to come” (verse 13). This indicates that the understanding of prophecy would be afforded them. Was this a reference to the Book of Revelation? That book is wholly devoted to prophecy — to “things to come” (Revelation 1:1). 1n the next chapter we will show information that will demonstrate that Revelation was prophesied by Christ to be written by the apostle John.
There is another point about the section of scripture transcribed above. Christ said that all the truth was going to be given to the apostles back in the 1st century. In John 16:13 the text actually says that the Holy Spirit “will guide you into all THE truth.” The definite article indicates that the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth would be
dispatched to those apostles. This is an important point because it shows that the Christian community of believers did not have to wait until the 3rd or 4th centuries before all THE truth could be given. This is quite different than is usually taught today. It is normally assumed by scholars (and they are simply guessing) that the canon of the New Testament came into existence sometime in the early or middle 2nd century, and was finalized in the 4th century. This guessing is patently not true. Early Christian scholars did not believe such teaching. Augustine, one of the most ardent supporters of the organized church of the 4th and 5th centuries believed that the New Testament canon came into existence in the time of the apostles themselves. He stated:
“Distinguished from the books of later authors is the excellence of the canonical authority of the Old and New Testaments; which, having been established in the time of the apostles, hath through the succession of overseers and propagators of churches been set as it were in a lofty tribunal, demanding the obedience of every faithful and pious
understanding.”
Contra Faustum Man. 11. 7
How different from what is generally accepted today! In our present age, it is common to hear that the 2nd 3rd, or 4th century church canonized the New Testament in some unknown and mysterious fashion. This is in no way true.
“The striking fact that the early councils had nothing whatever to do with forming the Canon of the New Testament, has been so emphasized by a number of writers that one is astonished that it is not more widely known.”
Urquhart, The Bible 8 The Christian community of the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th centuries had nothing to do with the canonization of the New Testament. The canonization, as we will come to see, was
accomplished in two stages and it was fully brought to fruition in the last decade of the 1st century. Christ had made it clear that the disciples would receive “all the truth” back in the 1st century. Some of this truth was to be a knowledge “of things to come” —
prophecies of the future. These truths of the Gospel were written down and canonized first by Peter and John about 66/67 C.E., and then finally by John himself about 96 C.E. Peter and John did their canonizations with authority. Note how Peter states this fact.
“We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and corning of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ... We also have a more confirmed word of prophecy.”
2 Peter 1:16, 19 The apostles had the word of prophecy more confirmed. What does the word “prophecy”
mean in the context in which Peter was using? Most people would automatically assume that it means they could foretell the future. But in the way Peter intended it, the word did not have that significance in the above reference.
All Jews of the 1st century understood the word “prophecy” in a much broader sense. There were three different ways of looking at the word. It certainly signified the classical meaning of being able to tell the future, and the person able to do this was customarily called “a prophet.” The apostle Paul also used the word as meaning one who spoke forth the word of God no matter if the message was about the future, the present, or the past (1 Corinthians 14:5, 24–25). This latter usage simply signified one who teaches the Gospel.
Yet there was a third meaning, and this is what Peter had in mind when he said that he and John had “the word of prophecy more confirmed.” This usage meant that the people who could be called “prophets” were those under the prophetic spirit and able to write inspired scripture. Josephus, the Jewish historian, was well acquainted with this type of usage for the word “Prophet” or “prophecy.” He said that no succession of prophets had come on the scene within Judaism from the time of the Persian king Artaxerxes (the 5th century B.C.E., at the close of the Old Testament canon) until and including the period of the 1st century. 9 In a word, Josephus thought that “the spirit of prophecy” had ceased with Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Great Assembly who canonized the Old Testament.
The apostle Peter, however, said the “word of prophecy” had returned, and that he and John were in that category of authority. They were on the same level of authority as all the earlier writers of the Old Testament scriptures. All the writers of the Holy Scriptures were called prophets even if they did not possess the prophetic office as did Elijah, Isaiah, Malachi, etc. For example, David, Solomon and Asaph the psalmist were called prophets though their writings were not in the Prophets’ Division of the Old Testament. 10 Indeed, the use of prophecy by holy men of God reached back to the very beginning of history.
Abel, the son of Adam, was called a prophet (Luke 11:50). And in Acts 3:21 and Hebrews 1:1 we are told that the practice of prophecy extended back to all past time, to the very beginning of the world.
