How were the books of the Bible selected?

The Bible isn't a single book, but a collection of 66 books and letters that have been compiled into one volume. The books which are regarded as having a divine authority are referred to by scholars as canonical writings.

The English word canon is derived from a Greek word which referred to a standard or a rule. Thus, a writing is considered canon if it meets a certain standard. Some erroneously believe the Bible's canon was decided by the Catholic Church or by Emperor Constantine.

Nevertheless, it is a fact that the books in our modern Bibles were already considered canon long before. Church councils did discuss the canon of the Bible, but what they really did was ratify the existing canon.

As each book of the Bible was written, people who lived at the time were eyewitnesses of the events which the prophets spoke of. When the words of the prophets were recorded, the people recognized the writings as authentic and factual.

Since they knew the prophets were messengers of God, they considered the prophets' writings to equally be a message from God. As time went by, the writings were added to the list of books considered to be inspired.

It is important to note the order. The writings were not considered authoritative because they were added to the canon, but were added to the canon because they were recognized as a message from God. Of course, there were writings that were rejected.

Sometimes the author was not recognized as a prophet. Some writings contradicted books that were already known to be inspired. Some books were not accepted because they were written too late. The apostles and prophets had all passed away by 100 AD, and therefore anything written later was automatically suspect.

The canon of the Old Testament had been established long before the time of Jesus. Origen, who lived from approximately 182 to 254 AD, listed all of the books in our modern New Testament and some of his writings.

This shows that a general consensus among Christians had already been reached by the middle of the 3rd century. The formation of the canon did not come all at once, but was the product of centuries of contemplation and consensus.