DID YOU KNOW?
The answer
Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, sent his churches an annual Easter letter, and the one for 367 lists exactly the twenty-seven New Testament books. Earlier writers made lists too — but they differ at the edges, and 367 is the first surviving match with today's table of contents.
Why it’s interesting
That's more than three centuries after Jesus — and the letter describes books already being read, not a fresh selection. Regional councils at Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) soon affirmed similar lists.
Scholarly consensus
You can know the Bible.
Not just the stories, but the history, authorship, and scholarship behind it.