Chuck already posted some thoughts about the Canon, and the article Jon posted was great. Since we have been discussing why to study and grow in the Lord, and a little about how God speaks to us, we should spend some time digging into the Canon. Like the article from leaderu said, most people do not know how to defend the canon of Scripture from attacks from other religions or worldviews. I think its clear in Scripture that we have faith combined with reason, though reason is always subservient to faith (the problem in the Catholic church is that they have this backwards). There are exhortations in Scripture for us to use reason and to seek wisdom from God at all times. The parables of Christ were founded squarely on logic and reason, and often times He used human reason to turn the Pharisees back on their own arguments. So I think as Christians commanded to always be ready, in and out of season to explain why we believe what we believe, we need to be able to make a case for why we believe in the inerrancy and completeness of the Canon--the Word of God.
This chapter is a little longer but full of great information on how we received the Canon. We should approach this chapter with the goal of being able to make a very short, concise statement on why we accept the Bible as God's inerrant Word. And then have resources for further developments of this argument if needed. The chapter has some references to some books that look really good, and I would love to see any other links you all might know of like the one Jon sent out.
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Old Testament
There is not much disputing the books of the OT. God Himself wrote the 10 commandments and gave them to Moses. Most of the writers of OT books at some point claimed divine authority to write down their revelations from God (Jeremiah, Isaiah). Seeing as how there were many false prophets, especially in times of wicked kings like Ahab, it is important to note that these teachers were easily distinguished from God's true prophets.
Jewish literature outside of the OT verifies the Canon. 1 Maccabees references that fact that true prophets had ceased to speak among the people after 435 BC. Josephus and many of his contemporaries states that the additional writings outside of the OT canon (the apocrypha) were not of equal credit with existing Scripture. Rabbinic literature talks of the Holy Spirit departing from Israel after the last prophets. The Qumran community was awaiting authority from prophets who could give them divine instruction.
Interestingly, Jesus and the NT authors refer to OT Scriptures 295 times without disputing their authority. So Jesus and the apostles clearly accepted the OT collection of writings. There is also no disputing this from Jewish leaders or teachers. so there was consensus on the authority of the OT books. There are never any NT references to the books in the Apocrypha. Early church writers such as Origen, Eusibius and Athanasius confirm virtualy all the books of the OT and specifically state that books from the apocrypha are not included in the Canon. The Catholic church adopted books from the Aprocrypha because they matched up with a works-based righteousness and other doctrines that would help the Catholic church maintain its power. They claimed for themselves the power that only God had.
Books outside of our existing OT Canon were rejected because they were not considered God's Word by the Jewish audience to which they were written, they were not considered Scripture by Jesus and the apostles, and they contain teachings that are inconsistent with the rest of the Bible. Grudem list a couple of books for futher study on this issue: The Canon of Scripture by F.F. Bruce and The OT Canon of the NT Church by Roger Beckwith.
New Testament
The writing of Scripture has historically taken place during God's great acts in redemptive history. Since the OT closes with the expectation of the Messiah to come (Malachi 4:1-6) we should expect God's next communication to us to be when the Messiah comes. NT authors, the majority of whom were direct followers of Jesus (except Mark and Luke), claimed authority on par with the OT prophets. Paul continuously reminds His readers that His authority is from God, not man (1 Cor 14:37, others). Peter considers Paul's writings to be Scripture (2 Pet 3:16). Paul refers to a passage from Luke as Scripture (1 Tim 5:17-18). This shows that very early in the church the writings of the apostles were considered to be part of Scripture. Only a handful of books in the NT were not authored by apostles--Luke, Acts, Mark, Hebrews, and Jude. Luke wrote Luke and Acts and was a close companion of Paul, and likewise Mark was a close companion of Peter. Jude was a companion of James and a brother of Jesus. The minority of authors who were not apostles did have a very close connection to Jesus or the apostles and thus their writings were considered to be of equal authority. Hebrews may have been authored by Paul, but if not it is clear from reading the book that it is of Divine authority.
As early as 367 AD we see Athanasius confirming the 27 books of the NT, as well as the confirmation of the council of Carthage 30 years later. As for the other books that were not included in the NT, the same logic applies as for the OT. Books that contradicted existing Scripture (i.e. book of Thomas) were rejected as were books that could not claim apostolic and divine inspiration. As early as 367 we see a general consensus had emerged that has lasted to this day (though the Catholic church has added books to fit its purposes).
