“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT).
How did we come to possess the Biblical books we have today? We should note that the early church councils applied several standards in recognizing whether a book was inspired of God. Those standards included several of the following questions…
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- Is it authoritative? In other words, does the book find its origin in the well-known Biblical phrase, “Thus saith the Lord“?
- Is it authentic? Does the book have the authority of a spiritual leader of Israel (an Old Testament prophet, king, judge, or scribe), a New Testament apostle, or the testimony of an apostle?
- Is the book consistent with Biblical truth? Does the book correspond with the established body of Scriptural truth?
- Is it dynamic- does the book demonstrate God’s transformative power? As we’re told in Hebrews 4:12, “…the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
- Is the book received, accepted, and used by the men and women of God? This important consideration finds its origin in the words of 1Thessalonians 2:13: “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the Word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.”
- Does the book tell the truth about God? God cannot contradict Himself (2 Corinthians 1:17-18), nor can He utter what is false (Hebrews 6:18). Therefore, no book that contains a false claim can rightfully assert to be the Word of God. For reasons such as these, the church fathers maintained the policy, “If in doubt, throw it out.“
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Finally, we should recognize that no human council possessed the capability to decide which books were “good enough” to make it into the Bible and which books were not. Humanity’s responsibility involved discovering, recognizing, collecting, and preserving the books that God had already inspired. This is how we received the Bible that we have today.
(1) These standards were adapted and summarized from…
Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, From God To Us [pg. 67] © 1974 by The Moody Bible Institute Of Chicago [pg. 67].
Norman L. Geisler and E. William Nix, A General Introduction To The Bible “How Canonicity Was Discovered” [pp. 137-147] © Copyright 1968 by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago.