Originally Posted by Johnny Skeptic

What is false? Are you saying that you "can" take a vote to decide what God wants you to do?

Originally Posted by Johnny Skeptic

What is false? Are you saying that you "can" take a vote to decide what God wants you to do?

Originally Posted by Hatsoff

No, I'm saying there was no such vote.

Originally Posted by JS

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm

From the Catholic Encyclopedia

THE FORMATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON (A.D. 100-220)

The idea of a complete and clear-cut canon of the New Testament existing from the beginning, that is from Apostolic times, has no foundation in history. The Canon of the New Testament, like that of the Old, is the result of a development, of a process at once stimulated by disputes with doubters, both within and without the Church, and retarded by certain obscurities and natural hesitations, and which did not reach its final term until the dogmatic definition of the Tridentine Council.

Originally Posted by by JS

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia:

The beginning of canon law may be seen in the New Testament (see Acts
15; 1 Corinthians 11). During the 2nd and 3rd centuries a number of church orders (for example, the Didache and the Apostolic Tradition) described as normative certain customary practices of the community. Canon law in the sense of enacted legislation originated in the 4th-century regional councils held in Asia Minor. The enactments of these councils (Ancyra, Neocaesarea, Antioch, Gangra, and Laodicea), together with those of the ecumenical councils of Nicaea (325), Constantinople (present-day İstanbul) (381), and Chalcedon (451), formed the nucleus of subsequent collections. They dealt with the structure of the church (the provincial and patriarchal organization), the dignity of the clergy, the process of reconciling sinners, and Christian life in general.

Originally Posted by Johnny Skeptic

Votes or no votes, do you believe that there is good evidence that God chose the books that were included in the New Testament canon?

Originally Posted by Johnny Skeptic

There is good reason to believe that various votes were taken. As I showed in one of my previous posts:
...
In other words, the “doubters�? were outvoted.

Originally Posted by hatsoff

The Council of Trent began in late 1545, by which time the NT canon was firmly established. It also comes after the Reformation, meaning it did not apply to all Christians. There may have been ballots throughout history regarding the NT canon, but none of them affected its development.

Originally Posted by Peter Kirby

Roger Pearse has posted relevant data about the Council of Nicaea.

http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/nicaea.html

Originally Posted by Johnny Skeptic

The New Testament canon was arrived at by a vote. That fact discredits the canon because you can't take a vote in order to decide what God wants you to do. Such a vote would appeal to the fallacy of "argumentum ad populum."

Originally Posted by Johnny Skeptic

It is reasonable to assume that votes were taken by the councils.... There is good reason to believe that various votes were taken....In other words, the “doubters�? were outvoted.

Originally Posted by Johnny Skeptic

Votes or no votes

Originally Posted by Johnny Skeptic

The Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2004 says that "Paul, circa ad 3-62," was "the greatest missionary of Christianity and its first theologian, called Apostle to the Gentiles," and yet, none of the Gospel's mention Paul, even though he died before Mark, the earliest Gospel, was written?