“standard”; a common word used for the accepted list of books in the Bible). Canon: from the Greek word for “standard”; the collection of biblical writings commonly accepted as genuine and authoritative. The Bible claims authority for itself, internally. To nonbelievers, choosing to submit to such authority sounds crazy, but the Bible claims it nonetheless. Throughout the Old Testament, phrases such as “Thus says the Lord” and “The Word of the Lord came to me saying” occur over two thousand times.