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Canons Of The BibleEdit

Canons Of The Bible refer to the lists of books that a Christian community accepts as authoritative scripture, binding faith and practice. The term canon comes from a word meaning standard or rule, and in this sense a canon is more than a library of sacred writings: it is a governing framework for doctrine, worship, and moral life. Over the first centuries of the church, different communities settled on different collections, reflecting how early Christians understood revelation, instruction, and the authority of apostolic testimony. The result is not a single universal Bible, but three broad traditions with overlapping core and distinct additions: what today are commonly called the Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox canons, with still broader variants in the Ethiopian tradition.

The canons are typically divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament in Christian usage includes material drawn from the Hebrew Bible, but in many traditions it also includes books that were widely read in the early church and among Greek-speaking Christians. The New Testament comprises writings produced by early Christian communities—gospels, letters, and a developing sense of which writings bore apostolic authority. Within this framework, discussions about what counts as “scripture” also touch on terms like deuterocanonical books, apocrypha, and proto-canon, which describe different categories of writings in relation to canonical status. See Old Testament and New Testament for the standard divisions, and consider how Septuagint influence and the Hebrew Bible shape these lists.

The major canons across Christian traditions

  • Protestant canon: In most Protestant Bibles, the Old Testament corresponds to the Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament has 27 books, for a total of 66. The deuterocanonical books are generally presented as a separate section known as the Apocrypha, not as part of the canon. This reflects the Reformers’ emphasis on returning to what they viewed as the apostolic and Hebrew groundwork for faith and practice. See Protestantism and Sola scriptura for related discussions, and note how the Council of Trent response to the Reformation shaped Catholic positions that differ on deuterocanonical status.

  • Catholic canon: The Catholic Bible includes 73 books: 46 in the Old Testament (including the deuterocanonical books) and 27 in the New Testament. The deuterocanon (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach/Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and additions to Esther and Daniel) are regarded as Scripture by the Catholic Church. This broader collection was formally affirmed in the counter-Reformation era, notably by the Council of Trent and years of patristic and ecclesial practice. See Catholic Church and deuterocanonical books for fuller context.

  • Orthodox canons: The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches generally share a broad core with the Catholic Old Testament but include additional books in certain national traditions. In many Orthodox Bibles, the Septuagint basis is emphasized, and texts such as additional narratives and psalms are present in particular jurisdictions. Some lists also read 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, and the Prayer of Manasseh in various liturgical or manuscript traditions. See Eastern Orthodox Church and Biblical canon for further nuance, and note how different national churches may have slightly different canons.

  • Ethiopian canon: The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church maintains an especially broad canon that includes books not found in most other Christian canons, reflecting a distinctive ancient tradition. Works such as the Book of Enoch appear in some strata of Ethiopian biblical readership, illustrating how local ecclesial life can shape a canon in ways not mirrored elsewhere. See Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Book of Enoch for related topics.

Deuterocanonical books and apocrypha

A key axis of difference among canon traditions concerns the deuterocanonical books and related writings often labeled as apocrypha in Protestant usage. In Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, these books are treated as sacred scripture; in Protestant Bibles, they are typically printed in a separate section or not counted among the canon at all. Typical deuterocanonical material includes Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and additions to Daniel and Esther. The Book of Esther and the addition to Daniel contain chapters or portions not found in the Hebrew Bible. For more on the terminology and the particular texts, see Deuterocanonical books and Apocrypha.

History of canon formation

  • Early lists and usage: By the second century, lists and uses of certain texts began to solidify in Christian communities. The Muratorian fragment (roughly late 2nd century) is a key early witness to a recognizably Christian collection of New Testament writings. See Muratorian fragment for details. Early church Fathers and communities increasingly relied on apostolic testimony and recognized writings as suitable for teaching and liturgy.

  • Patristic and liturgical shaping: As Christianity spread, the use of particular books in worship and catechesis helped shape a growing sense of which writings carried authoritative weight. The Old Testament usage varied between versions based on the Hebrew Bible and the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures known as the Septuagint; this distinction would become a live issue for different traditions.

  • Councils and formal affirmations: In the 4th and 5th centuries, synods and regional councils acknowledged canons, especially for the New Testament. Prominent milestones include the broader patristic consensus and later regional affirmations. The New Testament canon, in particular, received strong acknowledgement in the writings and decisions of bishops and church leaders, with Athanasius of Alexandria and other authorities providing influential lists. See Athanasius and Synod of Hippo.

  • Reformation and counter-Reformation: The Protestant Reformation renewed debate over which books counted as canonical, reasserting a traditional core but removing certain deuterocanonical books from the canon or relegating them to a separate section. In response, the Catholic Church, through the Council of Trent, reaffirmed the Catholic canon, a move that helped establish the stark, enduring differences between Western Protestant and Western Catholic biblical canons. See Protestant Reformation and Council of Trent.

  • Non-Chalcedonian and regional developments: Beyond the major Western and Eastern traditions, other churches developed canons with their own emphases. The Ethiopian tradition, for example, reflects a broader inherited corpus that includes texts not common in other traditions. See Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

Contemporary issues and debates

Advocates for tradition emphasize that a fixed canon serves as a stable ground for doctrine, liturgy, and moral order. They argue that a clear boundary protects against arbitrary reinterpretation and preserves the continuity of apostolic teaching across generations. Critics sometimes describe a closed canon as potentially limiting or exclusive, suggesting that it can mute voices or questions that arise in new contexts. From a traditionalist viewpoint, however, the core aim is to keep faith consistent with the apostolic witness and to safeguard civilizational norms embedded in long-standing Christian teaching.

The question of authority—whether inspiration rests solely in Scripture or in a combined authority of Scripture and longstanding tradition—remains central in discussions of the canon. In Catholic thought, the magisterium (the living teaching office of the Church) and sacred tradition play a central role alongside Scripture; in many Protestant circles, Scripture alone (sola scriptura) is emphasized as the rule of faith. See Magisterium and Sola scriptura for related discussions.

Textual and historical scholarship also engages with the canon’s formation: scholars compare the Greek Septuagint with the Hebrew Masoretic Text, examine how early Christian communities used various writings in worship and teaching, and assess how translation practices shaped what counted as canonical in different regions. See Septuagint and Hebrew Bible for background, and explore specific historical milestones in Muratorian fragment, Athanasius, Council of Trent, Synod of Hippo, and Councils of Carthage for context.

See also