Why Are There 66 Books in The Bible?
For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:21
There are 66 books in the Bible because God ordained 39 books to be in the Old Testament and 27 books to be in the New Testament. It was God who planned and inspired only these 66 books to make up his written Word. God perfectly and sufficiently communicated himself through these writings so that nothing more needs to be added. The Bible is perfectly complete.
We believe these 39 books of the Old Testament are God’s Word because Jesus confirmed they were Scripture. We believe these 27 books of the New Testament are God’s Word because Jesus commissioned his apostles to write and affirm them as Scripture.
The 66 books of the Bible have been almost universally recognized as Christian Scripture––God’s inspired and authoritative Word–– throughout church history. In the end, people did not make books Scripture, they recognized what books God ordained to be Scripture.
Scripture 1.7.