And now for something completely unrelated....

For a twitter friend: How books got in the Bible, by my very knowledgeable husband who has studied such things. ;)

The Septuagint version of the Hebrew Scriptures - that is, the Greek translation of the originals - happened in Alexandria in about 300 bc. Some books were included that the Hebrews didn't traditionally include as part of their canon. (Those were the Apocrypha). The Septuagint - particularly the Torah and the Prophets, about which there's little dispute - formed the backbone of the Old Testament. (The "Writings" - the more poetical works - were a bit more amorphous, and most of the Apocrypha fall into this category.)

The composition of the New Testament was set in a series of Synods, called by the pope, ending around 400 AD. At that time, St. Jerome finished his work on the Vulgate - the "common Latin" translation of the Bible - that would be the version most Christians used until the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic Church didn't officially set the canon until the Council of Trent in the mid-1500s (which was called in response to the Reformation). But one of the reforms of Protestantism was to get rid of the "extra" books and get back to the original canon of the Hebrews. So for the most part the Apocrypha was excluded.

So, very short version: If it was a Hebrew Scripture, it's in. If the 4th-century Synod said it's canonical, it's in if you're a Catholic. If it's in the Septuagint but not in the Hebrew Scriptures, it's out if you're a Protestant.