Christians hold that the Bible is the inspired word of God and that God spoke directly to those who wrote it (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:20-21). This entailed determining which writings were inspired and authoritative enough to be included in the Bible and which ones weren’t.
The canonization process for the Old Testament was completed before to the birth of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Himself embraced the Jewish Scriptures as God’s sacred word, so did his followers, the early Christians. He followed its laws, frequently quoted passages from the Old Testament, and in Luke 24:44, he made particular reference to the three primary sections of the Bible—the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings/Psalms.
The early church was in charge of determining which of the New Testament books were inspired by God and which were just “ordinary books” or even forgeries because they were written after Jesus’ earthly ministry. Rather than being decided by a single person or committee, the early church discussed and debated this choice. Allow me to enumerate a few criteria that were applied while deciding which books belonged in the New Testament.
The special authority of the apostles
Known as apostles or disciples, Jesus had a close-knit group of followers during His earthly ministry. These individuals were firsthand witnesses to all that Jesus said and accomplished, including his death and resurrection. With the power to preach and serve as the official earthly witnesses of His resurrection, Jesus sent these apostles out to proclaim His resurrection to every corner of the globe (Mark 3:14, Matthew 28:19–20, John 15:26–27, Acts 1:8). As an aid, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to lead them “into all truth” (John 16:12–13) and to serve as a reminder of all He had taught them (John 14:26). A writing was guaranteed to be authentic if it was written by an apostle. It was reasonable to assume that these writings accurately documented the teachings and activities of Jesus.
All New Testament books are connected to the apostles
Accordingly, the majority of the New Testament writings would have been approved right away:
- The twelve disciples who were closest to Jesus wrote the Gospels of Matthew and John, the writings of Peter and John, and Revelation (written by John as well).
- Acts 9:3-5, Acts 9:15 record that Jesus personally selected Paul to be an apostle and revealed Himself to him. Peter, another apostle, attests to Paul’s composition of inspired Scripture (2 Peter 3:16). For this reason, the Bible also contains Paul’s letters.
- Acts and Luke are included in the New Testament because Luke was the apostle Paul’s traveling companion and wrote under his direction.
- The apostle Peter had an impact on the writing of the gospel of Mark. Since Mark’s gospel is essentially Peter’s account—and these two men were close friends—we can conclude that Mark’s gospel is also inspired (1 Peter 5:13).
- According to Galatians 1:19, “But I did not see any other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother,” James, the brother of Jesus, is referred to as an apostle. Jude, one of Jesus’ brothers (Jude 1), is another example of how close these individuals were to Jesus and the apostles to produce inspired Scripture, even though the book of Jude was one of the most contentious texts in the canon.
- The author of the Book of Hebrews is thought to have come from that apostolic community, however his current identity is uncertain. This book was not written by the apostle Paul, despite what some people believe.
All New Testament Bible books were written early
The antiquity criterion is linked to the authorship criterion. The first century is when the New Testament writings were all composed. Since they lacked apostolic authority, books written after the apostolic era were automatically omitted from the canon. This quickly clarifies the reasons behind the exclusion of texts such as the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the Gospel of Barnabas, and the Gospel of Thomas from the canon. The requirements for authorship and antiquity are not met by them.
Each book’s content should agree with the doctrines the apostles taught
One further criterion, which came from the need for apostolic authorship, asked if the contents of a given book aligned with the teachings that the apostles wrote down while they were still living or taught orally. This book could not be the inspired word of God if such were not the case, for the Lord [would never contradict Himself].
Feed on God’s Word
God gave us the entire written revelation of Himself in the 66 books of the Bible, which we have access to forever (Jude 3). These 66 priceless books, written by apostles and prophets who were fully inspired by God, are a gift from God intended to guide us to redemption by trust in Jesus Christ (John 5:39–40). Therefore, don’t let any other book that purports to be from God divert or perplex you! Rather, “so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good, crave pure spiritual milk, like newborn babies do.” (1 Peter 2:2–3)
