What Date Was the Bible Actually Put Together into One Book?
This is an excellent question. The answer really falls into two parts: First, “when
did the Old Testament become one book?” and Second, “when did the New Testament
become one book?” We are talking about a word that may be unfamiliar
to some. It is the word “canon.” It is a Greek word that means a “rule or standard.”
When speaking of Scripture, we are talking about what books met the divine rule or standard
to be considered inspired writings.
If we listen to Bible critics today, they will maintain that the books in the Bible
were voted in by various church councils. They argue that something like this took place:
Let’s suppose that we were a part of this church council. We convened are were given
instructions that we were to take home, and study, let’s say three different books:
Exodus, Tobit and Esther. Then, we were to reassemble at a designated time in the future.
When we reassembled, we were to be prepared to vote on these books. The majority vote
would win the day. So, the day came when we reassembled. The moderator would say something
like: “We have been charged with the job of studying these three books. It is now time
for us to take a vote. All those who believe that Exodus should be included in the canon
of Scripture, raise your hand. Oh! It looks like Exodus is clearly voted in! Ok, how about
the book of Tobit? Well, it doesn’t look like Tobit has enough votes. So, Tobit is
now officially eliminated! How about the third book, the book of Esther? Wow, it looks like
a close vote! It looks like the book of Esther has made it in by the slimmest of margins!”
While this is just an illustration, and not an actual account, scholars believe that what
transpired in these councils was akin to that. The point is, Bible books became Bible books
because they were voted in by men. However, the biblical record paints a much
different picture. We see recognized men of God writing books, and their books were immediately
accepted by the people of God. When I say “recognized,” I mean that the people could
easily see that God was working through these men. They showed great power, and frequently
were able to work miracles. The people of God knew these men were not fakes. As a result,
when they wrote, the people immediately accepted their writings. There were no votes, no councils.
All 39 books of the Old Testament were written by inspired, recognized men of God. This is
illustrated in the words of the Jewish historian by the name of Josephus. He says:
“From Artaxerxes to our own time, the complete history has been written, but has not been
deemed worthy of equal credit with the earlier records because of the failure of the exact
succession of the prophets.” Notice that he divides up the ancient writings
into two categories: the “earlier records” and the writings “from Artaxerxes (who reigned
about 400 BC) to our own time.” He says that those later records were not as valuable
as the older records. Why? He says “Because of the failure of the exact succession of
the prophets.” That period between the Testaments was known by God’s people to have no true
prophets! As a result, the writings done during that period of time from the last true prophet
(Malachi) to the New Testament age, were not considered as inspired. The Jews of the First
Century AD held those earlier books in such high esteem that Josephus said:
“For although such long ages have now passed, no one has ventured either to add, or to remove,
or to alter a syllable.” (Against Apion, 1.8 {42}). They considered these writings
to be inspired of God! That is why they would not dare change anything written, not even
a syllable. Josephus then proceeds to name the books he is talking about, and he names
the very 39 books we have in our Old Testaments! Therefore, it is safe to say that the Old
Testament books were brought together into one book by at least the 1st Century AD.
However, there is good evidence that it was brought together much earlier than that.
The Old Testament is divided into three sections: the Law, the Prophets and the Writings. These
divisions were recognized long before the time of Jesus. An ancient writing, by the
name of Sirach, makes reference to “the Law itself, and the Prophecies, and the rest
of the books.” Scholars believe the “rest of the books” refers to what was known as
“the Writings.” So, when did these books come together. Scholar R.H. Charles suggests
that this book was compiled around 180 B.C., although others suggest it goes back much
further, perhaps as far back as 300 B.C.
Another valuable witness to the canon of the Old Testament is the Septuagint. This was
a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. It was done during the reign of Ptolemy
Philadelphus about 250 B.C. While some have debated what books were a part of the original
Septuagint, Cyril, who was a bishop of Jerusalem, said that the Septuagint “contained the
22 books of the Old Testament, these that have been translated by the seventy-two interpreters.”
