How Were the Books of the Bible Selected? Full History

I was in a small Bible study group years ago. We were reading Paul’s letter to the Philippians. She put her Bible down and asked, “How do we know this book should be in the Bible? Who decided?” I looked at our group leader. For a second, he just blinked. It is a big question to ask at church. We respect the Bible so much, and we should. But we can forget that the list of Bible books did not just appear by magic. The story of how were the books of the Bible selected is not a secret. It is not scary. To me, it is a powerful story about God’s faithfulness.

It is a story of God’s Spirit working through His people for many years. It was a slow process of knowing God’s Word. The church did not make a list of holy books. They saw which books already had the clear voice of their Shepherd, Jesus Christ. This journey was not always neat. It had twists and turns. But through it all, you can see God’s loving hand. He promised His Word would last forever. So, let’s look at that story. Let’s learn the amazing, God-led history of how we got the 66 books we have today.

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What Was the Process for Selecting the Old Testament Books?

The story of our Bible starts with the Old Testament. These were the Scriptures that Jesus read and taught from. We need to understand how were the books of the Bible selected for this first part. For the Jewish people, it was not one single event. It was a long time of hearing God’s voice through His prophets. Their Bible, called the Tanakh, has three main parts.

• The Law (Torah): These are the first five books, from Genesis to Deuteronomy. From the start, people accepted these books from Moses as God’s words. When the Law was found again in the Temple, the people cried. They knew it had God’s authority. There was never a real debate about these five books. They were the foundation.
• The Prophets (Nevi’im): This part has historical books like Joshua and Judges. It also has prophets we know, like Isaiah and Jeremiah. As prophets spoke God’s words, people wrote them down. Over time, the list of God’s books grew. The people knew when a true prophet of the Lord was speaking. Their words came true. Their message told the people to return to God’s Law.
• The Writings (Ketuvim): This is the last part. It includes Psalms, Proverbs, Job, and others. I love this part because it has so many kinds of books. You have the worship songs of Psalms and wise words of Proverbs. People knew these books were from God because they were a big part of life in Israel. They were sung in the Temple and taught in homes. They showed the heart of Israel’s love for God. By the time Jesus was born, these three parts were accepted as the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus talks about them in Luke 24:44.

Why Do Catholic Bibles Have More Books Than Protestant Bibles?

If you see a Catholic Bible, you may notice it has extra books in the Old Testament. These include books like Tobit and Judith. These are often called the Apocrypha. They are good historical books. They were written in the 400 years between the Old and New Testaments. I have read some of them. They give a good look into that time.

But the ancient Jewish people never put these books in their official Scriptures. The New Testament writers quote the Old Testament many times. But they never quote a book from the Apocrypha as Scripture. So, during the Protestant Reformation, leaders like Martin Luther went back to the first Hebrew list of books. This was the list Jesus and the apostles used. That is why Protestant Bibles have 39 books in the Old Testament. It is a key part of the story of how were the books of the Bible selected. For a clear, faith-based look at this, I find that Biblica has very helpful articles.

Did a Jewish Council at Jamnia Decide the Old Testament Canon?

You may hear some people talk about a “Council of Jamnia.” They say Jewish rabbis met around 90 AD to finish their list of Scriptures. For a long time, I thought this was true. But most scholars now see it differently. It was not a big, official meeting to decide the books. It was more like a group of teachers talking about books that were already accepted. The Old Testament list was not decided in one vote. It was recognized by God’s people over a thousand years.

How Did the Early Church Know Which New Testament Books Were Scripture?

When Jesus came, everything changed. He was the reason for the Old Testament. God’s final Word was not a book, but a person. After He died and rose again, the apostles told His story everywhere. The apostles were the men He chose and taught. For the first few decades, the message was spoken, not written. It was the story told by people who saw it happen.

But as the apostles got older and the church grew, they needed to write it down. God, through His Holy Spirit, led certain men to write. This part of the story makes me happy. This was not a book project run by a company. This was God making sure the story of His Son would last forever.

Which New Testament Books Were Accepted First by the Church?

The first books that all the churches accepted were the four Gospels and Paul’s letters. It is easy to see why.

• The Gospels told the story of Jesus. They came from the apostles. Matthew and John were apostles. Mark was a close friend of Peter. You can almost hear Peter’s voice in Mark’s book. Luke was a careful writer and a close friend of Paul. These were the true stories of Jesus’ life.
• Paul’s Letters were sent to churches he had started. When a church got a letter from Paul, it was like getting a letter from Jesus. They would read it in church along with the Old Testament. Paul even told one church to share their letter with another church. We see this in the New Testament itself! People knew right away that these letters had God’s authority.

