What makes a book scripture

We should note that books of Scripture could be penned by men who were not themselves prophets or apostles but who were doing the writing on behalf of such leaders. Many of the books of the Bible were written by scribes on behalf of someone else. For example, Baruch was a scribe for Jeremiah Jer. According to the early church, Mark wrote his Gospel based primarily on the testimony of the apostle Peter note Mark ; Luke wrote his Gospel and Acts as a close ministry associate of the apostle Paul compare Col.

The early Christian church considered apostolic authorship or authorization the key criterion for determining which books belonged in the New Testament. Another perspective on the books of Scripture has to do with the inspiration of the writings. Christians affirm that books of Scripture are inspired in a sense in which other books are not.

Peter spoke of the writers of Scripture as being moved by the Holy Spirit to write what they did 2 Peter Third, the books of Scripture are unique by virtue of their authority for the people of God across time. That is, a book is considered Scripture because it came to function for the Israelite people in Old Testament times or for the church since the time of the apostles as authoritative for the entire community.

The earliest collection of books that functioned in this way was the Pentateuch Genesis through Deuteronomy , which Jews call the Torah law, instruction. Likewise, the Gospels set forth the foundational events of the new covenant—the death and resurrection of Jesus. The problem was again one of interpretation, not inspiration. Proverbs Proverbs had some who doubted it because of certain supposed inner contradictions.

Yet a proper interpretation of the book will show this is not the case. Some of the books that are now in the New Testament canon have been, at times, questioned as being inspired of God. They are known as the antilegomena, "the books spoken against. The reasons vary from book to book. Hebrews The main problem that some of the early church members had with the Book of Hebrews was that it was written anonymously.

Yet Hebrews is not the only anonymous New Testament book; the four Gospels, for instance, do not name their authors either. From the earliest times, the letter to the Hebrews was accepted everywhere but in Latin Christianity.

The problem still was lack of a stated author. However, it was soon realized that the Book of Hebrews was orthodox in its content and deserved a place in the New Testament.

James The main problem some had with James was the content. James put more emphasis on works than do the other New Testament writings. But James is not so much theological as it is practical and fits a much-needed gap between the doctrine and practice of Christianity.

Second Peter The most suspect of all the books is 2 Peter. Basically, the reasons for questioning its authorship are the stylistic differences between it and 1 Peter. However, these stylistic differences can be explained by Peter's use of an amanuensis, or secretary, to do the writing for him. First, the author was not specifically stated he is called merely "the elder.

Because of these factors there were not too many early writers who would quote from them. Jude Jude is a brief letter that gained immediate acceptance everywhere except Parthia, modern-day Iran. Jude was questioned for his use of the apocryphal Book of Enoch. Revelation It is no surprise that the Book of Revelation would meet some opposition due to the apocalyptic nature of the work. However, it had almost instant recognition everywhere except in Parthia. The great biblical scholar R.

Charles wrote concerning the Book of Revelation:. Throughout the Christian church during the second century, there is hardly any other book in the New Testament so well received as Revelation R. We must remember that Jesus promised His disciples would be guided into all truth.

The authority of Jesus' disciples matched that of Himself. Those whose writings were accepted by them would share the same authority. These seven books were only questioned by some of the church, not all of it. They were eventually recognized by the whole church to be included in the New Testament canon. There are a group of writings which are considered part of Old Testament Scripture by the Roman Catholic church but are not accepted as inspired by the Protestant church and Judaism. These are known as the Apocrypha.

The word Apocrypha means "hidden. Eleven of these fourteen books are considered Holy Scripture by the Roman Catholic church. When added to the Old Testament, they constitute only seven extra books because the others are attached to existing books. The Apocrypha is about the size of the New Testament. Apocrypha and Apocryphal Sometimes people confuse the terms Apocrypha and apocryphal. The term apocryphal is also applied to other books that are New Testament forgeries.

An example of this would be the Gospel of Thomas, which claims to have been written by Jesus' disciple Thomas. The book, however is a forgery. The word Apocrypha is a specific term used to refer to the particular books that are considered Scripture by the Roman Catholic Church. History The Protestant reformers, particularly in the sixteenth century, pointed out many abuses in the Roman Catholic church at that time.

From to a church council met at Trent to answer some of their charges. Among their decisions was the pronouncement of these books as Holy Scripture. Before that time they were not regarded by the Roman Catholic church as sacred Scripture. The Protestant church rejects them for the following reasons:. No Claim The primary reason for rejecting the Apocrypha as Scripture is that there is no claim within the books that they are inspired by God.

This is in contrast to the canonical Scriptures which claim to record the revelation of God. If the Apocrypha were considered Scripture by the people living in the first century, we would certainly expect them to refer to it in some way.

It cites the works the same way Paul cited heathen poets Acts This demonstrates that the New Testament writers were familiar with the Apocrypha but did not consider them to be upon the same level as Old Testament Scripture. Rejected by the Jews The Jews have never considered these works to be inspired.

