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# Proto-orthodox
In its infancy, Christianity existed without authoritative texts. Jesus didn't write anything down. He didn't dictate his sayings to an author. Following his death and resurrection, the movement spread through the work of itinerant preachers who traveled from city to city, teaching his message, starting churches and establishing leaders. They carried with them collections of sayings, sermons, and stories about his life, death and resurrection.

# Writing of the gospels
Eventually, authors collected these traditions into the four books we know today as gospels. These gospels contain a tapestry of sayings, parables, and narratives.

Each author seems to have had a variety of sources at their disposal. Some of these sources overlapped with the other authors, while others were unique. As a result, we can see that each gospel's message was tailored to the specific needs of their audience, emphasizing and de-emphasizing various aspects of Jesus' story and teaching.

# Letters
Christianity also spread through the exchange of letters attributed to Jesus' apostles, most notably Paul. These letters were addressed to specific city churches throughout the Roman empire that were subsequently circulated amongst other churches.

# Other books written at the time of the early church
Other gospels and letters have been recently discovered that were circulating in the first centuries following Jesus' life that didn't make the final cut of our Bible. We have found books attributed to the apostles Thomas, Judas, and Peter, as well as Jesus' mother Mary. For a variety of reasons, these documents were not included in the version of the Bible we have today, and are not considered historical.

# Collecting the books
In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, different Christian groups began to identify specific gospels and letters as legitimate and held them as collections.

The process of collecting these books was motivated by the necessity to nail down the authoritative voice of Christianity. It's native religion Judaism had survived for years through a collection of holy books and leaders. But without creeds, books or doctrinal statements, Christianity was vulnerable to distortions and misappropriation.

Some competing religions attempted to hijack Christianity. They told fanciful tales about Jesus to lend credence to their philosophy. The early church fathers identified these groups "gnostics," but we now know that gnosticism, like early Christianity, was not a unified movement either. There were many different groups with different beliefs and ideas.

As the church developed towards orthodoxy, her leaders tried to determine which of these writings to include in the canon, by ascertaining which they believed came from the authentic oral tradition of Jesus' sayings, and which were legitimate letters of the apostles. They based their decisions on the claim that they had been written by an apostle or close associate of an apostle. On whether the message of the book reflected the character of Jesus, and if it agreed with other writings. And finally, the degree to which the book was being read and practiced by a wide spectrum of churches.

The writings of the early church fathers and historians identified many different lists of what different Christians believed should be included in the Christian Bible. But by the 4th century, there was near unanimous agreement about which gospels and letters should be included in the Bible we have today. In a letter from 367 AD Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria listed the 27 books that we now consider the New Testament canon, using the word "canonized."

And acknowledging Christianity's Jewish origins, the early church also adopted the Septuagint, the latin translation of the Hebrew Bible. The early church believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Hebrew Bible's prophecies of a Messiah. The Hebrew Bible eventually came to be known to Christians as the Old Testament in contrast to the Christian Bible's New Testament.

In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, different Christian groups began to identify specific gospels and letters as legitimate and held them as collections.

The process of collecting these books was motivated by the necessity to nail down the authoritative voice of Christianity. It's native religion Judaism had survived for years through a collection of holy books and leaders. But without creeds, books or doctrinal statements, Christianity was vulnerable to distortions and misappropriation.

Some competing religions attempted to hijack Christianity. They told fanciful tales about Jesus to lend credence to their philosophy. The early church fathers identified these groups "gnostics," but we now know that gnosticism, like early Christianity, was not a unified movement either. There were many different groups with different beliefs and ideas.

As the church developed towards orthodoxy, her leaders tried to determine which of these writings to include in the canon, by ascertaining which they believed came from the authentic oral tradition of Jesus' sayings, and which were legitimate letters of the apostles. They based their decisions on the claim that they had been written by an apostle or close associate of an apostle. On whether the message of the book reflected the character of Jesus, and if it agreed with other writings. And finally, the degree to which the book was being read and practiced by a wide spectrum of churches.

The writings of the early church fathers and historians identified many different lists of what different Christians believed should be included in the Christian Bible. But by the 4th century, there was near unanimous agreement about which gospels and letters should be included in the Bible we have today. In a letter from 367 AD Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria listed the 27 books that we now consider the New Testament canon, using the word "canonized."

And acknowledging Christianity's Jewish origins, the early church also adopted the Septuagint, the latin translation of the Hebrew Bible. The early church believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Hebrew Bible's prophecies of a Messiah. The Hebrew Bible eventually came to be known to Christians as the Old Testament in contrast to the Christian Bible's New Testament.

As these books made the journey from their original author to their inclusion in the canon, a change occurred in how their were understood. They became more than mere books. Leaders claimed these authors were inspired by God and their words were His revelations, though neither the texts nor authors claimed to be oracles.

They also began to view the collection as a corpus. A unified book.

The church adopted the word "scripture" to describe them, and elevated these books to the same level the Jews held the Old Testament.

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Proto-orthodox In its infancy, Christianity existed without authoritative texts. Jesus didn't write anything down. He didn't dictate his sayings to an author. Following his death and resurrection, the movement spread through the work of itinerant preachers who traveled from city to city, teaching his message, starting churches and establishing leaders.

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Comparison of differences between the Septuagint and Masoretic versions of the Hebrew Bible when quoted in the New Testament.

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Table of Old Testament quotes in the New Testament, in English translation

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The following is a table of New Testament (NT) quotations of the Old Testament (OT). The left column carries the NT citations, the middle the Septuagint (LXX) and the last column the Masoretic (MT). The NT and MT traslation is the Authorized Version, the LXX, Brenton's.

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The Bible Jesus read

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The Septuagint (from the Latin septuaginta , "seventy"), also known as the LXX, is a Koine Greek translation of a Hebraic textual tradition that included certain texts which were later included in the canonical Hebrew Bible and other related texts which were not.

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Christian History Magazine - How We Got Our Bible

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Christian History Magazine - How We Got Our Bible

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From forming the canon to translating the Word