Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. esv Text Edition: 2011.

Copyright © Greg Lanier 2018

paperback ISBN 978-1-5271-0268-2
epub ISBN 978-1-5271-0313-9
mobi ISBN 978-1-5271-0314-6

Published by Christian Focus Publications Ltd,
Geanies House, Fearn, Ross-shire,
IV20 1TW, Scotland, Great Britain
www.christianfocus.com

Cover design by Daniel Van Straaten

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To my church family.

May you always trust in the very words of the living God.

Contents

Preface

1. A Divine Deposit

2. OT Canon: Do We Have the Right Books?

3. OT Text: Do We Have the Right Words?

4. NT Canon: Do We Have the Right Books?

5. NT Text: Do We Have the Right Words?

6. Closing Thoughts

Further Reading

          Warning

          Don't Forget

          Stop and Think

          Point of Interest

Preface

‘Wait, what do you mean by First Maccabees?
I’ve never heard of that.’

‘Pastor, where on earth is Acts 8:37?’

In recent weeks I was asked these questions by two long-time Christians who know their Bibles well and have spent time reading serious Christian literature. Yet their questions revealed a gap in knowledge that even mature Christians may have in terms of the formation of Scripture. What makes up the ‘canon’ and why? Why does my copy of the Bible not include certain verses that show up in others? Such questions, if handled poorly, can lead to a diminished confidence in Scripture. They are the stimulus for this book.

Without a doubt, dozens of books have been written on the topic of the origins and transmission of the Old and New Testaments. Why write another? This short volume aims to fill a particular gap. Most available volumes are intimidatingly long and technical, even for specialists. Some that are pitched more at the popular level can be frustratingly out-of-date or do not deal fairly or robustly with the data—giving the impression of ‘hiding something.’ The vast majority cover only the OT or only the NT, but not both. And many of the best have focused only on one aspect of these key questions, such as ‘canon,’ and not others.

My aim, then, is to prepare a volume that, say, my aunt or uncle would enjoy reading but which engages rigorously with the data, covers both testaments, and cogently covers the central aspects of the question, ‘How did we get the Bible?’

The genesis of my interest in these issues goes back to my time as a layperson under the ministry of Dr. Michael Kruger, whom I’m now ...