When were the actual "books" that are included in the bible that we have today chosen.?

Question

Who chose them?

Thanks Lion of Judah, great answer.

Answer 1

How the Word of God came to be written
OLD TESTAMENT
The authors of Hebrew Scriptures are not as identifiable as those of the New Testament. The Books arose in the midst of the law given by Moses and the prophets sent by God to the children of Israel. The first 5 books (The Law) were written by Moses almost entirely. The remainder of the Old Testament is composed of the prophets and writings in the Hebrew canon, whereas the English Bible includes the following categories: historical books, poetic books, and prophetic books. These books include such authors as Samuel, David, Joshua, Solomon, and the Major Prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and a number of lesser-known figures who wrote smaller books called the Minor Prophets. Each of these authors presents his words as being the Word Of God.

NEW TESTAMENT
The New Testament was written by apostles of Jesus Christ and companions of the Apostles, Letters were written to individuals, churches, or larger groups of persons either to conform the truth of Christianity, engender belief in Christ, Correct problems in the local churches, or argue against error. The Book of Revelation also seeks tp present God’s plan for the end of the age.

HOW THE INSPIRED WRITTINGS WERE PASSED DOWN
OLD TESTAMENT
The Old Testament was written between 1440 B.C. and approximately 400 B.C.
The Laws of Moses was maintained in the Hebrew community by the priests of the temple. Later books continued to be deposited with these leaders until the destruction of the temple and then found their way into the teaching community begun by Ezra and continued in the synagogues. Trained scribes copied biblical texts by hand until the modern printing press came into use. The copies of the Masoretes of the ninth century A.D. are very close to the recently discovered Dead Sea scrolls, which originated a thousand years earlier.

NEW TESTAMENT
The New Testament books were copied by local Christian communities and passed from one to another for decades before an entire collection was made. Since the early letters were written on papyrus, they wore out rapidly and required regular copying. In the early fourth century A.D., fifty copies of the entire Old and New Testament Greek Scriptures were made at the order of the first Christian emperor, Contantine. It is likely that the Vaticanus and Sinaticus codexes, two of the longest early manuscripts to survive, originated from this order.

WHAT IS THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE?
The word canon is a word used to indentify the writings of the prophets, the apostles, and their companions, which are inspired by God and authoritative for truth pertaining to doctrine and life. It means “rule” or “standard.” A book is not inspired because it is declared to be conocical but is considered inspired. Therefore, the church discovered the canonicity of the Old Testament books; it did not determine or cause their canonicity.

HOW THE CANON WAS DECIDED
The books accepted by the Jewish community originated over a period of approximately one thousand years. The first question regarding writing’s acceptance was whether the book was written by a prophet of God. Generally the book would have statements of “thus says the Lord,” or “the word of the Lord came.” Second, miraculous signs or accuracy of fulfillment served as confirmation of a prophet’s message. Third, the book had to be internally consistent with the revelation of God found in the teachings of other canonical books, especially what God gave through Moses.
The first question for the church to answer about a books inclusion in the canon accepted by Christians was whether it came through the apostles of the Lord or through persons under the guidance of an apostle, such as Luke. Second, the book had to come with the power of God and be effective for changing lives. Third, it must have been generally accepted by the people of God. This latter test refers first to the ones who received the book and next to the transmission in the church. Determination of the New Testament canon took place over a period of years, reaching its final form at Synod of Carthage in 397.

THE MANUCRIPTS OF THE BIBLE
Old Testament
Fragments of the Hebrew Scrptures number in the Tens of Thousands, the majority dating between the third century B.C. and the fourteenth century A.D. The greatest attestation to the Hebrew Old Testament is the manuscripts found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, which mostly date from the third century B. C. to the first Century A.D.

New Testament
Manuscript evidence for the New Testament is abundant. There are more than five thousand existing copies, many with New Testament books entirely or largely intact.
Also there are several older translations of the New Testament into languages like Syriac, Coptic, and Latin that survive in thousands of manuscripts. No work of antiquity even approaches the New Testament for authenticity.

Answer 2

The Bible contains 66 books.
They were written by approximately 40 people, over 1600 years.
Moses wrote 4 or 5 books around 1500 B.C.
The 4 Gospels were written between 40 and 98 A.D.
Revelation was completed around 96 A.D.
As respects the OT, the Jewish priests had the responsibility of keeping together those books that were considered inspired of God.
That is based on Romans 3:1,2.
By the time the NT was being written, the "Christian Congregation" kept the books and letters together.
There exists many other fine books of the time, that tell the truth, but that doesn't mean they were guided by God's direction.
There exists criteria for determining if a book merits being part of the Bible.

Answer 3

They were canonized during the rule of King James.
On his arrival in England, the king was presented with the Millenary Petition, a plea for the accommodation of Puritans within the Established Church. However, at the Hampton Court Conference (1604), called to consider the petition, James displayed an uncompromising anti-Puritan attitude, which aroused great distrust. (This conference commissioned the translation of the Bible that resulted in the Authorized, or King James, Version.)

Answer 4

325 AD in Nicea, Italy. The most powerful Religious leaders in the Area chose them. Emperor Constantine of Rome called the group together . Why? The History Channel last night said the meeting was to not only organize the Religious factions but to help organize the Government of Italy under Constantines authority.

Answer 5

The books that are used are the ones that all the early churches were already using and had no doubt in their minds that they were the inspired words of God. Yes, there were councils that sort of put the stamp of approval on the books that make up the cannon today, but that was it. They simply agreed with what the churches had already known and were using. They didn't say, ok this one makes it and this one doesn't, because I said so and now all the churches must use this. It was already in agreement.

Answer 6

In the Council of Alexandria (4-th century) based upon the tradition handed down by the Apostles. So actually even before, all Christians already knew which writings were the Word of God and which were not. As attested by the earliest post-Apostolic writings.

Answer 7

Second Councils of Nicea in 787 AD, when 350 bishops of the catholic church and appointed representatives removed 22 books.

The revisions of the openly gay King James I did not include the removal of any books.

Answer 8

The Holy Spirit led each man who wrote the Bible to record what they wrote- God spoke to them through His spirit as it says:

2 Peter 1:21
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.

Answer 9

A lot of people believe that there was a council, some people think that they were judged by relavence, others think that the books were judged by how 'spirit lead' they were. No one really knows for sure though. Merry Christmas!

Answer 10

THE CORRUPT CHURCH FATHERS CHOSE WHAT BOOKS
THEY FELT SHOULD BE ADDED OR DELETED TO SUIT
THEIR OWN PURPOSE AND AGENDA. THE CANONIZATION OF OUR MODERN BIBLE IS FULL OF ENORMOUS ERRORS
THAT IT BOGGLES THE MIND!!! IT CAN'T AND SHOULD'NT
BE TRUSTED, MANY OF THE EPISTLES ARE MAN MADE AND WRITTEN!!