How The Bible Came To Be

Traditionally the Torah was written by Moses after being revealed by God. These teachings were handed down through the generations and it is believed that the versions we have today were written after the Babylonian exile, between 600-400 BC

Revelation's place in the Bible was always at risk with many doubting its authenticity, its imagery and its message, even as far back as the 2nd century

Although not an accepted part of the Jewish Bible until the 2nd century, the "writings," which includes 11 books such as Psalms, Proverbs and Daniel, were well known and had some religious authority given to them. References are made to them in the Gospels

There were many other books of Acts apart from the one written by Luke. Some include the Acts of Andrew, John, Paul, Peter and Thomas

Romans, First Corinthians, Second Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, First Thessalonians and Philemon are all widely accepted as works of Paul's. The other seven are now thought to have been written by imposters claiming to be Paul. In addition to the 14 which made it into the New Testament, there are a further 14 books which claim to have been written either by, or about, Paul

Greek was the dominant language of the time after the Middle East had been conquered by Alexander the Great. The title, which is Latin for "70," comes from the legend that 72 Jewish scholars, 6 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, translated the work for Ptolemy, the King of Egypt for inclusion in the Great Library of Alexandria

The books in the Nevi'im are Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the 12 Minor Prophets. Samuel and Kings are both divided into two books in the Christian Bible, and the 12 Minor Prophets are split into 12 separate books.
The Prophets were a later addition to the Jewish Bible, coming after the Torah. They were accepted as canon sometime before 180 BC, but the exact date is unknown

Before this time different churches used different Gospels. There are known to be many more than the 4 included in the New Testament, including the Gospel of Mary Magdalene and the Gospel of Judas Iscariot

Luther felt that the books went against some Protestant doctrines, but his followers did not share his views and the books remained in the New Testament. They were, however, placed after all the other books and are the last four books in the Lutherian Bible

The Council, which took place between 1547 and 1563, was a response to the Protestant Reformation. It was responsible for numerous reforms and specified Catholic doctrine on salvation and the sacraments, as well as on the books to be included in the Biblical canon