The Right Books in the Bible?
The Right Books in the Bible
From Apostles era, Christian churches prior to catholicism (and in All Other Regions not controlled by that false religion from then till reformation & now) had a copy of the books of the Bible. Those churches did have a copy and preached and taught from it just like the Jewish scroll book the Jews had.
The Bible at the council (typically mentioned) simply confirmed which books were Scripture, which were not Scripture. There was a clear and easy way to know. They simply gave recognition to something that was already authoritative.
We had the full revelation from God, or "canon" or Bible when John wrote his last book. It was put together as one copy later. But it doesnt mean churches didnt have copies of Scripture in whole or the majority of NT books. (John's students, who led churches, wrote to the other churches and in those also contained huge chunks of Scripture [which he studied from Apostles writings]).
The churches all got copies and made copies of every book and letter available as they were written by the apostles. And copies were made. They had the NT Scriptures in that 1st century. And of course the OT.
Regarding the Books in the Bible we have today:
It's one thing to make something authoritative, and it's another thing to recognize something that already is authoritative.
Determining which books of NT was Scripture:
some of those questions or considerations:
- Was it written by an apostle or someone close to an apostle?
- Was it in alignment with what was already known about God or being taught?
- Was it accepted universally by the churches at that time?
Another way of looking at it is the authority of Scripture was determined by how the new writings lined up with the scriptures that already had this authority. Did what was new line up with what was old? The goal was not to create authority in the writings but simply to recognize the authority that was already there. Ultimately the writings were inspired by God and this inspiration was seen and acknowledged in the writings themselves. As we are reminded:
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).
The goal of canonization of the Scriptures was to look for and see the mark of the “breath of God” within the writings. That’s why consistency and conformity to what has already been taught and revealed mattered, because ultimately God is the author and his message won’t change from one period of time to the next.
What we know and treasure as the Bible today was not how the Bible was distributed very early on. Because there were no printing presses the Bible had to be copied by hand, which was a massive undertaking, and these copies were distributed.
The other challenge you had when Bibles were first copied and distributed is that many people were illiterate and therefore unable to read. One of the earliest Bibles that was printed and not copied by hand was the Gutenberg Bible which was printed in the 1450’s
<<The non Scripture books found in modern catholic bibles, but also in early reformation bibles had that apocrypha is because of the printing press. >>
These "books" were NOT considered to have the authority of Scripture. And there were teachings within these writings that did not line up with other portions of Scripture. As we mentioned earlier, this was an important test because of the unity of the teachings of Scripture.
There was a reason that Catholicism added these books.
Whether you decide to research further or not, you can feel confident in the Bible you have today (66 books). It is the right message and the right truth you need to know who God is, how much he loves mankind, by understanding his wonderful plan of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.
If you would like to investigate the Bible
Investigate the reliability of the Bible
What is the Gospel ?
Catholics:
<<< Return to read about the Apocrypha issues
<<<< Return to learn what Jesus view of Scripture was
<<<< Return to learn why Catholicism added several books, and then later removed some of those ones.
cr Biblestudy tools, rc Sproul
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