As I understand it, the first editions of the KJV up til about 1610 had all 73 books of the Bible; after that they were omitted: by whom or by what authority, I do not know. But they considered the King of England to be head of the Church, and called their product the King James Version, so -— I’m just guessing -— I presume they removed books by the authority of King James I.
See post #88 above/
The way I learned it is that Scripture has value if it conforms to the Apostolic teaching that was passed down, which we summarize nowadays in the Apostles’ Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds.
And if a book does not conform to the teaching of the Apostles (who were taught by Jesus, and which we can also see in their own words in the letters that were preserved), it’s not canonical.
But people just don’t seem to like having to think deeply about these kind of things...