At the council of Nicea - Who gave Constantine and others the Authority to choose what books to use?

Question

How would they know what books of the bible were and were not the inspired words of God?

Answer 1

Politics. Everyone had an agenda and some where different from others. The religious leaders present at the council of nicea did a lot of compromising and they chose books they could agree upon. Most of them were looking to make Jesus as godlike a possible. That seems to be the theme.

THere was no divine inspiration

Answer 2

The Council of Nicea was basically a Consensus. Constantine cared butkus about what was put in he just wanted a unified State-Church that he could control. There were some basic rules but Some books that fit the rules were rejected and others that did not fit the rules were accepted.Like the Book of Ester does not mention God not once. Check out Bart Erherdmans Lost Christianities its very informative. It is Not a Clear cut thing no matter what anyone tells you. Keep asking the hard questions. Its the only way to an authentic Faith.

Answer 3

Arveen is exactly correct. as far as she went.

Constantine was the pope, and there was much disention in the church because some followed the teachings of Peter, Others followed the teachings of Paul, Others followed the teachings of Matthew and the other disciples.

Constantine decided there needed to be an aithorized cannon of scriptures that the entire church body could agree on.

At the Nicean council; more than 20 scriptures were thrown out of the bible. Such as the gospel of Mary Magdalene, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Phillip, the book of Jasher, Infancy 1, Infancy 2 and others.

In 576 CE the teaching of reincarnation was removed from the bible.

During the Christian reform movement of he 16th and 17th centuries; the protestants threw out seven more scriptures in the Catholic cannon.

Answer 4

it doesn't matter who or what assumed they had or needed to take authority to ascertain what books, writings or scriptures should be compiled and declared as THE word of "God". How ridiculous is this endeavor from the get-go. If one gave Chaldea, Nicea or anyone authority to determine for them..therein lies the ENTIRE problem. That should be YOUR own personal duty and devotion. Over 75% of Christians don't even know the origin or history of their coveted label and profession of "I AM A CHRISTIAN give-their-body-to-be-burned" religion. They only know what this council wanted them to know. So they stand venerating in bldg.'s they call church every sunday declaring something they've never seen nor heard is Lord. They are just a strange as those they call extremist and cults. Too darn lazy (drunk on religion and pride) to do historic research, too gullible to use the gift of common sense and apply it. Filled with the fear of the mystery "God" they serve to trust anything outside of what they were taught or received from culture and parents. Christians have much nerve even uttering the word cult.

Answer 5

The Canon of Scripture
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It was by the apostolic Tradition that the Church discerned which writings are to be included in the list of the sacred books.90 This complete list is called the canon of Scripture. It includes 46 books for the Old Testament (45 if we count Jeremiah and Lamentations as one) and 27 for the New.91

The Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, the Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

The New Testament: the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the Acts of the Apostles, the Letters of St. Paul to the Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, the Letter to the Hebrews, the Letters of James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, and Jude, and Revelation (the Apocalypse).
The Old Testament


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The Old Testament is an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture. Its books are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value,92 for the Old Covenant has never been revoked.


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Indeed, "the economy of the Old Testament was deliberately so oriented that it should prepare for and declare in prophecy the coming of Christ, redeemer of all men."93 "Even though they contain matters imperfect and provisional,"94 the books of the Old Testament bear witness to the whole divine pedagogy of God's saving love: these writings "are a storehouse of sublime teaching on God and of sound wisdom on human life, as well as a wonderful treasury of prayers; in them, too, the mystery of our salvation is present in a hidden way."95


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Christians venerate the Old Testament as true Word of God. The Church has always vigorously opposed the idea of rejecting the Old Testament under the pretext that the New has rendered it void (Marcionism).
The New Testament


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"The Word of God, which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, is set forth and displays its power in a most wonderful way in the writings of the New Testament"96 which hand on the ultimate truth of God's Revelation. Their central object is Jesus Christ, God's incarnate Son: his acts, teachings, Passion and glorification, and his Church's beginnings under the Spirit's guidance.97


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The Gospels are the heart of all the Scriptures "because they are our principal source for the life and teaching of the Incarnate Word, our Savior."98

Peace and every blessing!

Answer 6

They were the authority and the term more correctly used is magesterium. But then you already may know this. The council of Nicea was convened to bring the whole church together and unify the practices and teachings.

Answer 7

Constantine

Answer 8

Constantine and the Church Authority (Pope, Cardinal, Bishop, Priest) discuss which Gospel to be included in the Holy bible

Answer 9

Your question is in fact irrelevant. Why? Because the determination of the Canon wasn't even the issue in Nicea! I suggest you do a search on what really happened in that Council. And please, NEVER let Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code be one of your references!

Answer 10

They usurped that for themselves. Besides, the true Christian scrolls were already in wide circulation. Constantine commissioned Eusebius to write bastardized versions of the scrolls they did have, and the Latin Vulgate(vulgar) version is what they came up with. Such a sad, sad, deception to enslave the minds of the people. They're paying for it now, though.