I've referred to the conclusion in this article quite a few times in previous articles, but I think it's important to show how I arrived at the conclusion. There have been different approaches used in developing the canon, and two of them are based on human desires, while the third one is based on revelation by the Holy Spirit. Of course, there is overlap in all three, since none of us perfectly knows God's will. People didn't decide what books...
Tag: Samuel Waldron
What are the Criteria for a Book to be Canonical?
In my first article on the Biblical Canon, What is the Biblical Canon?, I listed three criteria the early church used to recognize if a book should be considered part of the New Testament canon. The books had to be:
- Authentic - Based on the experiences of those who knew Jesus
- Authoritative - Accurately teaching God’s will
- Inspired - Written by people with guidance of the Holy Sprit
Since then, I've...
Why Create a Written Canon? Part 1
Last week's article, What is the Biblical Canon?, was my first in a series on the Canon. This week I'm researching why a written canon exists. There are two aspects I want to discuss related to this. The first one seems to be a critical reason to have a canon, but is actually the less important of the two. The second reason to have a written canon will be my next article, and is actually foundational to Christianity.
Christians need to have...