With the Catholic and Evangelical models refuted, we must now move on to the biblical understanding of how we can know we have God’s Word – the Self-authenticating Model.
Quite simply, this model states that Scripture itself gives us the standards by which it is authenticated. If we believe that it is the ultimate authority for our lives, then we must naturally conclude that Scripture will also give us the standards by which we may understand it. Although one might understandably find this to be somewhat circular, the Christian has no other option then to look to what God has to say to us in his Word on this. If we cannot get our confidence from external sources, as has been established, the Christian’s only option is to look to Scripture for their confidence in these matters.
To even begin to determine if a book is canonical, we obviously must have the book in our possession. Thus, we can look at books like the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Peter and evaluate whether they are God’s Word or not. Theoretically, one, both, or neither of them could be canonical, depending on whether they meet the standards that are set. Conversely, any letters that Paul wrote that are lost cannot be canonical, as God did not want us to have them. This does not mean that they did not have authority over their readers; it merely means that they cannot be a part of the corpus of writings that God wanted his church to have.
This then brings us to the three attributes of canonicity that guide how we evaluate a particular book.
#1: Divine Qualities
The first attribute of canonicity is the divine qualities of Scripture. As Christians, we believe that the Bible is the infallible, inspired Word of God. Because of that, it naturally follows that it would bear the qualities of coming from God and not read like another book filled with one man’s ideas. Just as Creation testifies to who God is, so his Word will testify to who he is, as God reveals himself to us through it. The Christian may have confidence in this through the internal testimony of the Spirit. This isn’t the Spirit talking to us in our head that the Bible is the Word of God in some private revelation; it is the Spirit enabling us to see what the Bible truly is – God’s Word.
#2: Apostolic Origins
The second attribute of canonicity is apostolic origins. When looking at when these books were written, we see that they were written during a unique period in redemptive history. The apostles were men who were specifically commissioned by Jesus to spread the message of the Gospel to the nations and speak on his authority. Thus, when they spoke, they spoke on God’s authority, not on their own authority as men speak today. The church has relied on apostolic authority since the apostolic era for this reason. Thus, if a book is written by an apostle, we can have assurance that their message is God’s message and may be received as authoritative.
#3: Corporate Reception
The final attribute of canonicity is corporation reception. Although there has not been universal agreement throughout church history, there has been predominant unity on a core set of books for the past 1,900 years. When God condescends and speaks to humanity, he doesn’t just speak to individuals, he speaks to all his people. Thus, it follows that his Word will be accepted on a corporate level. This is why Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27 ESV). For those who know Christ, they will recognize his voice when he speaks to them in his Word, and they will accept it.
Implications of the Self-authenticating Model
From this, we can see that these three attributes all support and reinforce each other. A book that contains divine qualities will necessarily have apostolic origins and be received by the church at large. A book that has apostolic origins will have divine qualities and will be received by God’s people. Finally, a book that is corporately received, will be one with divine qualities and apostolic in origin.
This is merely scratching the surface of the Self-authenticating model. Over the next few weeks, we will explore each of these attributes, which will include the history of the acceptance of the canon, followed by an examination of various books whose canonicity has been questioned historically – everything from Revelation to the heretical Gospel of Thomas.