When exactly did "the Church" make a dogmatic declaration of what the canon of Scripture was?
The Muratonian Fragment from 170 AD does not include the Shepherd of Hermes or the Epistle of Barnabas as Scripture, but does indicate they are worthy of being read.
“When exactly did “the Church” make a dogmatic declaration of what the canon of Scripture was?”
In the East I don’t believe it was ever done as a truly dogmatic matter. Certainly no Ecumenical Council ever decided such a thing. Local councils decided what would be used for local or regional churches. My memory is that Trent did define the canon for The Church in the West, but I could be wrong on that.
Why "the Church" as if questioning that the Church existed? Ridiculous.
The Church made a dogmatic declaration of the canon at the Third Council of Carthage, at the very end of the 4th century. Until that time, the canon varied from church to church, as can be seen from the various private canons (from Bible Research)
| Athanasius (b. 296) |
Origen (b. 185) |
Irenaeus (b. 130) |
Marcion* (b. 85) |
| Matthew | Matthew | Matthew | |
| Mark | Mark | Mark | |
| Luke | Luke | Luke | Luke |
| John | John | John | |
| Acts | Acts | Acts | |
| Romans | |||
| 1 Corinthians | 1 Corinthians | 1 Corinthians | 1 Corinthians |
| 2 Corinthians | 2 Corinthians | 2 Corinthians | 2 Corinthians |
| Galatians | Galatians | Galatians | Galatians |
| Ephesians | Ephesians | Ephesians | Ephesians |
| Philippians | Philippians | Philippians | Philippians |
| Colossians | Colossians | Colossians | Colossians |
| 1 Thessalonians | 1 Thessalonians | 1 Thessalonians | 1 Thessalonians |
| 2 Thessalonians | 2 Thessalonians | 2 Thessalonians | 2 Thessalonians |
| 1 Timothy | 1 Timothy | 1 Timothy | |
| 2 Timothy | 2 Timothy | 2 Timothy | |
| Titus | Titus | Titus | |
| Philemon | Philemon | Philemon | Philemon |
| Hebrews | Hebrews | Hebrews | |
| James | James | James | |
| 1 Peter | 1 Peter | 1 Peter | |
| 2 Peter | 2 Peter | 2 Peter | |
| 1 John | 1 John | 1 John | |
| 2 John | 2 John | 2 John | |
| 3 John | 3 John | 3 John | |
| Jude | Jude | Jude | |
| Revelation** | Revelation | Revelation |
Italic type indicates that the writer either does not mention the book or expressed some doubt about the status of the book.
The Muratonian Fragment from 170 AD does not include the Shepherd of Hermes or the Epistle of Barnabas as Scripture, but does indicate they are worthy of being read.
That's right. Many variations, showing individual interpretations and no unity. Hardly the work of the Holy Spirit!