Ultimately we can trust God that He has given us the Words He wants us to have from Him. The Words of God are our very lives (Deut 32:47, Matt 4:4) and God would not lead us astray for 2,000 years. Ultimately, 'my sheep hear my voice' (John 10:27). Only God can make it clear to hearts that the Bible is His very Word to us. Revelation 22 promises severe punishments to those who add to or take away from these words. But it is helpful to study the process of the development of the Canon throughout history to see that the early church made the correct decisions. Grudem also mentions the book Hermeneutics, Authority and Canon by David Dunbar and another book by Bruce Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development and Significance. These may be good references/resources to have for further study of the Canon of Scripture.
Understanding the Canon and its development is important in light of the charge from Scripture to always be ready, in and out of season, to give an account of why we have the hope that we have.
http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=false+prophets&qs_version=31
This link to Bible Gateway shows specific references in the OT to false prophets and what an issue they were to Israel and how God felt about them.
Deut 18:22 says, "If what a prophet claims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him."
This is a very important point. If a prophet prophesies lies then that automatically disqualifies him as a prophet. The entire Mormon religion is founded upon a prophet whose entire life was filled with lies and contradictions and unfulfilled prophecies. God has very strong words for false prophets that lead the people astray.
Yo fellas....Drew you said exactly what I was going to say...word of word---pretend I cut and pasted it right here.
Seriously, we've just heard a guy that the school got to come talk to us abou the importance of asking questions instead of being so dogmatic in our defense of the faith. By asking the simple question how do you know that is true you can break people to realize they know nothing.
Man, I got all that about the canon of scripture. A few years ago I read the West. Confes. of Faith and it had a great statement about the Canon and how it came to be. It was actually quite a struggle for it to come about. Bottom line is God isn't going to lead his people astray. It's obvious that Muhammed is a false prophet soley because he denied the deity of Christ and the crucifixion of Christ. The main question they asked themselves abou the canon when including new testatment documents is 1.) Was it a first hand account of Christ 2.) Does it preach the crucified Christ and the power of His resurection 3.) It was either written by and apostle or someone who was with or followed the apostles (this is really number 1). I guess Luther's biggest problem with James is it talked too much about works and not once did it discuss the crucifixion of Christ.
Maybe God included it so that we could understand that faith without works is dead. We are not saved by works---works are a fruit of Faith. Our love for Christ drives us to want to work in his kingdom and serve him. These would be considered works but to us, we don't even view them as works; rather us being ambassadors for the cause of Christ.
What amazes me is the masses being led astray. The closer I come to God the more of my wretchedness I see. I see more and more of my unworthiness. I feel convicted to read the Bible more and more to my classes. I feel stupid doing it because I don't feel they are listening but how on earth can we compete with them once they go home and watch TV or start listening to their music. These 9th grade girls by that Teen magazine and junk like that and its filled with Satan's weapons to destroy any kind of faith.
You know what, knowing the Canon and how it came about is important...but it is not near as important in getting in the word and understanding it so we can be firm and strong in our faith in front of these kids and our peers.
Alright, I know I'm not talking about the Canon but I agreed with everything you said. You know what I've been trying real hard on a deeper level---the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the power that it brings in overcoming sin. I've been praying real hard about it.
I have been watching some of the speakers from last year's Ligonier conference talk about faith and reason. Ultimately faith and reason work together although faith is supreme in our lives and we can never exalt our fallible human reason over faith in Christ. But we must be able to use our minds to explain the Scriptures, give a rational defense and explanation, and pray that God's spirit would open the eyes of this world and take the veil off of our hearts so we can see Him.
But knowing how to articulate the development of the Canon and also give a defense of our faith is critical in a world that is skeptical about everything. We can make a logical, rational defense for the books of the Bible and we need to do that because the Bible is God's truth to us--the only source of truth. RC Sproul talked about how the 2 biggest things we have to do is 1) defend the existence of God and 2) defend Scripture as God's inerrant truth. If we can be successful in those 2 things then everything else will fall into place.
When you study things like how we have the Bible in its current form you realize that God does not ask us to take everything on blind faith. Jesus said even if you don't accept me because of what I say, at least believe in the miracles! He was appealing to our sense of reason; no one else besides the Son of God could be doing the things that He did. It made sense but people didn't want to follow their own sense of logic and reason. When Jesus argued with the Pharisess He appealed to their sense of reason and logic. And what are the parables really except for stories designed to make us think rationally and logically? In Matthew 16, Jesus tells the Pharisees that they use logic and reason and thinking to predict the weather, but they were unwilling to use those same capacities to verify that Christ was in fact the fulfillment of Scripture and the Son of God.
The Gospel is rational; it is the only coherent explanation for the sin and evil in this world. It is also the only rational explanation for how this amazingly complex universe came into being. We need to challenge ourselves to be able to make a defense of the Faith using the reason and logic that God gave us, always knowing that Faith and Trust in Christ is what is supreme and preeminent.
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