What "Canon" Means
The word "canon" means "a criterion or standard of judgment"—an authoritative list of books accepted as Holy Scripture. Applied to the Bible, canon refers to sacred books recognized as authentic revelation. Geisler and Nix emphasize that canonicity is not something the church grants to a book but something God determines. The church's role is to recognize and collect what God has already inspired, not to confer authority upon it. This distinction presents two views: the incorrect view holds the church as determiner, mother, magistrate, regulator, judge, and master of the canon. The correct view recognizes the church as discoverer, child, minister, recognizer, witness, and servant of the canon.
How a Book Was Recognized as Canonical
Geisler and Nix explain that the early church looked for certain "earmarks of inspiration" when weighing whether a book belonged in the canon. Five questions guided this discernment: 1. Was it written by a man of God? 2. Was that person confirmed by an act of God? 3. Did the book tell the truth about God, humanity, and reality? 4. Did it come with the power of God? 5. Was it accepted by the people of God? Milton Fisher summarized the process as resting on three principles: inspiration by God, recognition by God's people, and collection and preservation once recognized.
Old Testament Evidence
Geisler and Nix note that examination of each Old Testament book reveals either direct or indirect claims to be God's Word. The same holds for the NewTestament—each book, when surveyed individually, contains claims to divine origin and authority, whether stated directly or implied.
Confidence in the Bible We Have
Milton Fisher offered reassurance: no Christian who understands canonicity's true nature and trusts in God's providence need be troubled about the Bible's reliability as we now possess it.
Origin vs. Origins
Two related ideas deserve distinction. The Origin (singular) of the Bible is Jesus Christ himself—the Word made flesh. Origins (plural), by contrast, refers to the different historical starting points, authors, and locations involved in assembling the physical book we now call the Bible.