The word canon comes from the Hebrew word for a rod. A rod is the thing by which we measure or judge everything else. When talking about the canon of scripture we are referring to the accepted collection of writings that make up the authoritative Bible. The process by which the scriptures were canonized is a fascinating piece of history. When it comes to the Old Testament we don’t really have any records about the process by which it was formed. What we do know is that the thirty nine books of the Old Testament were already widely circulated and accepted as canon by the time of Christ. Those books had also been translated into Greek which we know as the Septuagint. The authors of the New Testament take their quotations from this translation. The best evidence for the reliability of the Old Testament is the fact that Jesus read, studied and taught from these very scriptures. The New Testament authors were also well versed in these scriptures and quoted them frequently in their writing as the authoritative Word of God. We have ancient copies of most of the Old Testament texts which date to the time before Christ. The Old Testament primarily consists of the historical account of God’s creation, God’s people, their wisdom literature and their prophetic writings.
When it comes to the New Testament, we have a clearer picture of how the canon was formed. The process began with Paul writing to the church and expounding on the scriptures in light of Jesus’ death and resurrection. As his letters circulated others began chronicling the stories about Jesus’ ministry. Most of the New Testament books were either historical in nature, instructional, or personal. As the early church grew and expanded we see clear criteria for how these documents became canonized. First, there had to be clear apostolic authority. The document was either written by an apostle or one of their associates under their guidance. It also had to be widely circulated by the churches and found to be useful in teaching and worship. Next the book had to align with the clear doctrinal teaching of Jesus and the other scriptures. Most of the books were adopted very early on and the majority were in widespread use within fifty years of the last book being written. By 240 A.D. all twenty seven books being used together by Origen of Alexandria. It was clear that all of these scriptures were God-breathed and being used by the church and the Holy Spirit was speaking through them. God in his providence was involved every step of the way in compiling his word.