The canonical writings, or the canon of the Scriptures, comprise the books of the Old and New Testaments in the Authorized Version of the English Bible. These are the writings which the early church for the most part considered to be divinely inspired and, by being placed in the canon, they were invested with the authority of the church.
The meaning of "canon" seems to have developed thus: a reed, a measuring rod, a rule, a standard, a standard list, the accepted list of standard Scripture. It was first applied to the Bible about 375 A.D., and the books included in it were those which were accepted by the Christian church at that time as the rule of faith and practice.
The Old Testament of the Palestinian synagogues was identical in content with the present-day Hebrew Bible, and the Protestant translations were based upon it. The Hebrew Bible has three divisions:
