The Doctrine Of The Canon
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, September 25, 2025 (Donate)
Why 66 books of the Bible? Some churches, like Rome after the mid-1500s, profess a few more by adding in some apocryphal books. Though arguably the most popular Catholic in history, Jerome, who translated the most time-honored translation in history (Latin Vulgate) that was used for well over 1000 years, held to 66 books. So, what gives?
This brings us to the issue of the doctrine of the canon.
The canon (which means reed or measuring stick) is about inspired
Scripture. So how do we know what books are contained in the canon? And why 66?
How To Get Started On The Subject?
Some suggest we should set the Bible aside and look at the
subject of canon and decide for ourselves. Some suggest we let the church decide
what the canon is. The problem with both of these methods is that it puts people
(i.e., man, autonomous human reasoning) as the authority over God.
When we look at the canon, God’s Word should not be
neglected. It should still be treated as the authority that it is. As you can
see, it is a unique quandary, because what makes up God’s Word is the very
question at hand! Nevertheless, you can use your sword to defend your sword and an
army can use a hill defend a hill. That analogy might be fitting here.
We’re going to use the 66 books of God’s Word to defend God’s canon.
God’s Authority On Canon
The canon of Scripture through a presuppositional apologetic framework (i.e., starting with the 66 books of the Bible), begins with the fact
that God exists, that His Word is true, and that human reasoning must be
subject to divine revelation rather than standing in judgment over it. This
perspective shapes the way God understands and defends His own canon.
God is the ultimate authority, and because Scripture is God-breathed
(2 Timothy 3:16), it carries His authority. Therefore, the recognition of the
canon is not primarily a human decision or council ruling but the result of God
giving His Word and imposing its truth. In other words, the canon is self-authenticating.
From a presuppositional standpoint, to question the canon
using autonomous human reason is to start with the wrong foundation. Instead,
the believer must begin with God’s revelation and interpret all evidence, including
canonical evidence, through that lens.
Self-Authenticating Nature Of Scripture
The Bible, by its own attestation, is the very standard that
mark it as God’s Word. Confirmations of this are seen in:
- Non-contradiction
since God cannot deny Himself
- Godly qualities—unity, harmony, fulfilled prophecy, miracles, written across
ages with one theme, and spiritual power.
- Apostolic authority—books were written and affirmed by prophets and apostles of Christ.
To clarify, the church did not create the canon; rather, the
canon generated the church by delivering God’s authoritative message through the power of the Holy Spirit. This
rejects the Roman view that church tradition determines Scripture’s
authority and canon.
Man was never in a position to determine canonicity. The Holy
Spirit was. Instead, God’s Word has always been inherently authoritative from
the moment it was revealed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Presuppositional Response To Challenges
Critics often claim the canon was the product of late church
councils or political processes (e.g., the Council of Nicaea). One should respond
by presuppositionally exposing the faulty starting point of these arguments:
- Unbelieving
assumptions—Skeptics appeal to a lesser authority in themselves to deny
God’s existence or authority and therefore misinterpret historical data. This
is a faulty appeal to authority and historical truth fallacy.
- Historical
evidence rightly interpreted—Early Christians already viewed Old and New
Testament writings as authoritative long before any council, as seen in
Peter calling Paul’s writings “Scripture” (2 Peter 3:16). Early church
fathers immediately quoted New Testament books, which are apostolic-imposed
books on the church as authoritative.
New Testament apostles and prophets knew what was Scripture
and it would be naïve to think otherwise. As apostles imposed the canonical
books on the church, people, therefore, knew what they were right from the
apostolic age forward.
If anything, subsequent generations began struggling with the
question of canon later. Even so, by starting with the truth of Scripture, councils
merely confirmed what was already previously known and recognized, similar to
how a jeweler identifies real gold rather than creating it.
Canon And The Old Testament
The Old Testament canon was completed and accepted long
before Christ’s earthly ministry. Jesus Himself affirmed this canon when He
referred to the Law, Prophets, and Writings (Luke 24:44). Thus, the Old
Testament was already fixed, and Christ’s endorsement provides divine
confirmation. Any later additions (e.g., the Apocrypha) are rejected because
they lack prophetic authority and were never recognized by Jesus or the
apostles.
Canon And The New Testament
The New Testament canon emerged as the apostles and New Testament
prophets, under divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote Scripture. These
writings were immediately authoritative and recognized as such by the early
church as they were imposed by the apostles as authoritative. This recognition
flows naturally from the Spirit’s work in the apostolic church rather than from later
institutional decisions. Later, some quested certain books after the apostles
were laid to rest, but like God said, He would preserve His Word and did so (e.g.,
Psalm 12:6-7).
We can know with certainty that the New Testament books are
100% Scripture from God by starting with God’s authority rather than man’s
reasoning. Using a presuppositional approach, God cannot lie (Titus 1:2) and
that His Word is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). Therefore, when God reveals His
Word, it is inherently perfect and trustworthy.
To recap this important point, from the moment the apostles
or New Testament prophets, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote
these books, they were immediately authoritative.
The church did not create the canon; instead, believers
simply recognized what God had already given by imposition of the apostles as the
office of Christ’s representatives. In the same way, the prophets of the Old
Testament imposed their books and writings, which were produced by the power of
the Holy Spirit, prior to Christ.
