A biblical canon, or canon of scripture, is a list of books considered to be authoritative scripture by a particular religious community. While this terminology may be applied to any scriptural tradition, the scope of this article is mainly Judeo-Christian in nature. The word "canon" comes from the Greek "κανών", meaning "rule" or "measuring stick". The term was first coined in reference to scripture by Christians, but the idea is said to be Jewish. The textual basis of the canon can also be specified. For example, the Hebrew/Aramaic text as vocalized and pointed (cf. niqqud) in the medieval era by the Masoretes, the Masoretic text, is the canonical text for Judaism. A modern example of this closing of a textual basis, in a process analogous to the closing of the canon itself, is the King James Only movement, which takes either the actual English text of various redactions of the actual King James Bible itself, or alternately, the textual basis of the King James Version — Bomberg's Masoretic text for the Old Testament and the Textus Receptus in various editions, those of Erasmus, Beza, and Stephanus, alongside the Complutensian polyglot, for the New Testament — as the specified, correct, and inspired textual tradition. Similarly, certain groups specify their particular self-published version or translation of the Bible as the most reliable. Among these are Jehovah's Witnesses, who produce the New World Translation.

Kent E. Hovind (born January 15, 1953) is an American young earth creationist. Hovind has spoken on creation science and has aimed to convince listeners to reject theories of evolution, geophysics, and cosmology in favor of the Genesis creation narrative from the Bible. Hovind's views are contradicted by scientific evidence and some of his ideas have also been criticized by young earth creationist organizations such as Answers in Genesis.

Hovind established the Creation Science Evangelism ministry in 1989, and frequently spoke on young Earth creationism at seminars at private schools and churches, debates, and on radio and television broadcasts. Since January 2007, Hovind has been serving a ten-year prison sentence after being convicted of 58 federal counts, including 12 tax offenses, one count of obstructing federal agents, and 45 counts of structuring cash transactions. He is incarcerated at the FPC Satellite Camp of the ADX Florence prison in Florence, Colorado.

On February 9, 1969, at the age of 16, Hovind became a born again Christian. In 1971, he graduated from East Peoria Community High School. He holds three degrees in Christian education (1974, 1988, 1991) from unaccredited institutions. He is married and has three adult children and five grandchildren. One of his sons, Eric Hovind, travels doing creationist presentations and debates using many of his father's arguments.