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My LDS friend said a bunch of priests at the Council of Nicea decided what books would go in the Bible. Is this true?The truth is that nothing was said or decided about the cannon of Scripture at the Council of Nicea. The council was called to discuss the relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ. Specifically, it dealt with whether Christ was of the same substance as the Father, or if Christ was of a different substance and thus a being created by the Father. How the cannon of Scripture came to be is a separate matter all together. The word 'Canon' comes from the Greek meaning 'rule' or 'standard'. This is most fitting since there are several rules (or standards) that a writing must abide by to be considered canonical. Since the Bible is a compilation of books, these rules are very important to determine a genuine book inspired by the Spirit of God. The rules are as follows. #1 Did a prophet of God write the Book? - If I wrote a book and claimed to be a prophet of God, I had better be able to support my claim. The prophecies I write had better come to pass or my writings are worthless in the claims of God and His plans. The prophets of old were remarkably liberal with prophesying about future events. Had these men claimed to be prophets and their words not come to pass, history and humanity would have quickly forgotten them.#2 Did the writer perform acts of God? - Since many men have claimed to be prophets of God, and prophecies can take some time be fulfilled, there needs to be a way for them to support their claim. Performing miracles to substantiate a prophets message was used many times to do this (Exodus 4; Numbers 16-17; 1 Kings 18; Mark 2; Acts 5). #3 Does the message tell the truth about God? - If Isaiah says that God is the one and only God to ever exist (Isa 43:10-11) and Joseph Smith says there are countless gods,1 both men cannot be right. One of them is a false prophet. A quick look at writings that are already known to be of God will reveal Mr. Smith to be a false prophet. God cannot contradict Himself (2 Cor 1:17-18) or tell a lie (Heb 6:18), thus He will always be consistent with His teachings. This is why Protestants reject the apocrypha. We are to test all things and hold on to that which is true (1 Thes 5:11). #4 Does it have the power of God? - The Word of God is living and active (Heb 4:12) and as such must have the power to transform lives (2 Tim 3:17). If a writing claimed to be of God and does nothing to change and convict the hearts of men, it does not have the author of the Creator behind it. #5 Did God's people accept it? - If a known prophet accepted writings as scriptural, then you can bet it was. Since all believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19) they have the guidance of God to determine the authenticity of Biblical writings. If God's people accept it, and especially if a prophet or apostle does so, it is generally accepted as scripture. While all of these rules are not required to meet the standard of canonicity, some are certainly more important than others. For example, if a writing is proven to be by an apostle, then it's authority is set and all other criteria naturally fall into place. There are some false concepts of how a writing is canonized that need to briefly be explained. First and foremost, God determines canonicity. He sets its authority and His people discover it. Consider the following table comparing the Biblical view and the incorrect view of how canonicity is determined.
God's Word has revealed these principles. It is the responsibility of His people to abide by them. Second, the fact that the Bible mentions books which aren't in the Bible, like the Book of Jasher (Josh 10:13), does not make the canon incomplete. The fact is that these books would have been included in the canon if God had so ordained. Because they are not, clearly means they did not meet God's ultimate standard of truth, accuracy or purpose. Therefore, He being sovereign, omniscient and omnipotent excercised His divine prerogative to make certain of their exclusion. To believe otherwise is to call His nature and character into question. It also absurdly assumes man has more authority and power to exercise control over the Bible's canon than God Himself. "Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it"? Lamentations 3:37 Third, only two or three churches are known to accept the Apocrypha as scripture. This does not make the Apocryphal books actual scripture. Remember, the church is the discoverer of scripture, not its determiner. If it worked the other way around, then books like Readers Digest could become scripture simply because a church accepted it as so.
Footnotes 1) Joseph Smith taught what is known as 'Eternal Progression.' Basically, before God was God, He was a man on an earth who obeyed laws set up by the God who created Him. In turn, His God was once a man on an earth and so on into infinity past. Thus we have Joseph Smith teaching there are an infinite number of gods in existed. Back to No Comparison or The Bible |
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