Will There Be More Books Of The Bible?
“Open Canon”—A False Doctrine
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, August 27, 2026 (Donate)
For 2,000 years, the canon of Scripture has been closed.
Yet, many alleged prophets pop up in history trying to add to Scripture as if
God’s Word isn’t complete or sufficient.
Inevitably, these “new prophets” take people in different direction than the
Bible. Of course this is a problem.
But this brings me to the issue behind why people
do this. It is an underlying belief that the canon of Scripture is still open
to be added to (called an “open canon”). More technically, an "open
canon" is the belief that God's
canon of inspired Scripture isn’t complete and that additional writings or
revelations can still be added with the same divine authority as biblical
Scripture.
In contrast, a closed canon recognizes the 66 books
of the Bible as the completed written Word
of God and rejects later claims to additional inspired Scripture.
Why Is An Open Canon A Problem?
The issue isn’t whether God
is capable of revealing more. God is sovereign, all powerful, and all-knowing
and can do whatever is consistent with His will
and nature. The question is whether Scripture gives Christians a reason to
expect continuing additions to the Bible.
When we start with the Bible that has already been revealed,
we expect a completed revelation centered upon Christ and delivered through His
authorized Apostles and prophets. Let’s look at the passages.
The Faith Was Delivered
The book of Jude is one of the last books of the Bible (by
chronology) and is written after 2 Peter, showing the fulfillment of much what Peter
predicting in 2 Peter 2-3. Jude 3 tells Christians to:
Beloved, while I was very diligent
to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write
to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all
delivered to the saints. (NKJV)
Christianity is presented as a body of truth already
delivered, not an unfinished faith awaiting new doctrines from later prophets. Hebrews
1:1-2 similarly contrasts God's former revelation through the prophets with His
climactic revelation through His Son:
God, who at various times and in
various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these
last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all
things, through whom also He made the worlds. (NKJV)
Jesus then commanded His Apostles to record His teaching and
the Holy Spirit would help them (John 14:26; 16:13). The early church "continued
steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine" (Acts 2:42). The Bible describes
the church as:
“having been built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in
the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God
in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:20-22, NKJV)
A foundation is laid once, and then the structure is built
upon it. The church isn’t described as repeatedly receiving new foundations
through new generations of Apostles and prophets.
The Apostles also possessed unique qualifications. They were
eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ (Acts 1:21-22; 1 Corinthians 9:1), and
Christ gave them particular authority to establish His church. The Holy Spirit
through Paul indicated that prophecy was indeed coming to an end
Love never fails. But whether there
are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will
cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in
part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then
that which is in part will be done away. (1 Corinthians 13:8-10, NKJV)
Adding To God's Revelation Is Serious
Scripture repeatedly warns against tampering with God's
Word:
“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).
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).
Revelation 22:18-19 concludes with another severe warning
against adding to or taking away from "the words of the prophecy of this
book." These passages apply directly to their respective revelations, but
together they show an important biblical principle—man has no authority to
supplement what God has revealed.
But it gets even more
serious when read God’s civil punishment. The punishment in the Law of
Moses for a false prophet was death. God states in Deuteronomy 13:1-5 states:
“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.
“You shall walk after the LORD your
God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you shall
serve Him and hold fast to Him. “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams
shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away
from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed
you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD
your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.
(Deuteronomy 13:1-5, NKJV)
Consider also:
‘But the prophet who presumes to
speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks
in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ “And if you say in your
heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’
— “when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does
not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not
spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of
him. (Deuteronomy 18:20-22, NKJV)
What About Alleged New Prophets And Alleged New Scriptures?
An open canon potentially provides an avenue for
later figures to claim, "God has given me additional Scripture." Of
course, previous
revelation must be used to judge any later revelation as Moses instructed.
So simply put, the Mosaic principle is that any alleged new
revelation from God can’t contradict previous revelation from God. Signs,
wonders, prophetic claims, or religious authority don’t supersede what God has already
revealed.
This principle continues in the New Testament. Paul says
that even an angel from heaven must be rejected if he proclaims a gospel
contrary to the one already delivered (Galatians 1:8-9; cf. Isaiah 8:20; Acts
17:11; 1 John 4:1). Keep in mind that Paul defends Jesus and the Gospel using
the Old Testament—which was previously revealed (e.g., Acts 18:28).
In other words, previously divine revelation is the
authoritative standard by which subsequent claims of revelation are tested. This
is relevant to alleged later revelations associated with Muhammad, Joseph
Smith, Papal proclamations, Apocryphal additions, Charles Taze Russell, and
others. How do their claim stand up against the Bible? They fail. Thus, they
are not Scripture.
Their claims can’t simply be added to Scripture. They must
first survive Scripture's tests for revelation (Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 18:20-22;
Isaiah 8:20; Galatians 1:8-9). They must be 100% consistent with previous Revelation.
But it is like this with anyone claiming an open canon today.
Conclusion: Scripture Is Sufficient
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says Scripture is God-breathed and able to
make the man of God, "complete, thoroughly equipped for every good
work."
If Scripture thoroughly equips God's people, Christians don’t
require an expanding collection of new inspired books to complete their faith.
Any additional adds nothing!
An open canon is therefore dangerous because it
leaves the door open for man's fallible words to be elevated to God's authority—and
deceive others into those new false beliefs. Sadly, we’ve seen it over and over
again throughout history with many false prophets.
Biblically, Christians should remain anchored to the
prophetic and apostolic revelation God has already given in the 66 books of
the Bible, testing every teaching by Scripture rather than continually entertaining
the idea that there is an expanding Scripture to accommodate new revelations.
□
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.
