When, Where and Who chose the Books of the Bible?

Question

I would like to know what went into choosing which Books were included in the official Bible. Which Books where left out?

Answer 1

The books of the Bible were chosen by the Council of Nicea after the death of the Roman Emperor Constantine. The Council of Nicea was made up of prominent Christian leaders with many different ideas about the religion. They met together in order to set official doctrine and to decide which works made it into the Bible. First, they almost unanimously voted to put in the Jewish Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Next, they decided, with little opposition to put in the Jewish history and the works of the major Jewish prophets (Kings, Chronicles, Judges, Samuel, Isaiah, etc.). Lastly, they threw in some poems and hymns (Proverbs, Psalms, etc.). Some leaders wanted more books added to the Old Testament, but they were voted down. These books are the Catholic Apocrypha. The New Testament is where things got testy.

There were two major factions: those who believed that Jesus was divine and those that believed that Jesus was a divinely-inspired human. Each faction had its own set of Gospels that they wanted to be in the New Testament. By a very, very close vote, those who supported divine Jesus won out. They got to put in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These Gospels make Jesus out to be a veritable God on Earth. The books that did not make it in (Philip, Mary Magdalene, Judas, etc.) portrayed Jesus in a more human light. Additionally, the winning faction also included the letters of Paul. Paul had never intended these letters to be published at all, let alone become scripture. However, they are in there. Lastly, the Revelation of John was added. It also was never meant to be scripture. There also is evidence that portions of it were removed because they were too controversial to be printed in the Bible.

As you can see, the Bible was created democratically. Personally, I don't think that that is a great way to create a book of faith but, whatever floats your boat.

If you have more religious questions and want to reach me directly, you can do so at [e-mail].

Answer 2

In a nutshell? The various churches did, by reading letters which could be verified as coming from the original Apostles (or were endorsed by the original Apostles, such as Mark or Luke), and rejecting letters which were of questionable origion.

The canon of Scripture was elected by popular vote, you might say.

This cut and paste might help:

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The 39 books of the Old Testament form the Bible of Judaism, while the Christian Bible includes those books and also the 27 books of the New Testament. This list of books included in the Bible is known as the canon. That is, the canon refers to the books regarded as inspired by God and authoritative for faith and life. No church created the canon, but the churches and councils gradually accepted the list of books recognized by believers everywhere as inspired.

It was actually not until 367 AD that the church father Athanasius first provided the complete listing of the 66 books belonging to the canon.

He distinguished those from other books that were widely circulated and he noted that those 66 books were the ones, and the only ones, universally accepted.

The point is that the formation of the canon did not come all at once like a thunderbolt, but was the product of centuries of reflection.

Let's look first at the Old Testament. Obviously the first five books (sometimes called the Torah or the Pentateuch) were the first to be accepted as canonical. We're not sure when this occurred, but it was probably during the fifth century before Christ. Of course, the Hebrews had the "Law" for many centuries already, but they certainly did not pay very good attention to it. It was probably the work of the prophets Ezra and Nehemiah that restored it to general use and fixed it once for all as authoritative.

How about the rest of the Old Testament? The prophets' writings were also not brought together in a single form until about 200 BC. The remaining Old Testament books were adopted as canonical even later. The Old Testament list was probably not finally fixed much before the birth of Christ. The Jewish people were widely scattered by this time and they really needed to know which books were the authoritative Word of God because so many other writings claiming divine authority were floating around. With the fixing of the canon they became a people of one Book, and this Book kept them together.

Nor is there a single date when we can say that the canon of the New Testament was decided. In the first and second centuries after Christ, many, many writings and epistles were circulating among the Christians. Some of the churches were using books and letters in their services that were definitely spurious. Gradually the need to have a definite list of the inspired Scriptures became apparent. Heretical movements were rising, each one choosing its own selected Scriptures, including such documents as the Gospel of Thomas, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Apocalypse of Peter, and the Epistle of Barnabas.

Gradually it became clear which works were truly genuine and which mixed truth with fantasy. By the end of the fourth century the canon was definitively settled and accepted. In this process Christians recognize the providence of God in providing us with his written revelation of himself and his purpose with the universe.

Answer 3

When... well, that is over a few centuries... the Councils were set up for this very thing.

Where... Rome... or it's many provinces.

Who... "Church Fathers" VOTED on it... after, of course, HUGe arguments broke out (one of which left a few ppl dead on the floor of the meeting room... such a wonderful way to start doctrines of Love, don't you think?)

I'm sure there were several things left out... but considering that most of the places of education, such as Universities where philosophers met and talked.... Libraries galore... etc... were destroyed (not all by Christians... but a lot were taken down by the Roman Catholic Church)... we really don't know all of what was used as "scripture" during those times. It's most educated guesses that bring us the info we have now.

Answer 4

It's the big subject, there were anywhere from 270 scriptures to 1500 ( not claiming to be the truth)
in 325 AD in Konstainople was first attend to assemble the bible.
Bible was finalised in 387 AD in Alexandria.
search the google. There are so many sources for this info its not even funny.
Only non educated Christains can still belive bible was writen by GOD or one person.

66 scriptures was finally selected to canonise the bible.
Most Christains will tell you that even bishops of Alexandria were inspired by god to select only correct scriptures. Wow.
66 independent scriptures were inspired. Bishops were inspired.
Every translation was inspired since bible is absolute truth.
you go from there.....

Answer 5

Catholic Bishops in:
393 A.D. Council of Hippo in North Africa
397 A.D. Council of Carthage in North Africa
405 A.D. Pope Innocent III accepts the books and votes of the councils. He closes the Bible forever.

Answer 6

It was the council of hippo and Nicea... It was decided by the Roman catholic church under the authority of the pope.

Even martin luther said "If it were not for the papists [catholics] we would have not known which books were inspired by the spirit."

So: If you reject papal authority you reject the authority which created the bible and thusly have no right to quote scripture.

Answer 7

Council of Hippo in 393 AD

Answer 8

for a long time the vatican chose what was appropriate
to be included. after the rise of protestantism, a panel
made some decisions. a lot has been excluded over
the centuries and more has been discovered over time.
most of this is simply not available for us ordinary people.

Answer 9

Google the Council of Nicea and you'll get many answers. PEACE!

Answer 10

I believe men in the spirit of God were.