Talmud, Philo, Church Fathers profess a mechanical control of God over human authors.
The Bible is the Word of God. 2 Timothy 3:16 only applies to the Old Testament, you might say.
What's the point of
learning about the Bible?
None, if it's an idol or point of pride for you and presents fresh academic exercises to distract you from the gospel. Everything, if it's the first step of deeply examining your foundation and delving deeper into prayer and Scripture.
Even if you feel completely grounded on the Cornerstone of Christ Jesus, you will encounter apparent issues such as contradictions in Scripture, historical inaccuracies, doubts about the canonization process and exclusion of apocryphal books, liberal interpretations of Genesis and Revelation, the KJV only movement, JEDP Theory, late dating of the New Testament, and more. Let's study them together, so we aren't startled when they appear in the wild! Also for Gentiles, we just don't have the same cultural context and connection to the world the Bible was written in that the Jewish people do. Knowledge of Jewish history and culture is a powerful lens for understanding Scripture.
The Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh) was written by a succession of prophets. After the prophetic gift was withdrawn for a while, the books were collected and organized into libraries.
The Jewish synod of Jamnia (Yavne) is often credited for officially canonizing the Tanakh, but the details are not well-documented. It is believed to have taken place around 90 A.D., if at all, which is twenty years after the collapse of the Jewish system. All that remains are references to Yavnehite rabbinical debates in the Mishnah and Talmud. For example, Mishnah Yadayim 3:5 includes discussion on whether Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes are indeed holy scriptures.
However, the Tanakh does not need a single formal event to be valid. Rather, the rabbinical discussions on the inspiration of certain books and Dead Sea Scrolls' diversity of religious writings demonstrate the process of communal consensus over time.
The Torah is accepted as scripture by both Jews and Samaritans, suggesting it was canon before their split around 930 B.C.
1. FIRST COUNCIL OF NICAEA (325) – Affirmed the deity of Christ. The false doctrine of Arianism was rejected.
2. FIRST COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE (381) – Clarified the nature of the Holy Spirit.
3. COUNCIL OF EPHESUS (431) – Clarified the nature of Christ’s personhood. The false teaching of Nestorianism was repudiated.
4. COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON (451) – Clarified the teaching concerning Christ’s nature and person, including the “hypostatic union.” The false doctrine of monophysitism was rejected.
5. SECOND COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE (553) – Confirmed the conclusions of the first four councils.
6. THIRD COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE (680–681) – Clarified the nature of Christ’s will.
7. SECOND COUNCIL OF NICAEA (787) – Established guidelines for the veneration of images. (Some Protestants reject this council, while accepting the Council of Hieria of 754, which rejected the veneration of icons.)
The remainder of the councils are accepted by the Roman Catholic Church but not by Protestants:
8. FOURTH COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE (869) – Condemned a council that had not been authorized.
9. FIRST LATERAN COUNCIL (1123) – Placed limitations on the ecclesiastical rights of lay princes and made plans for a crusade to regain territory lost to Muslims.
10. SECOND LATERAN COUNCIL (1139) – Condemned the errors of Arnold of Brescia.
11. THIRD LATERAN COUNCIL (1179) – Condemned the Albigenses and Waldenses and issued numerous decrees for the reformation of morals.
12. FOURTH LATERAN COUNCIL (1215) – Added more condemnation of the Albigenses, condemned the Trinitarian errors of Abbot Joachim, and published other reformatory decrees.
13. FIRST COUNCIL OF LYONS (1245) – Excommunicated and deposed Emperor Frederick II and authorized a new crusade.
14. SECOND COUNCIL OF LYONS (1274) – Provided for a temporary reunion of the Greek Church with Rome and set rules for papal elections.
15. COUNCIL OF VIENNE (1311–1313) – Addressed crimes and errors imputed to the Knights Templar, the Fraticelli, the Beghards, and the Beguines. Also took on projects of a new crusade, the reformation of the clergy, and the teaching of Oriental languages in the universities.
16. COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE (1414–1418) – Ended the Great Schism by the election of Pope Martin V.
17. COUNCIL OF BASEL/FERRARA/FLORENCE (1431–1439) – Moved from city to city due to trouble. Resulted in temporary reunification with the Greek Church and made official the seven sacraments of Catholicism.
18. FIFTH LATERAN COUNCIL (1512–1517) – Authorized a new crusade against the Turks but was quickly overshadowed by the “trouble” caused by the Protestant Reformation.
19. COUNCIL OF TRENT (1545–1563) – Condemned the teachings of Luther and the Reformers and officially recognized the Apocrypha as canonical.
20. FIRST VATICAN COUNCIL (1869–1870) – Affirmed the infallibility of the Pope when speaking ex cathedra.
21. SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL (1962–1965) – Promoted various reforms and clarifications of church practice.
