Speaking with Authority

 

From the point that the gospels and the epistles began being circulated, the followers of Christ had the authority of the apostles upon which to base their beliefs. As the first generation of Christians died, false gospels and writings that claimed apostolic authority began to be circulated, so the church needed to make an official declaration of “this is what the church has always believed,” and did so by identifying which documents were in agreement with historic Christianity.

In essence, the church drew the boundaries for what would be considered authentic Christianity. The identification of the gospels and the epistles was not intended to be an exhaustive declaration of Christian doctrine, it was more of a statement about what was not in agreement with the apostolic faith.

Ultimately, they were saying, these documents (what we call the Bible) are in agreement with what the church has always believed and taught and “those” other documents are not. The forthcoming seven ecumenical councils were a continuation of that thought. They were further declarations of “what the church has always believed and taught.”