What is meant by the canon of Scripture? WRITER

The canon of Scripture refers to the collection of books that are considered authoritative and inspired as sacred scripture by a particular religious community. In Christianity, the canon of Scripture includes the books of the Old Testament and the New Testament that are recognized as divinely inspired and authoritative for faith and practice.<br /><br />The term "canon" comes from the Greek word "kanon," meaning "rule" or "standard." It signifies the standard by which these texts are measured and deemed worthy of inclusion in the Bible. The process of determining the canon involved discernment by early religious leaders and communities, who evaluated various writings based on criteria such as apostolic authorship, consistency with established doctrine, widespread acceptance, and spiritual value.<br /><br />Different branches of Christianity may have variations in their canons. For example, the Protestant Bible typically contains 66 books, while the Catholic Bible includes additional books known as the Deuterocanonical books, and the Eastern Orthodox Church recognizes even more texts.<br /><br />In Judaism, the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Tanakh, is the canonical collection of Jewish texts, which corresponds largely to the Christian Old Testament but is organized differently and does not include the New Testament.