 Pre-test

 14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,  15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,  17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

I. The Canon of Scripture II. The Authority of Scripture III. The Inerrancy of Scripture IV. The Clarity of Scripture V. The Necessity of Scripture VI. The Sufficiency of Scripture

 Writings containing the truth about Jesus were banned from the Bible by Constantine at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD; the Bible has in fact helped conceal the truth about Jesus for two millennia.  Christians viewed Jesus as an incredible, yet mortal man until Constantine “turned Jesus into a deity” by pressuring the Council of Nicaea to endorse divine status by “a relatively close vote.”

 Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, His intended ruler of the Church, and had a daughter who inaugurated a royal bloodline in France. The Christian Church has been ruthless in its attempt to covered up this destructive truth for almost 2000 years.  In spite of the Church’s attempts to stamp out the truth, guardians of this secret have kept it alive through encoded messages in art, literature, architecture, etc. (thus, the title: The Da Vinci Code).

 “Jesus said unto them, ‘When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make the male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be the male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in the place of an eye, a hand in the place of a hand, a foot in the place of a foot, an image in the place of an image, then you will enter the Kingdom’” (Gospel of Thomas). I. Were writings banned from the Bible by Constantine at Nicaea?

1. Canon comes from a Hebrew word and a Greek word which both mean “measuring rod” (EDBT, p. 58). 2. When we speak of “the canon” we mean the books which the Holy Spirit inspired and which His people have recognized to be the word of God (analogy of genuine money). I. The Canon of Scripture

1. It is important to realize that the formation of the canon of Scripture was a process, not an event (EDBT, p. 59). 2. It is a process involving both divine and human elements.

1. The earliest collection of written words from God was the Ten Commandments.  Ex. 31:18 - And when He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God (cp. 32:16; Deut. 4:13; 10:4).

2. While no one was allowed to add to God’s words on his own authority (Deut. 4:2), God himself authorized additions. Deut 31: And it came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, 25 that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, 26 "Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you.”

 Josh 24:26 - And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.  1 Sam 10:25 - Then Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote {them} in the book and placed {it} before the LORD.  Jer. 30:2 - "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.’”

3. After approximately 435 B. C. (the date typically set for Malachi) there were no further additions to the O. T. This is clear from later Jewish literature from outside the O. T.

a. The Apocrypha  “So they tore down the altar and stored the stones in a convenient place on the temple hill until there should come a prophet to tell what to do with them” (1 Macc. 4:45-46) (100 B. C.).  The author of Maccabees spoke of a great distress “such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them” (1 Macc. 9:27).

b. Josephus (A. D. 37/38) – “From Artaxerxes to our own times a complete history has been written, but has not been deemed worthy of equal credit with the earlier records, because of the failure of the exact succession of the prophets” (Against Apion 1.41). What does this imply about the Apocrypha? c. Rabbinic literature and the literature of the Qumran community also speak of prophecy as a thing of the past and/or as anticipated in the future.

4. In the N. T. there is no record of debate between Jesus and the Jews over the extent of the canon. “Jesus and the New Testament authors quote various parts of the Old Testament Scriptures as divinely authoritative over 295 times, but not once do they cite any statement from the books of the Apocrypha or any other writings as having divine authority” (ST, Grudem p. 57; see note 6).

5. The Apocrypha a. Means “things that are hidden,” but scholars are not sure why this word came to be associated with these particular writings (ST, Grudem, p. 57n).

b. Four reasons the Apocrypha should not be regarded as Scripture. 1) They do not claim for themselves the same kind of authority as the Old Testament writings. 2) They were not regarded as God’s words by the Jewish people from whom they originated, being rejected from the Jewish canon (neither do they have any Hebrew original behind them, which made them suspect).

3) They were not considered to be Scripture by Jesus or the New Testament authors. 4) They contain teachings inconsistent with the rest of the Bible (ST, Grudem, p. 59).  Side note – The theory that the Catholic Church was ever trying to suppress books from being added to the canon is turned to foolishness when we remember that it was the Catholic Church that canonized the Apocrypha at the Council of Trent. The Roman Catholic Church finds several of its pet doctrines outside of the canon of Scripture.

