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Twenty of the 27 books of the New Testament were accepted early in the history of Christianity, while the other seven that make up the Scriptures were subjects of dispute by a minority of biblical scholars until the 16th century.

Twenty of the 27 books of the New Testament were accepted early in the history of Christianity, while the other seven that make up the Scriptures were subjects of dispute by a minority of biblical scholars until the 16th century.

When [[Constantine]] first made Christianity a legal religion in the [[Roman Empire]] in the early 300s, he called together leading Christians from the East and West parts of the empire to iron out the principles of Christianity, including cementing the canon. The entire canonical text was identified by Pope [[Damasus I]] and the [[Synod of Rome (382)]].<ref>[http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ap031100.htm Major Church Pronouncements on the Bible]<br/>[http://taylormarshall.com/2008/08/decree-of-council-of-rome-ad-382-on.html Decree of Council of Rome (AD 382) on the Biblical Canon, by Dr Taylor Marshall]<br/>[http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2006/12/pope-damasus-and-canon-of-scripture.html BlogSpot. Beggars All: Reformation & Apologetics. Pope Damasus and the Canon of Scripture (Part One)] (beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com)  See also [http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2006/12/pope-damasus-and-canon-of-scripture_31.html (Part Two)] ''Both Parts offer clear explanations and clarifications by one Protestant apologist of the rationale for the firm Protestant position that the decision by Pope Damasus and the Synod of Rome in 382 on the canon of the books of the Bible is invalid (includes discussions)''.</ref> Subsequent councils such as the Council of Hippo (393) and the [[Third Council of Carthage (397)]], dealt with minor questions of authenticity, affirming the canon of Damasus and the Synod of Rome, and set forth the first-ever listing of all 27 books of the New Testament together, with 46 books of the Old Testament, a canon of 73 books of the Bible, which quickly gained acceptance and remained unchanged for 1200 years. Still, 7 books of the Old Testament (and parts of 2 other books) and 7 books of the New Testament, 14 total, while accepted by the majority of Christian scholars and church leaders as part of the Biblical canon, continued to be debated by a minority of independent scholars, from the 4th through the 16th centuries, many of them quoting from the disputed books as if they were authoritative scripture.<ref>[http://www.christiantruth.com/articles/Apocrypha3.html The Old Testament Canon and the Apocrypha. Part 3: From Jerome to the Reformation, William Webster.] This article provides extensive translations of the writings of many of the major Western theologians from the fifth to the sixteenth centuries on their view of the Canon for the first time in English.<br/>See also [http://www.bible-researcher.com/jerome.html Jerome on the Canon] (bible-researcher.com)</ref> [[Jerome]] (''Prologus Galeatus'' c. 420) listed the books rejected by the Jews as "apocryphal" but himself quoted them as if they were scripture.<ref>Edmon Gallagher on Jerome's ''Prologus'' and the Council of Hippo regarding the Canon (2013)</ref> Since the 16th century these 14 books have been designated ''[[deuterocanonical]]'', as distinct from the ''protocanonical'' books, those books of scripture which were universally accepted without debate from the 1st century of the church.

