Today in my Bible reading I read the entire book of Colossians. It is a short book, 4 chapters long, so it did now take very long. In a book I am reading I was told that it is good to read the entirety of a book (in the Bible) first, and then read it in shorter readings (i.e. a few verses, or one chapter at a time), in order to get more out of it. So anyways, I got to chapter 4 verse 16 which says:
"And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read to the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea."
From this it seems that Paul is saying that the Colossians and the Laodiceans should read each others letter from him, in addition to their own. This would mean that there are other letters that Paul wrote that did not make the canon (Bible).
Which lead me to wonder… if we ever found any more of Paul’s letters, say the one written to Laodicea, what would we do with it. I am sure some would want to include it in the Bible, while I suspect that most would not. I think that while it would be cool do be able to read another one of Paul’s letters, it would not be enough, just because it was written by Paul, to be entered into the Bible. It is not because Paul wrote it that makes it Biblical, it is because the Holy Spirit inspired it that makes it Biblical. I believe that if God wanted any other books in the Bible, it would be there. There were many books that did not make it into the Bible that were written by people in and around Christ, but the early church fathers overwhelmingly voted against their entry.
The whole topic of what made it into the Canon and what didn’t is a very interesting topic, something that I would like to learn more about some time down the road. But even with the limited knowledge I have, it comes down to trust in God’s sovereignty, and trusting that what he wanted us to have as the Bible, is what is there.
2 comments:
Hey brother, I really enjoy your blog! The topic of the canon of scripture is a very heavy but very interesting topic indeed. I've studied it some, not extensively. But I think you're right about God's sovereignty, if He had wanted other letters written by Paul or Peter or any of the apostles or close followers of Christ in the Bible, then they would be there. Even if a letter from Paul was discovered today there is no way we could include it into the canon of scripture. Without the early church leaders around we would have no way to know for certain that the letter would indeed be legitimate. The church fathers were close enough to Christ and the apostles time that some would have known them either personally or perhaps their own fathers did. With out their knowledge of authorship of certain letters there would be no valid argument for adding to the canon of scripture.
Good thoughts Brother!
In Christ -Jacob
PS. 1 Chronicles 29:29-30 is another place that mentions other writing that don't appear in the Bible.
cool, those verses in Chronicles had never stood out to me before. Thanks for pointing them out. I think I should read a book about the forming of the canon,
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