Clouseau

There is only one sort of person who decides the canon of Christianity, and that is the sort of person who actually practises what Christ taught- a small minority of those who profess to do so. If the mere professors were to select canons that disagreed with the canon of the genuine believers (who have only one canon), the professors would be in no position to influence those true believers. Neither would they retain credibility with the general public, who know a genuine Christian when they have dealings with one.

capnkirk

Would you say that Eusebius had any part in deciding Christian canon? As a childhood friend of Constantine I, and an ardent champion for orthodoxy, I would posit that he did. But OTOH, his surviving works confirm that he honestly earned his nom celeb, "Eusebius the Liar".

Clouseau

You were a childhood friend of Constantine? Well, now! Of course, Constantine's pals (or shall we call them lackeys) did not decide anything as far as many people are concerned, because those pals added books to the Bible that those many consider heretical, and today most printed Bibles have them removed.

I think that everyone, saint or sinner, instantly recognises the Bible (except for certain difficult parts that need expert teaching) for what it is. The Corinthians, the Colossians, the original recipients of all the NT letters, all of these knew instantly that here was divine writ- that is why these letters survived and were copied. The canon was formed just as soon as it was read to the churches it was sent to, and was largely, if not entirely decided by c. 80 CE. What we can be absolutely sure of is that any group of persons that takes over three hundred years to work out what God has written cannot be the church. It can only be the anti-church, in fact.

What is extraordinary is that otherwise sensible people have been taken in by clowns for so long. It's the same with the perfectly insane trinity idea, from the same people. Someone once said, if you are going to tell a lie, make it a gargantuan one. If you then keep pushing it relentlessly, people's minds get inured to the stupidity of it, and their brains stop working regarding it.

Gamera

Guys, take this outside. I'm asking a very straightforward question about dating texts. The issue about the nature of the canon is irrelevant to this thread.

(Gesh, it's like a bar in here sometimes)