Bible Canon

THE BIBLE CANON : M. M. NINAN
Chapter Two
The Christian Old Testament Canon
If the revelation at the Mount Sinai was the ultimate test of Old Testament as we come to
the New Covenant there again was a very visible objective standard. That standard was
Jesus.
Heb 1:1 In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets;
Heb 1:2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of
all things, through whom also he created the world.
Heb 1:3 He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the
universe by his word of power.
In the first Covenant time all the people of Israel could not stand the revelation because of
the glory that surrounded the event. So in the second Covenant God put away his glory and
put on the garb of man. Thus in all matters of canon and standards Jesus is the ultimate
and only authority. Everything should be with reference to him.
Jesus acknowledged the Old Testament as present in his period as Scripture
Joh 5:39 You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life.
Joh 10:35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came (and scripture cannot be
broken),
Luk 24:44 Then he said to them, "These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was
still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and
the psalms must be fulfilled."
Thus we have:
The Law (Torah) - the five books of Moses (Genesis - Deuteronomy)
The Prophets (Nebhiim) - "the former prophets" (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings)
and
"the latter prophets" (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and a book containing the 12 minor
prophets).
The Writings (Kethubhim) - three poetical books (Psalms, Proverbs, and Job), five rolls
(the Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Esther, and Ecclesiastes), and several historical
books (Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles) as understood by Jesus
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