did the Bible say what books should be included in the Bible?

Question

if it didn't, then who made the the decision what books to be included in the compilation of the Bible and what books to be discarded? and if everything must be done according to what the Bible says, without the Bible saying what books to be included in the Bible, what gave the compilers any idea what books to be included in the Bible and what's to be discarded?

if it is all about the decision of group of fallable individuals, then with what did they base their decision on, and what makes the Bible infallable if fallable individuals compiled it, not to mention, fallable men wrote it?


(NOTE: don't tell me it's the Holy Spirit)

Answer 1

Catholics decided what books should be in the Bible at the Council of Rome in the 4th century.

Protestants later excluded several books (in the 16th century).

Answer 2

Many of the great bishops of the church during the third century argued over the books that would be in this book. It was more or less formalized by the Council at Hippo some claim otherwise.

The stories in that book were written for specific reasons originally. EX: Paul wrote to keep his churches in line. If you keep promoting particular ideas and ideals then use written words that are so called inspired then you have a congregation as such which was usually held in private homes.

Just a note: There were other stories that were written that were not allowed in the book, some were to gnostic for the bishops at that time.

Answer 3

This was answered by a historian.
1 The books were written around the same time as the events
2 passing the story along prevents inaccuracies as the witnesses of the time would have corrected it, (e.g. if I told you the story of the 4 little pigs you would blast me and say that there were only 3)
3 The books were chosen for their consistency in describing the events with accepted texts.

Regarding Tricia's references to Paul's letters, Some things never change and the same truth needs to be told to keep people straight.

Answer 4

. The following are the Apocryphal books that the Roman Catholics have and were included in the early editions of the KJV - The book (Apocalypse) of Peter, and Enoch were never in either the RC or KJ Bibles. Books and Additions to Esther and Daniel that are in the Roman, Greek, and Slavonic Bibles Tobit Judith The Additions to the Book of Esther (with a translation of the entire Greek Text of Esther) Wisdom of Solomon Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach Baruch Letter of Jeremiah (= Baruch ch. 6) The Additions to the Book of Daniel: Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews Susanna Bel and the Dragon 1 Maccabees 2 Maccabees Books in the Greek and Slavonic Bibles; not in the Roman Catholic Canon 1 Esdras (= 2 Esdras in Slavonic = 3 Esdras in Appendix to Vulgate) Prayer of Manasseh (in Appendix to Vulgate) Psalm 151, following Psalm 150 in the Greek Bible 3 Maccabees In the Slavonic Bible and in the Latin Vulgate Appendix 2 Esdras (= 3 Esdras in Slavonic = 4 Esdras in Vulgate Appendix) (Note: in the Latin Vulgate, Ezra-Nehemiah = 1 and 2 Esdras) In Appendix to the Greek Bible. 4 Maccabees

Answer 5

The Bible as a whole was not compiled until the late 4th century and then it was compiled by a Catholic saint (St. Jerome) at the request of a Catholic pope (St. Damasus). So how were the early Christians saved if they did not possess the entire written "Word of God" to follow His teachings? Well, naturally, they were the Body of Christ and were taught through "oral" teachings by the Church, not by writings.

Is the Bible the sole "teaching from God?" No. The Bible Itself states that their are "oral" teachings and traditions that are to be carried on to the present-day (2 Thessalonians 2:15; 1 Corinthians 11:2; 2 Timothy 2:2; Romans 10:17; 1 Peter 1:24-25). These teachings are what the Catholic Church considers "Sacred Apostolic Tradition." This type of "tradition" never changes because it was passed down by the Apostles themselves. It is not the same as the man-made traditions condemned in Scripture. The man-made traditions condemned in Scripture were those of the Jewish Pharisees. In fact, as Christians, we are suppose to disassociate ourselves from persons who do not follow Apostolic Tradition (2 Thessalonians 3:6). If oral tradition is not to be followed, why did St. Paul state Christ said something that is not recorded in the Gospels (Acts 20:35)? St. Paul must have "heard" this saying, not read it from any Gospel or Scripture, thereby, proving that some things Christ said were not recorded in the Gospels (John 21:25) and were passed on orally among His disciples instead, but were just as valid as anything written since St. Paul himself used one of these oral passages in his epistle.

Which books of the Old Testament did the Apostles accept as Scripture? Did they accept the 46 books as in the Catholic Douay-Rheims Bible or the 39 books as in the King James version? The Septuagint was accepted among the Hellenistic sect of Judaism (of which St. Paul was a member) and this canon did indeed include the same books as the present-day Catholic Bible. In addition, the entire New Testament was written in Greek (Hellenist) with the exception of the Gospel of St. Matthew, which was written in Aramaic (the language spoken by Christ). Over 85% of the quotes from the Old Testament that are used in the New Testament are from the Septuagint. The Palestinian Old Testament canon was not compiled until between 70-90 A.D. and then, it was done so by the non-Christian Jews in violent reaction to early Judeo-Christianity. The Palestinian canon was the one chosen by Martin Luther based on the acceptance of it by the 16th century German Jewish community of Luther's time. This canon excludes the seven books that were accepted by the Apostles as Scripture. Why was the canon of the Protestant Old Testament decided by Jews and not Christians? In addition, why did Luther attempt to eliminate the Book of St. James and the Book of Revelation? Is it because they contradicted his dogma of "faith alone?"

