For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
Daniel Veler
When Christ was here they had the Old Testament scriptures to go by. Christ came fulfilling what had been written concerning him. After his resurrection many gospels were written concerning Christ. Somewhere around 77 of them. Letters by the Apostles were being written and sent to the churches during their time. The Book of Revelation was given to John to send to the seven churches. As time went on the church leaders felt a need to put together what we have come to know the Bible. This occurred around 400 years after Christ. The church leaders settled on only four gospels. They included the letters we now read and the Book of Revelation. Then they decided to separate the Bible into what we now know as the Old and New Testaments.