🕊️ Part 4 – The Canon of Scripture

Which books are included — and why?

The word canon means “rule” or “measure.” When we speak of the canon of Scripture, we mean the list of books the Church recognizes as inspired by God and entrusted for the building up of faith. The canon of the Bible is not something the Church invented, but something the Church received, discerned, and preserved.

But not all Christian traditions recognize exactly the same books — especially in the Old Testament. And in recent centuries, different editions of the Greek New Testament have emerged. Understanding these differences helps us appreciate the shared faith that underlies them.

📜 The Old Testament Canon

The Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew, but many of its books were translated into Greek in the centuries before Christ. This Greek version — called the Septuagint (LXX) — included several books not found in the later Hebrew canon. These books were widely used in the early Church and often quoted in the New Testament itself.

The Church received the Septuagint as the Old Testament. In time, some Christian communities retained the full Septuagint, while others narrowed the canon to match the Hebrew version.

Today:

  • The Eastern Churches (Orthodox and Eastern Catholic) use the full Septuagint canon (up to 51, depending how you count and which books might be combined or listed separately).
  • The Western Catholic Church includes most of these same books (46).
  • Most Protestant traditions follow the shorter, later Hebrew canon (39 books), omitting the Deuterocanonical books or placing them in a separate section.

All Christians agree on the core message of the Old Testament: the covenant of God, the preparation for Christ, and the call to holiness.

🔗 To see a full comparison of Old Testament books across traditions, view:
Books of the Bible – Canon Comparison

✝️ The New Testament Canon

There is no disagreement about the 27 books of the New Testament. These were recognized by the Church as apostolic, inspired, and consistent with the faith received from Christ and the apostles.

But over time, different printed editions of the Greek New Testament have been created, based on varying manuscript traditions. These editions differ in small ways — spelling, word order, or rare omissions — but not in the core message of the Gospel.

Here is a brief summary of the four major New Testament text traditions:

🟦 The Patriarchal Text (1904)

The official Greek New Testament of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Based on the Byzantine tradition, standardized for liturgical use. Still used in Orthodox and Eastern Catholic lectionaries, though in the English-speaking word Eastern Catholics have tended to use the texts available to them, like the New American Bible and the Revised Standard Version.

🔷 The Byzantine Majority Text

A scholarly reconstruction based on the readings most common among the thousands of surviving Greek manuscripts. Closely reflects the traditional text used in the Church.

🔶 The Textus Receptus

The basis for the King James Version and other early Protestant Bibles. Compiled by a priest named Erasmus in the 16th century using a small number of manuscripts. Still used by some conservative groups.

🟥 The Critical Text (Nestle-Aland / UBS)

Compiled using the oldest available manuscripts, including papyri and early codices. Commonly used in academic scholarship and many modern Bible translations.

All four represent the same New Testament in essence. Their differences are primarily historical and textual, not theological.

🔗 Want to learn more?