Christian Essentials

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Christian Essentials

• Canonicity of the Bible

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Christian Essentials1
D
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C
T
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Deity of Christ
Original Sin
Canon
Trinity
Resurrection
Incarnation
New Creation
End Times
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Christian Essentials
Deity of Christ
Original Sin
Canon
Trinity
Resurrection
Incarnation
New Creation
End Times
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Canon
Overview

• Definition of Canon
• Principles of Canonicity
• Applying Principles of Canonicity
• Old Testament Canon
• New Testament Canon
• Common Objections

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Question

• Is the Bible a book written by man about God
• or
• is the Bible a book given by God to man?

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Definition of Canon

• What a Canon is not...
• What a Canon is...

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Definition of Canon
What a Canon is not...

• Transmission

• Inspiration

• Infallibility

• Inerrancy

• Authenticity

• Authority

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Definition of Canon
Canon is derived from...
the root word for reed
English word for cane
Hebrew form of qaneh of kaneh
Greek form of kanon
The reed was used as a measuring rod, and the
word came to mean standard.2
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Definition of Canon
What a Canon is...
a rule, a norm, or an authoritative standard
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Definition of Canon
Canon also refers to a list or index and when it
is applied to the Bible it denotes the list of
books which are received as Holy Scripture.
Therefore, when we speak of canonical writings,
we are speaking of those books that have divine
authority and comprise our Bible.3
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Definition of Canon
Summary
Antiquity, authenticity, or religious community
cannot make a book canonical or authoritative. A
book is valuable because it is canonical, not
canonical because it is or was considered
valuable. Authority (or canonicity) is
established by God and merely discovered by Gods
people.4
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Question

• Is the Bible a book written by man about God
• or
• is the Bible a book given by God to man?

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Relationship between Church Canon5
Incorrect View
Correct View

• The church determines the canon
• The church is mother of the canon
• The church is magistrate of the canon

• The church discovers the canon
• The church is child of the canon
• The church is the minister of the canon

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Relationship between Church Canon
Incorrect View
Correct View

• The church is regulator of the canon
• The church is judge of the canon
• The church is master of the canon

• The church is recognizer of the canon
• The church is witness of the canon
• The church is servant of the canon

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Relationship between Church Canon
God regulated the canon...
...man recognized it.
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Relationship between Church Canon
God determined the canon...
...man discovered it.
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Canon

• Definition of Canon
• Principles of Canonicity
• Applying Principles of Canonicity
• Old Testament Canon
• New Testament Canon
• Common Objections

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Principles of Canonicity
What Criteria?
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Principles of Canonicity6

• Was the book written by a prophet of God?

• Was the writer confirmed by acts of God?

• Does the message tell the truth about God?

• Did it come with the power of God?

• Was it accepted by the people of God?7

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Prophet of God
What is a Prophet?
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Prophet of God
Deuteronomy 1815-22 (ESV)
15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a
prophet like me from among you, from your
brothers - it is to him you shall listen - 16
just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb
on the day of the assembly, when you said, Let me
not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or
see this great fire any more, lest I die. 17 And
the Lord said to me, They are right in what they
have spoken.
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Prophet of God
Deuteronomy 1815-22 (ESV)
18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you
from among their brothers. And I will put my
words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them
all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not
listen to my words that he shall speak in my
name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the
prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name
that I have not commanded him to speak, or who
speaks in the name of other gods, that same
prophet shall die.
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Prophet of God
Deuteronomy 1815-22 (ESV)
21 And if you say in your heart, How may we know
the word that the Lord has not spoken? - 22 when
a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the
word does not come to pass or come true, that is
a word that the Lord has not spoken the prophet
has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be
afraid of him.
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Prophet of God
Deuteronomy 1815-22 (ESV)
Only a prophet of God will speak the Word of God
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Prophet of God
Hebrews 11 (ESV)
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God
spoke to our fathers by the prophets...
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Prophet of God
Hebrews 11 (ESV)
Prophets were the way God chose to reveal himself
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Prophet of God
2 Peter 116-21 (ESV)
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths
when we made known to you the power and coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and
glory from God the Father, and the voice was
borne to him by the Majestic Glory, This is my
beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, 18 we
ourselves heard this very voice borne from
heaven, for we were with him on the
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Prophet of God
2 Peter 116-21 (ESV)
holy mountain. 19 And we have something more
sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do
well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a
dark place, until the day dawns and the morning
star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first
of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from
someones own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy
was ever produced by the will of man, but men
spoke of God as they were carried along by the
Holy Spirit.
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Prophet of God
2 Peter 116-21 (ESV)
We are assured that Scripture is only written by
men of God
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Prophet of God
Old Testament Characteristics
And the word of the Lord came to the prophet...
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Prophet of God
Old Testament Characteristics
The Lord said unto...
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Prophet of God
Old Testament Characteristics
God spoke...
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Prophet of God
New Testament Characteristics
Historical or stylistic (external or internal)
evidence that supports the genuineness of a
prophetic book also argues for its canonicity.7
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Prophet of God
Paul used this as the basis of his argument to
defend his apostleship
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Prophet of God
Galatians 11-24 (ESV)
1 Paul, an apostle - not from men nor through
man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father,
who raised him from the dead...6 I am astonished
that you are so quickly deserting him who called
you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a
different gospel - 7 not that there is another
one, but there are some who trouble you and want
to distort the gospel of Christ... 11 For I would
have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was
preached by me
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Prophet of God
Galatians 11-24 (ESV)
is not mans gospel. 12 For I did not receive it
from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received
it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
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Prophet of God
1 Peter 11 2 Peter 11 (ESV)
Peter claims apostolic authority in both his
letters
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Prophet of God
Conclusion
Both prophets and apostles confirmed canonicity
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Prophet of God
1 Thessalonians 21-2 (ESV)
1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you,
brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or
alarmed, either by a spirit or spoken word, or a
letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that
the day of the Lord has come.
1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you,
brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or
alarmed, either by a spirit or spoken word, or a
letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that
the day of the Lord has come.
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Prophet of God
It was also a test against false writings
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Principles of Canonicity

• Was the book written by a prophet of God?

• Was the writer confirmed by acts of God?

• Does the message tell the truth about God?

• Did it come with the power of God?

• Was it accepted by the people of God?7

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End Notes

• Hank Hanegraaff, The Bible Answer Book Volume 2
  (Tennessee Thomas Nelson, 2006), 12-19.
• Josh McDowell, Evidence for Christianity
  Historical Evidences for the Christian Faith
  (Tennessee Thomas Nelson, 2006), 42.
• Neil R. Lightfoot, How We Got the Bible, 3rd ed.
  (Grand Rapids Baker Books, 2003), 152.
• Norman L. Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of
  Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids Baker Books,
  1999), 80.
• Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, A General
  Introduction to the Bible (Chicago Moody Press,
  1986), 221.
• Norman L. Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of
  Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids Baker Books,
  1999), 81-84.
• Ibid., 81.

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References
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References
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References
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Thank You