The Canonization of the 66
Books of the Bible
#RAD #ATEND G-d (Christ) #IIC714
The Canonization of the 66 Books of the Bible
What do you think?
This quote – “Ultimately,
the church councils did not decide if a book was Scripture; that was decided
when the human author was chosen by God to write. In order to accomplish the
end result, including the preservation of His Word through the centuries, God
guided the early church councils in their recognition of the canon.”[1]
- from a Got Questions article entitled “What
is the canon of Scripture?”, although much better phrased than my typical
reply to this query has ever been, I feel best explains and encapsulates my
view, or “DaBauz’s take” on, “The Canonization of the 66 Books of the Bible”.
Do you ever have questions about how “they” decided
what was Canon and what was not? I get
such questions probably almost daily, certainly weekly. It’s a question that comes up with unbelieving
friends & acquaintances quite regularly and I feel it’s important to answer
it clearly, concisely and accurately, both for me and them.
The basic question of - "how did 'they' decide
what was, or was not, Canon?" - is essentially a question I've pondered
for years. I think the best explanation
I've seen in years, is the one from the Got
Questions article noted above.
G-d (Christ) in His sovereign, providential way, First
inspired, then Second safeguarded and protected all, 40-ish, of the authors'
writings which make up what we Christians call the Bible's 66* (Comprised of 39
Old Testament, what the Jews call TaNaKh's 24, and 27 New Testament) Books of
Canon. Simply put, G-d used man, as He
first did with Adam to make Eve, to write, preserve, organize and share His
Holy Word.
The short answer to another query - “Is the New
Testament also ‘Scripture’?” - from a BlueLetterBible[2] post, is...
“yes” And that provides an AWESOME
supplementary piece of information! The
short answer from the above “Got Questions” article, complimented with the BlueLetterBible
article, regarding the question raised: “Does
the New Testament Ever Quote Itself as Authoritative Scripture?” - which is
also “yes”. Reading II Peter 3:15 & 16 and I Timothy 5:18 we
first see Peter recognizing Paul’s letters as Scripture - “…the rest of the Scriptures, too…”, MSG - and
then later in Paul’s quote of both Moses and Luke - “…shall not muzzle an ox…” - Deuteronomy 25:4,
ESV and “…the laborer deserves his wages.” -
Luke 10:7, ESV We discover, from a
review of the above, that - “Peter placed these
writings of Paul on the same level as the Old Testament Scripture.”[2]
and that “Paul quotes Luke on the same level as
Moses. This implied equivalence.”[2]
Many argue that some books have been erroneously left
out, or irreparably altered, and the list of books, as well as the number of
books allegedly "erroneously left out" and / or "irreparably
altered" is almost as many, and varied, as there are people on Earth.... I
look at the Canon of scripture kind of like a woman being pregnant. There's just no way to be
'a-little-bit-pregnant', and likewise there's no way that Canon can be, even
just a smidgen, little bit open. One is
either pregnant, or not... and Canon is either closed, period, or wide open,
anything goes.
The G-d I know, and serve, is big enough, and
Omnipotent enough, to have been successful in keeping His Word precisely as He
intended and wanted it. To argue that
some entity, ancient or more recent, has corrupted G-d's Holy Word for
centuries, is to label said god an emaciated wuss. Not too mention the arrogance that so many
have in proclaiming - "Such N' such entity, X hundreds of years ago
completely bastardized G-d's Word, corrupting nearly every thought. But, G-d has shown me, via ________ Group,
that G-d's Word is really supposed to have Y & Z added, and ____
removed."
*66 Books of Canon... yes, the Roman Catholic church
(RCC) uses a 'canon', today, which is comprised of seven additional books, and
the Eastern Orthodox (EOC) use a “canon” comprised of nine extra books[11] (we
PROTESTants call those books Apocryphal, mythical or esoteric, writings),
beyond the “66 Canonized” Books. The
thing is, they... the RCC, from the time of the earliest established Canon also
used the very same 66 Books as the "PROTESTants". So... where then did the Apocryphal (the RCC call them Deuterocanonicals)[6],
I think I spelled that correct) writings come into play, you may ask? Great question... the RCC's bibles have long
included those additional books, with the 66 Canonized ones, they just weren't
counted as "Canon"... yet, today, in 2018 they are counted as RCC
Canon. When did the RCC formally alter
Canon?
