Who Decided Which Books Should Go in the Bible?

  • by Jody Sledge
  • Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
  • Series: Your Word is Truth

There is no doubt that Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code has caused quite a bit of buzz in recent years. It has been made into a major motion picture movie, with none other than Tom Hanks playing the main character, (along with a sequel and another on the way!). While the hype over the book, the movie, and the T.V. specials may be new, Dan Brown is simply bringing up an age-old objection to the Christian faith. Brown’s objection is that the Jesus presented in the Bible was not the real Jesus. And foundational to his argument is this question: Who decided which books should go in the Bible?

Brown, with many others throughout history, suggests that the Jesus of the Bible is not the real Jesus because not all the books about Jesus were included in the Bible - which was a sort of suppress-the-truth-to-gain-power maneuver by the church. Whoever has the ‘truth’ about Jesus has the power. No where does the Bible say which books should be in it. So who should say whether we should include the Gospel of John or the Gospel of Thomas? What makes the 66 books that we as protestants view as the only inspired books so special? More important than that, who gets to decided which book God wrote and which ones he did not?

Well, the simple answer is God does. He inspired the books (2 Timothy 3:16). His Spirit guided the men who wrote the books so that their words would be His (2 Peter 1:21). God decided which books were to in His word. But you may ask, But that doesn’t really answer the question? If God didn’t tell us which ones to include, then how do we know? Great question! Here are four ways that we know the 66 books of the Bible were inspired by God.

Recognized Authority

Robert Plummer in his book 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible offers this helpful clarification. He uses the word ‘canon’ to refer to the total of the inspired books of the Bible:

"For Protestant Christians [that’s us], the canon is not an authorized collection of writings (in that the church conferred its authority or approval upon a list of books). Rather, the canon is a collection of authoritative writings. The biblical writings have an inherent authority as works uniquely inspired by God. Canonization is the process of recognizing that inherent authority, not bestowing it from an outside source," (Robert Plummer, 40 Questions to Interpreting the Bible, Kregel, pg. 57).

Plummer is saying that the church did not give authority to the books of the Bible. Instead they merely recognized the authority they already had. We can see this in books like Isaiah, Exodus, Revelation, and many more where the books themselves say that they are the Words of God. 

Direct or Indirect Teachings of the Apostles

The disciples didn’t know it yet, but they were about to face a dilemma - their beloved Rabbi was about go to the cross and leave them soon after. That is why Jesus spoke these words to them:

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 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 have said to you.” (John 14:25-26 ESV)

Jesus was leaving them, yes. But he would soon give them the Holy Spirit to guide them in all truth. But why? So that they would proclaim his teaching and his gospel.

The New Testament is clear on the fact that the 12 Apostles along with the other Christ-appointed witnesses (like Paul) were given the special task of authoritatively proclaiming the truth about who Jesus was and what he did. Many of the books of the New Testament are their writings - like 1 Peter, the Gospel of John, Ephesians, and James. And many other books of the New Testament were written by men closely tied to the apostles and their teaching - like Acts, the Gospel of Mark, and Jude.

Conformity to Other Books

One of the foundational truths about the Bible is that is has no errors. And if there are no errors, then the Bible cannot have contradictions. Now there may be things that are difficult to understand (like the fact that Paul says we are justified by grace and James says we are justified by works). Yet, there are still no real contradictions (a contradiction would be if James said we are not justified by faith, which he doesn’t do).

This means that if any book teaches something contrary to what other books teach it cannot be inspired by God. For instance the book of Tobit (which is a book written during the time between the Old and New Testament) teaches that good deeds can atone or make right the evil things that we do. The Old Testament and the New Testament clearly teaches that only the shedding of blood can forgive sins (Leviticus 17:11, Hebrews 9:22). Another example coms from the Book of Wisdom. It says that God created the universe from pre-existing mater, which the Bible clearly does not teach (Genesis 1:1-2; John 1:1-3; Hebrews 11:3). Any book that does not conform to the others in what it teaches is not inspired.

Widespread Use Among the Apostles and Other Churches

First, we’ll look at the Old Testament. During the time of Jesus, we can tell that the Jewish people already had an understanding of what books were considered the God-inspired books of Scripture (it wasn’t called the Old Testament, yet). We see this truth clearing in the New Testament. Every book of the Old Testament, except for five books (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs), is either directly quoted or alluded to by the New Testament authors. And they often refer to the Old Testament in such a way that lets us know they believe that book to be inspired. Paul uses the phrase, “It was written.” The author of Hebrews says, “God has spoken.” Peter says, “It stands in Scripture.” While it is true that the New Testament does quote or make reference to other writings (1 Enoch, Epimenides of Crete), they are never referred to as Scripture.

Now, the New Testament. We can tell that the churches of the first century would often circulate the writings of the Apostles. Paul tells the Colossian church to send their letter to Laodicea and to read the one he sent them (Colossians 4:16). Some of the letters were written to many churches, like 1 Peter (1:1). Those books that circulated among the churches and were recognized to have God-given authority became the New Testament. Of course there were other writings that may have been circulating at the time (Shepherd of Hermas, Acts of Paul, the Letter of Barnabas). But those writings that were circulated and considered Scripture are of much more importance. We can trust the judgement of God’s people to know his Word. Jesus said that his sheep would hear and recognize his voice (John 10:16).