When [[Constantine]] first made Christianity a legal religion in the [[Roman Empire]] in the early 300s, he called together leading Christians from the East and West parts of the empire to iron out the principles of Christianity, including cementing the canon. The entire canonical text was identified by Pope [[Damasus I]] and the [[Synod of Rome (382)]].<ref>[http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ap031100.htm Major Church Pronouncements on the Bible]<br/>[http://taylormarshall.com/2008/08/decree-of-council-of-rome-ad-382-on.html Decree of Council of Rome (AD 382) on the Biblical Canon, by Dr Taylor Marshall]<br/>[http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2006/12/pope-damasus-and-canon-of-scripture.html BlogSpot. Beggars All: Reformation & Apologetics. Pope Damasus and the Canon of Scripture (Part One)] (beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com)  See also [http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2006/12/pope-damasus-and-canon-of-scripture_31.html (Part Two)] ''Both Parts offer clear explanations and clarifications by one Protestant apologist of the rationale for the firm Protestant position that the decision by Pope Damasus and the Synod of Rome in 382 on the canon of the books of the Bible is invalid (includes discussions)''.</ref> Subsequent councils such as the Council of Hippo (393) and the [[Third Council of Carthage (397)]], dealt with minor questions of authenticity, affirming the canon of Damasus and the Synod of Rome, and set forth the first-ever listing of all 27 books of the New Testament together, with 46 books of the Old Testament, a canon of 73 books of the Bible, which quickly gained acceptance and remained unchanged for 1200 years. Still, 7 books of the Old Testament (and parts of 2 other books) and 7 books of the New Testament, 14 total, while accepted by the majority of Christian scholars and church leaders as part of the Biblical canon, continued to be debated by a minority of independent scholars, from the 4th through the 16th centuries, many of them quoting from the disputed books as if they were authoritative scripture.<ref>[http://www.christiantruth.com/articles/Apocrypha3.html The Old Testament Canon and the Apocrypha. Part 3: From Jerome to the Reformation, William Webster.] This article provides extensive translations of the writings of many of the major Western theologians from the fifth to the sixteenth centuries on their view of the Canon for the first time in English.<br/>See also [http://www.bible-researcher.com/jerome.html Jerome on the Canon] (bible-researcher.com)</ref> [[Jerome]] (''Prologus Galeatus'' c. 420) listed the books rejected by the Jews as "apocryphal" but himself quoted them as if they were scripture.<ref>Edmon Gallagher on Jerome's ''Prologus'' and the Council of Hippo regarding the Canon (2013)</ref> Since the 16th century these 14 books have been designated ''[[Deuterocanonicals|deuterocanonical]]'', as distinct from the ''protocanonical'' books, those books of scripture which were universally accepted without debate from the 1st century of the church.

The canon of Damasus, and the Synods of Rome, Hippo and Carthage, was reaffirmed at the [[Council of Florence]] of the (briefly reunited) Church of the east and west in 1442.<ref>[http://catholicdefense.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-council-of-florence-on-pope-church.html Saturday, October 26, 2013. The Council of Florence on the Pope, the Church and the Bible]<br/>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03267a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia (1915) Canon of the Old Testament] "''During the deliberations of the Council'' [of Trent] ''there never was any real question as to the reception of all the traditional Scripture. Neither--and this is remarkable--in the proceedings is there manifest any serious doubt of the canonicity of the disputed writings. In the mind of the Tridentine Fathers they had been virtually canonized, by the same decree of Florence, and the same Fathers felt especially bound by the action of the preceding ecumenical synod''" [of Florence]."<br/>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc6.iii.iii.vii.html Christian Classics Ethereal Library. History of the Church, Vol. 6: § 18. The Council of Ferrara-Florence. 1438–1445.]<br/>[http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/FLORENCE.HTM Canons of the ECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF FLORENCE (1438-1445)] (Basel/Ferrara/Florence/Rome)</ref> For the Catholic Church, a formal [[Dogma|dogmatic]] proclamation was made at the [[Council of Trent]], that the Bible the Church had been using and the books it contained "with all their parts" was correct, in reaction to the [[Protestant Reformation]]'s rejection of 7 of the deuterocanonical works as [[apocrypha]], together with those parts of 2 other canonical books which had been long debated (parts of Esther and Daniel). However, [[1 Esdras]], [[2 Esdras]] and [[Prayer of Manasseh]] were not included in the canon of the Catholic Bible defined by the Council of Trent, although they were part of the Vulgate, but they were subsequently placed in an appendix to the definitive [[Clementine Vulgate]], "''lest they be lost altogether''". This definitively closed 1400 years of intermittant debate over the traditional canon of the Bible in the Catholic Church, and declared henceforth [http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/anathema ''anathema'' (cursed)] any one who persisted in holding any dissenting opinion in the matter <ref>"But if any one receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately contemn the traditions aforesaid; let him be anathema."[http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct04.html The Council of Trent. The Fourth Session. The canons and decrees of the sacred and oecumenical Council of Trent, Trans. J. Waterworth (London: Dolman, 1848), 17-21. <nowiki>[Page 17]</nowiki> SESSION THE FOURTH Celebrated on the eighth day of the month of April, in the year MDXLVI. DECREE CONCERNING THE CANONICAL SCRIPTURES]</ref> (''see'' [http://biblehub.com/multi/1_corinthians/16-22.htm 1 Corinthians 16:22]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=galatians%201:6-9&version=KJV Galatians 1:6-9]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%2013:1-2&version=KJV Romans 13:1-2]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%2013:17&version=KJV Hebrews 13:17]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2peter%201:20&version=KJV 2 Peter 1:20] and [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2peter%203:16-17&version=KJV 3:16-17]; [http://biblehub.com/multi/jude/1-8.htm Jude 8], [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jude%201:16-19&version=KJV 16-19]; [http://biblehub.com/multi/revelation/22-19.htm  Revelation 22:19]).