That was with the Council of Trent, c.~ A.D. 1546, “Prompted by the Reformation”.[8] Which is, interestingly very close to both Martin Luther's Reformation (October 31st,
1517)[5] and King Henry VIII's cessation
from the Papacy (1534 )[4], for the Church of England (Anglican
or Episcopalian). In fact, the entire 16th
century appears to be rife with protests, Ulrich Zwingli (1519), John Calvin
(1541), John Knox (1560), Jacobus Arminius (c.~ 1589) to name but a few. Protests, against the Papacy (in part), and of
course against a host of dogmas, even against G-d and His Holy Word. There were even “protests against the
protesters” by way of the Roman Catholic Church and the Council of Trent” as
noted earlier (c.~ A.D. 1545 through c.~ A.D. 1563[9]) wherein the
long held to be non-Canonical Deuterocanonical books of the Apocrypha were formally “added” to RCC Canon. And perhaps most
importantly, counter protests against all the forces seeking to either alter,
or at least ‘water down’, G-d’s Holy Word!
As an additional sidebar note, the
"inerrant" KJV, from A.D. 1611 though
to the about the c.~ A.D. 1880's[7], contained...
Wait for it....
Wait for it....
Wait for it....
14 additional books, for a total of - “…80 books, not 66”!
Interestingly, those fourteen books, included in the
KJV for roughly 275 of its 407 years of existence, comprise basically the same
written content as the RCC's extra seven books.
And though they were included within the binding of the Authorised KJV
bible, they were NEVER counted as Canon. Never.
So what? Well, G-d saw to it that the Canon of His Holy Word was well
underway in being established by ‘c.~ A.D. 180,
wherein 22 of the 27 books of the New Testament were listed’[1] -
“This means that, within 150 years of Jesus’
death and resurrection, the core writings that were later included in the New
Testament were already deemed authoritative …”.[1] This is known as the “Muratorian Canon” and
pre-dates the Council of Nicaea, c.~ A.D. 325 (which by the way had nothing to
do with ‘voting on Biblical Canon’) by very nearly 150 years!
With so very many lies, with all those sets of
“canons” to choose from, seven, nine, 14 even seemingly an endless number of
additional books, plus alleged needed additions, alterations and deletions from
the existing “66 Canonized” Books, just how does one decide… How does one
conclude, correctly, which set out of all these inferenced above “canons”, is
THE correct set of “66 Canonized” Books?
This process involves a combination of three (3) steps.
First, prayerful consideration. Second, prayerful consideration of i) the
subject matters, ii) basic content and iii) writing style of the in-question
book(s), compared, prayerfully, with i) the subject matters, ii) basic content
and iii) writing style of the “66 Canonized” Books of the Bible. And Third, consider all the information
provided above in this Blog, as well as some additional points referenced in my
Blog - “Biblical Canon” from October 10th,
2017. Only by weighing all the above three
points together, taking into consideration the harmonious themes of the “66
Canonized” Books of the Bible, setting aside our own pride and simply trusting
in G-d, can we know. We can, I believe, with great confidence conclude the “66 Canonized”
Books of the Bible are precisely what G-d wants, wanted and will ever want, as
His written Word.
I am aware that I can neither force you to agree with
me, nor even abandon ideas that you have well entrenched in your personal
beliefs. The best I can do is challenge you
to prayerfully consider i) the subject matters, ii) basic content and iii)
writing style of the in-question book(s), compared, prayerfully, with i) the
subject matters, ii) basic content and iii) writing style of the “66 Canonized”
Books of the Bible. And from there prayerfully
consider the implied consequences of clinging to the view(s) that there are alterations,
additions and / or deletions (errors and omissions) from the existing “66 Canonized”
Books.
