On what basis did "you" (presuming "you" means "the Catholic church") decide "what was (the) Gospel", out of "a lot of books floating out there"?
Alex, here’s a pretty good relatively short read re: the canonicity of the New Testament. There is also a fairly lengthy article about the topic in the New Jerome Bible study. [It’s quite expensive, but a good library may have a copy. You should certainly be able to find one at any good Catholic university in the area.]
At any rate, here is the reference in question. [And it IS a very interesting topic.] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm
LOL
What a tired old talking point. Just a little research reveals that the Holy Spirit guided Born Again Christians in seeing which books were inspired and which to reject. Just one example is the quick rejection of the "Protoevangelium of James". This book written in the 2nd century was rejected before the Roman church was able to use state power to enforce it's will.
IOW, there was very little controversy concerning what was inspired and what wasn't. The only time some council was called, or a bishop made some sweeping declaration, was because pagan beliefs were growing within a given area. Also, these supposed authoritative statements only start showing up several generations after the Apostolic Era had ended. The fact there wasn't more controversy earlier is a testimony to how seriously Christians viewed Scripture.
On what basis did "you" (presuming "you" means "the Catholic church") decide "what was (the) Gospel", out of "a lot of books floating out there"?
Me first! I have yet to get an answer to my often asked questions as to the polemic behind this often made "we gave you the Bible" assertion.
The argument seems to be that the instruments, discerners and and stewards of Holy Writ (Rome presumes she is the NT church) are the infallible interpreters of it. And that such an infallible magisterium is necessary to recognize and establish both men and writings of God as being so, and thus its judgment on what it rejects or affirms must be submitted to.
Maybe this RC will answer this if they have an argument.