The Canon of Scripture | Part 3

Disputed Writings

The Old and New Testament canons as we have discussed them contain a combined sixty-six books. There are other writings, however, that some think should be included in the Scripture canon. The chief candidates for the Old Testament canon are bundled together in a collection called the Apocrypha. These were written between B.C. 200 and A.D 100,¹ filling the gap after Malachi (the latest book of the Old Testament) and overlapping the New Testament writings. Though they have received mixed reception in Christian history (they are still accepted by the Catholic church), Grudem gives us four reasons why these writings should not be considered canonical:

1. They do not claim for themselves the same kind of authority as the Old Testament writings.
2. They were not regarded as God’s words by the Jewish people from whom they originated.
3. They were not considered to be Scripture by Jesus or the New Testament authors.
4. They contain teachings inconsistent with the rest of the Bible.²

Even with the realization that these books were not equal with Scripture, many continued to include them with the rest of the Bible. This practice continued until the British and Foreign Bible Society discontinued the practice in 1827.³ “If the Bible of Christ and the apostles did not contain these Jewish Apocryphal writings, it is misleading to include them in the list of authoritative books in the Christian canon of Scripture.”⁴

Possible additions to the New Testament canon also exist, The Shepherd of Hermas, the Gospel of Thomas (written by an anonymous person who borrowed the apostle Thomas’ name), and the Didache being the prominent examples. But all of these contain teachings clearly contrary to the rest of Scripture (the Gospel of Thomas, for example, teaches that women are not worthy of life and that a woman must become male before she can enter the kingdom of God).⁵ Many of these writings are excluded simply because they do not claim divine inspiration.⁶ Most notably, however, is the fact that, though some were supported in pockets of the early church, none of them were ever universally accepted.

The Close of the Canon

The Old Testament canon concluded with Malachi, which ends with the expectation of the promised Savior. The canonical New Testament books relate the account of this Savior and teach the new covenant established through Him. Both testaments are joined in our collection of recognized Scriptures—those that are God-breathed and given to us for our continued instruction and learning. This canon is well established on the evidences discussed above. But that leaves us with a question: are we to expect any more divine writings? We know, as 2 Timothy 3:16 says, that everything from Genesis to Revelation “is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” But does that exclude the possibility of further additions to Scripture?

It seems that, based on three things, we can confidently believe that we now possess the entirety of God’s verbal revelation. These are: the witness of the church, the testimony of 2 Timothy 3:16-17, and the testimony of Hebrews 1:1-4. On the first, Ryrie writes, “Since A.D. 397 the Christian church has considered the canon of the Bible to be complete; if it is complete, then it must be closed. Therefore we cannot expect any more books to be discovered or written that would open the canon again and add to its sixty-six books.”⁷

As for the second, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that, through the Word of God we are made “complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work [emphasis added].” While the Old Testament was open ended, the New Testament leads us to believe that we can now be complete through the Word. That is, we now have everything we need to be able to fully please God.⁸ Nothing is needful beyond what we have; we can be complete because Scripture is complete. We have no need for more revelation.

The third evidence comes from Hebrews, which teaches that Christ is the fullness of God’s revelation to us. Since He has come, we no longer need to expect greater revelation since we already have the greatest revelation in Him. The letter to the Hebrews opens with these words: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (Heb. 1:1-2). The author contrasts the Old Testament revelations—things spoken in time past to the fathers—with the revelation of Christ (given, of course, through the New Testament). God has spoken to us through Jesus, the fulfilment of the Old Testament and the fullness of God’s words to man. “The exceptional greatness of the revelation that comes through the Son, far exceeding any revelation in the old covenant, is emphasized again and again throughout chapters 1 and 2 of Hebrews.”⁹ Jesus is the point of Scripture. In Him we have the full revelation of God in the Word made flesh.¹⁰

So, given the fact that we now have the fullness of God’s revelation in Christ, given that God has provided all we need to serve Him and please Him in His Word, and given the historic Christian church’s belief that the canon is closed, we do not need to expect greater revelation from God. We have no need for it. On the one hand, each book brings a unique perspective of God that would be woefully absent without that book. But on the other, the sixty-six book canon we now have contains everything we need to know about God, so we must not try to add more.

God, in His grace and mercy, has spoken to us in His Word. In it we find everything we need to know Him truly, love Him fully, and serve Him faithfully. The specific contents of His Word are those books which have been recognized as divinely inspired and are therefore authoritative. The canonical Scriptures were established by the careful observation of men who were aided by the Holy Spirit and directed by God’s sovereign goodness. Again we remember that our confidence in the canon is not in our own observations, nor is it in the abilities of mere men to correctly identify and compile God’s words, but it must ultimately be in God’s faithfulness to His people. By this we believe that God has truly provided us with His Word and has given us all we need. And so we know that, “The canon of Scripture today is exactly what God wanted it to be, and it will stay that way until Christ returns.”¹¹ Our Bible—Genesis to Revelation—contains every word God intended for His people. It is truly and fully the Word of God.

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1. John C. Wenger, Introduction to Theology (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1954), 169.
2. Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 59-60. See pages 57-60 for a detailed defense of each of these points.
3. Wenger, Introduction to Theology, 170.
4. Ibid.
5. Grudem, Systematic Theology, 67.
6. Ibid.
7. Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 1999), 120.
8. See also Col. 1:10.
9. Grudem, Systematic Theology, 64.
10. See John 1. See also the previous article entitled “The Word of God.”
11. Grudem, Systematic Theology, 69.