To Reject the Tree is to Reject Its Fruit

One must ask our Bible-loving non-Catholic brethren where the Bible came from. How did the early Christians know which Jewish scriptures to reject and which ones to accept as inspired?
When Jesus walked the earth, there was much debate amongst the Jews about what books belonged in their canon and which did not. Some sects accepted books like Enoch and Jubilees, others didn't. The Pharisees accepted the prophets. The Sadducees did not.

How, then, did the early Christians know which Gospels and Epistles were inspired, and which should be rejected as apocryphal?

These decisions were officially debated and decided by the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Nicea in the 4th Century. So, if we reject the Roman Catholic Church and its authority to hold dogmatic councils under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, then... we are also rejecting the Bible! To reject the tree is to reject its fruit.



other related resources:
http://www.blogos.org/theologyapologetics/gospels-accurate.php

http://noquestionleftbehind.blogspot.com/2009/04/where-did-bible-come-from.html

Note: I do not know if the book (pictured above) is good . . . . but I just ordered it.  :-)
Here is the review:
This is an exceptional little book! Bishop Graham's prose style is delightful, though he can be a bit forceful at times, which may offend some Protestants. (But, if you disagree with him on any point, study up and try to refute it. You'll be sorely disappointed.) 

Some reviewers here have complained that the text isn't footnoted, but not many books written around the same time period (1911) were. He does, however, list a brief bibliography in the back, and if you're willing to do the research, his facts check out. It is also slightly outdated, in that he quotes and praises the Douay-Rheims Bible, which has been supplanted by the New Jerusalem and New American Bibles in English-speaking Catholic liturgical use. 

It is unfortunate that Bishop Graham isn't around to update this with information about the Dead Sea Scrolls, as they contain even more support for the Catholic canon of the Old Testament. But these trivialities aside, this is an excellent brief history of where the Bible came from, how the canon was determined, and the Catholic thoughts on the Bible. Highly recommended for Catholics, of course, and non-Catholics especially.