"The canon of the New Testament still emanates from the authority of Jesus."

In 1979, Bell Publishing Company produced a book called THE LOST BOOKS OF THE BIBLE. Inside the front and back flap of the book are these words:

Lost books of the Bible suppressed by the church? Shrouded in secrecy? Left out when the Bible was compiled in the end of the fourth century? Does such a conspiracy exist? Is there something church leaders aren’t telling you? Is your New Testament inadequate or incomplete?

This is message #10 in a series we’ve been doing called "God’s Word – the Bible." We’ve been considering where the Bible came from, that is, how it was developed and transmitted to us. We’re right in the middle of learning about the canon of the Scriptures. Just how is it that we have a Bible with 66 books and not more?

The word canon means "rule" or "measure" or "standard." A study of the canon of the Bible is a study of how the books in our Bible became the standard for Christian belief and practice and why other books written during the same time period and after did not. In the last message we considered the canon of the Old Testament and dealt with some extra books that are frequently referred to as the Old Testament Apocrypha. Some of these are found in the Catholic Bible but not in our Bible. This time we will look at the canon of the New Testament and questions about some books written after the birth of the church that were not included.

Considering the canon of the New Testament is a bit different than considering that of the Old Testament. In the last message when we considered the Old Testament canon, we looked primarily to the testimony of Christ and the writers of the New Testament for their endorsement of the Hebrew canon. If they endorsed it, then we can trust that it is sufficient and complete. When considering the New Testament canon, we cannot look to what Jesus said about it because it didn’t exist during His time on earth. He had ascended back into heaven before even the first book of the New Testament was written. We can gain some help from the testimony of the Apostles however – something that I will show you as we move along.

Having said these things though, the final proof of the canon of the New Testament still emanates from the authority of Jesus. I mentioned Hebrews 1:1-2 in the last message and it is appropriate to do so again here. It says,

"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son…."

The "long ago" phrase refers to the days of the Old Testament. The "last days" referred to are the days of the New Testament. We see from this that Christ is the ultimate authority in establishing the New Testament writings because He is the spokesman for God. God "has spoken to us in His Son…." Whatever He says goes.

Jesus, of course, didn’t write any books. The only writing we know that He did was when the woman caught in adultery was brought to Him for judgment and rather than say something to condemn her, He stooped over and wrote on the ground.(2) Jesus did, however appoint twelve men whom He called apostles(3) to carry forth His message during His lifetime and beyond. He promised that these men would be inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak with delegated authority from Him.(4)

It was Jesus’ intention from the beginning that His apostles would speak and write with His authority. Mark 3:14 says, "And He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach…." When He prayed for these apostles before His crucifixion, He said in John 17:20, "I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word…." They were His spokesmen, vested with His authority.

On the night of His betrayal, Jesus promised the apostles, as recorded in John 14:26, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." This was a promise that they would be inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak accurately on His behalf.

Again in John 16:13 He promised the eleven, "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth…."

Then, according to Acts 1:4, just before His ascension, Jesus gathered His apostles together and "commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised…."

They waited ten days in Jerusalem as Jesus had commanded, alternating back and forth from an upper room where they were staying and the temple.(5) Then, when the Day of Pentecost came, the apostles, according to Acts 2:1-3, "were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them."

From that point onward, they were under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. From that time onward, according to Acts 2:42, the church was "continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching…." This was because, being filled with the Spirit, the apostles spoke with the authority of Jesus Christ. They spoke for the Lord, just as Jesus had predicted in Acts 1:8: "…but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

Of course the apostles didn’t go to "the remotest part of the earth" with their message personally in their lifetime, but their writings did – something that continues yet today. As the message of the gospel spread, the writings of the apostles were received and circulated. Paul made it clear in the second Thessalonian letter that the writings of the apostles had the same authority as their spoken words. He said in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, "So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us."

Early in the life of the church, the writings of the apostles were being circulated and received as the word of Christ. Paul mentioned the authority of the writings of the apostles clearly in 1 Corinthians 14:37-38. There he wrote: "If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord's commandment. But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized." This verse also answers the question of whether or not the apostles knew if what they were writing was inspired Scripture. Clearly they did.

The apostle John writes in 1 John 1:5, "And this is the message we have heard from Him [Christ] and announce to you…." This is another clear statement that shows us that the apostles were speaking and writing as spokesmen for Christ and that their words were His words.

In Revelation 1:1, John says of His writing: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants…."

Peter put the writings of the apostles on the par with the Old Testament Scriptures in 2 Peter 3:2 when He wrote: "…You should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles."

The apostles and the early church understood that Christ was communicating through both the speaking and writing of the apostles.

Thus the writings of the twelve apostles would ultimately make up a good portion of the canon of the New Testament. If it was written by a genuine apostle of Christ, it was canonical.

