Any scientific investigator of Scripture repeatedly confronts the issue of the character of the Bible's authority," writes Herman Bidderbos in the opening lines of this book. From there he goes on to examine the baste for the church's acceptance of the New Testament as canonical. More than a merely academic question, the canonicity of the New Testament remaine a vital concern for the church today. It is a question of whether these twenty-seven books are in fact God's holy Word and therefore authorita tive for our faith and life.