Austin Bible Church
The Canon of Scripture is defined as the books of the Bible recognized as genuine and inspired by God. The books of the Bible include every book of an acknowledged messenger of God who was commissioned of God to make known His will and was accepted immediately as the Word of God. Intra-Biblical information - they knew they had a Canon. Deut. 31:24-26; Neh. 8:1-8; Josh. 1:8; Judges 3:4; Dan. 9:2; Jer. 36:1-2.
“It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, “Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you.” (Deuteronomy 31:24-26, NASB)
““This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” (Joshua 1:8, NASB)
“They were for testing Israel, to find out if they would obey the commandments of the LORD, which He had commanded their fathers through Moses.” (Judges 3:4, NASB)
“in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.” (Daniel 9:2, NASB)
“In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.” (Jeremiah 36:1-2, NASB)
Quotations of Old Testament passages as Scripture. Matt. 22:29; John 5:39; John 10:35.
“But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29, NASB)
“"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;” (John 5:39, NASB)
“Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’? “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),” (John 10:34-35, NASB)
Law of public official action. Neh. 8:5.
“Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.” (Nehemiah 8:5, NASB)
Law of cause and effect (recognition). 2 Kings 22, 2 Kings 23, Neh. 8 (cause of existence).
Israel was the Custodian of the Old Testament Canon
As a client nation to God, Israel was the custodian of the Old Testament Canon. The Old Testament Canon was organized under three systems of prophecy. The human writers had the gift of prophet, the office of prophet, or both as in the case of Moses.
The Torah is made up of the first five books all of which were written by Moses - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Moses had both the gift and office of prophet.
The Prophets had the office of prophet only and included Joshua, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
The Writings were written by those who had the gift of prophecy only. The poetry and wisdom books include Psalms, Proverbs, and Job. The rolls include the Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther. The historical section is made up of Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles.
Principles of Canonicity for the New Testament
The new testament books were written by apostles or someone closely associated with the apostles. The New Testament was universally accepted at the time of writing. Consistency with those books already written. Inspiration: Internal and external. Recognition by the Church. Reference to Scripture in the Old Testament.
70-170 AD: New Testament books are circulated and formed the Canon we have today.
170-303 AD: Universal recognition by councils.
303-392 AD: Final councils and final recognition.