Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books

The main question this book seeks to answer is the justification of the canon: how do we know that the 27 books currently in the NT form the right set, rather than some other collection of books? Kruger here introduces a novel approach to this issue--the canon as we currently have it is self-authenticating. In the first two chapters of the book, he surveys some of the other attempts at defending the canon, and discusses what their weaknesses are. Kruger then presents his self-authenticating canon view as one that draws upon several features of other approaches. In particular, he argues that three components are jointly sufficient as justification for the canonicity of a text: providential exposure, attributes of canonicity, and the internal testimony of the Spirit (p. 94). The remainder of the book then defends the claim that the 27 books currently in the NT are all and only the texts that bear all three features. This book is a clear, accessible, and persuasive presentation of Kruger's view, and is helpful for bolstering confidence in the authority of the Bible.

Do we have sufficient reason to believe we have the right books in our New Testament? Most books answer this question by looking at the history of the New Testament canon. Kruger, however, takes us to the foundation for this belief. He shows how the three strands of evidence - divine qualities, corporate reception and apostolicity are both Biblical and by the testimony of the Spirit give the Christian sufficient knowledge of the New Testament canon. This is not a light-read, but a thorough and enlightening presentation of the canon that fills a gap many popular works leave. Highly recommended.