Of course, Paul was not one of the original twelve. He was, according to his own words, an apostle "untimely born,"(6) that is he became an apostle after the others, through direct revelation from Christ.(7)

The account of Paul’s call to Apostleship is too much material to cover here, but you can read about it in Acts 9, Acts 22, Acts 26, and Galatians 1 & 2. We know that Paul was accepted as an apostle by the twelve because Peter, in 2 Peter 3:15-16, refers to Paul’s writing on the same level as "the rest of the Scripture."

Any genuine writings of the original twelve apostles or Paul, then, were accepted as canonical. These writings were circulated among the churches and viewed as Holy Scripture even while the apostles were still alive. This is seen in several places.

In Colossians 4:16 we read, "And when this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodicea." The epistle to the Colossians was written in the late 50’s or early 60’s. Already the apostolic writings were being circulated as Scripture and used in much the same way as we use them today – as the doctrine of the church. Some believe the letter that Paul mentions here as "coming from Laodicea" was not some epistle addressed to the Laodiceans that has now been lost. Rather, it may have been either the canonical letter to the Ephesians or Philemon. These two letters of Paul were addressed to Christians who lived in the same province of Asia.

Paul shows that His letters were intended for more than just their recipients in 1 Thessalonians 5:27 when he gave this instruction: "I adjure you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brethren."

Peter’s words in his second epistle about Paul also show us that Paul’s writings were being circulated as Scripture. In 2 Peter 3:15-16 we read, "…just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction."

Here we see Peter acknowledging several important things. First, his readers had to have been familiar with Paul’s letters or his words would not have made any sense. This implies strongly that Paul’s letters were being circulated beyond the limits of those they were addressed to. Second, in saying that the untaught and unstable distorted Paul’s writings just like they did "the rest of the Scriptures," Peter equates the apostolic writings of Paul with the developing canon. So even in the days of the apostles their writings were being circulated and received by the churches as Holy Scripture. This is very important in our discussion of the New Testament canon because it shows us that the apostles themselves were actively supervising, collecting, circulating, and preserving their inspired writings and that the canon was being developed even while the apostles were alive.

Apostolic involvement in the production of the cannon also went to recognizing and exposing fake writings – that is, writings that claimed to be apostolic but were not. Paul warned the Thessalonians about this in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2: "Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come." Already there were some spurious writings and already they were being exposed as fake. Already the issue of canonicity was at the front. Already the church needed to be sure the letters they received were authentic. In 1 Corinthians, Colossians, Galatians, and 2 Thessalonians, Paul "signed" the letters with his own hand – presumably so that they would know they were authentic.(8) You see, the issue of the canon was being considered long before any church council ever took it up.

While not sufficient for ultimate proof, but surely interesting, Wilbert R. Gawrisch(9) contributes the following:

John lived until the end of the first century. His Book of Revelation is the last book in our New Testament. If Tertullian’s account is true and this observation is valid, it could be strong indication that God provided apostolic supervision of the canon right up until the last book was written.

But not all of the writers of the New Testament were apostles, so there is something else we must consider.

Among the nine miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit that were present in the first century church (listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10) was the gift of prophecy. A prophet was one who was empowered to speak for God. These gifts were passed to select men through the laying on of an apostle’s hands.(10) There is no evidence that they could be passed on by any except the apostles, thus the gift of prophecy (along with the other miraculous gifts of the Spirit) would last through the lifetime of the apostles and those they laid hands on and would cease when the apostles and the last of these gifted men died. Paul foretold of this ceasing of New Testament prophecy in 1 Corinthians 13:8.(11) While it lasted, though, the prophet could speak (and write) for God just as the apostles.

Two things were required for a New Testament prophet: Close association with an apostle (In this case, close enough to touch!) and the laying on of an apostle’s hands to pass on the gift. At least three of our New Testament books, written by non-apostles, are easily associated with these two requirements. The third Gospel and the Book of Acts, written by Paul’s traveling companion, Luke, and second Gospel, written by Peter’s close associate, Mark. It isn’t hard to understand why the apostles and the early church would recognize their books as canonical.

New Testament canonicity in a nutshell, then, is this: Any book written by an apostle or close associate of an apostle who had the gift of prophecy, is canonical. Any other book is not, no matter how impressive it might seem. On this basis the collection of books in our New Testament came to be considered as the sacred canon, perhaps even before the last apostle died. On this basis also, other books were rejected, some of them while the apostles yet lived.

Paul underscores this "apostles and prophets" concept in Ephesians 3:4-5 where he writes: "…when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit…."(13)

With several New Testament books, the identity of the authors is uncertain – at least they contain no reference to their authors. I’m referring to James, Jude, and Hebrews. However, we find that they too were accepted by the early church as inspired since we find them quoted as Scripture in the earliest Christian writings outside of the New Testament itself. They would be questioned later by several councils, because their place in the canon was challenged, but they were ultimately retained in the New Testament canon.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:20 that the church was "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone." The teaching and writing of the first century apostles and prophets is the foundation of the church.

