Biblical canon

Interpretation Hermeneutics Pesher Midrash Pardes Allegorical interpretation Historical-grammatical method Inspiration Literalism Alcohol Conspiracy theory Ethics Capital punishment Homosexuality Humor Incest Muhammad Prophecy Rape Serpents Sex Slavery Violence Warfare Women Perspectives Gnostic Islamic Quranic Inerrancy Infallibility Criticism of the Bible Biblical authority Outline of Bible-related topics Bible portal v t e A Biblical canon , or canon of scripture , is a list or set of books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community, generally in Judaism or Christianity . The term itself was first coined by Christians, but the idea is found in Jewish sources. The internal wording of the text can also be specified, for example the Masoretic Text is the canonical text for Judaism. The canons listed below are usually considered "closed" (i.e., books cannot be added or removed ). The closure of the canon reflects a belief that public revelation has ended and thus the inspired texts may be gathered into a complete and authoritative canon. By contrast, an "open canon" permits the addition of additional books through the process of continuous revelation . These canonical books have been developed through debate and agreement by the religious authorities of their respective faiths. Believers consider these canonical books to be inspired by God or to express the authoritative history of the relationship between God and His people . Books, such as the Jewish-Christian Gospels , excluded from the canon are considered non-canonical , but many disputed books considered non-canonical or even apocryphal by some are considered Biblical apocrypha or Deuterocanonical or fully canonical by others. There are differences between the Jewish and Christian Biblical canons , and between the canons of different Christian denominations . The differing criteria and processes of canonization dictate what the communities regard as the inspired books. McDonald & Sanders, editors of The Canon Debate , 2002, The Notion and Definition of Canon by Eugene Ulrich, page 29 defines canon as follows: "...the definitive list of inspired, authoritative books which constitute the recognized and accepted body of sacred scripture of a major religious group, that definitive list being the result of inclusive and exclusive decisions after serious deliberation."; page 34 defines canon of scripture as follows: "...the definitive, closed list of the books that constitute the authentic contents of scripture." McDonald & Sanders, editors of The Canon Debate , 2002, The Notion and Definition of Canon by Eugene Ulrich, page 28; also from the Introduction on page 13: "We should be clear, however, that the current use of the term "canon" to refer to a collection of scripture books was introduced by David Ruhnken in 1768 in his Historia critica oratorum graecorum for lists of sacred scriptures. While it is tempting to think that such usage has its origins in antiquity in reference to a closed collection of scriptures, such is not the case." The technical discussion includes Athanasius's use of "kanonizomenon=canonized" and Eusebius's use of kanon and "endiathekous biblous=encovenanted books". Athanasius Letter 39 .6.3: "Let no man add to these, neither let him take ought from these." McDonald & Sanders, page 32-33: Closed list ; page 30: "But it is necessary to keep in mind Bruce Metzger 's distinction between "a collection of authoritative books" and "an authoritative collection of books."

