Bible Matters, a Bible discussion group, meets on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. Our topic for Wednesday, November 18 will be – The canon of Scripture: How do we know these books are the right books?
If we are going to be confident saying, "This is what the Lord says," then we ought to be confident that the books we have in our Bible truly belong there. A "canon" is a word that means cane or rod. It is a standard of measurement. If something is not straight, it does not line up with the cane and is rejected. So, what is the standard for the books of the Bible?
>>> Some Bibles have 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Other Bibles add other books, known as the Apocrypha. Are they Scripture or not?
>>> Then there are other books which the early Christians knew. Some Christians even considered them Scripture, others did not. Do they belong or don't they?
>>> Then there are books known as Gnostic Gospels. They supply stories about Jesus' childhood. They are rejected by the Christian Church. Is that fair?
>>> Some charge the early Church with hiding some writings. Others say that the Council of Nicea (325 AD) voted on what is in the New Testament and suppressed other writings that they did not like. Is that true?
These are the questions we will discuss so that we establish a greater confidence in the words we teach, believe, and confess. All are welcome.
If anyone wants to follow along on Zoom, contact the pastor (welsnovi@aol.com) and I will send you a link. Your contribution to the discussion may have to be limited to the Chat feature.
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