“... only the Catholic church was there at the time.”
Sorry but you are incorrect. First a bit of history. The 27 books that form the New Testament were first codified by Athanasius of Alexandria (A.D. 296-373). He was the most prominent theologian of the fourth century, and he served as bishop of Alexandria. The Church in Alexandria was formed by the Apostle Mark and is now known as the Coptic (meaning Egyptian) Church.
His list of canonical books was published as part of his Thirty-Ninth Festal Epistle of A.D. 367. After the list he declares, “these are the wells of salvation, so that he who thirsts may be satisfied with the sayings in these. Let no one add to these. Let nothing be taken away.”
It was not until A.D. 380 when the roman church became the official state religion under Emperor Theodosius I. Thus at a minimum, the Coptic (Egyptian) tradition is equal and parallel in timeline to the Roman tradition. Further, since it was a Coptic Bishop who identified the 27 books in the 367 epistle, the canon of the New Testament does NOT come from the Roman tradition.
Ooops! Dang history.
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