Featured Why Not In The Canon?

That depends on whether or not you accept the Roman Catholic Church as the arbiter of canonicity or accept the judgment of the early local churches in the late 1st and early 2nd century.

If the latter then the tests of canonicity would include:

A. Is it authoritative (“Thus saith the Lord”)?

B. Is it prophetic (“a man of God” 2 Peter 1:20)?

A book of the Bible must have the authority of a spiritual leader of Israel in the O.T., a prophet, king, judge, scribe, etc., or an apostle in the N.T. If not from the apostle himself it must be based on the testimony of an apostle by one closely associated with him.

C. Is it authentic (consistent with other revelation of truth)?

D. Is it dynamic – demonstrating God’s life-changing power (Hebrew 4:12)?

E. Is it received (accepted and used by believers – 1 Thessalonians 2:13)?

 

Bro. Glen: This series by the aforementioned Michael Kruger deals with 10 basic facts about the NT canon (OT canonical issues are something else entirely.) Yes, there are 10 parts, but each is short.

http://michaeljkruger.com/the-compl...t-canon-that-every-christian-should-memorize/

 

That's because they've never been in any canon. There are many other books, as well — like the the Gospel of Mary Magdalene or the Gospel of Judas that made a splash recently — none of which were considered inspired by the wider Christian community.

 

Actually the Apocrypha being included in the early KJV editions is of no consequence at all.

Note the translators removed it from its place among the Old Testament Scriptures and put it together between the Testaments.

Note that all the KJV translators were confessional Anglicans and agreed to the Anglican Confession of Faith, the 39 Articles.

Article VI

The Sufficiency of Holy Scripture for Our Salvation

Holy Scripture sets forth everything that is necessary for our salvation. Consequently, nobody should be required to believe as an article of the Christian faith, or to regard as necessary for salvation, anything that is not found in Scripture or that cannot be proved from Scripture. By the term Holy Scripture we mean the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments, namely:

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, I and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, I and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Phiippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, Jude, Revelation.

The books known as the Apocrypha are read by the Church, as Jerome said, because of the examples they provide of heroic lives and faithful conduct; but the Church does not use these books to establish any doctrine.

 

Don't forget who the KJV was intended for. It was the 3rd "Authorized Version" of the Anglican Communion. "Authorized to be read in churches" and those churches were Anglican churches who were bound to the 39 Articles as their statement of faith. Therefore, as all the churches wherein the AV was going to be read were confessing Anglican churches confessing the 39 Articles as their statement of faith such an addition to the KJV would have been superfluous.

Yes they were, for the purpose of "are read by the Church, as Jerome said, because of the examples they provide of heroic lives and faithful conduct; but the Church does not use these books to establish any doctrine."

Don't forget that "bible reading schedule" was not for each individual Christian to do at home, but was the reading to be "read by the Church" from the pulpit daily. And the position of the Apocrypha was governed by the 39 Articles.

From your deleted post: However I believe it was a mistake for the Apocrypha to be included in a book titled The Holy Bible.

Would that include maps, list of proper names, concordance, etc?