Bible
The Canon of Scripture
How the church recognised which books belong in the Bible.
The canon was recognised rather than invented: books already used and trusted in the churches were affirmed on grounds of apostolic origin, orthodoxy and widespread use.
Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox canons differ over the deuterocanonical books, while agreeing on the entire New Testament and the Hebrew Scriptures.
Key verses
There are some things in them that are hard to understand... as they do the other Scriptures.
2 Peter 3:16
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Where this came from
We're not experts — these are the sources we used while researching this page. Read them yourself, keep digging, and hold us to them.
- [1]Blue Letter Bible — concordance and cross-reference tools
Every verse chain on a topic page was checked in context here.
- [2]Bible Project — theological theme studies
Biblical-theology framing for themes such as covenant, image of God, exile and sabbath.
- [3]Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (OUP)
Definitions of technical terms used on these pages.