>> 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!
Why would councils pick and choose epistles and gospels that were not widely read and recognized by the church worldwide?
I Don’t have to cite contemporaneous sources at all. Councils are reflections of community consensus. They come together as a sort of cross advisory group that talk to and refer to each other’s community in order to formalize for posterity what the churches have always recognized.
As for Martin Luther, you over emohasize his initial doubt on the letter of
James. The fact is -— He DID include the epistle in his own German translation of the Bible.
So, I would say that he was prevailed upon by fellow reformers to do so. Had he been part if a council, the epistle if James would still be in the Canon.