God’s providence ensures that we will be exposed and have access to the books that make up the canon. The attributes of canonical books allow us to then distinguish and identify canonical books from all other currently accessible books. The internal testimony of the Holy Spirit then guides us in correctly identifying these attributes.

Introduction

What collection of books make up the Bible? Roman Catholics say that there are 73. Protestants say that there are 66. Who is correct, and who decides? After all, the Bible was not written instantaneously as a complete package. There is a history to its formation as a collection of books. A variety of authors wrote these biblical books across multiple time periods. “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1). Is the Bible just a man-made collection of books put together based on the personal preferences of superstitious people? After all, some books allegedly only made it into the Bible by a few votes! How do we know that the bishops who voted on these books got it right? These are important questions that we will address in this article.

The Bible Used by Roman Catholics Has 73 Books Because It Includes Some Deuterocanonical Books

The Bible used by Roman Catholics has 73 books because of the inclusion of some deuterocanonical books (or “second canon” books), which Protestants call the Apocrypha. These seven additional books were first recognized as deuterocanonical by early Christians who used the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures that contained these extra texts.

At the risk of over-simplification, the Protestant Reformers excluded them from the canon of Scripture because they were already regarded as deuterocanonical. But the Roman Catholic Church affirmed their inclusion in the Bible at the Council of Trent in the 16th century. Thus, the Bible used by Romans Catholics comprises 73 books, because they wanted to include some deuterocanonical books.

What the Bible Is and Why It Matters

To best answer questions about how many books are in the Bible, we must first understand what the Bible is. Is the Bible a product of human authorship, or divine? Did God or humans write it? Is the Bible authoritative? Does the Bible contain errors?

When we try to understand a book’s nature and purpose, we must first understand the book on its own terms. What does the book claim about itself? For example, a car repair manual claims that it is a manual for a particular kind of vehicle. Suppose we decided to disregard this claim and treat the car manual like a book of poetry. Then we would completely misinterpret it and misunderstand its nature and purpose. Similarly, to understand what kind of book the Bible is, we must first understand what the Bible claims about itself.

God Is the Primary Author

Scripture presents itself as a divine self-disclosure, where God voluntarily condescends to reveal himself to us by his word (1 Sam 3:21). The Bible teaches that the words of Scripture are from God, not humans (2 Pet 1:20-21; 1 Thess 2:13; 1 Cor 2:13; Gal 1:11-12).¹ The first of these words was even inscribed by God’s own finger (Exod 31:18; 32:16; Deut 9:10).²

Ultimately all Scripture is God’s breathed and exhaled word (2 Tim 3:16-17; 1 Chr 28:19),³ down to the very smallest letter and pen stroke (Matt 5:18; Luke 16:17).⁴ Consequently, the Bible is a sacred text since God is its primary author, not humans. Scripture does not approach God like Mr. Potato Head, constructing Mr. Potato Head in whatever fashion people desire. God is not fashioned according to the speculations of humans (Matt 16:13-17). Instead, the Bible is God’s self-revelation to us in written form.

God Is Authoritative

Since the Bible presents itself as the word of God, it claims full authority for itself (Matt 7:28-29; Mark 1:22, 27; Luke 4:32, 36).⁵ It is the final standard of faith and life. The Bible calls us to test everything according to Scripture (Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1; 1 Thess 5:20-22; Matt 4:1-11), since God’s word is more certain than personal experience (2 Pet 1:16-19; Luke 16:27-31).

This authority is all-pervasive. It operates at all times (Isa 55:10-11; Heb 4:12), covers all areas of life (1 Cor 10:31; 2 Pet 1:3; 2 Tim 3:16-17), and covers every form of Scriptural language. It is also radical, unqualified, and unrestricted (Heb 11:17-19). Consequently, the authority of Scripture does not derive from the church. The church is composed of mere humans who are unable to impart authority to the word of God. The Bible’s authority does not derive from anyone else other than God Himself.

Humans are the Agents

While God is the primary author of Scripture, God chose to work through human agents to write His word. We often refer to as the inspiration of Scripture. Inspiration does not mean that God has breathed something into this body of writings. (When we speak of inspiration, we do not mean it in the same way we speak of an inspiring piece of music.) It does mean that God has breathed out or exhaled this body of writings (2 Tim 3:16; Isa 40:5).

