Who decided what books would be included in the Bible, and how were they chosen?

Question

I have been so confused on this point. I am reading about the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Gospel of Judas, and I'm really just searching for truth in religion and spirituality. I would love to know more if anyone can help!

Answer 1

I know how you feel! I have the same desire. The Old Testament was decided upon by a group of seventy two Jewish Rabbis some time before Jesus came. The Christian Church basically accepted their judgement on this. The Catholic church adds the 'Apocrypha' to the Old Testament which includes books like Maccabees and Tobit. It's important to understand that these books are also Jewish in origin, and although they are not considered authoritative in the same way as the rest of the Bible, they are not under any special stigma. I am not Catholic, but I think everyone should read the Apocrypha, especially the Maccabees books. The New Testament books were (with the possible exception of Luke) written by Jewish people also. These books (most of which are actually letters) were read and judged by various early churches who made lists of which books they thought were 'canonical'. Actually most of those lists were shorter than what we have now in the New Testament. 2Peter, 2nd & 3rd John and Revelation took the longest to find acceptance. The list was basically set by the 4th Century.
Its interesting too that pseudo gospels like Thomas, Judas, Mary Magdalene were not on anyone's list except (presumably) the people who wrote them. They all have the same plot: Jesus takes aside Mary (or Thomas, or Peter or Judas) and tells them all the cosmic secrets that no one else gets to hear and chooses them as their 'special' disciple. So they all differ from the Bible and they all contradict each other. In contrast the Gospels form a coherent picture. Jesus is recognizably the same fellow in all of them, and the disciples are treated consistently as well. Another thing about the Gospels is that Jesus doesn't do 'trick' miracles in them, but always acts to make a point.

Answer 2

The book of the bible were chosen by male scholars. Certain texts such as the Gnostic ones were deliberately left out because they were empowering to women. The gospel of Mary is a beautiful book that all women should read to see how important this woman was to Jesus. The fact is that all of Christianity is hinged on what Mary saw. This being the resurrection of Jesus. How he must have loved her to give her such an important role especially when in those times women were considered second class citizens and less than their male counterparts. Hope this helps and good luck to you. Check out Baha'i faith as well it is very enlightening and there is a site on the web that you can access. Unity Church is also very spirit driven and is a more liberal approach to Christianity that some of the more pentecostal faiths. It celebrates all religions and celebrates the diversity of the spiritual worship.

Answer 3

The early church had copies of the old testament books. As the apostles began to write their books, letters and epistles, copies were made of them and distributed among the churches. In more modern times, church fathers started to compile what had been used and recognized as "scripture" into what is now our current bible. There were certain criteria for judging them authentic, and that is why there are so many books NOT in the bible, such as the "gospel of Judas", or others, that you may hear about from time to time.

There is a book called How We Got Our Bible you might find interesting, I thought it a bit too long. Easier to follow is Halley's Pocket Bible Handbook; it has a concise outline about how our modern day bible was put together.

Answer 4

By the 200's Origen was advocating a 27-book New Testament. I think in the 300's there were 7 Ecumenical Councils that decided on them. Of course the Hebrew Bible was canonized around the first or second century, maybe earlier.

Answer 5

What books properly make up the canon for the church? In answering this question, it is imperative that we not confuse the nature of the canon with the recognition of certain writings as canonical. The legitimate authority of canonical books exists independently of their being personally acknowledged as authoritative by any individual or group. The nature (or grounds) of canonicity is thus logically distinct from the history (or recognition) of canonicity.

It is the inspiration of a book that renders it authoritative, not human acceptance or recognition of the book. If God has spoken, what He says is divine in itself, regardless of human response to it. It does not "become divine" through human agreement with it.

Accordingly, the canon is not the product of the Christian church. The church has no authority to control, create, or define the Word of God. Rather, the canon controls, creates and defines the church of Christ: "...having been begotten again, not by corruptible seed, but by incorruptible, by the word of God which lives and abides forever.... And this is the word of good news which was preached unto you" (I Peter 1:23-25).

When we understand this, we can see how erroneous it is to suppose that the corporate church, at some council of its leaders, voted on certain documents and constituted them the canon. The church cannot subsequently attribute authority to certain writings. It can simply receive them as God's revealed word which, as such, always has been the church's canon. Authority is inherent in those writings from the outset, and the church simply confesses this to be the case.

Answer 6

The bishop of Uranus around 180 AD decided which books to include.

In the 4th century Pope Gregory ordered those rejected books to be destroyed. Miraculously some have survive.

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Thomas, and Philip are the gnostic gospels. They speak of an entirely different Jesus than the one the Catholic Church desired for us to know.

Answer 7

The council of Nicea in 325 CE. They voted on what books would be canonized. Religion is confusing because it doesn't lead to the truth. Try science, it is much more awe-inspiring and beautiful than BS myths.

http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/cosmic_evolution/docs/splash.html

Answer 8

read about First Council of Nicaea. It tell you all about the bible like how there are 27 Gospels and why that there are only 4 in the bible.

Answer 9

I suggest you listen to Esther. The books that are considered "canon" of the bible were decided at the early ecumenical councils of the Church. That means by the whole Church.

here is a place to read more:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm

Answer 10

King James had the final word on what was included. There were a lot of educated people that he had selected to pore over the whole collection of books.
They presented to him after a long long time of study what they considered to be the best final draft, but he had the final word and as a result, what you see is what you get in the King James version.
Good luck on your quest!!