The term "canon" comes from a root word meaning measuring-rod. As it is applied to the Scripture, it is used in the sense of the measurement or the standard by which all else is compared. The canon of the Scripture means the list of writings delivered to us as the divinely inspired record of God’s self-revelation to humankind. All other writings fail to measure up to the Scriptural standard.

However, as F. F. Bruce says: “The writings are not authoritative because they are included in the list; they are in the list because their authority has been recognized.” In other words, canonicity follows authority and is dependent upon it. It is because of the authority they already possess that they are included in the list of biblical writings.

The Old Testament has been acknowledged and affirmed as Scripture by the Hebrew people. Interestingly, the Jewish count of the Old Testament books is twenty-four, but the Christian count is thirty-nine. This is explained because the Jewish tradition considers the twelve “minor Prophets” as one book; the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles are each counted as one book; Ezra and Nehemiah are counted as one book.

The Jewish arrangement of the Old Testament books is also different than the Christian tradition. In the Hebrew Bible they are divided into three divisions: the LAW, the PROPHETS and the WRITINGS. The LAW comprises the five books of Moses. In the PROPHETS are included the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings (the “Former Prophets”) as well as the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the “minor” Prophets (the “Latter Prophets”). The WRITINGS contain only firstly Psalms, Proverbs and Job; secondly a group of five books called the “Five Scrolls,” Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther; thirdly the books of Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles.

As a historical note, after the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 a new Sanhedrin or council of elders consisting of Jewish scholars was constituted at Jamnia in western Palestine. They were charged with reviewing the whole field of Jewish religion and law, and held long discussions of the scope of the canon of the Hebrew Scriptures. Their debates ended with full acceptance of all the books which had already enjoyed canonical recognition and they refused to admit any book which had not previously received such recognition.

But note carefully, our supreme reason for acknowledging the divine authority of the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament is the fact that Christ and His apostles acknowledged these writings as Scripture.

Regarding the New Testament, F. F. Bruce’s comment is eloquent.

The Gospels are the written form of the witness borne to Christ by His apostles, whom He specially commissioned and to whom He promised that His Spirit would enable them to remember and understand His words, would lead them into all the truth and would show them things to come. But further, the implications of the work of Christ for faith and practice were appreciated by His apostles after His exaltation and the coming of the Spirit as they could not be appreciated before and in consequence we have the teaching of the New Testament Epistles. If the Gospels give us the story of what Jesus began to do and teach until the day of His ascension (Acts 1:1), the Acts and Epistles record what He continued to do and teach thereafter, by His Spirit in the apostles.

The twenty-seven books of the New Testament as we know them were universally acknowledged in the second half of the fourth century. In 393 A.D. a Church Council officially confirmed the canonical recognition that was already well established as the consensus of Christians.

The Four Criteria for New Testament Canonical Recognition/Acceptance

• Apostolic Origin – attributed to and/or based on the preaching/teaching of the first-generation apostles (or their closest companions).
• Universal Acceptance – acknowledged by all major Christian communities in the Mediterranean world (by the end of the fourth century).
• Liturgical Use – read publically along with the Old Testament when early Christians gathered for the Lord’s Supper (their weekly worship services).
• Consistent Message – containing theological ideas compatible with other accepted Christian writings (including the divinity and humanity of Jesus).