Q.
Who got to decide which books would be included?
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Joshua Toulouse
A.
It isn’t exactly true to say that Revelation and the gospel of John
nearly weren’t included in canonization. Both of these books—
along with James; Jude; 1 and 2 Peter; 1, 2, and 3 John; and
Hebrews—were more disputed or contested when it came to what should be
included in the offi cial Bible for Christianity, but the gospel of John was prob-
ably the least contested of any of these. The main issue that anyone had with
John was that the troubling sector of Christians known as Gnostics seemed to
give it so much importance.
There were many other gospels from gnosticism as well that were
strongly opposed by many in the canonical discussion, writings that claimed
to be by apostles and claimed there was secret knowledge to be gained. Most
Christians, however, didn’t believe that there was any special knowledge
somehow hidden within Christian writings.
However, despite the uncomfortable fact that this questionable portion of
Christianity was fond of the book, there was plenty of evidence that John was
from around the late fi rst century, as were the other three accepted gospels,
and for most people the four gospels were considered inseparable. And there
were plenty of churches using John, as there were using Revelation and the
other books that were disputed. Generally, the prevalence and historical prec-
edent of the use of those books in the Christian community is what got them
included in the canon.Scriptural References
John 20:31; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:14–17; Sirach 1Suggested Additional Sources for Reading
- Karen Armstrong, The Bible: A Biography (Grove, 2008).
- F. F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture (IVP Academic, 1988).
- F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (InterVarsity
Press, 1943). - Craig A. Evans and Emanuel Tov, eds., Exploring the Origins of the Bible
(Baker Academic, 2008). - Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity (Eerdmans, 2003).
- Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1—The Early Church to
the Dawn of the Reformation (HarperOne, 1985), especially chap. 8, “The
Deposit of the Faith.” - Got Questions Ministries: http://www.GotQuestions.org.