writings or False Name Writings. That's because scholars have determined that these books are titled after people who DID NOT write them.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the criteria needed to be a book of the Bible.
What my wife's friend doesn't know is that these books are considered Pseudepigraphal Writings or False Name Writings. That's because scholars have determined that these books are titled after people who DID NOT write them.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the criteria needed to be a book of the Bible.
How We Got Our Bible
First of all we need to ask ourselves, “What makes scripture inspired?”
The Bible tells us that scripture is inspired by GOD (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Therefore, it isn’t up to man to determine which books HE THINKS are inspired. It’s up to man to determine which books GOD SAYS are inspired.
So how do we know which books God says are inspired?
Ephesians 2:19-20 tells us that scripture came to us through the Apostles and Prophets. On top of that it says that Jesus is CHIEF Apostle and Prophet.
You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the APOSTLES AND THE PROPHETS, with CHRIST JESUS himself as the CHIEF CORNERSTONE.
That means inspired scripture has to do with Jesus— He is the CENTER for all inspired scripture.
Therefore any scripture that is inspired would have to have a CONNECTION with Jesus.
Let’s take a look at the Old Testament first.
Old Testament
This is what Jesus said about the Old Testament:
And Jesus said unto them, 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.
Here Jesus says that certain scriptures speak about Him. In this, Jesus acknowledges certain scripture. Jesus says that the LAW, the PROPHETS and the PSALMS speak about Him.
That is:
1. Inspired Old Testament scripture acknowledges Jesus.
2. Jesus acknowledges inspired Old Testament scripture.
These three categories of scripture make up the WHOLE of the Old Testament. That Jesus acknowledges them is why we, as Christians, continue to include them in our canon of scripture.
That leads me to discuss other reasons for determining which books God inspired:
1. Were the books written by a Prophet or an Apostle of God— or were they closely LINKED to a Prophet or an Apostle of God?
This corresponds to the fact that Jesus is CHIEF Prophet and Apostle (Ephesians 2:19-20). The men that wrote the Bible are operating in the OFFICE of Prophet or Apostle— just like Jesus. In fact they are speaking under the direct tutelage of Jesus Himself— even in the Old Testament.
Jesus is often seen as a THEOPHANY in the Old Testament. A theophany is Jesus appearing in pre-incarnate form. One example of this is in Genesis 18:1-3.
2. Were the books accepted by the body of believers at large?
3. Are the books consistent with orthodox teaching and doctrine?
4. Do the books bear evidence of high moral and spiritual value as reflected by the work of the Holy Spirit?
Here is a list of all the books that meet these criteria in the Old Testament.
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What about the New Testament?
New Testament
Here is a list of all the books that meet these criteria in the New Testament.
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All of the books of the Bible were officially acknowledged as inspired by God by the Council of Laodicea in 363 A.D..
Like the Old Testament, the books in the New Testament were included because of their close association with JESUS.
All of the authors of the New Testament were Apostles— except two. These two, Luke and John Mark, were personally connected to the Apostles.
John Mark
Peter endorses John Mark. Peter calls John Mark his “son” in 1 Peter 5:13. When he was imprisoned, it was John Mark’s house that Peter went to after the angel of the Lord freed him (Acts 12:12). John Mark was just a teenager at the time. John Mark also accompanied the Apostle Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary tour (Acts 12:25).
Luke the Physician
The Apostle Paul acknowledges Luke by calling him the “beloved physician” in Colossians 4:14.
Did the New Testament writers realize that their words were inspired? Yes.
Paul quotes Luke in 1 Timothy 5:18 and calls it scripture. The quote is taken from Luke 10:7 and isn’t found anywhere else in scripture.
The Apostle Peter, one of the Twelve, calls Paul’s letters scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16).
How Does the Apocrypha and Other Historical Literature Compare to Canonized Scripture?
While considered helpful historically, the Apocrypha and other historical literature can’t compare. For one reason or another, they don’t meet the full spectrum of what it takes to be considered inspired.
For those who think that another piece of literature could show up that meets the criteria for inspiration, consider this admonition:
And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Yes, this passage is referring to the book of Revelation, but you have to wonder. With a collection of 66 books written by 40 authors spanning history from Genesis to Revelation— hasn’t God given us His Word? I believe He has.
Only Satan would attempt to give us more.
Logging you in...
