Those Other Religious Texts In our last lesson we considered the concept of the biblical canon. But there are other books that some claim are authoritative religious texts, and some that ought to be in our Bible. What are we to think about all those other books? How can we know that the Bible we hold in our hands contains the right books? What are the three tests for reliability of any ancient text? Why do Protestant Christians not consider the Old Testament apocryphal books to be part of the canon? What are the two categories of New Testament apocryphal literature? What are the three “Cs” for determining the apostolic origin of a text? What are the Nag Hammadi texts, and why were they not included in the New Testament canon?
Lesson 31: Review Questions
Lesson 31: Lesson Notes
Handout: The Old Testament Apocrypha

Tags: Bible, Canon, Old Testament, New Testament, Apocrypha

Meet the Bible: Authorship, Inspiration, Canon In this lesson we begin our module in which we consider the Bible as the authority for the Christian faith. Because the Bible is the source and foundation of Christianity, it is also a key point at which our faith is challenged and questioned. Many object to the claim that the Bible is God’s word, inspired by Him. Why do we believe the Bible is divinely inspired? What is the Bible’s self-attestation? What are the two different kinds of its self-attestation? What are other evidences of the Bible’s inspiration? How is inspiration often misunderstood? What is inspiration? What is canon, and what is its connection to the idea of covenant? What makes a book of the Bible canonical? Why is it important to distinguish between recognizing and making a book canonical? (75 min)
Lesson 30: Review Questions
Lesson 30: Lesson Notes

Tags: Bible, Inspiration, Canon