Is the canon of the Scriptures infallible?

Answer:

Let's start with the Old Testament. These books existed long before the Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox churches. Yet the list of Old Testament books remained consistent among the Jews. There were other Jewish writings, but they were rejected by the Jews; so what were the criteria?

The Old Testament actually gave the rules. The primary test was the book's author. Was the author a known prophet of God? Moses was recognized as the founder of the Jewish religion. Millions of people witnessed many miracles done by Moses, showing that God's power was with the prophet.

Later books confirm the canon of Moses’ work.

1. Joshua was to learn the law Moses commanded (Joshua 1:7).
2. Joshua copied the law onto stone and references Exodus 20:25 (Joshua 8:30-32).
3. Israel was warned to follow the book of Moses (Joshua 23:6).
4. David charged Solomon to keep what Moses wrote (I Kings 2:3).
5. David talks about what God made known to Moses in Psalm 103:7 and then quotes Exodus 34:6-7.
6. Amaziah follows Moses' commandments, quoting portions of Deuteronomy (II Kings 14:6).
7. The book of Moses was found in Josiah’s reign, and Passover was reestablished as detailed in Exodus and Deuteronomy (II Kings 23:21-25).
8. Chronicles and Ezra are full of references to the law God gave Moses, such as Ezra 7:6.
9. Daniel testifies that the prophecies Moses received from the Lord have come true (Daniel 9:11-13).
10. We could continue by citing Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, all of whom state that Moses recorded the law of God.

The first five books were not canonized because of their antiquity, their linguistic style, or the beauty of their words. No royal command or priestly decision did so. The books were accepted because God’s spokesman, Moses, wrote them.

None of the books or their authors who followed Moses created the Old Testament canon. They all acknowledged and reaffirmed what was already known. The authors of these later testimonies were also acknowledged as prophets based on the criteria Moses set out. The foundation for these criteria is that God cannot lie; therefore, His spokesmen will reflect His truthfulness because they are not speaking their own words, but God's.

1. A true prophet will not lead the people away from God or contradict what God previously stated (Deuteronomy 13:1-5).
2. A true prophet’s words will always come to pass (Deuteronomy 18:20-22). A prophet’s message is not solely about future events, but where an event is mentioned, it will always come true.

Let's look at a recorded example: a false prophet arose, contradicting Jeremiah’s message (Jeremiah 28:2-4). At first, Jeremiah didn’t know what to make of this. If it was God’s word, he was thrilled (Jeremiah 28:6). But Jeremiah pointed something out to the people. This prophet’s message contradicted the message of earlier prophets. In other words, this prophet failed Moses’ first test (Jeremiah 28:8). Jeremiah said the ultimate test would come when they saw whether his words were true. It would only take two years to find out (Jeremiah 28:9). God then told Jeremiah that the other prophet was false (Jeremiah 28:15-16). Jeremiah offers proof of his word by predicting when the false prophet would die. Jeremiah’s word proved true (Jeremiah 28:17). Because of this, the people knew that the rest of Jeremiah’s statements were from God and that Hananiah’s words were false.

As we go through the Old Testament, only verified prophets’ words were accepted as God’s. The priests taught the words of God, but they were not the source of God’s Law (unless they were prophets as well as priests).

Thus, God Himself was the external verification of God's word. He supplied miracles to support His prophets. His word was verifiable through historical events and the consistency of His teachings. The canon did not rely on men. Men acknowledged what God proved.

Understanding this in regard to the Old Testament, it isn't difficult to realize the same rules apply to the New Testament. "For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will" (Hebrews 2:1-4).

Roman Catholics and Greek Orthodox ignore the simple fact that the books of the New Testament were written within the lifetime of thousands of people who had seen the miracles of Jesus and his apostles (I Corinthians 15:1-8). Millions could examine the historical accuracy of the writings based on their own knowledge of the events. The early lists of the New Testament books did not create a canon. They merely acknowledged what everyone already knew to be true. The authority of the books rests on the evidence provided by God—not the claims of men.

For more on this topic, see: "The Canon of the Bible."