Con sider these confirming factors:
- Apostolic
authority—Every New Testament book was written by an apostle or a direct
associate under apostolic oversight (e.g., Luke with Paul, Mark with
Peter) including New Testament prophets (1 Corinthians 12:28).
- Consistency
and harmony—Scripture does not contradict itself. The New Testament
writings are perfectly unified with the Old Testament—being a natural
fulfillment of their prophecies and with the teachings of Christ.
- Early
and widespread acceptance due to apostolic imposition—even in the first
century, churches circulated and treated these writings as Scripture. For
example, Peter explicitly referred to Paul’s writings as “Scripture” (2
Peter 3:16).
Testing God’s Word?
In the 1800s, an idea was introduced by some Christians that we could test God’s Word and see if it was canonical. The problem with this
method, first and foremost, is that man, is suddenly thrust in as the judge to evaluate
God’s Word. In other words, man is putting God and His Word on trial—subject to
our fallible opinions and whims—to see he and His Word lives up to man’s imperfect
standards.
The “test method” of determining the New Testament canon is
flawed because it starts with man’s authority rather than God’s authority. The
test method suggests that we can examine God’s Word using human-devised
criteria—such as apostolic authorship, harmony with other Scripture, and
widespread acceptance—to decide which books are truly inspired. While
these factors may describe what God has done, they do not actually determine
whether a book is the Word of God.
This approach places human reasoning above divine
revelation, making man the final judge over God’s Word. If people have to
“test” the books to see if they meet certain standards, then the authority
ultimately rests in human hands, not in God. Furthermore, where do the test
come from? The mind of man!
This leads to the dangerous idea that the Bible’s authority
depends on human approval, which undermines its very nature as the self-attesting
Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16). When starting with God's 66 books, they ward of any attack.
The New Testament writings were immediately Scripture the
moment they were written by the apostles and New Testament prophets under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The early church did not make them
Scripture through testing or councils; instead, they simply recognized what God
had already given. Tests are not the foundation for why the canon is true and
complete.
The test method opens the door to skepticism. If man’s
reasoning can “approve” certain books, it could just as easily reject them or
accept false writings, such as the Apocrypha or Gnostic gospels or cultic books
and alleged neo-prophecies. This creates instability and doubt, rather than
certainty (and the possibility of an open canon).
The problem with the test method is that it is a man-centered
foundation. The proper approach is presuppositional: starting with God’s truth
and acknowledging that His Word is self-authenticating, authoritative from the
moment of its divine inspiration, and recognized by the church through the
guidance of the Holy Spirit.
If someone uses the test methods, such as various popular tests
of canonicity, it creates serious problems because they unintentionally undermine
the very books they are meant to confirm. Consider popular test questions:
- Was
the book written by an apostle of God?
- Was
the writer confirmed by acts of God (performing miracles, etc.)?
- Does
the message tell the truth about God?
- Did the
book come with the power of God?
- Was it accepted by the people of God?
- Whether
the book had been written by one of the Apostolic circle or closely
related to it
- Whether
a book bore the marks of inspiration
- Whether
it was Christ-centered in its teaching
- Whether
it was read in the worship services of the Church
If these tests are applied strictly, they would cast doubt
on certain New Testament books such as Jude and Hebrews. For example, Hebrews
has no named author, and Jude was not one of the twelve apostles and never performed any recorded miracles. By this
standard, both could be rejected, even though the early church recognized them
as inspired.
Some books, like Hebrews, 2 Peter, and Revelation, took longer to gain
universal recognition. Strictly following this test would suggest these
writings were not inspired during the time of early discussion, which is false
because they were always Scripture from the moment they were written.
The point is that these tests have fatal weaknesses. The
test method ultimately places human judgment above divine revelation. It
implies that a book only “becomes” Scripture once it passes human-devised
criteria, which contradicts the biblical teaching that all Scripture is
God-breathed from the moment of its inspiration (2 Timothy 3:16).
These tests should be viewed as descriptive and confirmatory
in many instances, not prescriptive. They can help explain how the later church
retained the canon but cannot serve as the foundation for certainty. If used
prescriptively, the tests could eliminate hosts of Bible books like Hebrews or
Jude (etc.), proving the method unreliable and inconsistent. A presuppositional
approach should be obvious, where God’s Word is self-authenticating, and the
church’s role is to recognize, not determine, His inspired writings.
Conclusion
The New Testament was always self-authenticating. Because
God is sovereign and faithful, He preserved His Word perfectly and reveals His
Word by final authority. Our confidence rests not in later councils or
traditions, but in the unchanging character of God, who gave His Word and
ensured that His people would know and receive it as 100% His true and
infallible Scripture.
God’s Word is self-attesting and
carries its own authority. Humans do not determine the canon; they submit to
what God has revealed. Historical evidence, when interpreted correctly,
supports the early and consistent recognition of both the Old and New Testament
canons. Any objection by skeptics ultimately fails because they start with faulty
assumptions rather than the truth of God’s revelation.
By beginning with God’s authority (the 66 books of the Bible)
rather than man’s, the canon is not a fragile human construct where people can
add or subtract books but the providentially preserved Word of the living God.
□
Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist
since 1998 helping out in various churches and running an apologetics website.
He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and
researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head
of the Oversight Council.
Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a
personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has
spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and
universities. He is married with four children.
