out among a list of other books deemed in or out, the canonical approach allows for more flexibility. The approach offered here takes into account the entire process leading to final “canonization.”4 Emphasizing the distinction between canon and Scripture formalizes the former, relegating it to the final stage of a long and complex process. Yet a “canon consciousness” is actually embedded in the literature itself, and it exerted pressure on various religious bodies in the creaturely act of canonization