Scripture teaches that the apostles and prophets were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 1:21; 1 Pet 1:10-11). They preached the gospel by means of the Holy Spirit (1 Pet 1:12; Neh 9:30; Zech 7:12).⁶ They spoke the words that the Holy Spirit put in their mouths (Deut 18:18; Isa 51:16; 59:21)⁷ and taught them (1 Cor 2:13; Acts 21:11; Heb 3:7; 10:15). The Holy Spirit directed what they should say as well as how to say it (Matt 10:19-20; Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11-12).

In inspiring the preaching of the gospel, the Holy Spirit guided the apostles and prophets into all truth (John 16:13). What they said was true (Acts 26:25; Gal 4:16; John 10:41; 19:35; 21:24)⁸ and not a lie (Rom 9:1; 1 Tim 2:7; Gal 1:20).⁹ Consequently, the gospel message proclaimed by the apostles and recorded in Scripture is sure and certain (2 Pet 1:19). It is wholly true and without error (Eph 1:13; Col 1:5; Gal 2:5, 14). Bible scholars often refer to this as the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture, which Scripture claims about itself.

The Infallibility of Scripture

Scripture teaches that all of God’s words are flawless and true (Prov 30:5; Ps 12:6; 18:30; Ps 119:43, 160).¹⁰ This implies that the Bible is a book full of truths without error (2 Tim 2:15; Jas 1:18, Dan 10:21). Scripture also teaches that God sees everything (Job 28:24; Prov 15:3; Heb 4:13),¹¹ knows everything (1 John 3:20; John 2:24-25; 16:30; 21:17),¹² and has perfect knowledge (Job 37:16). Consequently, He is not in a position to make mistakes. Furthermore, Scripture teaches that God cannot lie (Heb 6:18; Num 23:19; Titus 1:2)¹³ or contradict Himself (2 Tim 2:13; 2 Cor 1:18) and that God always speaks the truth (Isa 45:19; John 5:32; 8:40, 45). Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35). From these things it follows that everything which Scripture says must be true.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is the living word. He is both divine and human. Because of his conception by the Holy Spirit, his humanity is not sinful. In a similar way, the written word (the Bible) is a divine-human document. It does not contain errors simply because humans wrote it. The same Spirit carried its authors along to write what God intended (2 Pet 1:21)

The Canon of Scripture

We have now gained a clearer understanding of what kind of book the Bible is (what it claims about itself). This prepares us to address questions concerning the collection of books that make up the Bible. We call this collection the canon of Scripture. Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox churches disagree concerning the number of books in the entire Bible.

• Protestants believe there are 66 (39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament);
• Roman Catholics believe there are 73 (46 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament);
• Greek Orthodox believe there are 79 (52 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament);
• Ethiopian Orthodox believe there are 82 (55 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament).

Table 1: Canonical Bible Books All Christians Agree Are Part of the Bible

Books Included in the Protestant, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Ethiopian Orthodox Canons. This Table includes the list of books that all these groups believe are part of the Bible.

Table 2: Disputed (Deuterocanonical) Books

This Table provides the list of additional books that appear in Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Ethiopian Orthodox Bibles. We refer to these as the Deuterocanon or second canon. Protestants refer to these books as the Apocrypha since they do not believe these books are part of the Bible.

What Determines Which Books Make Up the Canon?

As we have seen, different groups of people disagree with each other regarding which books comprise the Bible. How do we know who is correct? What ultimately determines which books make up the canon of Scripture? To answer this, we must understand the distinction between the determination of the canon and the recognition of the canon.

What is the case (determination) and what we know to be the case (recognition) are very different things. Consider the fact that people may have cancer without knowing that they have cancer. What is the case (having cancer) is distinct from what one knows to be the case (knowing about having cancer). Similarly, what is the case (determining the canon) is distinct from what we know to be the case (recognizing the canon). What determines which books make up the Bible is distinct from recognizing the books that make up the Bible.

The Church Recognizes the Canon

Oftentimes people assume that the church determines and decides which books make up the Bible. However, the church does not do this: it simply recognizes which books make up the Bible. These books do not depend on the church any more than the force of gravity depends on Isaac Newton. The church instead recognizes the makeup of the Bible, just as Isaac Newton recognized what the force of gravity is. The acceleration of gravity on Earth is 9.81 m/s² regardless of whether we discovered it. In the same way, the biblical canon is determined and set regardless of whether it is acknowledged by the church.

The church’s role is like that of officers who receive many letters, some of which are from their commander. The officers must recognize the set of letters that are from their commander and follow those since they are authoritative. Since the officers are not commanders, they are unable to make a collection of letters authoritative. Instead, authority is inherent from the outset in the collection of letters that the commander has written.

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