Canonicity: Part 1 - Introduction

Just Because A Book is in Hebrew or Greek, does not make a book scripture and there was and is no nefarious plot to keep books out of the Bible or from the public. When I was in my early twenties, I really thought about such questions because I had heard of many, many books written 2000 years ago or more that talk about God or give insight and these books were left out of the Bible. I wanted to know why. In my research I discovered that many of these books were not hidden! In fact many of the them are readily available in English. Also many time books that did make it into our bible were once considered by some Christians as books to be left out like Song of Solomon (for being too sexual), Revelations (for being too hard to understand), and the whole Old Testament (for being too Jewish). What I found out was that I had to delve into history to understand how the 66 books of the Bible were collected into a single library. Why are some books left out and others included?

The conclusion that I have come to is that scripture itself is most qualified to determine what is and what is not scripture.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
- 2 Timothy 3:16,17

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:16-21

Notice, that a book being "true" is not a criteria for scripture. Because it's inspired by God we know it's true. But truth isn't enough to require faith and practice. Scripture must be inspired from God and it must be useful in making you more like Jesus. This takes teaching, correcting, training and even rebuking. God wants us to be equipped to do good. The bible is the only thing I have ever read that fits these criteria. All 66 books fit this criteria.

I am going to be doing a series of posts. This first one is about the Apocrapha. Followed by the Book of Enoch, Jewish Myths, Gnostic Texts, and then 2nd and 3rd Century apocraphal texts such as the Gospel of Judas, the Gospel of Thomas, and others. I want to explore these texts and discuss why they are not in the Bible. There are good reasons! We will be looking at why they do meet the criteria the Bible itself gives as seen in 2 Timothy 3:16,17 and 2 Peter 1:16-21. I probable will not talk much about how our Biblical cannon was formed but I may just point out the reference for more information and instead focus on why these "other" texts were excluded.

I invite comment and please let me know if you think the work i am discussing should have been included and why.