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The Scriptures that you read are a product of the Catholic church, which was one Church until the Orthodox separated in 1054.

There were many, many books and letters being circulated in the first 400 years of the Early Church. If you had been a Christian during that time, you would not have had a clue about which books (other than the Old Testament) to regard as the Word of God. The teachings of the Church would be what would have directed your beliefs. It was only in the late 300's that the Church definitively chose which books would be included in the Canon and which would not. How was it decided? The Councils of the Church relied on the Holy Spirit to direct them in choosing which should be in and which should be out. There were many writings by good and holy men, such as the Epistles of Clement (4th pope and a good friend of St. Paul: “And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.” Philippians 4:3). According to Eusebius in 325 AD, Clement‘s First Epistle was considered to be divinely inspired while St. John’s Revelation was not! It was not until the Councils of the Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that each of the books to be included in the Canon were chosen. This occurred at the Council of Hippo in 393 AD, the First Council of Carthage in 397 AD, and the Second Council of Carthage in 419 AD.

During the Dark Ages, the monastaries of the Church preserved all learning (history, science, philosophy, etc.), as well as the physical books which contained it, from the invading hordes (Goths, Vandals, etc.). It is now generally agreed that the Catholic Church preserved civilization during this time. The greatest philosopher of all time, St. Thomas Aquinas, built on the philosophical thought of Aristotle, which he would not have been able to do had the Church not preserved Aristotle's writings. This is just one example of many.

Do you know who the authors of the New Testament were?

In case you are interested.

The Twelve Apostles;
(only two of the writers were not of)

***Writers of the New Testament

***(Simon (Peter) (as reordered by Mark)
Peter eventually went to Rome and while there, it is
believed that Mark (the writer of the Gospel of Mark)
served as his translator as he preached. It is, also,
believed that as Peter told and retold his experiences
with Jesus, Mark interpreted time and time again to
Christian groups and by so doing, gave Mark an almost
verbatim memory of Peter's recollections. After Peter's
death, Mark, realizing the value of Peter's first hand
account, recorded what he remembered so clearly in what we
know as the Gospel of Mark. In this manner, Peter became
the source of our earliest Gospel.

Andrew
Andrew is the brother of the apostle Peter and his
parent's names were Joanna and Jona. Like their father,
Andrew and Peter were also fishermen on the Sea of
Galilee. In fact, the apostles Andrew, Peter, James and
John were all partners in a fishing business prior to
being called by Jesus to follow Him.
Andrew was the first of the Apostles to follow Jesus
(John 1:35-42) and just as John the Baptist introduced Jesus to
the nation of Israel, so Andrew is noted for having
introduced Jesus to individuals. The apostle Peter became
the fisher of men in masse where Andrew was a fisher for individuals.

James (son of Zebedee)
the apostle James was the eldest brother of the apostle
John and that their father's name was Zebedee (their mother's name
was Salome). James, his brother John, Peter and Andrew
were all partners in a fishing business prior to being
called by Christ to follow Him. Zebedee was also a partner
in the business. There is also some evidence that James
was the first cousin of Jesus the Messiah and had been
acquainted with Him from infancy. It is believed that his
mother Salome was the sister of Jesus' mother Mary.

****John
While in Ephesus, by order of the Roman emperor Domitian,
John was exiled to an island called Patmos. In what is
known as the cave of the Apocalypse (located on the
island Patmos), the sacred text of the book of Revelation was
given to the apostle John by Jesus (it is here that John
recorded what is written in the New Testament book of
Revelation.) Other New Testament books accredited to John
are the Gospel of John, along with 1st, 2nd and 3rd John.
All of the apostles met a violent death, however, John
died peacefully in Ephesus, at an advanced age, around the
year 100 AD.

Philip
It's possible that Philip was named in honor of Philip
the Tetrarch who had, some ten years before his birth,
done much to raise the status of the region of his birth.
Philip was born in Bethsaida in Galilee.
Most of his latter ministry took place in Galatia (in
Turkey) and it's believed that at the age of 87, he
suffered martyrdom in Hierapolis.

Bartholomew
The apostle Bartholomew was led to Christ in the region of
Galilee, possibly by the apostle Philip.the apostle Jude
Thaddaeus) was the first to evangelize their region
throughout the years of 43 to 66 AD and that the apostle
Bartholomew joined him in 60 AD (eight years before
Bartholomew was martyred).
It is said that Bartholomew carried with him a copy of the
apostle Matthew's Gospel. This copy was reported to be
found at a later time and a converted stoic philosopher by
the name of Pantaenus is said to have brought it to
Alexandria.The apostle Bartholomew is said to have been
martyred in the year 68 AD.

