1. Authority of Scripture Lesson 3 The Canon

2. Authority of Scripture The Significance of the Doctrine -How do we know what belongs to the Bible? -How do we know what doesn’t belong?

3. Authority of Scripture A Definition: “The canon of Scripture is the list of all the books that belong in the Bible.” -Wayne Grudem

4. The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments comprised the first authorized collection of divinely inspired writings.

5. Authority of Scripture Deuteronomy 31:26 Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you.

6. Authority of Scripture Joshua 24:26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God….

7. Authority of Scripture Jeremiah 30:2 Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.”

8. Authority of Scripture 1 Macc. 4:45-46 So they tore down the altar and stored the stones in a convenient place on the temple hill until there should come a prophet to tell what to do with them.

9. “From Artaxerxes to our own times a complete history has been written, but has not been deemed worthy of equal credit with the earlier records, because of the failure of the exact succession of the prophets.” Josephus (37 -100 AD)

10. Authority of Scripture The Old Testament is quoted or alluded to some 295 times in the New Testament.

11. Authority of Scripture What about the Apocrypha?

12. (1) They do not claim for themselves the same kind of authority as the Old Testament writings (2) They were not regarded as God’s words by the Jewish people from whom they originated (3) They were not considered to be Scripture by Jesus or the New Testament authors (4) They contain teachings inconsistent with the rest of the Bible

13. Authority of Scripture John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

14. Authority of Scripture 2 Peter 3:15-16 …our beloved brother Paul … wrote to you … which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures….

15. Authority of Scripture 1 Timothy 5:18 For the Scripture says, "YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING," and "The laborer is worthy of his wages."

16. Authority of Scripture 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness….

17. Authority of Scripture Other Considerations AuthorityUniversalityConsistency

18. Modern Challenges -The Gospel of Thomas -The Gospel of Judas -The Gospel of Barnabas -The Gospel of Mary Magdalene -The Shepherd of Hermas -The Epistle of Barnabas

19. Authority of Scripture 1. The church councils recognized, they did not dictate the canon. 2. No one has ever taken the extra-canonical writings seriously.