Day 7: The Bible is a Miraculous Book: Making the Old Testament

Canon comes from a Hebrew word meaning "reed" or "measuring rod." Eventually, the word stood for a catalog or list of books. The process by which the biblical books were chosen is called "canonization." Here's how it happened.

From ancient times, the Jewish people believed that God revealed himself in writing, e.g., The Ten Commandments. Written revelation was given by God and collected by the Jews in three stages. 

First, the Law, the religious regulations of the Jewish community. 

Soon, stories of early Hebrew history were included as well. The whole section was called Torah, meaning "instruction." It was later divided into five parts, called the Pentateuch ("five books") and became the first five books of our Bible:

Next, the Prophets, called the Nebiim by the Jews. 

This section of the Bible included the writings of the prophets and also the history of their times. There are twenty-one of these books in our format, from Joshua to Malachi.

Last, the Writings, called the Ketubim by the Jews. 

They may have grown from smaller, earlier writings. For instance, the individual psalms were probably used first by the Jews in worship, then compiled into the Book of Psalms. The Jews list eleven books in this section, beginning with Psalms and closing with Ezra–Nehemiah and 1–2 Chronicles.

These books were compiled over centuries of use and formally listed and arranged at the end of the first century AD.

Between the Testaments

Malachi, the last Old Testament book, was written around 400 BC. The first gospels were composed around AD 45–50. What happened in the meantime?

This question raises one of the most interesting issues in the story of the Bible: the Apocrypha, a story unfamiliar to many Protestants. Apocrypha means "hidden" or "obscure." With regard to the biblical canon, it refers to the fifteen books that Catholics accept as Scripture but most Protestants reject as the inspired word of God.

Protestants noted that none of them are quoted specifically in the New Testament. They concluded that these books, while interesting and informative, should not be considered divine revelation. 

Today, most Protestant Bibles exclude these books, while Catholics and many Episcopalians use them.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at how the books of the New Testament were chosen.

Throughout it all, we must remember: “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16).