On the contrary, they denied their inspiration. At the time of Christ we have the testimony of the Jewish writer Flavius Josephus that they were only twenty-two books to be inspired by God. The books of the Apocrypha were not among these. Not on Early Lists In the early years of the church it drew up various lists of the books it considered to be Scripture. The books of the Apocrypha do not appear on any list until the fourth century. There was no unanimity of opinion among them that these books should be considered Scripture.

Demonstrable Errors The Apocrypha also contains demonstrable errors. For example, Tobit was supposedly alive when Jereboam staged his revolt in B. This means that he lived over two hundred years! However, the Book of Tobit says he lived only years Tobit ; This is an obvious contradiction. Other examples could be cited. Those who believe in an inerrant Scripture cannot accept the Apocrypha as God's Word.

No Evidence of Inspiration The books of the Apocrypha do not contain anything like predictive prophecy that would give evidence of their inspiration. If these books were inspired by God, then we should expect to see some internal evidence confirming it. But there is none. The Hebrews accepted the same thirty-nine books, although divided differently that the Protestant church does today. Jesus put His stamp of approval on these books but said nothing concerning the Apocrypha.

However, He did say that the Scriptures were the authoritative Word of God and could not be broken. Any adding to that which God has revealed is denounced in the strongest of terms.

Therefore, we have the testimony of Jesus against the authenticity of the Apocrypha. We conclude that the Apocrypha should not be considered canonical because the books do not demonstrate themselves to be upon the same level as Scripture.

Jesus did not consider it part of His Old Testament and we are told not to add or subtract anything from God's Word. The Book of Jude seemingly contains a quotation of the intertestamental Book of Enoch. The question results from a citation found in Jude Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men saying, 'Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints' Jude Jude records a prophecy made by Enoch, who lived before the flood of Noah.

Enoch predicted the coming of the Lord to judge wicked individuals. The Apostle Paul wrote of this same judgment 2 Thessalonians This prophecy made by Enoch is not recorded in the Old Testament. Two questions arise: 1 Where did Jude obtain his information? During the period between the testaments the Book of Enoch was written. It contains this prophecy.

Some assume that Jude obtained this prophecy from the Book of Enoch, but this is not the case. Jude does not quote from the Book of Enoch but rather directly from Enoch. This could have been by means of special revelation from God or from some now unknown written source. The source of Jude's quotation was the person Enoch. Where the Book of Enoch derived his information is another matter.

It is possible that the source of the quotation found in the Book of Enoch was Jude, since there is no evidence as to the precise contents of the Book of Enoch until several centuries after Jude was written.

Whatever the answer may be. It is not necessary to assume that Jude considered the Book of Enoch as authoritative. Since we believe that Jude's writing was inspired by God, we take this information as being correct.

It is not essential to know how Jude obtained this information. Jesus had promised that His disciples would be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who would guide them into all truth. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak John Because of Jesus' promise, the words of the New Testament writers were safeguarded from error.

We conclude that Jude did not quote from the Book of Enoch, but received the information in some other way. Throughout the history of the church many documents surfaced that claimed to have been written by the apostles or those intimately familiar with the life of Christ. However these works were written by someone other than the named author.

These fraudulent works are known as the pseudepigrapha forgeries. They are also known as apocryphal works, and were rejected by all. The early church father, Eusebius, called these books "totally absurd and impious. Other Gospels Among the forgeries were a large number of apocryphal or false gospels. Origen, a third century writer, testified to the existence of other gospels when he wrote,"There are many who have tried to write gospels, but not all have been accepted.

The apocryphal gospels are non-canonical writings of a motley variety about the purported deeds and revelations of Jesus Christ. Though the Greek word apocrypha originally meant "hidden," the church fathers used it to describe spurious writings foisted as gospels. Irenaeus refers to 'an unspeakable number of apocryphal and spurious writings, which they themselves i.

Gnostic Influence Many of these works were influenced by gnosticism. The word gnostic means "one who has knowledge. The gnostic view of God is contrary to the Bible. In addition, the gnostics considered that all matter is evil.

An example of gnostic writing can be found in the Gospel of Philip. The original Gospel of Philip was probably written sometime during the second century A.

The influence of gnosticism and its emphasis on secret knowledge can be clearly seen in this work. The Gospel of Philip reads,. The Logos said: If you know the truth the truth will make you free. Ignorance is a slave, knowledge is freedom. When we recognize the truth we shall find the fruits of truth in our hearts. If we unite with it, we will bring our fulfillment.

Different Level Other statements show that they are on a different level than Scripture. A Gentile man does not die, for he has never lived that he should die. Adam came into being from two virgins, from the Spirit and from the virgin earth. Because of this Christ was born of a virgin, in order that he might set in order the stumbling which came to pass at the beginning. Second-Hand Sources The pseudepigrapha, apart from being forgeries, were also written long after, in some cases hundreds of years after, the New Testament events.

The writers were not eyewitnesses to the life of Christ or to the events of the early church. This is another reason to reject the testimony which they give.

