Can Churches Add Or Subtract Scripture?
Beware Of This A False Doctrine
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, September 2, 2026 (Donate)
I’ve previously discussed the false idea of the “open canon”.
That was the idea that the canon of Scripture is still open and alleged new
prophets could potentially add new book to the Bible. Now I want to address the
greater issue behind this idea—dealing with both alleged additions and
subtractions to the Bible—this is still a false idea!
Throughout the 66 books of the Bible, God repeatedly warns
people not to add to, subtract from, or alter what He has revealed. This
principle is important when evaluating alleged prophets, additional Scriptures,
new revelations, and modern claims that God is giving inspired messages.
God's Word Mustn’t Be Altered
The warning appears early in Scripture:
· “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:2, NKJV).
· “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it. “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, “and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’ — which you have not known — ‘and let us serve them,’ “you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 12:32-13:3, NKJV)
· Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. (Proverbs 30:5-6, NKJV).
The book of Revelation has an especially serious warning
concerning it. Anyone adding to "the words of the prophecy of this
book" faces God's plagues, while anyone taking away from it faces God's
judgment (Revelation 22:18-19). Of course, that is discussing that specific
book.
The point is that fallible, sinful man doesn’t have
authority to rewrite, add to, “correct”, or remove what God has spoken. For
instance, if you hear someone say that a translation corrects the original Greek
or Hebrew manuscripts, then that should be an immediate red flag.
False Prophets And New Revelations
Scripture repeatedly warns about people who claim divine
authority for words God didn’t give them. God condemned false prophets who
said, "He says," when God hadn’t spoken (Jeremiah 23:21, 25-32;
Ezekiel 13:6-9). Deuteronomy 18:20 says that a prophet who presumes to speak
something in God's name that God hasn’t commanded is a false prophet.
There is a biblical test for anyone claiming to be a
prophet. The question isn’t merely, "Does this person sound spiritual, or
nice, or learned, or clever, or godly, or kind?" Instead, we must ask
whether the person's teaching 100% agrees with God's previous revelation and
whether alleged prophecy actually comes from God (Deuteronomy 13:1-5; Isaiah
8:20) and does the New Testament expect more?
Paul likewise warns that even if "an angel from
heaven" proclaimed a different gospel, that message must be rejected
(Galatians 1:8-9). So, the discerning Christian should be aware.
What About Alleged New Prophets?
Any alleged new prophet/prophetess must be evaluated by the
same biblical standard as everyone else. Their claims can’t be accepted merely
because they claimed new godly revelation, prophetic insight and wisdom,
angelic communication, or special interpretation.
In other words, you don’t use alleged new
revelation to judge the previous revelation—don’t be deceived into thinking
that! You must use previous revelation to judge any alleged new revelation.
Muhammad's later teachings deny basic biblical doctrines
concerning the Son of God—this contradicts God’s previous revelation (e.g., unitarian).
Joseph Smith introduced additional alleged “scriptures” and “revelations” and
taught another conception of God (e.g., polytheism) and then changed thousands
of verses in the Bible (JST). Ellen G. White claimed prophetic visions that
must likewise be tested rather than assumed to be divine (e.g., vegetarianism, denial
of eternal conscious torment in Hell). Charles Taze Russell's teachings
associated with the early Watchtower movement rejected essential biblical
teachings concerning Christ's identity (e.g., unitarian, etc.) and then changed Bible passages to conform to their new beliefs (NWT).
From the standpoint of the 66 books alone, none have the
authority to correct or supersede Scripture. A later messenger who contradicts
what God has already revealed can’t be accepted as God's prophet.
Galatians 1:8 is particularly powerful. Even alleged supernatural
appearances don’t outrank God's already-revealed gospel. An alleged angel or
person bringing another gospel or a denial of it, must be rejected.
Remember demonic and satanic influence could be involved…masquerading as angels
of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).
What About “Modern” Prophecy?
The same principle raises an important question about modern
claims such as, "God told me," "The Lord says," or other
alleged prophecy in the New
Tongues and New Prophecy movement.
If someone claims that God has actually revealed previously
unknown words to him or her, then the claim is much more serious than giving
advice, preaching, interpreting Scripture, or expressing an impression.
If God actually spoke the words, then those
words are “God's words”. Writing them down would then causes a dilemma. If they
truly came from God, they possessed divine authority before being written.
Biblical prophecy was God's revelation whether spoken or subsequently recorded
(2 Peter 1:20-21).
This creates a serious problem for someone claiming prophecy.
If a message is genuinely from God, God can’t lie (Titus 1:2), and His words
can’t be treated as potentially erroneous human opinions. But if portions of an
alleged prophecy are indeed false, don’t come to pass or inconsistent with God’s
previous revelation, those portions didn’t originate with the God of truth—and that
person is a false prophet and has been deceived!
Scripture therefore commands, "Test all things; hold
fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and we are to test these things
against God’s Word (1 John 4:1). Test it against God’s previously revealed Word.
Furthermore, there is another hurdle. Based on the New
Testament concept of a now-closed canon, we shouldn’t expect any new revelation.
What About Tongues?
Biblical
tongues were miraculous languages gifts given by the Holy Spirit (Acts
2:4-11). When tongues operated in the church, interpretation was required;
otherwise, the speaker was commanded to remain silent (1 Corinthians 14:27-28).
Furthermore, genuine prophecy and tongues weren’t
uncontrolled spiritual experiences. "The spirits of the prophets are
subject to the prophets" (1 Corinthians 14:32), and God required worship
to occur "decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40).
