[MNDude]

I do accept and believe that the Bible is the word of God.

However this is really something that must be accepted on faith rather than any overwhelming evidence.

Around 350 ad, the bishop athanasius decided which 27 books of the New Testament should be considered Canon and he sent out a letter to the churches in his jurisdiction. He made this decision because these were the books that were circulating around the early church at that time period.

It would be nice if we had a video of God coming out of heaven and telling us which books the New Testament should consist of, but instead it was really based off initially the opinion of this bishop, and then the later endorsement by the rest of the church.

[Psalm 73]

But it wasn't as arbitrary as you described.
The basic guidelines used by the early Church for accepting a book into the New Testament:

1. Was the book written by a prophet of God?
2. Was the writer confirmed by acts of God?
3. Does the message tell the truth about God?
4. Did it come with the power of God?
5. Was it accepted by God’s people?

Truth cannot contradict itself, so agreement with the other books of Scripture was only logical. As was historical accuracy. If the facts of a book were not accurate, it couldn’t have been from God.

Using this criteria, in 315 AD Athenasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, identified the 27 books of the New Testament which was confirmed in 393 by the Synod of Hippo and again in 397 by the Council of Carthage.

So there was a method to their madness....

[circlecity]

“ Around 350 ad, the bishop athanasius decided which 27 books of the New Testament should be considered Canon”

In his 39 festiv letter Athanasius didn’t “decide” the canon , rather, he listed the books which the church had handed down and were accepted as scripture. This is the first recorded list of our current canon. He specifically rejected the apocryphal books as scripture but said they can be useful as instruction.