Answer 6

The literary context of the Bible is written in such a way over such a long period of time that from a prophetical standpoint it could not have been formulated by anything other than a supreme being with unusual intelligence and foresight. It was definitely written by man but choreographed by God.

Answer 7

No the Emperor of Rome did, at the Council of Nicae

Answer 8

"the church is the pillar and bulwark of the faith", when we study the scriptures and history we find that the church in reference and established by jesus was the one true holy roman catholic and apostolic church. it is the teaching body,the magisterium of the church that assures us the truth of the canon is accurate.

the writings and impact of the church fathers to christianity are immeasurable. if you want to know and practice what the early christians believed,knew and practiced become a member of the roman catholic church. these two sites may help
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/

see how catholic the early christians were, and may i further point out these writings preceed the dark ages,middle ages and any possibility of interverence from constantine, the catholic church has been consistent and has taught the same christian doctrines and truth for 2000 years. the material is available to prove it and if you love christ you owe it to him and to yourselves to seek him, you fill find the authentic christ only in the roman catholic church he established, "ignorance of scripture is ignorance of christ"(st.jerome who translated the scriptures), ignorance of church/salvation history is also ignorance of jesus christ. god bless

http://www.catholiceducation.org/links/search.cgi?query=scripture

the site has some articles on this issue and others, you can search through if interested.

Answer 9

Exactly. Who gave them the right, power to do such an act. The bible originally was the individual books being passed around seperately.

Without getting into dates, names, etc. A person gathered many preists from all over. They sat and went through all the books and choose which to include, which to leave out and what order they woudl go in.

There was no divine intervention, it was done by man. And the bible clearly says... do not add nor TAKE AWAY even one word from these scriptures.

To really study G_D and to be part of him, one needs to read ALL the books, meaning Bible and the missing ones. Some 19 or so. The book of Enoch alone 100% explains UFOs, Aliens (grays and reptilians) and even why we do some of the things we do (like men wearing makeup among others). The church is who doesn't want you to know these truths. But you have to realize the church you see today is not the church that was originally created. Few grasp that, it got changed, flipped if you will back in history.

But to get down to basics... it was the devil who did it. For that is when he more or less started to take over the church. He got a hold of the books and was able to alter them by leaving some out, in turn making the story change. Also why we see so many contradictions. If you read all the books, there are no contraditions anymore. Its why you see Christmas being celebrated even though its a pagan holiday, same with easter, why we allow halloween and many of the others.

Bible is very clear, 7 feasts, thats it. Most forget what happened to those who waited for Moses while he got the tablets. They created a holiday, tsk tsk.. G_D didn't like that and took care of them. Yet people think Xmas has to do with Jesus and G_D, sorry, its a pagan holiday. It breaks 2 rules of the bible. 1.. tradition brought over from another, 2. holiday made for G_D that G_D did not create.

This also explains why you see the TV preachers, all the hundreds of denominations, etc. Even the hate and anger that is among many of the groups. For they "think" they walk with G_D but they actually walk with Satan and not even realize it. Most worship Horus, the Sun and do even realize it either. Look at the sun's in all Catholic items, behind baptists crosses, etc. G_D is not the sun. That is Horus aka Amen-Rah. Hmmm.

They worship on a SUN-day, they say AMEN at the end of prayer instead of the proper word amein. See it adding up in secret yet in plain sight?

Bible again even tells us and warns them. During judgement a mass of followers are before G_D and say... " but didn't we do your bidding in your name? " and G_D says.. " Be gone! I do not know thee! ". Why would G_D damn those who follow him? He doesn't, he dams those who are too ignorant to read HIS BOOK to realize the truth. Instead they listen to men who speak and they gather teachers to their itching ears. Again, as the bible says in Deut.

The devil has them so brainwashed that they actually think church is G_D. That you have to go, that only there do you find or see G_D. Yet they all forget Acts 17.. " I reside in no building made by mens hands nor need anything of mans " So that means no church, no builiding and no collection plate. Tithe is 10% of what you get, not 10% of cash. That means when you eat a meal you should take 10% of it first and toss it to the ground and thank G_D for the rest. You tithed. Either G_D will feed an animal by your tithe or bugs or allow the earth to gain nutrients from it. It will not be wasted. Money aka mammon is HIGHLY wasted and does evil deeds.

And that is a whole nother story there, money.
Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve YHWH (G_D) and mammon (Arabic for money).

Yet look at the churches that preach its okay to be rich, to be wealthy. They even ask for your mammon to do their evil things in hiding. Again, people sit in a building, claim to follow yet are to ignorant to open the book and read it.

Don't get caught w/ those bad words...." be gone! I do not know thee! "

Atheists are closer to the truth than "christians" are. But they need to ignore the christians and continue the studies to find the truth past the lies that are presented before them. Some tips... YHWH is the name of G_D. Found in almost every culture. Found on items older than the Sumerians. Even found among Native American Indians, they used different vowel points, YeHoWaH. The eastern Native Indians are the Danites from the bible. Now with that sliver of truth seek the rest. Its not what is taught to us by far.

Answer 10

No people did the selecting. I believe that many of the other books not selected were just as inspired by god as the others but some people refuse
to balance their spirituality with good old fashioned intelligence and common sense.