There was never a single dramatic council that voted the New Testament into being. The canon emerged slowly. The Muratorian Fragment, from around AD 170–200, already lists most of the books; Athanasius, in a festival letter of AD 367, is the first to name exactly the 27 we now have; and regional councils at Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) ratified that list. For a long time several books — Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, Jude, Revelation — were argued over before being accepted.
- Muratorian Fragment (~AD 170–200) lists most NT books; Athanasius (AD 367) first names all 27.
- Councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) ratified the list; several books were long disputed.
What the evidence showsThe 27-book New Testament is the outcome of a long, documented process of use and debate across the early church — not a late imposition by one authority.
Where it stopsBecause it was a process, there was real disagreement along the way, and the criteria were applied unevenly and largely after the fact.