Waarom heeft de Bijbel maar 66 boeken?

With biblical scholar Bert-Jan Lietaert Peerbolte, Professor of Biblical Studies at the Vrije Universiteit. This summer, it is not Daniël who joins us, but journalist Judith de Ruiter. Over the coming five weeks, in the podcast ‘From Communion to the Fall’, she will discuss questions about church history and theology every Friday together with theologian and journalist Dick Schinkelshoek and an expert. This week: how did the composition of the Protestant Bible come about? Protestants have been reading from a Bible with 66 books for centuries. That sounds self-evident, but it is anything but. For instance, the Catholic canon numbers as many as 73 books, and that of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church no fewer than 83. Why does the Protestant canon have a smaller composition? How and when did this come about? And which books did not make the selection? Bert-Jan knows the history of the Bible's origins like the back of his hand and explains in meticulous detail which choices were made and how they were made. In this episode, therefore, there is a deluge of important councils and interesting (and bizarre) writings that did not make the shortlist. For example, a gospel that tells how a cross walks away from Jesus' tomb… The reason why the latter, as well as the apocryphal and deuteronomy books, did not make the selection, while books like the Song of Solomon and the Book of Revelation did, is due to three criteria, Bert-Jan explains. After the rigorous selection, the canon remains closed for the time being. But what if the Third Epistle to the Corinthians is found? Can the canon then be reopened? This is episode 1/5 of the summer podcast *From the Last Supper to the Fall*. A podcast by theologians for non-theologians. Next week: why do we love singing accompanied by an organ in church?