If someone claims that an interpreted tongue contains a new
message directly from God, the same issue arises as with prophecy: either God
said it or He didn’t. If God said it, it is true and authoritative. If
God didn’t say it, it mustn’t be attributed to Him.
Subtraction Of Scripture
There is one prominent religion that subtracts Scripture.
Judaism. Talmudic (Rabbinic) Judaism developed after the destruction of the
Second Temple in AD 70 and differs extensively from biblical Christianity. They
have entirely subtracted the New Testament and deny all 27 books about the Messiah
and Passover Lamb Jesus Christ.
Then they added the alleged traditions of the fathers
through commentary notes (and commentary upon commentary) of the Old Testament
books of the Bible. This was actually done twice and so, there are two different
sets of these commentaries—the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud. Both
were written well after the New Testament (first century AD) where these were
written over a long period of about AD 200-500.
From a Christian perspective, the problem is one of subtraction
and replacement of authority. They have blatantly denied the
authority of God in the New Testament. The Old Testament anticipated the
Messiah and the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Isaiah 53; Daniel 9:24-27).
Those promises culminate in Jesus Christ and His death,
burial, and resurrection. This is revealed by God in the New Testament,
completing the 66-book biblical canon (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 3:15-16). The
New Testament is 100% consistent with the Old Testament and fulfillment of what
the Old Testament looked forward to.
The religion of Judaism, sadly, rejects Jesus as the Messiah
and consequently rejects the New Testament as the Word of God. Thus, from the
Christian standpoint, 27 inspired books are effectively removed from religious
authority in the eyes of those following Judaism.
At the same time, Judaism gives enormous authority to
traditions preserved in the Talmuds. These works contain generations of discussion
by rabbis (teachers) and interpretation concerning the Hebrew Scriptures,
Jewish law, customs, ethics, and religious practice.
Christians can therefore argue that Talmudic Judaism commits
two similar errors: it rejects later divine revelation in the New Testament
while elevating later rabbinic traditions as authoritative.
Jesus had already warned against allowing human religious
tradition to supersede God's written revelation (Mark 7:13, NKJV; see also
Matthew 15:3-9). This distinction is important. The Old Testament itself isn’t
Talmudic Judaism—this was a later development.
We, as Christians, accepts the Old Testament as God's Word
but maintains that its promises and prophecies find their fulfillment in Jesus
Christ and are authoritatively explained in the New Testament (Luke 24:25-27,
44-47; Hebrews 1:1-2). In the same way the book of Isaiah was recognized and
authoritative Scripture alongside Moses, so the New Testament book stand
equally revealed next to the Old Testament books.
Scripture Is Sufficient
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that Scripture equips the man of God
"for every good work." Jude 3 speaks of "the faith which was
once for all delivered to the saints", thus the Bible is complete and sufficient. Christians are repeatedly directed
back to the written Word as their standard (Acts 17:11; Isaiah 8:20).
Therefore, Christians don’t need Muhammad, Joseph Smith, Charles
Taze Russell, modern prophets, new “scriptures”, the Talmud, subtracted Scriptures,
or additional revelations to complete what God supposedly left unfinished.
The proper response is to receive what God has revealed,
test every religious claim by Scripture, reject anything contrary to it, and
refuse to place man's words alongside God's Word.
God's revelation isn’t ours to edit, subtract from, or
supplement. We are called to believe it, obey it, defend it, and faithfully
proclaim it.
Apocryphal Additions?
Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Oriental
Orthodox churches grant full scriptural authority to a few books that between the
Testaments (when there were no prophets). These writings that Protestants
classify as the Apocrypha rather than inspired Scripture.
Roman Catholicism formally affirmed its “new” Old Testament
canon at the Council of Trent (1546), including Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach,
Baruch, 1-2 Maccabees, and additions to Esther and Daniel. Catholics formerly
call these apocryphal books "deuterocanonical," which meant useful
but not Scripture (this was the view of Jerome who translated the Latin Vulgate
and was the dominate Catholic view for over 1,000 years). But Rome accepted these
old books as canon Scripture as of Trent as a response to the Reformation.
Eastern Orthodoxy generally accepts a broader Old Testament
canon, including the Roman Catholic deuterocanonical books and, depending on
the Orthodox tradition, additional works such as 1 Esdras, 3 Maccabees, Psalm
151, and the Prayer of Manasseh.
Oriental Orthodox churches vary considerably. Some,
especially the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, possess an even broader
canon that includes books such as 1 Enoch and Jubilees.
Thus, each of these add alleged different Scripture! From
the 66-book Protestant position (which has been recognized early-on and even in
the days of Jerome about AD 400), the issue isn’t merely preserving ancient
books for historical or devotional usefulness. These traditions elevated
additional writings, that aren’t Scripture, to canonical or scriptural
status. Protestants instead distinguish useful ancient literature from the
inspired canon, recognizing only the 39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament
books as Scripture.
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Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist
defending 6-day creation and opposing evolution since 1998. 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.
Mr. Hodge earned a Bachelor and Master of Science degrees
from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). Then he taught
at SIUC for a couple of years as a Visiting Instructor teaching all levels of
undergraduate engineering and running a materials lab and a CAD lab. He did
research on advanced ceramic materials to develop a new method of production of
titanium diboride with a grant from Lockheed Martin. He worked as a Test
Engineer for Caterpillar, Inc., prior to entering full-time ministry.
His love of science was coupled with a love of history,
philosophy, and theology. For about one year of his life, Bodie was editing and
updating a theological, historical, and scientific dictionary/encyclopedia. Mr.
Hodge has over 25 years of experience in writing, speaking and researching in
these fields.
*Image by generative program as requested by Bodie Hodge
