The Canon of Scripture

What is a Canon?

Canon is derived from the Greek word kanwn (kanon) which means "rule" or "standard". The Canon of Scripture was formed for several reasons.

It was necessary to have a recognised and agreed body of Scripture.
Books were being produced which claimed to be Scripture although their message was not in line with that of the Apostles.
Some people were forming lists of books which promoted their own doctrinal ideas.

This might give the impression that, one day a group of Church leaders sat down and sorted out the list of books to be included in the New Testament and finished the job in time for tea. Not so! In fact the Canon was not formed by councils or committees. Nor was the Canon formed quickly. There is a sense in which it could be said that the Canon evolved - yet it was not a random evolution. There was a set of criteria which lay behind the choice or rejection of each book..

The book must have been inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Its author must either be an Apostle or a person with very close links to the Apostles.
The message of the book must be in line with the known teachings of Jesus and of the Apostles.

Matthew, Peter and John were, of course, Apostles. Paul was accepted as being of the Apostolic calling. Luke's Gospel and the Acts are acceptable (despite being written by a gentile) because of Luke's association with Paul. Mark was associated with both Paul and Peter and, indeed, it was believed that Mark's gospel was almost entirely gained from Peter's verbal accounts.

Not every book was as simple to judge. No-one is quite sure who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews. Were Jude and James the brothers of Jesus? Is the Revelation in line with the rest of the New Testament? Why is John's Revelation to be included but Peter's Apocalypse not?

Nevertheless, by the beginning of the 5 ^th Century there was full agreement on the choice of the 27 books now included in the New Testament. Most of these books were accepted from the beginning.