The point being… spiritual forces, very dark spiritual
forces, have tried since that ancient serpent, Satan, first tempted Eve,
Genesis Chapter Three, with the words - "Did G-d really say...?" - to
twist, modify and even bastardize G-d's Holy Word. Those spiritual forces have attempted to
thwart, alter or replace G-d’s Holy Word myriad times over c.~ 5,900
years. There was a concerted effort made
by Islam, with the Qur’an in the seventh century A.D. Again, with the Great Schism between the EOC and the RCC, c.~ A.D.
1054[10], and by the RCC, c.~ A.D.1546, by the Mormons (with
entire extra-Biblical books, similar to Islam’s Qur’an… and that by the way is,
just in and of itself, a very interesting study) and JW's (altering the
phraseology and very meaning, or substance of the well established texts of “66
Canonized” Books of the Bible) in the A.D. 1800's, and those spiritual forces
persist to this very day. The Canon of
G-d's Holy Word, 66 Books, is closed, and was settled by G-d before He ever
created anything. Period! To repeat, because I feel it bears repetition
- “There's just no way to be
'a-little-bit-pregnant', and likewise there's no way that Canon can be, even
just a smidgen, little bit open.”
“No Jesus, NO peace” and yet, “Know Jesus, KNOW peace”
How does one get to “know” Jesus? Simple, invite Him into your heart, as Jesus
says: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” [Revelation 3:20 NIV]
How can be assured that this Jesus stuff means anything? Well because the Bible tells us so, as the
Apostle Paul wrote:
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is
Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it
is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” [Romans 10:9-10 NIV]
And for those of you who say to me, I
can’t be bothered reading the Bible, “it’s confusing” or “it’s a waste of my
time”, may I draw your attention to what the Bible says about wisdom: “The fear
of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is
understanding.” [Proverbs 9:10 NIV]
If nothing else, PLEASE read two chapters
from the Bible – (don’t own one, sorry NO excuse, if you’re reading this, you
can access this: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%203:16&version=NIV) John 3 and John
14!
John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.”
And John 14:6 says: “Jesus answered, “I am
the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me.”
Well that’s it, that’s Da Bauz’s Take on, “The
Canonization of the 66 Books of the Bible” – this 5th day of February
2018 © 2018, All Rights Reserved. wr (Da Bauz, Christian Zionist “creationist”
too!)
Just sayin’...
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem...
What is #RAD? #RAD is:
R epent of rejecting Christ
A ccept Christ as your Lord
D evelop your relationship with G-d
#RAD your relationship with the Living Almighty God Himself
as your personal Lord and Saviour depends on it!
What is #ATEND G-d (Christ)? Ask me!
What is #IIC714?
II 2nd
C hronicles
7:14
John 3:16, Revelation 3:20, Romans 10:9 -10,
Revelation 21:27, II Corinthians 5:21 and I John 5:13 / John 20:31!
Shalom
Cited
or consulted sources and resources
[1] – Got Questions - https://www.gotquestions.org/canon-of-Scripture.html
- "What is the canon of Scripture?", see also - https://www.gotquestions.org/Muratorian-Canon.html
- "What is the Muratorian Canon?"
[2] - BlueLetter Bible - https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_1210.cfm
- "Does the New Testament Ever Quote Itself as Authoritative Scripture?"
[3] - W's Blog - http://dabauzstake.blogspot.ca/2017/10/biblical-canon.html
- “Biblical Canon” from October 10th,
2017
[4] - ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA - https://www.britannica.com/topic/Church-of-England
- "History And Organization of the Church of England"
[5] - ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA - https://www.britannica.com/event/Reformation
- "Protestant Reformation"
[6] - New Advent - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03267a.htm
- "Catholic Encyclopedia, Canon of the Old Testament"
[7] - Greatsite - http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history
- “English Bible History”
[8] - ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA - https://www.britannica.com/event/Council-of-Trent
- “Council of Trent”
[9] - History . com - http://www.history.com/topics/reformation
- “THE REFORMATION”
[10] - ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA - https://www.britannica.com/event/Schism-of-1054
- “Schism of 1054”
[11] - St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary - https://stots.edu/contact_info.html
- “Greek Additions to the Old Testament (Apocrypha)”
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