The word Canon comes from a Greek word meaning “rule.” This is an existential concept; a visible formula for the body of Christ to lean on and live by. It fulfills the Lord’s Prayer to have God’s will be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” This rule of life is not found in heaven, for in heaven there is no need for rules.

Canonicity is an existential value! The word and very doctrine of canonicity is “earthly” - heavenly power transcendentally transferred to God’s creation. 

The Church is also an exsenstential doctrine such as canonicity. Now my point: This doctrine/rule of living known as the Canon cannot be juxtaposed with the doctrine of the Church. One cannot be pitched against the other! You cannot say for instance, as Protestants say, that the “Canon formed the Church, not vice-versa.” This dichotomy creates a heavenly definition of the Canon and a mere earthly/existential definition of the Church. But we know both the Canon and the Church to be existential realities with heavenly foundations. Neither doctrine is purely heavenly such as the doctrine of aangels or the doctrine of heaven itself. The Church is rooted in the heavenly kingdom of God as is the Canon. Ultimately both the Canon and the Church are existential values. It is the logos that is purely divine not the written text in and of itself or the Church in an of itself. In order to get to the the Canon, eschatologically speaking, the logos must pass through the Church: Logos>Church>Canon

The fundamentalist argument is to quote John 1:1, “in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God.” The word “Word” here doe not mean Canon or Bible. The Greek word is logos which means much more than just text, or even divine text. The word logos has many cultural roots but it seems fairly obvious that it has to do with God’s revelation, but not just his revelation as through text but his complete divine revelation of wisdom and power - beyond mere words.

In the beginning was the logos and the logos had to become readable. It became readable through the body of Christ, transcribing and authorizing through various study and council - at first local councils and then later larger councils such as Carthage, the largest council of ancient Africa in which Augustine of Hippo helped lead.

The logos/word could never have become text without the Catholic Church. In order to believe in the very existence of the Canon/Bible one must believe that the Church is capable of completing such a transmission. The cults and radical sects will say that the Church was able to transmit the Canon only for a short time and then the Church fell away until the sect was established. Some may say that those before the Reformation had a limited knowledge of God and his Word and are therefore not held as accountable as we are held. Such people that say these things are warped, mislead and clearly unlearned in the writings of the early Church.

Some will go as far as stating that the authority of the text was transfered to the Protestants in the medieval ages as if for the first 1500 years of the Church the Bible was corrupt. Where was this prophesied? Who came down from heaven to transfer authority to a new group of men who were attempting to take out books such as Revelation and James? along with many of the Old Testament Books?

Protestant Scholars such as R.C. Sproul will go as far as stating that this history is all “divine providence” and that the Protestants were able to redefine the Canon and take authority of the text. After all, isn’t it logical that such-and-such a thing is now in place (i.e. the new formation of the Bible and the Protestant Church)? Such a claim is not based on any authority but that of rationalism, which is the foundation of liberalisn, and in turn is what most of all the Reformed (Protestant) Churches have become: liberal (PCUSA, ELCA, etc.).

The Canon was formed by the Church which was formed by God’s logos. You cannot have the Bible unless you first have the Church!