From time to time, I'll receive messages from folks who are strongly against the apostleship of Paul. Since in the New Testament we have 13 (perhaps 14, if we include the book of Hebrews) letters written by Paul, those who reject his apostleship also reject the collection of writings we commonly call the Bible. One such individual recently told me that before the council of Nicaea, over 300 books were in common usage by Christians, with no definitive list of "inspired" texts. He attributes the Nicene council with selecting which books to include and which to exclude.

Friend, the men at the council of Nicaea were not a body responsible for determining what should and should not be considered Scripture. A look at various historical sources gives us a clear picture of what the Nicene Council discussed. Major topics of discussion were Arianism, Easter, the position of Meletius (who refused to accept the repentance of Christians who had renounced their faith), the validity of baptism of heretics, and the end of persecutions under Licinius. Various other topics were also addressed, and church laws arrived at on these, but historical documentation does not identify the establishment of a New Testament and/or Old Testament canon on the slate of the Council.

Who then decided what should be in the Bible? It was God's providence which gave us the Bible, not man's decision upon a canon. By the time the men and councils of the 4th century were drafting lists of books to be accepted as New Testament Scripture, they were merely rubber stamping what had long before become the standard for the majority of Christians.

It is interesting to note the use of the books which now comprise our New Testament by those who were in the first few centuries:

CLEMENT OF ROME (ca. AD 30-97?) made allusions to 11 New Testament books in his writings (MT, LK, AC, RO, 1 CO, GAL, EPH, PHP, HEB, JMS, 2 PE).

IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH (ca. AD 30-115) clearly used verses and phrases from 9 New Testament books in his writings (MT, LK, JN, AC, RO, 1 CO, EPH, PHP, 1 PE), and possibly alludes to 3 others (1 THES, 2 TI, 3 JN).

POLYCARP (ca. AD 69-155) borrowed both verses and phrases from 17 New Testament books in his writings (MT, MK, LK, AC, RO, 1 CO, 2 CO, GAL, EPH, PHP, 1 THES, 2 THES, 1 TI, 2 TI, HEB, 1 PE, 1 JN).

MARCION (ca. AD 110-???), a false teacher who rejected the Old Testament and any New Testament book which he thought quoted the Old Testament with approval. Though an enemy of the truth, a list of the books which he referred to is valuable, as it identifies for us books that were in common use among the early Christians. In his writings, Marcion referred to 17 New Testament books (MT, LK, JN, AC, RO, 1 CO, 2 CO, GAL, EPH, PHP, COL, 1 THES, 2 THES, 1 TI, 2 TI, TIT, PHI).

The MURATORIAN is the oldest known list of New Testament books, dated at 170 AD. It lists 20 of the 27 New Testament books (MT, MK, LK, JN, AC, RO, 1 CO, 2 CO, GAL, EPH, PHP, COL, 1 THES, 2 THES, 1 TI, 2 TI, TIT, PHI, 2 JN, 3 JN). It is noteworthy that portions of this document are missing.

TERTULLIAN (ca. AD 150-222) referred to 23 of the 27 New Testament books in his writings (MT, MK, LK, JN, AC, RO, 1 CO, 2 CO, GAL, EPH, PHP, COL, 1 THES, 2 THES, 1 TI, 2 TI, TIT, PHI, HEB, 1 PE, 1 JN, JU, REV).

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDER (ca. AD 155-215) in his writings referred to 23 of 27 New Testament books (MT, MK, LK, JN, AC, RO, 1 CO, 2 CO, GAL, EPH, PHP, COL, 1 THES, 2 THES, 1 TI, 2 TI, TIT, HEB, 1 PE, 1 JN, 2 JN, JU, REV).

ORIGEN (ca. AD 185-254) catalogued ALL the books of the New Testament, and mentioned them ALL by the names we know them today.

What does all this mean? Every New Testament book was cited by the sources listed above, with the exception of James and 2 Peter. By the dawn of the 2nd century, all 27 books of the New Testament were universally accepted, with the exception of Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John and Revelation. Though these 6 books were disputed to some degree, their inclusion with the rest quickly followed. The books which we have in the New Testament were in wide circulation and use, and accepted as Scripture well before the time of the Nicene Council or other 4th century councils which may have given a list of books. It is God's book, received by the people through God's providence; not some council's book, received by the people via force.

Bibliography:
http://www.bible.ca/canon.htm
Charts by Tom Rainwater used in Spring 03 meeting.