Gospel of Thomas One of the most prominent of all the forgeries is the Gospel of Thomas. Consisting of sayings of Jesus, it is the most extensive collection of non-biblical sayings of Jesus that still exist. The Gospel of Thomas begins as follows:. These are the secret words which the living Jesus spoke and Didymus Judas Thomas wrote. And He said: Whosoever finds the explanation of these words shall not taste death. Incorrect Name The author is not Thomas. In the four Gospels, Thomas is referred to as either Didymus or Thomas, not both at once.

Didymus is the word for "twin" in both Greek and Aramaic, so the author of the Gospel of Thomas must not have been aware of this linguistic connotation. Secret Approach The secret approach found in the Gospel of Thomas is typical of the writings of the gnostics. The four Gospels are open about the ways of salvation and the kingdom of God while the Gospel of Thomas views truth from a hidden vantage point. There is no historical setting for the statements.

The Gospel of Thomas is a compilation of sayings without the inclusion of important historical events as recorded in the Gospels. We are not told when or under what circumstances the statements were made.

Contradicts Four Gospels Many of the sayings are contradictory to those we have in the Gospels. For example, saying says:. Jesus said, 'See, I shall lead her, so that I will make her male, that she too may become a living spirit, resembling you males. For every woman who makes herself male will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In the Gospel of Thomas He is one who points the way by which an individual can attain the knowledge of God. These reasons demonstrate that the Gospel of Thomas is a forgery rather than a legitimate work written by one of Jesus' apostles.

Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ One alternative explanation of the life and ministry of Jesus that has caused considerable interest is the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ. This work was written by Levi Dowling The result is a contradictory mixture of Christian science and occultic thought. The name is derived from the astrological idea that a new Aquarian age has come upon us, bringing with it the need for a new spiritual gospel, the Aquarian gospel.

Some of the material in the Aquarian Gospel is borrowed from the ancient Gospel of James, a well-known forgery in the early years of the church. The most prominent part of the book deals with the education and travel of Jesus. According to the Aquarian Gospel, Jesus first studied under the Jewish teacher Hillel and then went to India to spend time with their holy men.

His learning also supposedly took Him to Tibet, Persia. Assyria, Greece, and Egypt. It was in Egypt that Jesus was said to have joined the sacred brotherhood. He passed through seven degrees and emerged as the Logos. In Alexandria a council of seven sages was held where they formulated seven great religious postulates and ordained Jesus for the work of the ministry. The Aquarian Gospel then rewrites the four gospels according to its own particular viewpoint.

The end of the story has Jesus appearing in a materialized body to people in India, Persia, Greece, and other countries. Evaluation Like many previous attempts, the Aquarian Gospel attempts to give an explanation of the wisdom and character of Jesus apart from the biblical depiction.

Dowling's reconstruction shows obvious borrowing from the Ancient Gospel of James, as well as familiarity with a nineteenth century works, Notovitch's Unknown Life of Jesus Christ. The book begins with an historical inaccuracy: "Augustus Caesar reigned and Herod Antipas was ruler in Jerusalem. A crucial problem with the Aquarian Gospel concerns its scenario of the source of Jesus' teachings.

If Jesus obtained His wisdom from the masters of India, Greece, and other countries, then why doesn't His teaching reflect it? The teachings of Jesus, as recorded in the Gospels, are in direct conflict with every central belief of Hinduism, Buddhism, and the other religions with which He supposedly came into contact!

While it's not true to say that a single church council ruled on which books to include in the canon, it's fair to say that over those first few centuries of theological debate, the winners got to decide which books would stay and which had to go. It's important to mention that not all Christian denominations consider the same books to be canon. The Roman Catholic Bible has 73 books including the seven known as the Apocrypha.

And the Ethiopian Orthodox Church includes 81 total books in its Bible , including pseudepigrapha like 1 Enoch and Jubilees. The word "apocrypha" comes from the Greek for "hidden" or "secret. First, there's the category of "New Testament Apocrypha" which includes a long list of non-canonical texts written mostly in the second century C. As Combs says, there are hundreds of these texts and we don't have written specimens for all of them.

And then there's a third category called "pseudepigrapha" from the Greek for "false author. Many of the New Testament texts familiar to Christians today were being used authoritatively already in the second century, but different congregations preferred some texts over others and included some texts that don't appear in the New Testament.

Here are a few:. The Gospel of Peter : Only a fragment of this text was recovered in in Egypt, but it includes the only narrative account of the resurrected Jesus leaving his tomb. According to Peter's version, two giant angels descended to the tomb and escorted the resurrected Jesus out, who was also suddenly gigantic. But the oddest note was that the three figures were followed by a floating cross that could talk. The Gospel of Mary : Combs says that some apocryphal texts reflected theological and doctrinal debates going on within the early church, such as the role of women.

In the Gospel of Mary discovered in the late 19th century , Mary Magdalene is not only referred to as one of Jesus's disciples, but perhaps his favorite one.

In this text, after Jesus is resurrected, he relays esoteric teachings to Mary, who then tells the other disciples. Peter asks why they should listen to a woman, to which another disciple Levi [Matthew] responds:. Surely the Savior knows her full well. That is why he has loved her more than us. The text is famous for its description of the "Watchers," fallen angels mentioned briefly in the Old Testament book of Genesis.