What Scripture says
The Old Testament. Jesus speaks of the Hebrew Scriptures as a known collection: “everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44, ESV). The Psalms were the first book of the third section, the Writings. He also refers to the martyrs “from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah” (Luke 11:51). Abel is the first murder in Genesis; Zechariah is the last in Chronicles, which ends the Hebrew Bible. In effect, Jesus says “from the first page to the last”.
Paul says the Jews “were entrusted with the oracles of God” (Romans 3:2), and that “all Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16).
The New Testament. The New Testament writers already treat some apostolic writings as Scripture:
- Peter places Paul’s letters alongside “the other Scriptures” (2 Peter 3:15–16).
- 1 Timothy 5:18 quotes “The laborer deserves his wages” as Scripture, words found in Luke 10:7.
- Paul expects his letters to be read in the churches and passed on (Colossians 4:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:27).
What the evidence says
History
The Old Testament canon
By the 1st century AD, Jews recognized a fixed core of Scripture:
- Josephus (c. AD 95) writes that the Jews have 22 books, counted in a way that matches the 39 in Protestant Bibles (some books were counted together). He says no one had dared to add to them since the time of the Persian king Artaxerxes.
- The Dead Sea Scrolls (3rd century BC–1st century AD) include every Old Testament book except Esther, with the Psalms, Deuteronomy and Isaiah the most copied.
- Some debate at the edges continued. Rabbis discussed whether books like Esther, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs belonged, but these discussions were about books already in use, not about adding new ones.
The Greek-speaking world used the Septuagint, a Greek translation that included some additional books. This is where the later disagreement over the Apocrypha comes from (see 3.8).
The New Testament canon
The early church didn’t create the canon by vote. It recognized books that had three marks:
- Apostolic origin: written by an apostle or a close associate, like Mark (Peter’s interpreter) or Luke (Paul’s companion).
- Orthodoxy: consistent with the faith handed down from the apostles.
- Wide use: read in churches across the Christian world, not just in one region.
The process unfolded over a few centuries:
| Period | What happened |
|---|---|
| AD 50–100 | The books are written and circulate; Paul’s letters are collected |
| c. 100–150 | Early writers (Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp) quote many New Testament books |
| c. 180 | Irenaeus insists there are exactly four Gospels |
| c. 200 | The Muratorian Fragment lists most of our New Testament |
| c. 325 | Eusebius lists books as accepted, disputed or rejected |
| 367 | Athanasius lists exactly the 27 books we have |
| 393 and 397 | Regional councils at Hippo and Carthage confirm the same list |
The core, the four Gospels, Acts and Paul’s letters, was widely accepted by the late 2nd century. A few books (Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2–3 John, Jude, Revelation) took longer to be accepted everywhere, mostly because of questions about authorship. Other books, such as the Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache, were valued for a time and then set aside (see 3B).
What about the councils?
The councils at Hippo and Carthage were regional meetings that confirmed what churches were already reading. No council in the early church claimed to give books their authority. The famous Council of Nicaea (325) didn’t discuss the canon at all (see 3.2).
Where they meet
The councils recognized authority the books already had. That matches what Scripture shows: apostolic writings were being treated as Scripture even while the apostles were alive. Michael Kruger argues the canon was not imposed from outside, but recognized from within: the books carried their own authority because of their source.
What’s still open
- Some books were debated for a long time, and the process wasn’t tidy.
- Christian traditions still disagree about the Old Testament Apocrypha (3.8) and, in the Ethiopian church, a few more books (3.11).
- Scholars debate exactly when the Hebrew canon was fully closed.
- Skeptical scholars, such as Bart Ehrman, stress the diversity of early Christianity and see the canon as the product of one group winning out. Others argue the apostolic writings were dominant from the start.
Bottom line
The Jewish Old Testament was recognized by Jesus’ day (“Law, Prophets, Psalms”). New Testament books were recognized by apostolic origin, orthodoxy and wide use, and Athanasius listed the 27 in AD 367. Councils recognized the canon rather than inventing it. The broad history is well documented, so this is rated Settled.