Hank Facepunch · 566 weeks ago
Gregg 57p · 566 weeks ago
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Gregg · 566 weeks ago
Real faith is based in objective fact though. Take a look at my article, The Difference Between Religion and Real Christianity. This article will give you the basis for REAL faith.
http://greggfetter.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-diffe...
Gregg
Logan · 550 weeks ago
David · 524 weeks ago
1. How is it that in 2 Tim 3:16-17 the word "scripture" refers to the Bible if the Bible didn't exist at that time? The writings that existed at the time that 2 Tim was penned were Hebrew-Judaic documents including the ones that make up the O.T. and a few of the N.T. letters. Are you sure that in this context "scripture" doesn't refer only to the Hebrew documents?
2. What is the context of Ephesians chapter 2:19-20 and how do you get the Bible from this context?
Any information would be helpful.
Gregg 57p · 524 weeks ago
Thanks for your e-mail.
In answer to your question, I’m pretty sure that the Apostles knew that the letters they were writing at the time were inspired of God.
That’s because in Peter’s writings we see that Peter considered Paul’s letters as scripture. Notice in the scripture below how Peter includes Paul’s letters with OTHER SCRIPTURE.
Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear BROTHER PAUL also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the OTHER SCRIPTURE, to their own destruction.
2 Peter 3:15-16
We also see Paul and Barnabas going to Jerusalem in order to get “answers” from apostles Peter and James (read Acts 15). From this Paul took the words of James as doctrine. This can be seen in the fact that Paul preached James’ words as foundational in his future missionary trips to Asia (Acts 21:25).
As you pointed out, the canon of New Testament scripture HAD NOT BEEN formed at the time Paul wrote the words in 2 Timothy 3;16-17, BUT that doesn’t mean that they weren’t scripture.
As I discussed above, Peter thought Paul’s words were scripture, and Paul considered Peter’s (and James) words as scripture. It just took 300 years for man’s council to announce that Paul, Peter and James’ words were scripture.
You asked about Ephesians 2.
In context the Apostle Paul is simply explaining that through his death, Christ made 2 groups ONE (Jew and Gentile). Paul is saying that as a result the Gentiles are now a part of the household of God and that this house is BUILT upon the teaching of the prophets and apostles.
In other words, God’s WORD or what would become the Bible is based on what the prophets (old testament) and the apostles (new testament) taught. But as I have pointed out, they were still inspired and considered scripture even though they hadn’t been canonized yet.
I hope this helps David. Let me know if you need further clarification.
God bless,
Gregg
David · 523 weeks ago
I'm in agreement with you that the Apostles valued each others teachings as you mention and called them scripture, but that still doesn't explain how the word "scripture" in the context of 2 Tim 3:16 explicitly means the 66 books that make up the Bible, when they didn't all exist at the time 2 Tim was written?
In context of Eph 2, I agree that the teachings of the Apostles and prophets would be considered as inspired by God (i.e. God breathed) and therefore be considered the word's of God. However, how can we be 100% CERTAIN that the Epistle of Barnabas and other early Christian writings shouldn't be considered as inspired by God when Acts 13 clearly states that Barnabas and others were considered to be among the prophets and teachers and inspired by God?
"Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. " Acts 13:1-2 KJV
Thank you.
Gregg 57p · 523 weeks ago
These are the words I used in my article, Where Did the Books of the Bible Come From?— The BIBLE tells us that scripture is inspired by GOD. Which is true. The Bible does tell us that scripture is inspired by God.
I could have easily have said, PAUL tells us that scripture is inspired by God.
The point that I was making is that scripture is inspired BY GOD. That's Paul's point:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
To Your Point
Notice, I didn’t say that scripture was necessarily the 66 books that now make up what we call the Bible. The only point I was making at this point in my article is that GOD is the one that determines WHICH books are inspired, not the intellectual prowess of men sitting on a Council in Laodicea.
The rest of the article goes on to show exactly HOW we came to include the 66 books that DO make up the Bible.
They are ALL directly connected to Jesus (the article explains, I won’t go into that here).
Now to your point of why not the book of Thomas or Barnabas or any other apostles at the time?
Just because I book APPEARS to be written by one of these men doesn’t necessarily mean that it was written by one of these men. ALL BOOKS except those that are now included in what we call the Bible HAVE FAILED under the light of scrutiny. Scholars have poured over this for centuries.
