How we got the Bible
The Gospel of Matthew ends with these words.
“All power in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them
to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold,
I am with you always, until the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)
We often refer to this text as the Great Commission.
Looking carefully at the text we see the Jesus sends
forth His Apostles in His authority, giving them the
authority to teach all that
He had taught them. What is missing in this text is any
instruction to write a single a word.
Later on, in the book of Acts, we read that when the
Apostles received the Holy Spirit, they went forth in
power and authority to preach the
Gospel. Nowhere do we read that they started writing
a single word.
From the beginning, the early Church transmitted the
Teachings of Christ by preaching the Gospel. In doing
so, they made use of the Scripture that had been written
up to that time, namely the Old Testament. We see this
in virtually every sermon recorded in the Book of Acts.
Whether it was Peter preaching on Pentecost, Stephen
preaching before the Jewish Leaders, or Paul preaching
to the Jews in the synagogues, the early Church proclaimed
the Gospel making use of the Hebrew Scriptures along
with the Teachings of Jesus Christ, taught during His
earthly ministry.
Eventually, the Teachings of our Lord were written in
the form of the Gospels. Many letters of exhortations,
as well, were written to various Churches and people.
During this period, there were also many fraudulent
and heretical texts written and circulated.
For several centuries, various such writings were circulated
amongst the Churches throughout the Christian world.
As these writings made there way from Church to Church,
they were first presented to the local bishop, who would
weigh the content of the writing against the Teaching
that had been handed down to him by his predecessor.
If the texts were consistent with the Apostolic Teaching
he had received, the texts were allowed to circulate
and be read during the Liturgy.
By the end of the 4th century the Holy Spirit lead the
Church to finally define:
- which books were to be considered inspired
- which books were to be considered beneficial but
not inspired, and
- which books were to be completely rejected
To do this, the Church convened a series of Councils.
These Councils took place in Rome, Hippo, and Carthage.
These Councils gave us a list (or canon) of:
- 27 books
that made up the New Testament. and
- 46 books that made
up the Old Testament.
All Christians accept the New Testament Canon, however,
Protestants reject certain books found in the Old Testament. |
