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Rulers and Reeds: How the Church Measured the Books of the Bible

by Rene' Stanley

184 pages
Publisher: Books By Rene
15.3 x 22.9 x 1.3 cm

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For curious readers wanting to study biblical history

Explains how early Christians chose the Bible books

You will gain fresh confidence in your holy canon

Discover the fascinating historical journey of how the books of the Bible were gathered and measured.

Our Mission

Equipping you for life's journey with Jesus:

Now a team of 60 – we've been serving the Church since 2004
Together we've raised over £1,000,000 for UK Christian charities
25,000 churches are using the Eden Plus account

Free delivery on orders over £10

___Discover how a simple river reed became the measure of the Christian Bible.___If you grew up with a 66-book Protestant Bible, a 73-book Roman Catholic Bible, or a slightly larger Eastern Orthodox Bible, you might be surprised to learn that the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church reads from an 81-book canon. This raises a profound question: Who decided how many books the Bible should have, and on what basis?. In Rulers and Reeds: How the Church Measured the Books of the Bible, researcher Rene' Stanley explores the long, careful process by which early Christians gathered their sacred texts. In the ancient world, a kanon was a river reed used by builders as a measuring rod. Over time, the church used this concept to lay writings alongside the story of Jesus, deciding which texts "lined up" as a true measure of the faith. Far from a sensational tale of hidden conspiracies or a single Roman council voting the Bible into existence, this book reveals the lived practice of canon formation. It explores how congregations prayed, preached, and compared texts across centuries to build the Bibles we know today. Crucially, Rulers and Reeds brings African Christianity from the historical margins to the center of the narrative. Stanley provides a deep dive into the Ethiopian Church's preservation of ancient texts like 1 Enoch (Henok), Jubilees (Kuf