THE BELGIC CONFESSION OF FAITH – A Commentary – By Dr.
Chuck Baynard
The Belgic Confession of Faith, Article IV
Canonical Books of the Holy Scripture
We
believe that the Holy Scriptures are contained in two books, namely, the Old and
the New Testament, which are canonical, against which nothing can be alleged.
These are thus named in the Church of God.
The books of the Old Testament are the five books of Moses, to wit:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; the book of Joshua, Judges,
Ruth, the two books of Samuel, the two of the Kings, two books of the
Chronicles, [commonly called Paralipomenon, the first of] Ezra, Nehemiah,
Esther; Job, the Psalms [of David], the three books of Solomon, namely, the
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs; the four great prophets, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, {Lamentations,} Ezekiel, and Daniel; and the twelve lesser prophets,
namely, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
Those of the New Testament are the four evangelists, to wit: Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles; the thirteen [1] epistles of the
apostle Paul, namely, one to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, one to the
Galatians, one to the Ephesians, one to the Philippians, one to the Colossians,
two to the Thessalonians, two to Timothy, one to Titus, one to Philemon;
Hebrews; the seven epistles of the other apostles, namely, one of James, two of
Peter, three of John, one of Jude; and the Revelation of the apostle John.
1. "Fourteen"
has been changed to "thirteen".
The footnote concerning the
change of 14 to 13 is derived from the fact some scholars debate that Paul is
the writer of Hebrews. The early fathers appear to name Paul and we have some
scholars who continue to credit Paul with this epistle. This is of no real
significance in that it is part of the canon and recognized by both sides as
being of God.
Having a canon that is clearly
defined is important. The Jewish peoples had a canon that they jealously
protected from error in transmission. Christ recognized the authenticity of this
Jewish canon. Though not in the same sequential order as we currently hold it,
the Christian church made no changes to the Old Testament books which were
accepted as being canon.
Very early in it’s the history
the Christian church found it necessary to list what books were considered to be
Scripture in an effort to stop the widespread use of spurious books claiming to
have the authority of Scripture. We find lists of canonical books as early as c.
200. There was some debate through the centuries concerning some books that
eventually were accepted by the church as Scripture. There was some minor
controversy concerning the Old Testament, particularly the Song of Solomon.
During the sixteenth century
reformation the reformers found it necessary to close the canon and to
specifically exclude those books we now call the Apocrypha. As the controversy
over the theology and policies of the Roman Catholic Church grew, Rome found it
necessary to recognize the Apocrypha as canon to validate her beliefs. While the
criteria to determine what was canon used by the reformers was essentially that
of the church from the beginning, Rome ignored its own criteria in adding these
books to the Bible that church still recognizes today. This made it necessary to
list the books in the canon by name and to declare that the revelation of God
concerning the canon had ended. Some mistakenly think the reformers and
particularly the Westminster Assembly thereby declared God no longer
communicated with His people in any way outside the Holy Spirit speaking in the
Bible.
Make no mistake the canon is
closed. However God does continue to speak and interact with His people.
Scripture and the Westminster Confession of Faith both call for believers to
test the spirits to see if they are of God. If God no longer communicates, what
is being tested and by what standard.
Another error is that if God
continued to speak to His people that it would mean the canon is not closed or
that we must create a secondary level of revelation by God that was not equal to
Scripture. The error is in not seeing that a secondary level of communication
has always existed. The apostle John said that not all of the acts and words of
Christ was recorded in the Bible. All of the words spoken with authority by the apostles are
not recorded. If some words of Christ Himself are not in the canon, why would it
be necessary to do so with a modern day illumination from God?
The error is founded on one
passage of Scripture, Hebrews 1:1-2. This
passage does not limit God and say God will never again use one of the former
methods. It says God has spoken by a more perfect word, His Son, Jesus Christ.
The final appeal is to 1 Cor. 13:10 where it is recorded that when that
which is perfect has come, that which is in part will be done away. Consider, if
this means the incarnation of Christ and His first coming, then we would have no
New Testament as this record was written several years to decades after Christ
had ascended into heaven. This verse is a reference to the second coming when as
Christ said the Word of God meaning the Bible would cease.
This can be seen when we compare Mt. 5:18 to 1 Cor. 13:10.
This in no way lessens the
Scriptures as being our only guide for faith and practice, it admits a God who
is involved with His creation on a continuing basis and gives weight to the
promise of God that God will guide His people in a realistic and tangible way. (Isa.
30:21)
