I read that Irenaeus the bishop of Lyon at end of 2nd century first suggested the "forming" of the New Testament. I read also that the NT was eventually formed in the fourth century after the Roman Empire became Christian. Why were the books we have in the NT chosen? In what way was the actual process of choosing these books "inspired" by God? Could you also comment on the usefulness/significance of some of the gospels which are said to have been part of the Nag Hammadi texts but did not make it to the Christian canon? -- Simphiwe Ngqangweni (Pretoria)
Much has been written about canonization, the process by which writings were adjudged to be scripture and others not. The New Testament books came to be recognized as a separate category of scripture well before the late 100s, even if not every part of the church worldwide possessed copies of the same writings. (Naturally distribution, discussion, and familiarity with the books took time, and there was no standard canon for a few generations.) 1 Clement for example thought to have been written around 96 AD, refers to many of the NT writings.
In the 140s, the heretic Marcion was familiar with the NT canon, as he tried to change it removing everything but his (edited) versions of Luke and the letters of Paul. Tertullian famously wrote, "Let Marcion's eraser be ashamed of itself" (Adv. Marc. 5.42). The Muratorian fragment (180 AD) does not contain every book we recognize as inspired, but then it is fragmentary. Not until the late 300s is there an official list of NT books which is identical to that in our Bibles. But this should not be taken to mean that the Holy Spirit was not at work in the process.
As for the many "gospels," most of which date to the third and fourth centuries, they are of little value for the believer, except to show how some Christians slipped into confusion. (Galatians 1:6 indicates how such a lapse might have taken place "quickly.") The Nag Hammadi texts are Gnostic. Gnosticism was a philosophical interpretation of Christianity which denied many orthodox doctrines such as the incarnation, and the goodness of the Creator and his creation. Gnostics also believed in salvation by "mental assent," making them early adherents to sort of "faith alone" movement.
For more, please hear my audio teaching sets How We Got the Bible and The Lost Books of the Bible, and be sure to take in the 5 podcasts on How the Bible Came to Be.
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