What is a canon within the canon?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

The phrase “canon within a canon” refers to the idea that the Bible (one canon) contains a subset of material that is particularly canonical (a true canon within the larger biblical canon). In general, this phrase refers to a dangerous misreading of Scripture. This comes from liberal/neo-orthodoxy approaches, which do not view all of Scripture as inspired. Rather, they consider the text to be adversely affected by human authorship and thus seek to find what parts of it are true (the true canon in the larger canon). This involves subjective criteria that vary with one’s preconceptions about what is true. When one says that God’s word contains truth rather than is truth, they are advocating for a canon within a canon.

In contrast, all of Scripture is God-breathed, and Paul said all of it is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16–17). While written by humans, the Holy Spirit moved them to write what He wanted (2 Peter 1:21). Therefore, there is no true canon buried within a larger canon. Rather, there is only one canon.

While technically a liberal view of Scripture, even conservative Christians can fall into similar, canon-within-a-canon traps when we elevate certain parts of Scripture or allow our views to influence its meaning. Therefore, we must guard against this by reading it carefully in its historical context and working to understand its original meaning before applying it to our lives.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• The Old Testament presents its words as God’s words, even when the biblical author is the one writing. This is why the prophets regularly write in a “thus says the LORD” fashion (e.g., Exodus 20:1; Isaiah 1:2; Jeremiah 1:9).
• Likewise, even when men like Moses wrote, he expected them to be obeyed as if God had spoken directly to the people (Deuteronomy 18:18–19). Thus, the whole law was treated as binding (Deuteronomy 4:2).

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• In the New Testament, Jesus authorized the Old Testament, teaching that three sections (Law, Prophets, and Writings) were binding (Luke 24:44) and that not even one dot or tittle (references to small strokes of a letter) would pass away, saying it was inspired down to the pen strokes (Matthew 5:18). Theologians refer to this idea as "verbal plenary inspiration," where "plenary" refers to the entire Bible.
• Paul affirmed that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). By calling it “God-breathed” (the literal translation of “breathed out by God), he meant that all of Scripture is the very breath of God—they come with His divine stamp and authority.
• And while it is true that humans wrote it, with their personalities coming through, it is equally true that “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20b–21). This means that God guided them so that it was both fully human-produced yet entirely perfect, breathed out from God.
• The New Testament, like the Old, also warns against adding to it, or removing from: “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book” (Revelation 22:18–19). While that may be referring specifically to the book of Revelation, as it’s a repeat of what was in Deuteronomy 4:2, it should be taken as a warning against removing parts in a search for the true canon.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

We must be careful about thinking of some Scripture as more authoritative than others or about ignoring some parts of Scripture entirely. All Scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), so all of it is equally binding and authoritative.

While there are more obvious forms of this type of misuse, even conservative Christians must be careful of this issue. One example of this is red-letter Bibles. While such Bibles that highlight Jesus’ words are not wrong to use, we must be careful not to read only the red words or to elevate them above the rest of Scripture.

Another example is when churches use creeds. While the creeds are built from Scripture, they should only remind us what Scripture teaches, not be used to define Scripture’s meaning. Yet another example is that of systems that define Scripture’s overarching theme or idea, such as Covenantalism or Dispensationalism. While helpful, such systems can also cause one to reinterpret a passage to fit a view instead of allowing the passage to speak for itself. Lastly, when we pick and choose what we read or teach instead of studying the whole counsel of God's Word, we are in danger of believing a canon within the canon.

In short, there are many ways even God-honoring Christians can fall into the trap of effectively holding a canon within a canon view of Scripture. We can guard against this tendency by carefully reading all of Scripture in its historical context and by limiting the influence of our biases so that we don't seek to make it say what we’d like it to say.

UNDERSTAND

• A "canon within a canon" refers to the liberal and neo-orthodox idea that the Bible contains the Word of God rather than is the Word of God.
• The canon within a canon approach is theologically dangerous because it makes humans the authority in determining what is God's Word.
• All of the Bible is equally God-breathed, so every word carries divine authority down to its smallest details.

REFLECT

• In what ways are you tempted to treat certain parts of Scripture as more authoritative or relevant than others, and how does the doctrine of inspiration challenge that?
• How does seeing the Bible as God's Word affect the way you approach difficult or uncomfortable passages?
• How does the contrast between Scripture being the Word of God versus merely containing the Word of God change the confidence with which you read, trust, and apply it to your life?

ENGAGE

• How does subtly choosing which parts of Scripture to follow place us in the role of authority over God rather than under Him?
• Where do we see the consequences—personally or culturally—when people elevate preferred passages while ignoring the rest of God’s Word?
  
• How can we demonstrate that the full inspiration and authority of Scripture is the consistent witness of Scripture itself?