Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments, which are these:
Of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Of the New Testament: The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; The Acts of the Apostles; Paul's Epistles to the Romans, Corinthians 1, Corinthians 2, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians 1, Thessalonians 2, Timothy 1, Timothy 2, Titus, Philemon; The Epistle to the Hebrews; The Epistle of James; The first and second Epistles of Peter; The first, second and third Epistles of John; The Epistles of Jude The Revelation of John
All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.
The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture; and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings.
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Why These 66 books in the biblical canon? How does the church discern what books are canonical?
Resources
Canon & Apocrypha by A. A. Hodge
What is the Earliest Complete List of the Canon of the New Testament? by Michael Kruger
An Essential Key to Understanding the Development of the NT Canon by Michael Kruger
My Sheep Hear My Voice: Canon as Self-Authenticating by Michael Kruger
Ten Basic Facts about the NT Canon that Every Christian Should Memorize by Michael Kruger
How and When was the New Testament Canon Put Together? by Michael Kruger
Did Early Christians Disagree Widely on Which Books Made it into the Canon? by Michael Kruger
The Apocrypha: Is it Scripture? by CARM
Reasons why the Apocrypha does not belong in the Bible by CARM
Apocrypha and Canon in Early Christianity by Michael Kruger
Is Tradition the Only Way to Know Which Books are in the Canon? by Michael Kruger
How We Know the Bible Is True by John Piper
The Canon of Scripture (eBook) by Samuel Waldron
More than 140 resources on the Formation of the Canon @Monergism
eBooks
God's Canon (eBook) by Steve Hays
The Canon of Scripture by Thomas Boston
Multimedia
WCF 1.2 The Canon of Scripture - Jerusalem Chamber Podcast (MP3)
WCF 1.3 The Apocrypha - - Jerusalem Chamber Podcast (MP3)
Of the Holy Scripture (Ch.1, Sec.2) by Greg Bahnsen
Of the Holy Scripture (Ch.1, Sec.3) by Greg Bahnsen
The 1689 on Scripture (1.2-5) Doctrine & Devotion Podcast (MP3)
Sola Scriptura, Canon, and Rome (MP3) with Michael Kruger & James White
Why These Books and No Others? The Canonization of the NT (4-Part Series) by Michael Kruger
The Origin and Authority of the New Testament Canon (24-Part Lecture Series) by Michael Kruger
Canon of Scripture (MP3) by James White
Is the New Testament canon reliable and accurate? (MP3) by Tim Keller
“The canon of Scripture” (Gk. kanon, a rule, measure, or standard) refers to the 66 books of the Bible. The church has always recognized, more or less clearly, those books that are from God (II Peter 3:16), although it was not until 367 A.D. that the church father, Athanasius, formally listed the 66 books of the canon of Scripture.
Roman Catholics, at the Council of Trent (1546-63), defined 12 extra Old Testament books as part of their canon of Scripture. Protestants regard these 12 books as spurious (illegitimate). None of these books…
* were ever a part of the Hebrew Scriptures.
* were ever quoted by Jesus or the apostles
* were ever included in the lists of canonical books by the early church. Even the most learned Roman Catholic scholars rejected their authority until the Council of Trent made their inclusion in the canon an article of faith.
* claim to be inspired by God (Hodge, p. 33).
Recommended Books
Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the NT Books by Michael Kruger
The Heresy of Orthodoxy by Andreas Kostenberger and Michael Kruger.