Some did. Others didn’t. Even some of those that made it into the bible and helped corrupt it.
But what was included and kept out wasn't, as you decry as an image, men sitting around a table. It was politics. Some churches had books that others didn't. These churches fought for supremacy, much as the Catholic churches did through the middle ages. The ones with manuscripts that lasted were the ones that were closest to Rome with the most political clout, not necessarily those that were superior historically.
Thunk about it like the modern day: Ivermectin vs mRNA vaccine. mRNA didnt win out because those guys knew what they were doing, its because it won politically. Had they succeeded, the victors would have burned alternative accounts and contrarians at the stake. Realize that the Vatican spent over 1200 years actively seeking out alternative sources and then hiding them while keeping the politics they required going.
No one at the time 'just knew' what was good and bad, they only knew what they grew up with. Failing the Roman political apparatus forcing a single doctrine to coalesce, we would have seen the early church splinter into regional shards, much like happened with Catholicism and protestantism hundreds of years from the 300s.
Some did. Others didn’t. Even some of those that made it into the bible and helped corrupt it.
But what was included and kept out wasn't, as you decry as an image, men sitting around a table. It was politics. Some churches had books that others didn't. These churches fought for supremacy, much as the Catholic churches did through the middle ages. The ones with manuscripts that lasted were the ones that were closest to Rome with the most political clout, not necessarily those that were superior historically.
Thunk about it like the modern day: Ivermectin vs mRNA vaccine. mRNA didnt win out because those guys knew what they were doing, its because it won politically. Had they succeeded, the victors would have burned alternative accounts and contrarians at the stake. Realize that the Vatican spent over 1200 years actively seeking out alternative sources and then hiding them while keeping the politics they required going.
No one at the time 'just knew' what was good and bad, they only knew what they grew up with. Failing the Roman political apparatus forcing a single doctrine to coalesce, we would have seen the early church splinter into regional shards, much like happened with Catholicism and protestantism hundreds of years from the 300s.