Blind faith? Nope. Confidence? Yep!

So far this week, we've looked at the passing of His Word from God to man; we've also looked at the passage of His Word from man to man (copying the books) and today we will look at the collection of the letters and books into our Bible.
A lot of people truly get hung up on this part.
I'm sorry.
I'm not the be-all, end-all for this. But I'm going to try to give you a little information and then hope that your interest will be piqued, and you will study!
This is something that all believers should study a bit, and then make up their own minds how to defend this (apologetics, remember?).

Every so often, when the scandals from celebrities die down and they need something to trumpet on their covers, the supermarket tabloids will plaster a headline like this across the front: "New book of the Bible found!" Or maybe this: "Lost scrolls found - true meanings discovered!"
Sometimes a person may see this and begin to worry about whether or not the Bible they study is really OK. How did the books get put together? Could someone have made a mistake? Others will be mildly curious to read what new light this discovery may shed on "problem" passages of the Word.
So, who did the picking and choosing?
Who said "this book is OK, but we'll leave this one out."
Was it just a question of "if in doubt, throw it out"?

Nope.
The Old Testament wasn't called that at the time, but the books we now call the Old Testament were accepted and acknowledged long before the birth of Christ. Moses read the "covenant" to the people; Nehemiah did the same; those five books called the Pentateuch were accepted by the religious leaders and by the people. The historian Josephus says that unlike the Greeks (who had a multitude of books and religious writings) the Hebrews had only twenty-two that were justly believed to be divine. Josephus pointed out that five belonged to Moses and contained the Law. He also confirmed that the prophets who came after Moses wrote down what was done in their times - thirteen more books. The remaining four books, he said, contained hymns to God and precepts for the conduct of human life.
Jesus validated the Old Testament as a whole when He said:

 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."  (Matthew 5:17-18)

In the second century, because most of the books and letters were from eye-witnesses to the life of Christ, most churches came to possess a collection of inspired books - these included the four Gospels, the book of Acts, thirteen of Paul's letters, I Peter, and I John. The other seven books took a bit longer to be generally accepted. We can go into huge discussions of Clement, Polycarp, and Ignatius and the fact that they quoted from all of what we now call our New Testament, but I don't want to spend too much time charging down rabbit holes. (Grin)
I will touch on one other factor that contributed to the perceived NEED for establishing the books: some movements that sprang up in the second century (about 100 AD, so about seventy or so years after Christ's death and resurrection) started confusing things. They led folks to believe that Christ's teachings contradicted YAHWEH's words, and that they were two separate god-figures. At the same time, some writings were put forth by Gnostics that gave "heretofore unknown details" of the childhood of Christ, etc.  There were some that even gave guided tours of heaven and hell, personally conducted by the apostles. Today, these are known as the New Testament apochrypha.

So, as people struggled with these issues, a set of questions began to be used in order to make some sense of things. They knew that it was not up to them to establish a list. It was their job to acknowledge the self-authenticating authority of the books.....let me explain.
First, they asked "was the book written by a prophet or an apostle?"
Next, "did the message tell the truth about God?"
Also, "did the book match revelation that was already accepted?"
Lastly, "did the book have wide acceptance - did God's people in several places validate it?"

Because of this, we see lists drawn up by Eusebius, and by Athanasius. During the 300 AD timeframe, several church "committees" or Synods, gave the nod to all twenty-seven books of the New Testament. I really do want to make the distinction here.....the church didn't decide which books should be included. What they did was to recognize and acknowledge the inspiration and the self-authenticating authority of the books and letters.
Now, sometimes I think that I've explained something, and it makes sense to me. But, as my grandma used to say, I may have instead made it "as clear as mud." So, if there are any questions, please let me know. I'm not guaranteeing that I can answer them, but I can pray and try!
Some people don't like the fact that all of this happened over the course of a couple of hundred years. I actually take comfort in that. I think that safe-guarded the process. We didn't have one person dominating the choices of which books to include, or making things fit that individual's theology. There was no one faction that was in control and said to toss out books. It was a centuries-long process, and I believe that God was guiding it.

Of course, when we get to heaven and can ask all the questions that we want to, we can find out all of this for certain. (Grin) But is there anything in the Bible that we can test and then prove to be the truth?
I'm glad you asked that!
The answer is yes!
The Bible records truth about God and guidelines for living, of course. But there are also scientific, mathematical, and historical truths in it, as well.
Hmmmm, wonder if that is one reason for the recording of all those bits and pieces of information that seem random to us? Like genealogies, and numbers of troops, and things like that?

First, we have what we've talked about before - primary sources. These are the ones most valued by historians and researchers, as they are the accounts from people who were actually there. In the case of the New Testament books (and letters), these were written by folks who had seen Jesus Christ and followed Him in His ministry. Paul met God on the Damascus road, and experienced His power and mercy firsthand. It is these eye-witness accounts and relationships on which we first base our trust in the collection of writings we call the Bible.
Listen to these ringing declarations and you will see what we mean:

But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20)

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried,that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. (I Corinthians 15:3-10a)

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (II Peter 1:16)

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 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. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  (I John 1:1-3)

These accounts give us details that were acknowledged at the time, and in the years afterward. Many hundreds of people saw the risen Christ, and would have included that in the oral histories that were passed down in families and in churches. Not one or two people. Not several. Hundreds.

Eyewitnesses.
Boy, I can't wait to see Him with my own eyes! Ah, but that's another story......
We'll continue on this track tomorrow.