The Jewish people in Christ’s time simply believed that all holy men of God were prophets and that all their writings were prophecies. This, of course, did not mean that they all foretold future events. 11 And, most significantly to our present study, any holy man of God who wrote any part of the Holy Scriptures was called a prophet. Professor Lee remarks that it was an “invariable rule that all witnesses of the Old Testament should be
prophets.” 12 Whitaker also recognized that any writer of Scripture was thought to be a prophet and to possess the prophetic spirit. 13
This indication of authority was recognized throughout the New Testament. When Christ said, “Abraham said unto him, they have Moses and the Prophets” (Luke 6:29), he was not referring to the Prophets’ (i.e., the Second) Division of the Old Testament. He meant all the writers of Scripture who followed Moses. Luke noted this: “Having begun from Moses and all the prophets, he [Christ] expounded unto them in all the
Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:37). When Paul reasoned with the Jews out of the Law and the Prophets (Acts 28:23), he was teaching from the whole Old Testament. The Jewish people in the first century were well aware that “prophecy ceased,”
in their estimation, when the canon of the Old Testament was finally established (cf.
Ecclesiasticus 36:15; 1 Maccabees 4:44–46; 9:27). Indeed, as Josephus said, these prophets of the Old Testament ceased their activities when the Old Testament canon was completed. 14 But Peter said the prophetic word was restored with him and John. This clearly shows that he and John were informing their readers that they were going to present the Christian community with a new batch of inspired scriptures to accompany the books of the Old Testament. 15
The Prophetic Spirit Restored With the Apostles
When one reads Second Peter in the proper way, it shows that Peter was telling his readers that the prophetic spirit had been revived and that the apostles had the authority to use it for the production of inspired scriptures. That is what he and John were going to leave in the hands of the Christian community before they died. One of the main reasons that the apostle Peter wrote Second Peter was to tell Christians of this fact. Their writings (and the other documents which they sanctioned) were not going to be like the fables of others because Peter and John had “the word of prophecy more confirmed.”
The books they were selecting were God-ordained and were as inspired as the Old Testament. “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20). The word interpretation in the King James Version actually means “origination” or “evolvement.” Peter was indicating that the prophetic scriptures which he and John were leaving with Christians were not their own private ideas and words.
They were nothing less than the direct teachings of God.
This dogmatism of Peter is reflected also in his evaluation of the apostle Paul’s epistles which he mentioned as being on an equal par with “the other Scriptures” of the Old Testament (2 Peter 3:15–16). Certainly, if Paul’s letters were in 66 C.E. being reckoned as Scripture, the letters of James, Jude, Peter, and John were as well — especially if they were selected by Peter and John to be in the New Testament canon. The apostles were assured by 66 C.E. that “the prophetic spirit” had returned to earth in the persons of Peter and John (along with Paul). This was a signal that more Holy Scriptures were being given to Christians in an official manner to present the final messages of God to the world.
As anyone can see, I have emphasized (and reemphasized) the matter that Second Peter records the authority of Peter and John to canonize the New Testament, but I do not apologize for the emphasis. This is simply because most people, even scholars, have failed to see the point of what Peter was relating in his first chapter of Second Peter. This is why the matter has to be accentuated. The truth is, Peter plainly endeavored to show that he and John were given “the word of prophecy more confirmed” in order to canonize more writings among the sacred and official library of books, as Ezra and Nehemiah in their day canonized the Old Testament. Peter was simply exercising his authority to write, collect, assemble, and design a New Testament canon. This official group of books was expected to remain in an authoritative way “until the day dawn” — until the second advent of Christ back to this earth. That is exactly what the epistle of Second Peter states and I see no reason why Christians today should not accept it.
Paul Recognized His Part in Canonization
Peter and John were not the only ones who had “the word of prophesy more
confirmed.” The apostle Paul also had the authority to write “prophetic scriptures.” At the end of the Book of Romans is an interesting section of scripture which relates to the matter of canonization. Paul said that his writings concerning the message of Christ were to be acknowledged as “the Prophetic Scriptures.” This meant that Paul thought he was
writing sacred Scriptures. Note the context of Paul’s belief.
“Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the Prophetic Scriptures, according to the
commandment of the everlasting God, made known unto all nations for the obedience of faith.”
Romans 16:25–26 16