Many people believe the creators of the New Testament simply gathered together some letters and put them together and “voila” you have the New Testament. That sounds simple and too good to be true, and that it is. Let’s take a look at how the New Testament came into being.

Most people believe the gospels were written first because they appear first in the New Testament. However, the earliest writings were written by Paul around 50 CE. The first gospel, Mark, appeared around 65 - 70 CE.

Like today, there were several different variants of Christianity in the first century but the differences in their beliefs made Christianity of today seem very harmonious, even among the various Christian sects. In the first and early second century some “Christian” sects believed there was only one God, while another sect believed there were two Gods, and another believed there was 365 Gods. Some believed salvation was obtained by keeping the law, others said it was faith in Yeshua, and others said it was none of these but rather by learning the true meanings of Yeshua’s (Jesus) sayings ( Gospel of Thomas saying 1
Gospel of Thomas saying 1And he said, "The one who finds the interpretation of these sayings shall not taste death." (K. C. Hanson)
).

Within the Christian communities there were divisions among Jewish and gentile believers as to whether you had to follow the law or not. Some said, “Yeshua was Jewish so therefore you had to keep the law” while others said, “this is the new covenant and the old one is abolished, so therefore we don’t have to keep the law.”

The church community started out where everybody was equal ( Gal 3:28
Gal 3:28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (NKJV)
) but as time went on it became more male dominated and anti-Semitism rose up and caused further divisions because more and more of the community were gentiles.

With all the struggles to become the “Orthodox” church there were many power grabs. Each group needed authoritative writings to back their beliefs to have any credibility. Some groups would use a modified version of Matthew, and another would use a modified version of Luke. It was a huge battle to create a canon that was accepted by most groups (and that still hasn’t happened yet, 2000+ years later).

In 367 CE the bishop of Alexandria, Athanasius, sent a letter that is the earliest known example where someone states which books should be in the New Testament canon and it matches all the books we have in the New Testament today. The debate of contents for the New Testament canon hasn’t been settled in over 2000 years. Even today we have people that want to remove and or add books to the biblical cannon.

There is one scripture that stands out as being one of the wisest comments when it comes to religious movements ( Acts 5:34-39
Acts 5:34Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. 35And he said to them: “Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. 36For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. 37After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed. 38And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; 39but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.” (NKJV)
). Nothing can stop God and what He is doing ( Rom 8:31
Rom 8:31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (NKJV)
& Isa 54:17
Isa 54:17No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord. (NKJV)
). God has maintained truth throughout the ages. Most of the religious movements that started, which were centered around Yeshua, died out. Most people have never heard of the Ebionites or the Marcionites or the Gnostics. These were some of the major movements following the resurrection of Yeshua.

The bible works in the same way. The scriptures that make up the bible were inspired by God ( 2 Tim 3:16
2 Tim 3:16All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, (NKJV)
), but man wrote it down, copied it thousands of times by hand, transliterated it, translated it into many different languages and versions, and even though man has had his hand in it from the beginning, God has seen to it that the bible still contains the truths of God that He sees fit for us to have.