Canon History Overview

Canon History Overview

Books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

Community: Israel in the wilderness, then in the land

These were the foundational scrolls — called Torah, meaning instruction or covenant law.

They were preserved in tabernacle and temple, copied by scribes, and revered as the heart of the covenant.

Books: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Psalms, Proverbs, Job, and others

Over time, scrolls of prophecy, lament, history, and wisdom were added — forming what became known as the Tanakh:

Torah (Law)

Nevi’im (Prophets)

Ketuvim (Writings)

This was the Hebrew Bible — used by Yeshua and the apostles.

Event: The Hebrew scrolls were translated into Greek for diaspora Jews in Alexandria

Key additions: Books like Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Tobit, Baruch, 1–4 Maccabees, Judith, Additions to Daniel and Esther

This became the Bible of the early church.

Most quotes in the New Testament come from the Septuagint (LXX) — not the later Hebrew Masoretic text.

Writings: Gospels, Letters of Paul, Peter, James, John, Revelation

Circulated: Hand to hand, region to region

There was no “New Testament” yet — just scrolls from eyewitnesses and their disciples, read alongside the Torah and Prophets in house gatherings.

Churches used:

The Torah and Prophets

The Gospels and Apostolic Letters

Extra scrolls like Enoch, Jubilees, Baruch, Hermas, Thomas, Mary, Barnabas

Different regions accepted different lists.

There was no universal canon for the first three centuries.

Events:

Church becomes Roman (Constantine, 313 CE)

Councils begin to push for canon clarity

Council of Laodicea (363 CE) — first list omits Revelation

Council of Carthage (397 CE) — close to today’s Protestant list, but includes the apocrypha

This was not divinely commanded — but politically and theologically pressured for unity under Rome.

Scrolls not aligned with institutional theology were cut, buried, or renamed “non-canonical.”

Event: Jerome translates Bible into Latin

Includes: Most of the Septuagint

Excludes: Enoch, Jubilees, 3–4 Maccabees, and other sacred scrolls

Though Jerome questioned some apocryphal books, the Vulgate became the official Bible of the Catholic Church for 1,000 years.

Martin Luther’s moves:

Removed: 1 Maccabees, Tobit, Wisdom, Sirach, and others from the main Bible

Pushed them into the Apocrypha section

Re-centered the canon on the Hebrew Masoretic text (not the Septuagint)

Added the word “alone” to Romans 3:28 in German

The Protestant canon becomes:

39 Old Testament (Hebrew)

27 New Testament

Apocrypha: excluded or placed separately

The Word of God

was never bound by canon.

It is Spirit-breathed.

Alive.

Restorative.

The canon was a container.

The Breath was never meant to be contained.