Jude Series: Canonicity of Jude

The term “canon” or “canonicity” in Christianity refers to a collection of many books acknowledged or recognized by the early church as inspired by God.

The subject of canonicity is an extremely important subject for the Christian to grasp since it answers the question as to why certain books found their way into the Bible and why others did not.

It answers the question as to whether or not the church determined what was in the Bible and what would not be included.

Did the church determine which books got into the Bible or did the church merely recognize that certain Christian literary works were inspired and others were not?

The subject of canonicity also answers the question as to whether or not certain criteria was employed by the church to determine which books were inspired by God and which were not.

If there was certain criteria employed, then what tests did the church use to identify certain works as inspired and those which were not.

Canonicity is actually determined by God or in other words, a book is not inspired because men determined or decreed that it was canonical but rather it is canonical because God inspired it.

It was not the Jewish people who determined what should be in their Old Testament and it was not the Christian community that determined which Christian literary works would be in the New Testament canon.

Therefore, inspiration determines canonization.

Canonicity is determined authoritatively by God and this authority is simply recognized by His people.

The term English term “canon” comes from the Greek noun kanōn (κανών) which etymologically is a Semitic loanword and was most likely from the Hebrew qāneh and Akkadian, qaň.

The Greek noun kanōn originally meant “reed” but then later came to mean “measuring reed” and thus “rule, standard, norm.”

The term literally means: (1) a straight rod or bar; (2) a measuring rule as a ruler used by masons and carpenters; then (3) a rule or standard for testing straightness.

The term kanōn was employed six times in the Greek New Testament (2 Cor. 10:13, 15-16; Gal. 6:16; Phlp. 3:16).

The early patristic writers would use the word many times in the sense of “rule” or “standard” and during the first three centuries, the noun kanōn was used of those doctrines which were accepted as the rule of faith and practice in the Christian church.

Eventually, from about 300 A.D. onwards, the term was applied to the decisions or decrees or regulations of the church councils or synods as rules by which Christians were to live by.

By the fourth century though, the term came to refer to the list of books that constitute the Old and New Testaments or in other words, it was used for the catalogue or list of sacred books which were distinguished and honored as belonging to God’s inspired Word.

This is how the word is used today by Christians meaning it refers to the closed collection of documents that constitute authoritative Scripture.

Though some serious questions about the authenticity of the epistle of Jude were raised by some in the Syrian wing of the church, the letter was widely accepted in the West and in Alexandria.

Furthermore, it also appears in the Muratorian Canon and Clement of Alexandria also wrote a commentary on this tiny letter.

Athanasius accepted it by listing it in his “Festal Letter” for Easter in 367 A.D. and it was also included as one of the canonical books by the Council of Carthage in 397 A.D.

The history of the New Testament canon can be divided into three periods: (1) 70-170 A.D.: This was the period of circulation of the separate New Testament writings among the churches and their gradual collection into one book called the New Testament. (2) 170-303 A.D.: This was the time of the early church fathers such as Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and Origen and was the period where the New Testament canon was definitely and clearly established. (3) 303-394 A.D.: This was the period of great debate over such books as 2 Peter, Hebrews, 2 and 3 John, Jude, James and Revelation.

The Muratorian canon listed all the books of the Bible except for 1 John, 1 and 2 Peter, Hebrews, and James around A.D. 180 (Hannah, Notes, 2.5).

Irenaeus, as bishop of Lyon, mentions all of the books except Jude, 2 Peter, James, Philemon, 2 and 3 John, and Revelation.

It should be noted that although these early church leaders differed on which books should be included in the canon, they were quite sure that the books were inspired by God.

The Muratorian Canon asserts that the epistle of Jude was accepted in the Catholic Church.

In A.D. 230, Origen (A.D. 185-254) stated that all Christians acknowledged as Scripture the four Gospels, Acts, and the thirteen epistles of Paul, I Peter, I John, and Revelation.

He added that the following were disputed by some people: Hebrews, II Peter, II John, III John, James, Jude, the Epistle of Barnabas, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Didache, and the Gospel according to the Hebrews.

In other words, all the churches by this time were in agreement about most of the books, but a few doubted some of the epistles that were not as well known.

Others were inclined to include a few books that eventually did not secure a permanent place among the canonical books.

By A.D. 300, all the New Testament books we presently use were generally accepted in the churches, although in a few places, James, II Peter, II and III John, Jude, Hebrews, and Revelation were not in use.

Doubts about these books faded during the next fifty years, so that by A.D. 367, Athanasius listed all the 27 books as canonical in his Easter Letter, which also recommended certain other books for private reading only, such as the Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache.

In the third century, Origen categorized Christian writings in order to identify for the church which books were recognized by the church as canonical and which ones were not.

He established three categories: (a) anantireta (“unobjectionable”) or homologoumena(“acknowledged”), which were in general use in the church, (2) amphiballomena(“included/contested”), which were contested, and (3) psethde (“false”), which included books that were rejected as falsifications and therefore the products of heretics.

Then along came Eusebius of Caesarea who in the fourth century reworked these categories formulated by Origen.

He categorized Christian writings as follows: (1) homologoumena (“acknowledged”), (2) antilegomena (“disputed”): (a) gnorima(“acquainted with”), for those most Christians acknowledged, (b) notha (“illegitimate”), for those regarded as inauthentic, and (3) apocrypha(“hidden”), which were recognized as spurious.

Today, these categories of writings are seen by scholars today as being in four categories: (1) Homologoumena, books accepted by virtually everyone as canonical; (2) Antilegomena, books disputed by some; (3) Pseudepigrapha, books rejected by virtually everyone as unauthentic; and (4) Apocrypha, books accepted by some as canonical or semi-canonical.

The term homologoumena identifies those Christian writings that were undisputed during the first three centuries of church history and ultimately accepted into the New Testament canon.

For Eusebius, the homologoumena, the writings acknowledged as Scripture by the church of his day, included the four Gospels, Acts, fourteen letters of Paul (including Hebrews), 1 Peter, 1 John and perhaps Revelation.

The term antilegomena was used to identify those writings whose inspiration and canonicity were disputed (ἀντιλεγόμενος, “spoken against”), as opposed to those that were accepted by all (i.e., homologoumena).

In the New Testament, these books were Hebrews, 2 Peter, James, Jude, 2 and 3 John, and Revelation.

Therefore, the epistle of Jude with some objections in various places was eventually accepted and recognized by the church throughout the Roman Empire by the late third and early fourth centuries as being inspired by God.

As we pointed out the Muratorian Canon recognized it as inspired as well as Eusebius and Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen.

Those who doubted did so because of Jude’s use of pseudepigraphic material.

However, these doubts dissipated, and the letter was eventually universally accepted as canonical.