Thomas
After the resurrection of the Lord Christ Jesus, Thomas
went to Babylon. It is believed that he established the
first Christian church there. He is also known to have
gone to Persia and from there he went to India and
preached the Gospel making many converts. It is also
believed that the apostle Thomas evangelized as far as
China, and while in India, he suffered martyrdom; being
killed with a lance

***Matthew
The apostle Matthew, also called Levi, was the son of
Alphaeus and the brother of the apostle James the Less,
or, James, son of Alphaeus. By profession, Matthew was a
tax collector before being called by Jesus to follow Him.
Matthew was a gifted writer, an ardent disciple, and was
perhaps the best educated of any of the Twelve Apostles.
He was the writer of The Gospel of Matthew.

James (son of Alphaeus)
The apostle James ( the son of Alphaeus), who is also
called "Less" or "Younger," was a brother of the apostle
Matthew and the son of Mary. Which Mary is not altogether
certain though she seems to be the wife of one Cleopas.

Jude (Thaddaeus)
After the ascension of Jesus, Jude was one of the first
apostles to leave Jerusalem for a foreign country. In
fact, it is believed that Jude was one of the first
apostles to witness directly to a foreign king, a Gentile.
Jude is believed to have evangelized the area of Armenia
associated with the city of Edessa, in company
perhaps of the apostle Bartholomew, and for a brief time,
with the apostle Thomas.

Simon (the Zealot)
Simon ( the Zealot ) was believed to have preached the
Gospel throughout North Africa, from Egypt to Mauritania,
and even into Britain.
There is a church tradition which says that he was
crucified by the Romans in Caistor, Lincolnshire, Britain
and subsequently buried there on May 10, circa 61 A.D.
This cannot be confirmed, however, as there is also a
strong tradition which says, that having left Britain,
Simon, at some point , went to Persia and was martyred
there by being sawn into.

Judas Iscariot
Perhaps the most significant thing that can be said of
Judas Iscariot, was, that, in feeling sorrow for his crime
of betrayal, he did not seek to atone for his sin to the
One (Jesus) whom he had wronged, but , rather, went to his
accomplices in crime (the priests) and there sought
to set himself aright. Because those whom he had served in
his selfishness failed him at the end (the priests), he
went out and hanged himself.

Not of the original twelve apostles:

Matthias
It is believed that Matthias evangelized in regions of
Armenia and great peril befell him in the cities of
Colchis, Sebastopol and elsewhere. It is also believed
that he at one time, was aided by the apostle Andrew.

****Saul (Paul)
The apostle Paul was at first a great enemy to the
Christian, being present at the stoning of Stephen, the
executioners laying their cloaks at his feet. But after
the death of Stephen, while Paul was on his way to
Damascus, the glory of the Lord shone suddenly upon
him, he was struck to the earth and was made blind for
three days. After his recovery (although there is some
evidence he never fully completely recovered his sight), he
was converted and became an apostle and, lastly,
suffered as a martyr for the religion which he had
formerly persecuted. Paul's great abilities and earnest
enthusiasm in spreading the gospel of Christ have made his
name revered wherever the Christian religion is known. It
is his writings, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
which make up much of the New Testament of the Bible.

***Luke

Luke was an educated Greek, a doctor by profession. He
wrote Luke and Acts which together account for two-fifths
of the New Testament. He covers the period from the birth
of Christ into the first thirty years of the story of the
early church, a period of 60 years. His writing gives a
historical context for the rest of the New Testament.

Luke's record as a historian
Luke's ability as a historian has been amply documented.
There are numerous instances where he refers to rulers and
historical events in his two books. These can be tested
from other sources. It is interesting to note the number
of times in which Luke has been thought to have been wrong
in the particular titles he has given to rulers in certain
countries or cities, and which later archaeological and
other discoveries have proved to be right. Some examples
are: reference to Philippian rulers as praetors, his
choice of the word proconsul as the title for Gallio in
Corinth, his describing of Publius as "the leading man of
the island" in Malta, and his usage of politarchs to
denote the civil authorities of Thessalonica. (He gets no
less than fifteen Roman governor titles right.) Luke's
accurate employment of the various titles used in the
Roman Empire has been compared to the easy and confident
way in which an Oxford man in ordinary conversation will
refer to the Heads of Oxford colleges by their proper
titles - the Provost of Oriel, the Master of Balliol, the
Rector of Exeter, the President of Magdalen, and so on.

His accuracy in such details extends also to the more
general sphere of local colour and atmosphere in such
places as Jerusalem, Syrian Antioch, Philippi and Ephesus.
He gets the atmosphere right every time. It is worth
noting that the description of his sea voyage with Paul to
Rome, and their shipwreck on Malta, in Acts 27, has been
called "one of the most instructive documents for the
knowledge of ancient seamanship" that we possess. There
is, in fact, only one other document in existence that
gives similar detail as to what sailing was like in those