There is a brief answer to part of the question on this site (www.rightdivision.com). You'll find it by going to the home page, clicking on the "Fundamental" tab at the top, and then click on the link to "The Inspired Bible". Alternatively go to...
http://www.rightdivision.com/html/the_inspired_bible.html
Here's a few other thoughts to consider.
The processes of canonising the Old Testament and the New Testament were a bit different to each other, though both OT and NT canons were evaluated many times over a period of centuries.
It should be noted that what one institution considers right does not necessarily make that thing right. One of your questions related to the church at Rome. Without going into too many details here, I think we can say that the councils of the early church, and subsequent church councils throughout history, got some parts of their theology correct, and some parts incorrect. Their decisions about the canon (and a host of other issues) changed from time to time, so, obviously, not all of those decisions could have been God-inspired ones, if any.
Despite the decisions of human councils, however, I believe we can have confidence in the 66 books which constitute the "Protestant" Bible.
In general terms, it's my opinion that the books of both the NT and OT are the ones we are supposed to have. The OT canon is correct because it was verified by Christ; the NT canon is correct because it was written by eyewitnesses and those under the influence of the Holy Spirit after Christ's ascension; and the books of both testaments have been consistently proven to be 100% accurate as to facts and prophecy.
As to whether you can be sure of the correctness of my reply here, I certainly don't claim to be a prophet, or to have written this in the same way that the Bible's writings were inspired (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21), in that God directly intervened in their writing.
More could be said about each of these issues, but I hope that might provide a starting point. Is there a particular passage or book you are concerned might not appropriately belong in our Bible? Perhaps you can elaborate in a future reply.
David Tavender
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