Scripture topics

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Formation of the scriptural canon

Also known as Canon of Scripture, Deuterocanon, Apocrypha, Antilegomena.

Which books belong in the Bible and why traditions differ. The New Testament's 27 books are shared by most churches; the Old Testament differs, chiefly over the books found in the Greek Septuagint but not in the Hebrew Bible.

Researched for v0.1 (AI-assisted); citations are standard references not re-checked in this build. Requires specialist review. The canon profiles in this Library are the data counterpart of this topic.

Open in the Scripture LibraryRead 2 Timothy 3:16 in context

Disputed: 4 positions (listed without ranking) — Old Testament = the Hebrew Bible · Hebrew Bible plus seven deuterocanonical books and Greek additions · The Septuagint's wider collection · A broader canon (including 1 Enoch, Jubilees)

Passages

  • 2 Timothy 3:16
    All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

    'All Scripture is God-breathed' — which writings it means is itself debated.

  • 2 Peter 3:16
    He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

    Paul's letters set alongside 'the other scriptures'.

  • Luke 24:44
    Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”

    'The law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms.'

Scripture quotations: Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. Other translations, the Greek and Hebrew, and word study are in the reader.

What the text establishes, and what interpreters infer

Established by the text

  • No biblical book lists the contents of the canon.
  • Several New Testament writings cite or allude to Jewish works outside the Hebrew Bible (e.g. Jude 14–15 quotes 1 Enoch).

Inferred by interpreters

  • That the Old Testament canon is the Hebrew Bible's contents.
  • That the Church received the wider Greek Old Testament as Scripture.
  • That Jude's quotation implies (or does not imply) canonical status for 1 Enoch.

An inference listed here may be well founded; it is listed separately because the passage alone does not state it.

Historical context

Athanasius' Festal Letter 39 (367) is the earliest surviving list of exactly the 27 New Testament books. North African councils (Hippo 393, Carthage 397) listed the wider Old Testament. Luther (1522) placed Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation at the end of his New Testament and grouped the Old Testament Apocrypha separately. The Council of Trent (1546) defined the Catholic list; the Westminster Confession (1646) excluded the Apocrypha; the Synod of Jerusalem (1672) named several deuterocanonical books as Scripture. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church receives a broader canon including 1 Enoch and Jubilees.

Positions

Listed without ranking. Traditions are internally diverse; the notes on each association matter.

Old Testament = the Hebrew Bible

Associated today with

Hebrew Bible plus seven deuterocanonical books and Greek additions

Associated today with

The Septuagint's wider collection

Associated today with

A broader canon (including 1 Enoch, Jubilees)

Associated today with

Sources

“Source checked” means the work and the point cited were confirmed while building this entry; “partly checked” means only part of it was; “not yet checked” means it is a standard reference awaiting review. None of these is a review of this entry, which remains an unreviewed draft.

  • Athanasius of Alexandria, Festal Letter 39 (list of the 27 New Testament books) (367). source not yet checked
  • Council of Carthage, Canon on the Scriptures (397). source not yet checked
  • Council of Trent, Session IV, Decree concerning the Canonical Scriptures (8 April 1546) (1546). source not yet checked
  • Westminster Assembly, Westminster Confession of Faith 1.2–3 (1646). source not yet checked
  • Church of England, Thirty-Nine Articles, Article VI (the Apocrypha read 'for example of life') (1571). source not yet checked
  • Synod of Jerusalem, Confession of Dositheus, decree 18, question 3 (1672). source not yet checked
  • Martin Luther, Prefaces to the New Testament (Hebrews, James, Jude, Revelation placed at the end) (1522). source not yet checked