Canon formation refers to the historical process that resulted in the selection and ordering of the specific books that now constitute the Bible. This can be further divided into Old Testament (OT) canon formation and New Testament (NT) canon formation.
The OT is also referred to as the Hebrew Bible. The books contained in the Hebrew Bible are, of course, written in Hebrew (mostly, as Daniel and Ezra were originally written in Aramaic). However, many Jews in the time of Jesus did not speak Hebrew. The local spoken language was primarily Aramaic, and written material was primarily in Greek. The Greek version of the Hebrew Bible is called the Septuagint, which is the version most often quoted in the NT.[i] In addition to the OT books that now constitute the protestant Bible, the Septuagint contained several additional books that were not found in the Hebrew Bible. These books are called the Apocrypha and are also sometimes referred to as deuterocanonical. The Apocrypha are typically not included in Protestant Bible versions but are found in Bibles used by the Roman Catholic church.[ii] That is, the Protestant OT canon is based on the books contained in the Hebrew Bible whereas the Roman Catholic OT canon is based on the books in the Septuagint.
NT canon formation was somewhat different. There was not a strong written tradition in the first few decades after Jesus’s death, which most likely occurred in 33. The earliest estimated authorship dates of the first-written NT books are James (44), Galatians (49), and Mark (50). Instead of written texts, the early Church used oral tradition to pass down the stories and teachings of Jesus. As written documents became available, Churches discovered the ones that were in accordance with the teachings of Jesus, and those that were not. This led to mini compilations that were widely distributed such as the four Gospels and the epistles of Paul. Gradually and over time, the NT books that were used for preaching and instruction became mostly standardized.
In the mid-second century, Marcion of Sinope created a heretical church that taught that the God of the OT was not the same as the God of the NT. Marcion created the first semblance of a NT, which consisted of a modified gospel of Luke and the ten non-pastoral epistles of Paul. At this time, churches had sets of books that they used for preaching, but there was no formalized list of approved NT books. Gabriel Andrade writes, “Up to Marcion’s time, the many texts that were in circulation would later make up the Christian Bible, but there were also apocryphal books in circulation … there was no consensus about which ones were divinely inspired.”[iii] The orthodox Church found itself in need to assemble its own canon to counter that of Marcion. Justo González explains, “Since there was no approved list, different Gospels were read in different churches, and the same was true of other books. But Marcion’s challenge required a response; and thus the Church at large began to compile a list of sacred Christian writings.”[iv]
The first known proto-NT list is from Irenaeus in 180. This contains all of the current NT books except Philemon, Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 3 John, and Jude. It also contains the Shepherd of Hermas, which is not in the present NT. The next list was from Tertullian in 200. This was similar to Irenaeus’s list, but without 2 John and with the additions of Philemon and the Epistle of Barnabas (also not in the present NT). The next list was from Origen in 250. Origen’s list is identical to Tertullian’s list but without the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas.
The earliest known Bible that contains all of the present NT is the Codex Sinaiticus, estimated to have been written in the middle of the fourth century. It also contains both the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas. The earliest list of NT books that is identical to the Bible today is from Athanasius in 367. This list was then recognized by the church as official canon at the Council of Carthage in 397. This list was later affirmed by the Roman Catholic church at the Council of Trent (1545–1563). Neither of the councils declared this list as the official canon. Rather, both simply recognized officially what was already the NT canon as intended by God. A summary of the various NT lists is shown in the following figure.[v]
The current Protestant Bible consists of 66 books: 37 in the OT and 27 in the NT. These books are commonly referred to in the following groupings:
Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
OT History: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, I & II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther.
Poetic Books: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.
Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel.
Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
NT History: Acts.
Pauline Epistles: Romans, I & II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I & II Thessalonians, Philemon.
Pastoral Epistles: I & II Timothy, Titus.
General Epistles: Hebrews, James, I & II Peter, I, II, & III John, Jude.
Prophesy: Revelation.
The contents of the Bible have been stable for over 1600 years. Does this mean that the contents of the Bible can never change? The position that the present contents of the Bible can never change is called closed canon, and is the majority opinion among theologians. But what if, for instance, another letter written by Paul was discovered? It is known that Paul wrote additional letters, and so this is a real possibility. Would it be appropriate for this newly discovered letter to be added to the canon? Those who believe that the canon could hypothetically expand hold the view known as open canon.
Those believing in a closed canon recognize that the current canon is the basis for the development of doctrine and serves as a common and normative reference for all Christians. Eric Barreto writes, “Scripture links us to that great cloud of witnesses that went before us. When Augustine, Luther, Sor Juana, King, or Gutiérrez turned to Scripture, they shared a common core canon. To change the bounds of our canon might sever this common link to the traditions of our faith.”[vi] However, critical text Bible translations (see p. 24) have made significant changes to Scripture based on newly discovered manuscripts. Although new books have not been added, modifications to existing books have been made. These modifications could be viewed as changes to canon.
Those believing in an open canon typically understand the canon formation process as partially human and therefore subject to the possibility of error. Karl Barth viewed the canon as open for precisely this reason. He writes:
“But the human hearing of this answer, whether that of the Church of our own today, is a human hearing, and therefore not outside the possibility of error, or incapable of being improved. This is true of our answers to the question of faith and order; it is also true of our answers to the question of the Canon.”[vii]
Fortunately for the study of theology, the issue of whether the canon is open or closed is of little importance. At present, the theological basis for dogma remains the same regardless of which Bible version is used. Furthermore, there are no known candidate books that might be possible additions to the NT. At least for now, this issue is only of theoretical interest.
[i] The term Septuagint is derived from the Latin phrase Vetus Testamentum ex versione Septuaginta Interpretum, which means “The Old Testament from the Version of the Seventy Translators.” Hebrew tradition was that six scholars from each of the twelve tribes is Israel were summoned to each individually translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek, for a total of 72 translations. Tradition goes on to say that each of these translations was identical. The Septuagint is often referred to by the Roman numeral LXX (seventy), and also by G.
[ii] The Roman Catholic version of the OT contains the following apocryphal content: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, I Maccabees, II Maccabees, and some sections of Esther and Daniel which are absent from the Protestant OT.
[iii] Gabriel Andrade, “Marcion of Sinope’s Relevance in the Contemporary World Vis-À-Vis Religious Violence,” Acta Theologica, vol. 38, no. 2, 2018: 19.
[iv] Justo González, The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1, The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, San Francisco, CA: HarperOne, 210: 75.
[v] This figure is based on a similar figure in Stephen Miller’s book The Complete Guide to the Bible (2007, p. 298).
[vi] Eric Barreto, “The Canon: Open or Closed? Closed: A Historical Commitment,” Word & World, vol. 29, no. 4, Fall 2009: 419-421.
[vii] Karl Barth, “Scripture as the Word of God,” Church Dogmatics, 1.2, tr. G.T. Thompson and Harold Knight, Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1956: 475-476.
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