Why do we have only 66 books in our regular Bible?

Now, this question is actually legitimate seeing that the Catholic church has about seven extra books in their Bible.

So why don't we have 73 books in our Bible as well? And how can we say for sure that what we have are really the books that are meant to be there?

For many years, there were many different books in circulation, some of which were of doubtful authenticity. At the end of the first century A.D., the Jewish rabbis, at the Council of Jamnia, closed the cannon of Hebrew books to be considered authoritative. This was done to preserve the religious tradition of the Jews as a result of the fall of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), which created a threat to this tradition.

The Jewish Bible—the collection of books that Christians call “the Old Testament”—included three sections: Torah (Instructions), Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings).

The Torah referred to the five books of the law—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. There was never any doubt about the authenticity of these books.

The Nevi’im referred to the prophetic collection—the Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings) and the Latter Prophets/Writing Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve Minor Prophets—Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi). There was widespread agreement among the Jews concerning these books as well.

The Ketuvim referred to three poetic books (Job, Psalms, and Proverbs), five festival scrolls (Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther) and others dealing with Jewish history (Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1 and 2 Chronicles). The major problem was regarding which books belonged here. There were a number of books of doubtful authenticity. The controversy was settled in the third century A.D. when four standard criteria were concluded on.

In the end, the books that were included in the Old Testament were books

[1] written originally in Hebrew

[2] that were in harmony with the Law of Moses

[3] that had been completed before the time of Ezra (Prophetic inspiration was believed to have begun with Moses and ended with Ezra—the scribe who gathered the holy books of the Jewish faith.)

[4] written within the geographical limits of the Palestine and used by the Jews.

On this basis, each of the 39 books of the Old Testament were selected. Those that failed this litmus test were classified as Apocrypha (books of doubtful authorship and authenticity).

Regarding the books of the New Testament, the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325) was established for this purpose—to seek consensus regarding what the Scriptures taught about Jesus and ensure that books with contrary information or doubtful authority were discarded. According to Eusebius of Caeserea's Church History (early fourth century A.D.), the church's recognition of certain texts as authoritative was based on four major principles:

[1] Was the book written by an apostolic eyewitness or by a close associate of an eyewitness?

[2] Does the text agree with the known teachings of the apostles?

[3] Has it been used from the earliest times?

[4] Was the book widely accepted by the churches (especially by the overseers who were closest to the apostles—both geographically and chronologically)?

Which these in mind, in A.D. 367, Archbishop Athanasius of Alexandria wrote in his Easter letter concerning which books should be received, listing the 27 books of our New Testament as authoritative, excluding all others. He then added:

These are the fountains of salvation, that whoever thirsts may be satisfied by the eloquence which is in them. In them alone is set forth the doctrine of piety. Let no one add to them, nor take anything from them.

In A.D. 382, Jerome made a Latin translation of these same 27 books, further establishing this list as canonical for the churches.

Note:

The word canon (from Greek kanon, “measuring stick”, referring equally to the measuring rod of the carpenter and the ruler of the scribe) refers to writings that are accepted as uniquely authoritative. Clement and Origen of Alexandria, in the third century, were perhaps the first to employ this word to refer to the Scriptures (the Old Testament). From then on, it became more commonly used by Christians to refer to a collection of books that are fixed in their number, divine in their origin, and universal in their authority.

Victor Ibosiola © 2022

Relevant references:

The Expositor’s Study Bible (Huber L. Drumwright’s Introducing the Bible)

Timothy Paul Jones’ Conspiracies and the Cross

Brian H. Edward’s Why 66? (Answers in Genesis)

Relevant audio teaching:

What’s So Great About Christianity? (A Spiritual and Historical Faith) (2021)

The War of Faith (Examining the Church in the First Century AD) (2019)