RE: You could just as logically have said that the way things had been is just the way the councils wanted things to be
Nope. The councils were composed of men who came from the Christian community. They could not INVENT or CHOOSE writings ( your “what the councils wanted them to be “ ) that were not considered sacred by the Christian community at large.
What they did was simply FORMALIZE what their church members already recognized for posterity.
>> They could not INVENT or CHOOSE writings ( your “what the councils wanted them to be “ ) that were not considered sacred by the Christian community at large.
What they did was simply FORMALIZE what their church members already recognized for posterity.
I trust that you are not purposely misconstruing what I’m saying here. My meaning is that the councils indeed may have wanted to create or endorse or certify or FORMALIZE a canon that would be in accordance with what was considered by the majority of Christians to be inspired. BUT, can you cite to any contemporaneous authoritative source in support of that contention? If so, I’d like to see it. By the way, it’s a good thing ML was not a member of the deciding council, because if he had been the canon might have one less book! He is said to have despised the Epistle of James!