Is the Bible the inspired word of God? (Level 2 discussion)

Before reading below, I recommend you read my post - What is the Faith Pyramid?

To begin, there are six good reasons to believe that the Bible is God’s actual revelation to mankind:[1]

1. The Bible is a religious book connected to history; therefore, it is open to verification via historical investigation.

2. The claims of many Scriptural accounts have been verified through extra-biblical and archaeological evidence.

3. The abundance and integrity of thousands of manuscripts of the Biblical text far surpasses all other ancient literary works, whether secular or religious.

4. The Bible presents a view of the beginning of the universe – that there was a singular beginning to space, matter, energy, and time – which matches well with the most prevalent views of modern science.

5. The Bible appeals to specific miracles and prophecies, which can be evaluated in terms of their historical accuracy and explanatory power.

6. The Bible presents a realistic view of the human condition (their nature and predicament) and offers a rational, viable, and existentially fulfilling resolution for humanity.

Those reasons listed above are good external factors that give validity to the inspiration of Scripture. There are a number of internal factors, found in both the Old and New Testaments, which give further credibility to the claim that the Holy Bible is the inspired word of God. In the Old Testament, God spoke words to Moses who then proclaimed them to Israel. This occurs numerous times in the Torah, with the clearest example found in the giving of the Ten Commandments. Furthermore, the New Testament treats the Old Testament as inspired. In fact, many passages in the Old Testament are attributed to God by the authors of the New Testament writings. 2 Timothy 3:16 states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (NIV, italics mine). Furthermore, the apostles regarded their preaching and teaching as God’s word. Acts 8:14 states, “Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God…” (NASB, italics mine). Paul also states in Galatians 1:11-12, “For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (NASB). Finally, in Peter’s own letter (dated to the early 60’s), he actually refers to Paul’s writings as “Scripture.” Peter mentions that Paul’s letters have some things that are hard to understand, “which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures…” (2 Peter 3:16 NASB, italics mine). Therefore, there are external factors and internal evidence that both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible are inspired words of God.

So...How was it decided what books would make up the New Testament?

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[1] Summarized from quote in Kenneth Richard Samples, A World of Difference. (Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, 2007), 111.