Very early on when the New Testament books began to circulate, there was a massive influx of other writings that began to circulate as well.  Some of these other writings were inspired, but many were not and the early church recognized the need to identify what came from God and what came from man.  Three elements guided the church leaders in this endeavor.  These can be referred to as the test of orthodoxy, apostolicity, and universality.[3]  The test of orthodoxy required the teaching of the book followed the beliefs and practices that the church considered acceptable and correct.  The test of apostolicity required authorship by an apostle or by someone who was closely associated with an apostle.  The test of universality required the writing to be accepted by a broad geographical section of the church.[4]  Of these, I would consider the test of apostolicity to be the most important.  We know that the apostles were men gifted by God to build the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20), so it just seems reasonable that God, through them, would give instructions and guidance to the church.

Evidence demonstrating the early church fathers acceptance of the canon of Scripture is considerable.  Early Christian writers often made references to the canonical writings.  Clement of Rome mentioned at least eight New Testament books (A.D. 95).  Ignatius of Antioch mentioned seven (A.D. 115), and Polycarp, who was a disciple of the Apostle John acknowledged fifteen (A.D. 108).  The Muratorian Canon (A.D. 170) affirmed many of the New Testament books as canonical, and by The Third Council of Carthage (A.D. 397) all twenty-seven books of our New Testament were accepted as canonical.  By this time, there was a general agreement on the content that makes up our New Testament.  Again, it is vital to understand that the acceptance of these books only indicates that the church recognized their divine origin.[5]

I think it is also interesting to note that even before the church fathers, many of the New Testament books were being recognized as inspired and from God.  Peter recognized Paul’s writings as inspired by God and equated them with the rest of Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16).  Paul quoted the gospel of Luke and called it Scripture (1 Timothy 5:18).  Many of the New Testament letters, or epistles, were already being circulated among the early churches (Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27).  Again, this underscores the point made earlier: the church did not create the canon, but merely affirmed what God had already done.

If someone tried to persuade me that the canon of the Bible was still open, I would remind them of the foundation set by the apostles (Ephesians 2:20).  Also, as Jude notes, the faith (the body of truth) was delivered once for all (Jude 3).  This truth is sufficient to lead us to a saving knowledge of Jesus (2 Timothy 3:15) and to equip us to be and do all that God has called us to be and do (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Scripture does point out there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:5).  This passage emphasizes the unity that should exist in the body of Christ as we are indwelt by “one Spirit” (verse 4).  In verse 3 of that same chapter, Paul makes an appeal to humility, meekness, patience, and love—all of which are necessary to preserve unity within the church, either local or universal.  According to 1 Cor. 2:10-13, the Holy Spirit knows the mind of God (verse 11), which He reveals (verse 10) and teaches (verse 13) to those whom He indwells.  This activity of the Holy Spirit is called illumination.

In a perfect world, every believer would prayerfully study the Bible and depend on the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit.  However, we all know this is not a perfect world.  Even among Christians, we all know that not everyone who has the Holy Spirit actually listens to the Holy Spirit!  So, one reason people have different interpretations of the Bible is simple because some do not listen to the Master Teacher, the Holy Spirit.

Here are some other reasons for the diversity of beliefs about the Bible.

1. Unbelief – The sad truth is, many who claim to be Christians have never been born again.  They claim the name of “Christian”, but there has never been a change of heart.  Being a Christian is about much more than merely assenting to some truths.  It’s to have your heart changed by the power of the gospel, whereby Christ gives you new life.  There are many who claim to speak for God yet continually live their life in a state of unbelief.  As a result, they do not correctly understand Scripture.  In fact, the Bible says that it is impossible for an unbeliever to correctly interpret Scripture (1 Cor. 2:14)!

2. Lack of training – Peter warns against teachers who misinterpret the Scriptures.  He says they teach, but in reality they are “ignorant” of the Scriptures (2 Peter. 3:16).  Just because someone is a teacher, pastor, priest, prophet or whatever, it’s doesn’t necessary mean they are speaking the truth.  Regardless of who is speaking, we should be careful to compare that with what is actually said or isn’t said in the Holy Scriptures (Acts 17:11).  Paul told Timothy to do your best to handle the Word of truth correctly (2 Tim. 2:15).  That’s a goal all Christians should have, and there are no shortcuts here.  If you want to know the Bible, you must study the Bible, and studying takes time (of which most people are not willing to give up)!

3. Poor hermeneutics – Much error comes because of a simple failure to apply good hermeneutics (the science of interpreting Scripture).  Taking a verse out of its immediate context, or the context of the whole of God’s Word, can be disastrous!  Also, we can run into problems when we neglect to consider the historical context of a given passage.

 4. Ignorance of the whole Word of God – A good example here is Apollos, who the Bible says was a powerful and eloquent preacher, but he only knew the baptism of John.  In other words, he didn’t know about Jesus and His provision of salvation.  Aquila and Priscilla took him aside and “explained to him the way of God more adequately” (Acts 18:24-28), and after that Apollos began to preach Jesus!  Like Apollos, some groups and individuals have an incomplete message because they concentrate on certain passages to the exclusion of others.  They fail to compare Scripture with Scripture.

5. Selfishness and pride – Again, it’s sad to admit, but many interpretations of the Bible are based on an individual’s own personal biases.  We are sinners who are selfish, and we tend to see whatever we are looking for…not to mention that we always assume “I” and right and the other guy is “wrong”.  This underscores the importance of reading the Scriptures and allowing them to teach us!

6. Undue emphasis on tradition – Some churches claim to believe the Bible, but their interpretation is always filtered through the established traditions of their church.  Where tradition and the teaching of the Bible are in conflict, tradition is given precedence.  This negates the authority of the Word and grants supremacy to the church leadership.  I’m not saying tradition is bad here, but it’s not on the same level of Scripture and anyone who equates it as so is terribly deceived.  A word could also be said here about the difference between one’s preference and one’s conviction, but that’s probably another blog for another time!

Last of all, it should be remembered that for as much as “Bible-teaching” churches differ about, there are also many things we agree about (the humanity and deity of Jesus, the reality of Heaven and Hell, salvation by grace through faith)!  On essentials, you’ll find that most Bible-teaching churches line up.  On non-essentials we should allow room for diversity because that’s the very nature of a body…and we are the Body of Christ!

At the end of the day, I personally think the model is the early church in Jerusalem (see Acts 2:42-47).  The early church seemed to major on teaching Scripture, fostering a sense of community, spending time together, and remembering Christ together.  Churches are wise to focus on these things still today!

Hope this helps equip you and get your mind around this important question.