| Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries | Holy Bible |
|---|
The meaning of Divine Inspiration of the Holy Bible and the sources that confirm its canonicity
|
Classification of the books of the Holy Bible |
Hundreds of canons on the books of the Holy Bible have been recorded throughout history, by Christians and by others. In fact, the Christians’ canons have numbered more than one hundred differing ones between them, given that the process of canonizing of the books of the Holy Bible lasted over centuries. However, of all these canons, there are 6 Canons that stand out, following the rulings of Ecumenical Councils (Synods). It is on the basis of these Canons, that we are listing the classifications of the various books of the Holy Bible in the charts below.
|
The Christian Canon of the Holy Bible can validate its books only through Synodic decisions, with a validity that is accepted by all Christians. In a previous article, we elaborated that there are 6 such Canons, all validated by the Quinisext Ecumenical Council, and we also presented their individual characteristics. We also explained and discerned in this article the various categories of canons and books of the Holy Bible. In this article, we shall provide certain charts that are based on those 6 canons. These are charts that indicate the various “qualitative” classifications of the books of the Holy Bible, as surmised from those Ecumenically approved canons. The charts below have been taken from the remarkable book by Mr. Panagiotis Boumis, “The Canons of the Church pertaining to the Canon of the Holy Bible”. In the first chart below, you will find the abbreviations that appear in the remaining three charts, what these abbreviations signify, and in the last column, a short description of the meaning of each classification (wherever necessary). In the second column titled “Signifies:”, there are links that will take you to a fuller explanation of that item, which we have expounded in another article. You should take note of this chart, because it will prove helpful when assessing the three pursuant charts:
In the next two charts you will notice that a book is not usually characterized unilaterally. In other words, a book may have more than one classification, and indeed, certain classifications may even presuppose certain others. For example, a Divinely Inspired book is also classified as Divine; however a Divine book may not necessarily be classified as a Divinely Inspired one. Similarly, a Divinely Inspired book of the Holy Bible or a Divine book of the Holy Bible are also Canonized books. Thus, you will find below the two charts that respectively list the books of the Old and the New Testaments, each one appropriately classified, in accordance with the validated canons of the 6 Ecumenical Councils:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||