Those “twenty two books” are the exact same books at the 39 books we now have in
our English Bibles. So, the evidence seems clear that the 39 books of the Old Testament
were brought together into one book by around 250 B.C., if not earlier.
What about the 27 books of the New Testament canon? We again need to look at the evidence
provided in the New Testament. In 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul quotes from the Gospel of Luke.
He refers to Luke as “Scripture.” The word “Scripture” is only in reference
to writings inspired of God. Therefore, a book like Luke was accepted immediately after
its composition in about 58 A.D. In 2 Peter 3:16, Peter makes reference to “all” of
Paul’s letters. By this time, around 68 A.D., Paul would have composed all 13 of his
epistles. This shows that by this time, the church had already accepted Paul’s writings
as inspired. You will note that Peter refers to Paul’s epistles as “Scriptures.”
Peter also refers to “the rest of the Scriptures.” This clearly indicates that there were by
this time other recognized writings. Scholars generally believe that all of the New Testament
was composed by this time with the exception of the writings of the apostle John and perhaps
the book of Jude. In a Gnostic text entitled The Gospel of Truth
there is significant evidence that most, if not all of the New Testament was recognized
early in the 2nd Century. Regarding this text, Everett Harrison says:
This recently discovered work with observable Gnostic tendencies is probably attributable
to Valentinus around A.D. 140. It has an important contribution to make to the study of the New
Testament canon, since its use of the canonical writings is so comprehensive as to warrant
the conclusion that in Rome at this period a New Testament was in existence that corresponded
very closely with what we have today. Furthermore, what is utilized, whether from the Gospels,
the Acts, the letters of Paul, Hebrews, or the Revelation, is regarded as authoritative
(101-2).
This document provides some evidence that the 27 books of the New Testament were recognized
early in the 2nd Century AD. In addition, considering the following testimony of several
ancient writers: Clement of Rome (c. 60-100) was aware of at
least six books. Ignatius (c. 60-117) was aware of 10 books.
Polycarp (c. 69-155) makes reference to at least sixteen books.
Justin Martyr (c. 100-165) knows of at least thirteen books.
Marcion (c. 80-160) references eleven books. Irenaeus (c. 130-202) quotes from twenty-four
or twenty-five books. The Muratorian Canon (c. 190) references at
least 20 books. Clement of Alexandria (c. 155-220), Origen
(c. 185-253) and Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 265-339) reference twenty-two books.
Athanasius (c. 296-373) knows of all twenty-seven books
You will notice that the first “canon” was the Muratorian Canon, dating around 190
AD, although some have it around 170. In addition, some scholars argue that this canon actually
included all of the NT books except Hebrews, James and 3 John. By looking at this list,
there is clear evidence that the 27 books were together by at least 290 A.D. Some of
our greatest manuscripts, the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus contain all 27 books.
These were composed in the 4th Century and provide the only extant copies of all Bible
books being included in one bound volume. The Catholic church has long claimed to have
established the modern day canon of Scripture. However, history bears out that these books
were long recognized and accepted by the people of God before these Catholic Councils. Consider
the words of F. F. Bruce:
One thing must be emphatically stated. The New Testament books did not become authoritative
for the Church because they were formally included in a canonical list; on the contrary,
the Church included them in her canon because she already regarded them as divinely inspired,
recognising their innate worth and general apostolic authority, direct or indirect. The
first ecclesiastical councils to classify the canonical books were both held in North
Africa — at Hippo Regius in 393 and at Carthage in 397 — but what these councils did was
not to impose something new upon the Christian communities but to codify what was already
the general practice of those communities. How God providentially worked to bring together
all of His inspired writings is indeed an amazing story. We can read our Bibles with
utmost confidence that we have all of God’s Word in our Bibles. If you would like to know
more about the Canon of Scripture, please watch my series on “How We Got the Bible,”
at www.WVBS.org.