The Canon of Scripture

[Esaias]

How do we know what books are in fact 'inspired', and are the Word of God?

The issue of canonicity has been debated since the third century at least, probably earlier. Different writers, churches, councils, movements etc have offered up their opinions on what the 'Bible' consists of. While there has been widespread agreement on many of the New Testament books, several (the epistles of Peter, the Apocalypse, the epistle of Jude, etc) have been vigorously contested by various groups and individuals in the early days. Also, many 'lists' or canons of the Word of God have included epistles and writings that are nowadays generally not found in Bibles, such as the Apostolic Constitutions, the Didache, the epistles of Clement, Hermas, and some others.

The Old Testament is less debated, but even there a cursory look at the history of 'the canon' shows churches and individuals have disagreed on which ones are inspired and which ones not - and in the cases of Esther and Daniel, which versions are inspired and which versions are not.

So my question is as follows:

How is the canon of Scripture to be determined, assuming you do NOT accept as inspired and God-directed the decrees of those various catholic 'ecumenical' Councils of churches/bishops which are often touted by Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant theologians as being 'authoritative'?