Some thoughts on the canon of Scripture

You have to trust the Church for preservation of the New Testament. It took more than human authors, though it took that as well. It took other human beings to infallibly recognize which books of the many manuscripts circulating at the time actually belonged in canon. That also had to be the work of the Holy Spirit infallibly guiding the Church into all truth as Jesus promised He would. 

What method did they use to decide what books were inspired by the Holy Spirit? It could not have been merely rationalistic based on the best discoveries in philology, though the Holy Spirit uses human instruments to accomplish His will.

Now, there is a fair amount of variation for different Christian groups about what the canon of the OT is. It is clear, though, that the Septuagint was what Jesus and the apostles used. There are numerous quotes and references to the Deuterocanonical books in the NT writings. The logical conclusion would be that they considered these books to be Scripture and useful for doctrine, for reproof, and for instruction in righteousness. IOW, God-breathed. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17)

On what authority do Protestants say that their Bible is the only true canon of Scripture? See, Protestants always have a problem of authority. By whose authority was the Protestant canon of the OT determined  and who gets to decide? 

It would be better if Protestants at least allowed for the idea that they may have gotten it wrong about the OT canon. I mean, can the Catholic and EO Churches that existed long before Luther – some 1,500 years – have gotten it wrong and one German have gotten it right? 

Not likely.

It is my understanding that Protestants went along with 3rd Century Jews - no offense meant to God’s people on that - who decided that their canon did not include the Deuterocanonical books. Since it was the Jews who were entrusted with the preservation of the Old Testament, - the oracles of God -  they are the ones who should decide what their Scripture is. That is true, but it doesn’t mean that they should decide what the Christian canon is. 

It seems that Christians should use the Scripture that Jesus and the Apostles used, which includes the Deuterocanonical books. After all, the Septuagint  includes everything that the Jewish people consider to be Scripture, so nothing is being taken away by Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Churches. 

There are many fine articles written on the subject, but for my purposes as a Catholic, I do not see that Protestants have a justification for eliminating the Deuterocanonical books from their Scripture. 

Of course, we share the New Testament in common, so there is no problem in that regard.