Interpretation Hermeneutics Pesher Midrash Pardes Allegorical interpretation Historical-grammatical method Inspiration Literalism Alcohol Conspiracy theory Ethics Capital punishment Homosexuality Humor Incest Muhammad Prophecy Rape Serpents Sex Slavery Violence Warfare Women Perspectives Gnostic Islamic Quranic Inerrancy Infallibility Criticism of the Bible Biblical authority Outline of Bible-related topics Bible portal v t e A biblical canon , or canon of scripture , is a list of books considered to be authoritative scripture by a particular religious community. The word "canon" comes from the Greek κανών, meaning " rule " or " measuring stick ". The term was first coined in reference to scripture by Christians, but the idea is said to be Jewish. Most of the canons listed below are considered "closed" (i.e., books cannot be added or removed), reflecting a belief that public revelation has ended and thus the inspired texts may be gathered into a complete and authoritative canon, which scholar Bruce Metzger defines as "an authoritative collection of books." In contrast, an "open canon", which permits the addition of books through the process of continuous revelation , Metzger defines as "a collection of authoritative books." (A table of Biblical scripture for both Testaments, with regard to canonical acceptance in Christendom's various major traditions, appears below .) These canons have been developed through debate and agreement by the religious authorities of their respective faiths. Believers consider canonical books to be inspired by God or to express the authoritative history of the relationship between God and his people . Books, such as the Jewish-Christian gospels , have been excluded from the canon altogether, but many disputed books considered non-canonical or even apocryphal by some are considered to be Biblical apocrypha or Deuterocanonical or fully canonical by others. There are differences between the Jewish Tanakh and Christian biblical canons , and between the canons of different Christian denominations . The differing criteria and processes of canonization dictate what the various communities regard as inspired scripture. In some cases where there are varying strata of scriptural inspiration, it becomes prudent even to discuss texts that only have an elevated status within a particular tradition. This becomes even more complex when considering the open canons of the various Latter Day Saint sects —which may be viewed as extensions of both Christianity and thus Judaism—and the scriptural revelations purportedly given to several leaders over the years within that movement . (In the article written by Eugene Ulrich, "canon" is defined as follows: "...the definitive list of inspired, authoritative books which constitute the recognized and accepted body of sacred scripture of a major religious group, that definitive list being the result of inclusive and exclusive decisions after serious deliberation." It is further defined as follows: "...the definitive, closed list of the books that constitute the authentic contents of scripture.") McDonald & Sanders, editors of The Canon Debate , 2002, The Notion and Definition of Canon by Eugene Ulrich, page 28: "The term is late and Christian ... though the idea is Jewish"; also from the Introduction on page 13: "We should be clear, however, that the current use of the term "canon" to refer to a collection of scripture books was introduced by David Ruhnken in 1768 in his Historia critica oratorum graecorum for lists of sacred scriptures. While it is tempting to think that such usage has its origins in antiquity in reference to a closed collection of scriptures, such is not the case." The technical discussion includes Athanasius's use of "kanonizomenon=canonized" and Eusebius's use of kanon and "endiathekous biblous=encovenanted books" and the Mishnaic term Sefarim Hizonim (external books). Athanasius Letter 39 .6.3: "Let no man add to these, neither let him take ought from these." McDonald & Sanders, page 32–33: Closed list ; page 30: "But it is necessary to keep in mind Bruce Metzger 's distinction between "a collection of authoritative books" and "an authoritative collection of books."

A set of texts which a particular religious community regards as authoritative scripture Interpretation Hermeneutics Pesher Midrash Pardes Allegorical interpretation Historical-grammatical method Inspiration Literalism Alcohol Conspiracy theory Ethics Capital punishment Homosexuality Humor Incest Muhammad Prophecy Rape Serpents Sex Slavery Violence Warfare Women Perspectives Gnostic Islamic Quranic Inerrancy Infallibility Criticism of the Bible Biblical authority Outline of Bible-related topics Bible portal v t e A biblical canon or canon of scripture is a set of texts (or "books") which a particular religious community regards as authoritative scripture . The English word "canon" comes from the Greek κανών, meaning " rule " or " measuring stick ". Christians became the first to use the term in reference to scripture, but Eugene Ulrich regards the notion as Jewish. Most of the canons listed below are considered by adherents "closed" (i.e., books cannot be added or removed), reflecting a belief that public revelation has ended and thus some person or persons can gather approved inspired texts into a complete and authoritative canon, which scholar Bruce Metzger defines as "an authoritative collection of books". In contrast, an "open canon", which permits the addition of books through the process of continuous revelation , Metzger defines as "a collection of authoritative books". These canons have developed through debate and agreement on the part of the religious authorities of their respective faiths and denominations. Believers consider canonical books as inspired by God or as expressive of the authoritative history of the relationship between God and his people . Some books, such as the Jewish–Christian gospels , have been excluded from various canons altogether, but many disputed books —considered non-canonical or even apocryphal by some—are considered to be biblical apocrypha or deuterocanonical or fully canonical by others. Differences exist between the Jewish Tanakh and Christian biblical canons , although the Jewish Tanakh did form the basis for the Christian Old Testament, and between the canons of different Christian denominations . In some cases where varying strata of scriptural inspiration have accumulated, it becomes prudent to discuss texts that only have an elevated status within a particular tradition. This becomes even more complex when considering the open canons of the various Latter Day Saint sects —which are usually viewed as divergent from biblical Christianity (and moreover, Judaism)—and the scriptural revelations purportedly given to several leaders over the years within that movement . While it is tempting to think that such usage has its origins in antiquity in reference to a closed collection of scriptures, such is not the case." The technical discussion includes Athanasius's use of "kanonizomenon=canonized" and Eusebius's use of kanon and "endiathekous biblous=encovenanted books" and the Mishnaic term Sefarim Hizonim (external books). "But it is necessary to keep in mind Bruce Metzger 's distinction between "a collection of authoritative books" and "an authoritative collection of books."

