WHO DECIDED WHICH BOOKS?

What “Canon” Means, and Why That Matters

“Canon” simply means a rule, a measured standard. In this context it means the recognised list of writings that the church receives as Holy Scripture. This recognition was never meant to be arbitrary. The early church did not begin with an empty shelf and ask, “What would we like to be true.” The church began with the living voice of Christ proclaimed by eyewitnesses, and with written apostolic testimony that was read aloud in worship, copied, shared, and guarded.

A key distinction helps: councils and church leaders did not create God’s word. Their role was to bear witness to what the churches were already receiving as apostolic and faithful. Think of a court that recognizes a legal document as authentic. Recognition serves the truth of what already exists.

The New Testament: Recognition Before Councils

The New Testament writings circulated very early. Paul’s letters were being read in churches and exchanged between congregations within the first century itself, and the Gospels were received as authoritative accounts of Jesus and his work. Long before any fourth century council, churches spread across regions were already reading many of the same core books in worship.

By the early fourth century, the historian Eusebius could describe which writings were widely acknowledged, which were disputed, and which were rejected, showing that a broad core already existed, with a smaller group still being evaluated in some places.

Then in the year 367, Athanasius of Alexandria sent his annual Festal Letter in which he listed the twenty seven books that match the New Testament used by most Christians today. That letter did not invent a canon from scratch. It reflected a canon that had become stable through usage and discernment, and it helped close lingering uncertainty in some communities.

What criteria guided this recognition?

Different writers emphasize the criteria in different ways, yet three recurring themes show up again and again in reputable scholarship.

Apostolic connection. Was this written by an apostle, or by a close companion of the apostles, and rooted in their eyewitness testimony and teaching.

Consistency with the rule of faith. Did the book agree with the gospel already confessed in the churches and received from the apostles.

Widespread, continuous use. Was it read publicly in many churches across different regions over time, rather than being a local curiosity.

Bruce Metzger’s classic historical study traces how these factors functioned in the church’s long process of recognition rather than a single act of selection.

Early Lists and the Public Nature of the Process

If someone claims the canon was decided late, in secret, with no earlier evidence, the surviving documents push back.

A famous witness is the Muratorian Fragment, usually dated by many scholars to the late second century, which shows an early attempt to list widely used Christian writings, including Acts and Paul’s letters and recognition of multiple Gospels. Even with scholarly debate about its exact date and its damaged condition, it remains important evidence that Christians were already distinguishing books for public reading very early. Encyclopaedia Britannica summarizes its contents and significance in exactly that direction.

Add Eusebius to this, and the picture becomes clearer: public discussion, regional differences on a few books, and a growing convergence around the same core writings.

So What Did Councils Actually Do?

Local councils in North Africa, especially Hippo in 393 and Carthage in 397 and 419, are often mentioned because they list the New Testament books in a form that aligns with what became the standard canon. Their significance lies in confirmation and communication, particularly for church administration and public reading, rather than an act of invention.

Later, the Council of Trent in 1546 gave a formal definition of the canon for the Roman Catholic Church in the context of Reformation disputes, including a listed decree of biblical books. It did not suddenly discover new books. It was a formal boundary statement in a heated moment of church history.

The Old Testament: One Bible, Several Historical Pathways

The Old Testament question is slightly different from the New Testament question because it involves the relationship between Jewish Scriptures, Greek translations used widely among Jews and early Christians, and later Christian usage.

Most Protestant Bibles follow the Jewish Hebrew canon for the Old Testament. Catholic and Orthodox traditions include additional books often called the Deuterocanonical books, which were present in the Greek Septuagint tradition and used widely in early Christian communities. The important point for your readers is clarity: Christians agree on the New Testament twenty seven. Differences arise around certain Old Testament books, and those differences reflect complex historical reception rather than a late power grab.

A careful, comprehensive scholarly resource on both Old and New Testament canon questions is Lee Martin McDonald’s work on the biblical canon, widely used in academic and seminary contexts.

For a readable, historically grounded treatment written by a respected evangelical scholar, F F Bruce remains a standard reference on how the canon was recognized and why the questions developed as they did.

What About the Books That Were Left Out?

A lot of modern conversation circles around “lost gospels” and excluded writings. Some of these texts are much later than the apostolic era, and many reflect theological frameworks that differ sharply from the earliest Christian proclamation, especially in their view of creation, the incarnation, and salvation. In plain terms, they did not carry apostolic rootedness, they did not harmonize with the core gospel taught across the churches, and they did not become widely read as Scripture in diverse Christian communities over time.

Eusebius’ categories help here because they show early Christians openly sorting writings into groups based on reception and perceived authenticity. That kind of sorting is what a living community does when it loves truth and refuses to treat every religious text as equal.

Where God Fits in This Story

If Scripture is breathed out by God, then the story of canon formation should carry two realities at the same time.

One reality is deeply human: writing, copying, reading aloud, debating, safeguarding, and sometimes disagreeing on the edges. God has always worked through human means, through ordinary faithfulness, through shepherds who protect the flock, through communities who refuse to treat the gospel lightly.

The other reality is divine: God does not lose what He intends to give. Jesus speaks of Scripture with settled confidence, and the apostles treat the written word as a living instrument in the hands of God. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). Those claims invite trust that God’s Spirit was present in the giving of His word and also in the preserving of its witness, across centuries, cultures, and empires.

So the simplest faithful answer to your title is this: no single person decided. God gave His word through prophets and apostles, and the church received it over time, with public evidence, historical traceability, and a remarkable convergence across the Christian world.

Sources for Further Reading

Primary texts and reputable reference points

1. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 3.25, English translation hosted by CCEL.

2. Athanasius of Alexandria, Thirty Ninth Festal Letter and its canon list, overview and reconstruction discussion by Christian History Institute.

3. Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Muratorian Fragment,” summary of contents and significance.

4. Council of Trent, Fourth Session, “Decree Concerning the Canonical Scriptures,” primary decree text hosted by PapalEncyclicals.

5. Major scholarly books 5. Bruce M. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance (Oxford University Press).

6. F. F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture (InterVarsity Press).

7. Lee Martin McDonald, The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority (Baker Academic), reviewed in Themelios for scholarly engagement.