The canon of Damasus, and the Synods of Rome, Hippo and Carthage, was reaffirmed at the [[Council of Florence]] of the (briefly reunited) Church of the east and west in 1442.<ref>[http://catholicdefense.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-council-of-florence-on-pope-church.html Saturday, October 26, 2013. The Council of Florence on the Pope, the Church and the Bible]<br/>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03267a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia (1915) Canon of the Old Testament] "''During the deliberations of the Council'' [of Trent] ''there never was any real question as to the reception of all the traditional Scripture. Neither--and this is remarkable--in the proceedings is there manifest any serious doubt of the canonicity of the disputed writings. In the mind of the Tridentine Fathers they had been virtually canonized, by the same decree of Florence, and the same Fathers felt especially bound by the action of the preceding ecumenical synod''" [of Florence]."<br/>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc6.iii.iii.vii.html Christian Classics Ethereal Library. History of the Church, Vol. 6: § 18. The Council of Ferrara-Florence. 1438–1445.]<br/>[http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/FLORENCE.HTM Canons of the ECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF FLORENCE (1438-1445)] (Basel/Ferrara/Florence/Rome)</ref> For the Catholic Church, a formal [[Dogma|dogmatic]] proclamation was made at the [[Council of Trent]], that the Bible the Church had been using and the books it contained "with all their parts" was correct, in reaction to the [[Protestant Reformation]]'s rejection of 7 of the deuterocanonical works as [[apocrypha]], together with those parts of 2 other canonical books which had been long debated (parts of Esther and Daniel). However, [[1 Esdras]], [[2 Esdras]] and [[Prayer of Manasseh]] were not included in the canon of the Catholic Bible defined by the Council of Trent, although they were part of the Vulgate, but they were subsequently placed in an appendix to the definitive [[Clementine Vulgate]], "''lest they be lost altogether''". This definitively closed 1400 years of intermittant debate over the traditional canon of the Bible in the Catholic Church, and declared henceforth [http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/anathema ''anathema'' (cursed)] any one who persisted in holding any dissenting opinion in the matter <ref>"But if any one receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately contemn the traditions aforesaid; let him be anathema."[http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct04.html The Council of Trent. The Fourth Session. The canons and decrees of the sacred and oecumenical Council of Trent, Trans. J. Waterworth (London: Dolman, 1848), 17-21. <nowiki>[Page 17]</nowiki> SESSION THE FOURTH Celebrated on the eighth day of the month of April, in the year MDXLVI. DECREE CONCERNING THE CANONICAL SCRIPTURES]</ref> (''see'' [http://biblehub.com/multi/1_corinthians/16-22.htm 1 Corinthians 16:22]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=galatians%201:6-9&version=KJV Galatians 1:6-9]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%2013:1-2&version=KJV Romans 13:1-2]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%2013:17&version=KJV Hebrews 13:17]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2peter%201:20&version=KJV 2 Peter 1:20] and [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2peter%203:16-17&version=KJV 3:16-17]; [http://biblehub.com/multi/jude/1-8.htm Jude 8], [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jude%201:16-19&version=KJV 16-19]; [http://biblehub.com/multi/revelation/22-19.htm  Revelation 22:19]).