New Testament Canon

The writing of Scripture primarily occurs in connection with God’s great acts in redemptive history. The Old Testament canon closed with an expectation of the Messiah to come (Malachi). Therefore, it is not surprising that the writing of Scripture resumed only after the Messiah came (Jesus Christ).

Apostles = The special status that Jesus’ 12 disciples attained after His ascension.

A) Apostolic Authority and the New Testament

1) The apostles wrote the New Testament.
2) The apostles were specially empowered by the Holy Spirit (as Christ promised) to be able to write Scripture.
3) The apostles have an authority equal to that of the Old Testament prophets.
4) The apostles (Peter and Paul) placed New Testament writings on the same level as Old Testament Scriptures as part of the canon of Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16, 1 Timothy 5:17-18).

B) Any New Testament writing belongs to the canon of Scripture if:

1) It is written by an apostle (therefore, divine authority is automatically established).
2) It is preserved by the early church under the direction of the apostles (therefore, ruling out the irrelevant documents that the apostles have written, e.g. grocery lists, personal letters to friends).
3) Its teaching and doctrine is consistent with the rest of Scripture.
4) It is recognized as “God-breathed” by an overwhelming majority of believers.

C) Any New Testament writing that is not written by an apostle belongs to the canon of Scripture if:

1) The personal testimony of some living apostles affirm the absolute divine authority of the writings (e.g. the apostle Paul affirmed Luke and Acts, the apostle Peter affirmed Mark).
2) The writings are self-attesting, i.e. the contents of the writings itself bear witness to their own divine authorship as Christians read them (e.g. Hebrews).
3) It is written by a close and authorized companion of Jesus and His apostles (e.g. Jude).

D) Other evidence of the canonicity of the New Testament

1) The 39th Paschal Letter of Athanasius (A.D. 367) contained an exact list of the 27 New Testament books we have today.
2) The Council of Carthage (A.D. 397) agreed with the same list of New Testament books.

E) The completion and closing of the New Testament canon

“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” (Hebrews 1:1-2).

God’s words to us “in these last days” (i.e. today) are spoken to all mankind “by His Son”. This means, that His Son (Jesus Christ) is the greatest and final revelation to mankind. While God revealed Himself progressively through His prophets in the past, the culmination of His revelation to mankind came through the person of Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is God Himself who has come to the world in the flesh.

Therefore, God’s last authoritative speech to us is revealed in Jesus’ teachings, and in the apostles’ writings about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Thus, once the New Testament writings by the apostles and their authorized companions are completed, we have in written form the final record of everything that God wants to communicate to us – things that have meaning and authority over all believers for all time. Therefore, with the passing away of the apostles and their authorized companions, the canon of the New Testament is closed.

It is only reasonable to conclude that the canonicity of the New Testament is closed with the ascension of Christ and the passing away of the apostles and their authorized companions. For how else is God’s speech of divine and binding authority spoken to us “by His Son”?

The completion and closing of the New Testament canon is also found in Revelation 22:18-19.

F) How do we know that we have the right books in the canon of Scripture we now possess?

1) Our confidence is based on the faithfulness of God. Even though the collection and compilation of the canon of Scripture was done through human hands, its historical progression as well as its mechanical process is caused by the hands of God. A God who loves His people will make sure that His every word, which are of utmost importance to us for life itself, is not denied from us.

The preservation and correct assembling of the canon of Scripture is not merely part of church history subsequent to God’s great central acts of redemption for His people. Rather, it is an integral part of the redemption history itself (i.e., just as God’s work in creation, the calling of His people Israel, and in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ are integral in redemption history, so is the assembling of the canon of Scripture).

2) The process of determining the right books are guided by the activity of the Holy Spirit. No other work of literature can speak to people’s hearts with an authority, a power, and a persuasiveness as the Bible, attesting to the work of the Holy Spirit.

3) The reliability of the assembling process is supported by historical data for our re-examination and consideration.

4) There exist no strong candidates for addition to the canon, up to today.

5) There exist no strong objections to any book presently in the canon, up to today.

G) Concluding quotes

The work of the early church was not to bestow divine authority or even ecclesiastical authority upon some merely human writings, but rather to recognize the divinely authored characteristic of writings that already had such quality. This is because the ultimate criterion of canonicity is divine authorship, not human or ecclesiastical approval.

The canon of Scripture today is exactly what God wanted it to be, and it will stay that way until Christ returns.

So, does that mean that after Christ returns, the canon of Scripture will be reopened again? Hmmm…