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Monday, June 30, 2008

Closed Canon

The interesting conversation in Candy's comments continued last night after I went to bed.

I would really be interested in hearing more on why you believe God gives 'special messages'to people now. The Bible warns not to 'add' to His Word nor take away from (Proverbs 30:6, Revelation 22:18-19). --K

Candy replies: K, 1 Cor. 13:8 doesn't say the canon is closed, and that there is no more prophesying.


Now, this is an interesting development. If the Bible canon isn't closed, then why is the Catholic Church wrong for having "added" the apocryphal books to the Bible?

Other Cambridge Bibles have the apocrypha in it - apocrypha means "false."


Usually, when a person refers to "the canon" being closed, they mean that no new books can be added to the Bible. However, it is possible that in this case she is referring to "new revelation" in the sense of prophesy, which would make more sense in the context of the conversation.

On the other hand, the Scriptures quoted are the ones usually used to condemn the versions of the Bible which include the deuterocanonical books (the apocrypha).

I'm finding this an interesting conversation, and I hope Candy adds to the comments later. I've found that she sometimes lets the comments drop if she doesn't have any additional Scripture to add to her position. For example, about two months ago, the topic of infant baptism came up in the comments and she promised an article on the age of accountability, as she did two days ago, and she has yet to have gotten around to it.

If you're new to the conversation, and you're wondering about these "extra" books and the Catholic Bible, you can read an article I wrote on the subject here.

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10 comments:

Sal said...

Kelly,
Did you mean to say that "if the Bible canon isn't closed" in sentence 6?
It's a little unclear as is.
thanks!
Sal

Milehimama @ Mama Says said...

-Interesting that a commentor points to Rev. 22:18
If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.

as proof that the canon is closed, but nobody has pointed out (or even perhaps noticed) that the Scripture could only apply to the Book of Revelation, and NOT the whole Bible which didn't exist in book form at that time!

~cactus mouse~ said...

A bit off topic, sorry, but what I don't understand,... if Proverbs 30:6 --- then how do you get the NT? Or....anything written after Proverbs 30:6?

Kelly said...

Yes, sal, thanks for calling that to my attention. I've fixed it now.

I agree with you, milehimama, that the Revelation verse refers to the book of Revelation. I also agree with you, catus mouse, that the Proverbs verse is a bit odd to use, because it would seem to rule out the New Testament.

Sal said...

Kelly and Cactus Mouse (what a cute name!)

Not if you see the Bible as one big whole, instead of a library of books written at different times.
Obviously, on one level, they know that it was written like that- but it seems to not figure into their interpretation system sometimes. This is one of the major problems with proof-texting.

Oh- and congrats and prayers! I missed the comments on your happy announcement.

Barb said...

On the Prov. 30:6, I've always understood it to mean "Don't say God is saying this, when He's clearly saying that. Because he will reprove you and you will be found a liar."

Prov. 30:6 reminds me of the verse that the Scriptures is not meant for individual interpretation.

I agree that if you use it to claim that we are not to add anything to God's Word then that pretty much does leave out all Scripture after that verse, just as Cactus mouse mentioned.

Kelly said...

Well, comments have finally been updated, and it looks as if we must have been the only ones interested in the prophesy/canon discussion. Only about 3 more people commented, and they were all of the "glad you liked the church" variety.

Milehimama @ Mama Says said...

ahem

Just because she didn't post comments about it, doesn't mean nobody wrote them!

Kelly said...

Just because she didn't post comments about it, doesn't mean nobody wrote them!

Well, I might have been speaking a little tongue in cheek!

I happened across a few comments from you on another blog, milehimama, that had me rolling with laughter. I had no idea you could be so funny! I guess this just isn't the right forum for your humor to shine through. ;)

Milehimama @ Mama Says said...

Snark is my specialty.

Well, that and procrastination. I'm multi-talented.