
Who Decided What's In Your Bible? (And Were They Right?)
About this episode
How did 27 specific books end up in your New Testament out of hundreds of early Christian writings—and how can you be confident the church didn't just invent the Bible?
In this episode of the Cold-Case Christianity Podcast, J. Warner Wallace applies his cold case detective experience to the canon of Scripture, tackling questions like:
- Who actually decided what's in your Bible—and on what basis?
- Did the church create the Bible's authority, or simply recognize it?
- What criteria did early Christians use to identify Scripture, and can those criteria be found in the Bible itself?
- How do apostolic connection, eyewitness credibility, doctrinal consistency, and widespread use across the early church all fit into the story of the canon?
- What about alternative gospels and letters that didn't "make the cut"?
Whether you've wrestled with Catholic claims about church authority, skeptical memes about "books that were removed," or honest questions from friends and students, this episode will help you see why the evidence points to recognition—not invention—of the New Testament.
📚 Go deeper with the investigative case for the reliability of the Gospels in Cold-Case Christianity:
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