These books were the core of the New Testament. They were the easy ones to know. The early church saw them as the base of their faith.

What Is the Earliest List of New Testament Books We Have?

We have a very cool piece of history called the Muratorian Fragment. It is a copy of an old paper from around 180 AD. It lists the books the church in Rome used as Scripture. The paper is broken, so the Bible list is not complete. But it lists Luke, John, Acts, all 13 of Paul’s letters, Jude, 1st and 2nd John, and Revelation.

This is very important! It shows us that very early on, churches had a core list of New Testament books. This list looks a lot like ours today. This happened long before any big church council. This is a key clue in knowing how were the books of the Bible selected.

What Three Tests Show How Were the Books of the Bible Selected?

So, as other books came along, how did the church choose? How did they know which books were from the Holy Spirit? How did they spot books that were just good, or even fake? They did not have a checklist. But when we read what they wrote, we see they asked three main questions.

Apostolic Connection: A Key Factor in How Were the Books of the Bible Selected?

This was the most important question. Authority in the church came from Jesus. He gave that authority to His apostles. For a book to be seen as Scripture, it had to be written by an apostle. Or it had to be written by someone very close to an apostle. This is why we have the Gospel of Mark (from Peter’s friend) and Luke (from Paul’s friend). This is why we do not have a “Gospel of Bob.”

It also explains why some books took longer to be accepted. The book of Hebrews is a great book. But no one was sure who wrote it! Some thought Paul wrote it. Because the author was not known, some churches waited a while to accept it. A book like the “Gospel of Thomas” was rejected because it was written much later. It was not really from the apostle Thomas.

How Did Universal Use by Churches Help Select the Bible Books?

Another key question was, “Is this book read and accepted by the whole church?” The word for this is “catholicity,” which just means universal. If a book was used only by one small group, it was likely not from God for everyone. But if churches in Jerusalem, Rome, and other big cities were all reading the same book, it was a good sign. It showed the Holy Spirit was confirming the book to all people.

This is why the process was so natural and beautiful. It was led by God’s people. For example, some churches in the East questioned the book of Revelation for a time. But soon, its wide use and the fact that the apostle John wrote it were confirmed by the whole church. A great place to learn about the early church is Christianity.com. They have articles that make this easy to understand.

True Teaching: A Final Test for How Were the Books of the Bible Selected?

This last question was a check from the heart. Did the book’s teaching match the truth about Jesus that came from the apostles? This core teaching was called the “rule of faith.”

This is why the Gnostic gospels were rejected. Books like the “Gospel of Judas” taught things that were very different from the true faith. They taught that the world was evil and that Jesus was not really a human. Any believer who knew the real story of Jesus would know these were fakes. They did not sound like their Shepherd’s voice. They failed the most important test.

Athanasius and Councils: Final Steps in How Were the Books of the Bible Selected?

For a few hundred years, this process went on. Then, in 367 AD, a man named Athanasius wrote a letter for Easter. He was the bishop of Alexandria. In his letter, he listed the books he knew for sure were Scripture. He wanted to protect his churches from fake books. He listed the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament. This is the first time in history we see the exact list of the 66 books we have in our Bibles today.

Was Athanasius deciding the list? No! He was a church leader who was summarizing what the church already agreed on. He was writing down what the Holy Spirit had shown the church over 300 years.

A few years later, church councils met at Hippo (393 AD) and Carthage (397 AD). These councils are another key part of the story of how were the books of the Bible selected. What did they do? They looked at what the churches were already using. They were saying, “Yes, these are the books that God’s people everywhere know as His Word.” If you want to learn more about how the church defended the faith, sites like CARM are great.

Was the Selection of Bible Books a Human Process or God’s Miracle?

So when I think back to that question in my small group—”Who decided?”—I have a much better answer now for how were the books of the Bible selected. The answer is, “God did.”

God decided what He wanted to say. He decided to say it through His prophets and apostles. He decided to guide His people with His Holy Spirit to know the words He had inspired. The history of how were the books of the Bible selected is not the story of a flawed human group. It is the story of a perfect God keeping His own Word safe for His children.

It was confirmed in the hearts of believers and defended from false teaching. The church has treasured it for 2,000 years. People have given their lives to protect and translate this book. Why? Because it is not just any book. It is God’s own letter to us. It is the story of His love, His justice, and His amazing plan to save us through His Son, Jesus Christ. Knowing how we got it makes me treasure it even more.

FAQ – How Were the Books of the Bible Selected