Some people will tell you that God inspired the books of the Bible. They believe that. But theses same people don’t believe that God can preserve the Bible in the hands of scrupulous men. That is sad. If it takes faith to believe scripture is inspired (because you have to believe in Jesus— it all relates to Jesus), it also takes faith to believe that God can PRESERVE it in history. Read my article, Is There a Perfect Bible? Is the Bible Inerrant?
I do not believe that in the year 2015, God is still struggling to get all of His inspired books together. I do believe that evil men are trying to misdirect God’s word by insisting that there are other books yet to be discovered or acknowledged by men.
I believe my article is accurate as it stands. It is not contradictory to say in retrospect that what we now know as the Bible, (the 66 books) is inspired.
In Him,
Gregg
David · 523 weeks ago
Again thank you for taking the time to respond. I will definitely meditate and study further your recent response.
Please don't take my questions as implying anything negative. I'm trying to ask questions that I've not seen people ask, as far as I can tell. As I mentioned before, I've been studying this topic recently and I'm trying to be as objective as I can by looking at it from all angles.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." 1 Thess. 5:21 (KJV)
If you don't mind, I have more questions that I would like to ask. I don't have all the answers and that is why I am in the pursuit of sharpening my understanding in these topics.
"Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." Ps 27:17 (KJV)
Blessings,
David
Gregg 57p · 523 weeks ago
In him,
Gregg
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Gregg 57p · 523 weeks ago
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David · 523 weeks ago
I will definitely look into chick.com. Funny name for a Christian website :)
How do you define Scripture?
How do you define Bible?
If we claim to use the Scriptures as our only guide, where does it say in Scripture that only Scriptures that “directly connect to Jesus” are to be in the Bible collection?
I asked you why the Epistle of Barnabas shouldn't be considered inspired and you stated, "Now to your point of why not the book of Thomas or Barnabas or any other apostles at the time? Just because I book APPEARS to be written by one of these men doesn't necessarily mean that it was written by one of these men. ALL BOOKS except those that are now included in what we call the Bible HAVE FAILED under the light of scrutiny. Scholars have poured over this for centuries.
Are you saying that only Scriptures with known authors can be considered inspired? If so, how do we justify Hebrews as being inspired when the author is unknown? Also, this does not answer for the early church writings of KNOWN authorship. How can we say with 100% certainty that their writings are not inspired when Eph 4:11-12 states that Christ appointed men as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, etc? Should we not consider them as inspired? This would be hard to do since Christ himself appointed them. Or should we not consider them to have written a book or letter? But, again the verse states that their job was to edify the church, so they just as easily could have written a letter or two.
"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:" Eph 4:11-12 (KJV)
To be clearer, what is the criteria for an early church writing to be considered inspired? Is it authorship? Is it apostleship? Is it because it's in the Bible? If it's because it's in the Bible collection, who's idea was it to put the Bible together? If it was God's idea, how do we know for sure? Does it say it was God's idea in the Scriptures? Or do we just have to trust that God's saving message can prevail over any human intervention, whether intended for good or not?
Blessings,
David
Gregg 57p · 523 weeks ago
The last time you got on an airline, did you feel it necessary go down and check out the engine before committing to flight? Or did you feel it imperative to stop by the cockpit and get the pilot’s credentials?
At some point we have to commit to flight even when we don’t understand it all. I’m all for objective understanding. We actually do get on airplanes because we have an objective understanding of them. That’s because we can look up and see them in the air. Right? That’s why we put our trust in them. But we don’t have to understand the theory of aerodynamics in order to fly.
It’s the same with the Bible. An objective understanding of the Bible is fine, but you don’t have to know all the in’s and out’s of inspired scripture to find truth. Truth is actually found in the AUTHOR of the Bible. Therefore, if you put your trust in HIM, He will take you to new heights just by reading and studying the books we do have. That's really all that's required.
At this point, I don’t think it would be helpful in the long run for me to answer every question you have about inspired scripture. Therefore I’m going to opt out from here. I do thank you however for visiting Bible Made Simple.
God bless, David. I wish you well.
Gregg
David · 523 weeks ago
In answer to your question about flying on planes, I don’t have faith in either the pilot, the condition of the engine, and nor do I understand completely the theory of aerodynamics. I do however understand statistics and I fly because I KNOW based on cold hard numbers that I am going to reach my destination faster and safer than driving in a car.
God bless,
David