Texts regarded as part of the Bible "Books of the Bible" redirects here. Interpretation Hermeneutics Pesher Midrash Pardes Allegorical interpretation Historical-grammatical method Inspiration Literalism Alcohol Conspiracy theory Ethics Capital punishment Homosexuality Humor Incest Muhammad Prophecy Rape Serpents Sex Slavery Violence Warfare Women Perspectives Gnostic Islamic Quranic Inerrancy Infallibility Criticism of the Bible Biblical authority Outline of Bible-related topics Bible portal v t e A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible . The English word canon comes from the Greek κανών kanōn , meaning " rule " or " measuring stick ". The use of the word "canon" to refer to a set of religious scriptures was first used by David Ruhnken , in the 18th century. Various biblical canons have developed through debate and agreement on the part of the religious authorities of their respective faiths and denominations. Some books, such as the Jewish–Christian gospels , have been excluded from various canons altogether, but many disputed books are considered to be biblical apocrypha or deuterocanonical by many, while some denominations may consider them fully canonical. Differences exist between the Hebrew Bible and Christian biblical canons, although the majority of manuscripts are shared in common. Different religious groups include different books in their biblical canons, in varying orders, and sometimes divide or combine books. The Jewish Tanakh (sometimes called the Hebrew Bible) contains 24 books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching"); the eight books of the Nevi'im ("prophets"); and the eleven books of Ketuvim ("writings"). It is composed mainly in Biblical Hebrew . The Septuagint (in Koine Greek ), which closely resembles the Hebrew Bible but includes additional texts, is used as the Christian Greek Old Testament, at least in some liturgical contexts . The first part of Christian Bibles is the Old Testament , which contains, at minimum, the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible but divided into 39 ( Protestant ) or 46 ( Catholic ) books (including deuterocanonical works) and ordered differently. The second part is the New Testament , containing 27 books: the four canonical gospels , Acts of the Apostles , 21 Epistles or letters and the Book of Revelation . The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches hold that certain deuterocanonical books and passages are part of the Old Testament canon . The Eastern Orthodox , Oriental Orthodox , and Assyrian Christian churches may have differences in their lists of accepted books. Some Christian groups have other canonical books which are considered holy scripture but not part of the Bible. While it is tempting to think that such usage has its origins in antiquity in reference to a closed collection of scriptures, such is not the case."

Texts regarded as part of the Bible "Books of the Bible" redirects here. Interpretation Hermeneutics Pesher Midrash Pardes Allegorical interpretation Historical-grammatical method Inspiration Literalism Alcohol Conspiracy theory Ethics Capital punishment Homosexuality Humor Incest Muhammad Prophecy Rape Serpents Sex Slavery Violence Warfare Women Perspectives Gnostic Islamic Quranic Inerrancy Infallibility Criticism of the Bible Biblical authority Outline of Bible-related topics Bible portal v t e A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible . The English word canon comes from the Greek κανών kanōn , meaning ' rule ' or ' measuring stick '. The use of canon to refer to a set of religious scriptures was first used by David Ruhnken , in the 18th century. Various biblical canons have developed through debate and agreement on the part of the religious authorities of their respective faiths and denominations. Some books, such as the Jewish–Christian gospels , have been excluded from various canons altogether, but many disputed books are considered to be biblical apocrypha or deuterocanonical by many, while some denominations may consider them fully canonical. Differences exist between the Hebrew Bible and Christian biblical canons, although the majority of manuscripts are shared in common. Different religious groups include different books in their biblical canons, in varying orders, and sometimes divide or combine books. The Jewish Tanakh (sometimes called the Hebrew Bible) contains 24 books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ('teaching'); the eight books of the Nevi'im ('prophets'); and the eleven books of Ketuvim ('writings'). It is composed mainly in Biblical Hebrew , with portions in Aramaic . The Septuagint (in Koine Greek ), which closely resembles the Hebrew Bible but includes additional texts, is used as the Christian Greek Old Testament, at least in some liturgical contexts . The first part of Christian Bibles is the Old Testament , which contains, at minimum, the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible divided into 39 ( Protestant ) or 46 ( Catholic [including deuterocanonical works]) books that are ordered differently. The second part is the New Testament , almost always containing 27 books: the four canonical gospels , Acts of the Apostles , 21 Epistles or letters and the Book of Revelation . The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches hold that certain deuterocanonical books and passages are part of the Old Testament canon . The Eastern Orthodox , Oriental Orthodox , and Assyrian churches may have differences in their lists of accepted books. Some Christian groups have other canonical books (open canon) which are considered holy scripture but not part of the Bible. While it is tempting to think that such usage has its origins in antiquity in reference to a closed collection of scriptures, such is not the case.".