Journal: Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society
Volume: JOTGES 38:74 (Spring 2025)
Article: Peter, Paul, And Canon: A New Look At 2 Peter 3:15–16
Author: John Niemelä

JOTGES 38:74 (Spring 2025) p. 19

Peter, Paul, And Canon: A New Look At 2 Peter 3:15–16

John H. Niemelä

Message of Life Ministries
Knoxville, TN

I. Introduction

How can one be sure that the twenty-seven NT books included in standard Bibles are the books that were inspired by the Holy Spirit and intended by the Holy Spirit to comprise the NT canon? Unfortunately, many answer with circular arguments, since most views depend upon the judgment of the post-apostolic church as proof. Is the standard view—that Christianity determined which books belong in the NT only after the apostles all died—true?

Every couple of years, I taught New Testament Introduction at two seminaries. Though convinced of the validity of the twenty-seven-book NT canon, I would not have wanted to debate a knowledgeable advocate of an alternate view. Why? My standard proofs all left something to be desired.

However, in 2004, I heard Zane Hodges briefly sketch out the implications of 2 Pet 3:15–16. That passage moves the issue of canonicity to the earliest years of church history—during the apostles’ lifetimes. The post-apostolic church did not discover the canon. Rather, it rediscovered the canon, which had already been known during the first century. Christianity needs to understand 2 Pet 3:15–16 and its implications.

II. The Meaning Of Canon

The Greek word kanōn means “a rule or standard.” Both Gal 6:16 and Phil 3:16 illustrate this sense:

And as many as walk according to this rule (kanōn), peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God (Gal 6:16).1

JOTGES 38:74 (Spring 2025) p. 20

Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule (kanōn), let us be of the same mind (Phil 3:16).

Kanōn became a technical term for Bible books: thirty-nine in the OT; twenty-seven in the NT. Charles Ryrie rightly sees canonicity as arising at the moment of writing, not later (when councils made pronouncements):

It is essential to remember that the Bible is self-authenticating since its books were breathed out by God (2 Tim 3:16). In other words, the books were canonical the moment they were written. ...