How Did We Get the Bible? The Canon of Scripture Explained (And What That Disputed Passage Really Means)

How Did We Get the Bible? The Canon of Scripture Explained (And What That Disputed Passage Really Means)

From Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis by Jonny Ardavanis

April 21, 2026 · 42 min

About this episode

This episode explores the origins and trustworthiness of the Bible, discussing the biblical canon, textual criticism, and historical evidence.

Is the Bible trustworthy? In this episode, we tackle one of the most important questions a Christian can ask — how did we get the Bible, and can we actually trust it? This episode is brought to you by our ministry partner Accountable2You. To join thousands living in Freedom with nothing to hide visit https://accountable2you.com/dialin. **Use our unique code: DIALIN to get 25% off your first year of an Accountable2You Personal or Family Plan** We start with the famous story of the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53–8:11) and the asterisk in your Bible saying it's "not in the earliest manuscripts" — and use that as a jumping-off point to explore the full story of how Scripture was formed and preserved. Topics covered: What is the biblical canon — and who decided what's in it? What is textual criticism, and why does the 1% manuscript variance actually STRENGTHEN our confidence? The Apocrypha — why it's not in your Protestant Bible How the New Testament was recognized (not chosen) by the early church Why the apostles knew they were writing Scripture Constantine, the Council of Nicaea, and what the Da Vinci Code gets wrong 25,000+ manuscripts — why the Bible has more historical…

People in this episode

Host: Jonny Ardavanis

Topics covered

  • biblical canon
  • textual criticism
  • Apocrypha
  • New Testament recognition
  • historical evidence of the Bible
  • inspiration vs illumination

Keywords

  • Bible
  • trustworthiness
  • textual criticism
  • Apocrypha
  • New Testament
  • historical evidence
  • inspiration
  • illumination

Sponsors

Accountable2You

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Da Vinci Code, the Bible

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