Today when the church is built, it must be built upon this same foundation, the writings of the apostles and prophets - the inspired canon of the New Testament. A church built upon a different foundation is not Christ’s church.

What then of those so-called "lost" books written in New Testament times? Those books not included in our New Testament are today divided into two categories: (1) the Pseudepigrapha ("False writings") and (2) the New Testament Apocrypha.

The Pseudepigrapha have never been considered canonical by respectable church leaders. They were rejected by nearly everyone. There are over 280 of these. Some of them have not survived the passage of time, being known only through being quoted by other writers. These so-called "lost" books were never lost from the cannon. They were never included in the cannon in the first place! As for the allegation that they were suppressed by church leaders and shrouded in secrecy, I have already shown you sufficient evidence that the canon was established before any church council. And the secrecy part, that probably has to do with the fact that these books were for a long time not translated or published. Who would want to? Tremendous effort and sacrifice has been put into translating the Bible into the native tongues of people all over the world. Such zeal does not exist for these so-called "lost books." Thus the phrase "Lost Books of the Bible" is a misnomer, first because they were never lost (scholars have known about them for a long time) and second because they were never in the Bible.

These include writings with names like "The Gospel of Thomas," "The Gospel of Peter," "The Gospel of Hebrews," and "The Protevangelium of James." These books are full of teachings that contradict the known writings of the apostles. They were mainly produced by heretical groups condemned directly or indirectly by the apostles’ teaching. They also contain a lot of religious folklore known to be false. Only those with a dubious agenda would ever suggest that these should have been included in the cannon of the New Testament.

If you still feel like there might be the possibility of a cover-up, all it takes is a casual reading of some of these writings to see that they have no place in our Bible. I chose one at random so you can get a feel for what I mean. The so-called "Gospel of Thomas"(14) is one of the "lost books." It can be read in less than fifteen minutes. It claims to be written by the apostle Thomas, one of the original twelve apostles of Christ. It opens with these words:

 These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded.

It then proceeds to tell what is necessary for salvation: "1 And he said, ‘Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.’" Salvation, according to this letter, is a matter of solving a series of mystical riddles that supposedly were given by Jesus to Thomas. So what are the sayings you need to solve in order to live forever? Some of them are the things you will find in the four gospels of your New Testament. After all, every false teacher must include at least some truth in order to be viewed as respectable.

Then you come upon words like these:

So do you have these sayings figured out yet? If you want to live forever, according to the pseudepigrapical "Gospel of Thomas," you’d better get them figured out!

(Just my opinion, but these writings remind me of some of the counter culture sayings of the 1960’s America that were uttered by LSD users and pot heads.)

My point here is that any serious person who is familiar with the Bible, upon reading the books of the Pseudepigrapha, will find them to be obviously bogus.

The other group of books, the New Testament Apocrypha has a little more respectability than the pseudepigraphal books. Yet they too were not included in the inspired canon for reasons that will become fairly obvious with some careful study, which, since we have run out of time, we cannot talk about today.

There is so much more we could say about canonicity but I believe the things that have been said are sufficient to allow us to see good reasons to trust the Bible we have today as being what God intended. Surely if God meant for us to be guided for nearly two thousand years by His written word, He would do what is necessary to providentially provide an accurate canon. He has done just that.

Footnotes: Please use your back button to return to your place.

1. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0517277956/ref=pd_sxp_f/103-3772776-8256635?v=glance&s=books
2. John 8:6
3. Luke 6:13-17
4. John 20:19-22
5. Acts 1:13, cf. Luke 24:53
6. 1 Corinthians 15:8
7. Galatians 1:12
8. 1 Corinthians 16:21; Galatians 6:11; Colossians 4:18; 2 Thessalonians 3:17
9. "How the Canonicity of the Bible was Established" by Wilbert R. Gawrisch.
http://www.wls.wels.net/library/Essays/Authors/G/GawrischCanonicity/GawrischCanonicity.pdf
10. Acts 8:18; 1 Timothy 1:6
11. If the "perfect" referred to in the larger context of this verse is the New Testament canon (James 1:25) it would indicate that the gift of prophecy would cease near the time when the New Testament cannon was completed.
12. Evidence of this is seen in the fact that Paul quoted from the Gospel of Luke in 1 Timothy 5:18 ("The laborer is worthy of his wages" appears only in Luke’s gospel) and refers to it as Scripture.
13. Paul’s words here, "has now been revealed" indicate that he was referring to New Testament prophets.
14. http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/LostBooks/thomas.htm

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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