3396.—The Scripture Canon
By I. W. H.
When, by whom, and by what authority, whether by Church or by State, were the original manuscripts collected and compiled and dedicated to the world as the Word of God? What means was used to separate the inspired from the uninspired, and to decide concerning the various parts of our Bible? I. W. H. The Bible is a growth. It is not the product of one man or a council or a decree from some human authority. For instance, the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses, was accepted by God's people to the time of Christ. God's law in that book constituted the test of later prophets and their writings. One book after another was added till we come to the close of Old Testament times. After the Babylonian captivity all the books over which there was no question, which were generally accepted, were collated and arranged by Ezra, Nehemiah, and their colaborers. These were the Holy Scriptures in the time of our Lord. They are referred to by Josephus, "Against Apion," and are everywhere approved by Jesus. The New Testament was added in the same way, book by book, epistle by epistle, from men filled by the Spirit of God, and bearing the eternal test, "To the law and to the testimony." Before any council acted upon the Scripture Canon, as early as A.D. 170, practically all the books as we now have them were accepted as according to the Scripture rule by the early church, while as many others were rejected. Clement, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Origen, and others mention different books. The famous "Muratorian Fragment on the Canon" (A.D. 170) mentions nearly all of the books of the New Testament. It mentions the Gospels of Luke and John, the Acts, the thirteen epistles of Paul, 1 and 2 John, Jude, the Revelation. It omits several which are mentioned by others. The Peshito Syriac list of about the same age includes all except 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and the Revelation. The old Italian version, of about the same time, the Bible used by the North African churches, contained all our New Testament books except Hebrews, 2 Peter, and James. Later church councils confirmed our present list, and added others rejected by earlier Christians. Our present books bear every test except with "Higher Critics."