So now that I've covered the OT Canon I thought I might as well continue and cover the NT Canon. I hate to leave things half finished. Besides, I already promised Lula I would. So leaving where I left off let's look at how the NT Canon was formalized.
Paul in his writing to the Corinthians mentioned that he was writing to them as the Lord commanded 1 Cor 14:37. Jesus had commissioned the disciples to pass on what he had instructed them the last 3 1/2 years. He told them in the upper room that the HS would bring all things to their remembrance. Unlike the Jews, the early church had no focal point of worship. There was no special location that served as a central base of authority. Also, persecution scattered the new Christians in all directions (which turns out to be a good thing).
All the books of the NT we hold today were written in the latter half of the first century. The majority of them as letters written to the churches that were scattered with some of them addressed to individuals. These letters were generally copied and recopied being distributed to the many house churches in the area.
Somewhere along the line a process of selection and verification had to be done and was very important to these new believers. As long as the Apostles were alive this could be checked out. John himself said in his letter "The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and has appeared to us. WE proclaim to you what we have seen and heard." 1 John 1:2-3.
Peter also assured us he was an eyewitness and his desciption of the transfiguration was based on what he saw with his own eyes, 2 Peter 1:16-18. So Apostolic authority was very important to the verification of these Epistles.
Peter confirmed that some books were accepted as scripture after they were written. He regarded Paul's writings as HS inspired, 2 Peter 3:15-16. Because of what was seen and heard during this time Paul's letters were immediately regarded as authoritative and inspired from God himself.
Right from the get go early believers recognized this growing body of literature as the inspired Word of God. Before the first century closed to begin the next more than 2/3 of our NT we have now was believed inspired. The other third were known and quoted but did not have the wide circulation as the others.
There were some disagreements. Because Hebrews has an unknown author it was suspect in the beginning. Some doubted Peter wrote 2 Peter. Revelation was missing from some early lists most likely because it was unknown in those places.
In 135 AD a heretic named Marcion came out in opposition of these writings. He, of course, had his own version of the scriptures. So the church was forced to define which books weould be regarded as inspired. Marcion, an anti-semite was very opposed to biblical law. He believed the God of the OT was diff from the God of the NT, he picked and chose which books he deemed worthy. Out went the OT books and only some of the NT books were chosen. So the church responded formally to his claims. This was not a bad thing.
A document called the Muratorian Fragment dates back to about 175 had a listing of both accepted and rejected books selected by the early church. Even tho this document is very old and mutilated scholars were able to identify a list that contained 23 out of our present 27 books of the NT. It clearly states that the rejected books were not fit for the church saying "since it is not fitting that poison should be mixed with honey." They were recognized as forgeries almost immediately.
There is some contention that the NT books were not finalized until after 365 AD. It is true that a complete list of the 27 accepted books first appeared in a letter of Athanasius in 367 AD. But these books had already served as rule of the church for more than 250 years.
There was criteria for acceptance of these 27 books. Most important was Apostolic Authority. It had to have either been written by an Apostle or sanctioned by one. Many gnostic books were rejected because of this lack of connection. There also had to be a connection with the other books including the OT canon. So the writing in question would have to be consistent with the OT prophets and the teachings of the Apostles. The next criteria was that this document had to have widespread acceptance.
The accepted books were not accepted or rejected by a council or a committee as the DaVinci Code assertss and described as a power grab. Councils only formally ratified what had been already accepted for years. The 27 books of the NT were ratified at the Council of Hippo 393 AD and the Council of Carthage 397 AD.
Now what about those "other books" also called Gnostic Gospels? They simply fail the criteria test mentioned above. They are not even close to being in harmony with the other 27 books or the OT books. For those that disagree, they need to put forth their case as to why they should be included.
When you look at how these books were put together you can't help but see the hand of God thru the process. I mean look at the geographical distances of these churches, the limitations of communications and all the diff backgrounds and for them to come to an agreement is amazing.
"All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly euipped for every good work." Paul to Timothy