 What decision did the Roman Catholic Church make at the Council of Trent in 1546 concerning the Apocrypha and why?  Side note – The theory that the Catholic Church was ever trying to suppress books from being added to the canon is turned to foolishness when we remember that it was the Catholic Church that canonized the Apocrypha at the Council of Trent. The Roman Catholic Church finds several of its pet doctrines outside of the canon of Scripture.

1. The Need for Canonization a. As the Apostles began to die off their writings were providentially preserved by churches, pastors and copyists. b. Traditores – people who turned over Scriptures during persecution. c. The proliferation of pseudopigraphical works (false writers). d. Incomplete canons (e.g., Marcion). Much of this material comes from Dr. Pettegrew of the Master’s Seminary.

2. The Existence of the Canon a. We must not confuse the existence of the canon (God’s action) with the church’s recognition of the canon. b. The activity of the church (statements of church fathers, decrees of councils, etc.) concerning the contents of the NT does not create the canon.

3. Criteria for Canonicity a. External criteria 1) Apostolic authority (not just authorship) (John 14:26; 16:13-14). 2) Antiquity – Written in the times of the Apostles 3) Universal acceptance

b. Internal criteria 1) Inspiration 2) Self-authentication

4. The Self-Authentication of the Canon a. “In the final analysis, the attempt to demonstrate criteria of canonicity seeks, from a position above the Canon, to rationalized or generalize about the Canon…Instead we must recognize the New Testament canon as a self-establishing, self-validating entity” (Richard Gaffin quoted in Pettegrew).

b. Self-authentication evidences 1) Jesus quoting the Old Testament 2) Preauthentication of the Apostles (John 14:26; 16:13-14). 3) The Apostles knowledge of this authentication (2 Pet. 3:2; 1 Cor. 14:37; 1 Thess. 2:13). “I do not order you as did Peter and Paul; they were apostles…” (Ignatius, To the Romans)

4) Paul quoting Luke’s writing as Scripture (1 Tim. 5:17-18; Luke 10:7). 5) Peter stamping his approval on the writings of Paul (2 Pet. 3:15-16; graphe). 6) Internal witness of the Holy Spirit (John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice”; 1 Cor. 2:4- 11)

 “Scripture must be confirmed by the witness of the Spirit. Thus may its authority be established as certain; and it is a wicked falsehood that its credibility depends on the judgment of the church” (Westminster Confession of Faith) (cf. Calvin).

 “It should not be thought impossible or unlikely, therefore, that the early church would be able to use a combination of factors, including apostolic endorsement, consistency with the rest of Scripture, and the perception of a writing as “God- breathed” on the part of an overwhelming majority of believers, to decide that a writing was in fact God’s words (though a human author) and therefore worthy of inclusion in the canon. Nor should it be thought unlikely that the church would be able to use this process over a period of time—as writings were circulated to various parts of the early church— and finally to come to a completely correct decision, without excluding any writings that were in fact “God-breathed” and without including any that were not” (ST, Grudem, p 63).

1. Heb. 1: Rev. 22:18-19

1. Our confidence is based on the faithfulness of God (ST, Grudem, p. 65).  The preservation of the canon should be seen as part of the history of redemption, not merely as part of church history. 2. We are persuaded by the activity of the Holy Spirit who convinces us as we read Scripture.

Does this book belong in the Canon of Scripture?  “Simon Peter said to them: ‘Let Mary go away from us, for women are not worthy of life.’ Jesus said: ‘Lo, I shall lead her, so that I may make her a male, that she too may become a living spirit, resembling you males. For every woman who makes herself a male will enter the kingdom of heaven’” (the Gospel of Thomas).

3. The historical data available to us comports with our persuasion (see ST, Grudem, p. 67 on the Gospel of Thomas).  367 AD – 39 th Paschal letter of Athanasius lists 27 books (Eastern church)  397 AD – Council of Carthage agreed on the same list (Western church)