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   The Vulgate was NOT the first written version. It was a rather poor Latin
translation of older Greek texts.

   There was a lot of early sloppiness in transcribing and translating the
New Testament books. Many of the early Syriac, Latin, and Coptic translations
were done by individuals with very poor command of the Greek language.

   Many scholars believe that the oldest portion of the Christian New
Testament is the Gospel of Mark.

   During the early days of Christianity there were several common variations
in many of the books and letters that became the  New Testament. It wasn't
until approximately 150 C.E. that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were
brought together,  and all of Paul's letters weren't collected until
approximatelty 200 C.E.

   Also, the choice of which books were in the New Testament was in a
continual state of flux for several hundred years.

   The earliest collections were of Gospels only. The Gospels of Matthew,
Mark, and Luke were fairly widely used, although the Gospel of Mark often had
substantial variation in text (being written in a non-literary Greek, it was
the easiest to change). As just one example, the earliest versions of Mark
3:21 suggest that Jesus' friends and relatives were worried about his sanity,
an embarassment removed in several later versions, where the friends and
relatives were changed into the anonymous crowd.

   The Gospel of John was highly disputed, and often the Gospel of Thomas
appeared in its place (the two having very directly opposing views on many
basic elements of Christian dogma). Also several Gnostic groups used various
Gnostic Gospels (the most famous being the Gospels of Thomas, Mary, and the
Hebrews).

   I *think* (note lack of certainty) that the early Coptic Church used ONLY
the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, while the early Mar Thomas Church
used ONLY the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Thomas.

   Marcion (who rejected the use of all Jewish text  and urged the genocide
of all Jews) collected 10 of Paul's letters into a Paul-only version of the
"New Testament" in 140 C.E. Much of Christianity rejected  Marcion's
collection and Paul's doctrine of law and grace until Augustine put his
support behind Paul's letters. 1 & 2 Timothy  and Titus were NOT included in
many early versions of the collections of Paul's letters (and there continues
to be dispute over who is the actual author of Hebrews).

   And, even among the mainstream New Testament that is still used today (set
by the Council of Hippo, 393 C.E., and the Council of Carthage, 397 C.E.),
there were significant differences, as is most obvious by contrasting
Protestant and Roman Catholic translations. By the 400s, two main schools of
text (the Syrian and the Alexandrian)  were in competition, often very bloody
competition.

   Some early widely used canons for the Christian New Testament:

The Muratorian Canon (approx 200 C.E. -- used by early church in Rome):

   Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of John, Acts,
Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 &
2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, James, 1 & 2 John, Jude,
Revelation of John, Revelation of Peter, Wisdom of Solomon, The Shepherd of
Hermas


New Testament used by Origen (approx 250 C.E.):

   Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of John, Acts,
Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 &
2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, James, 1 Peter, 1 John,
Revelation of John


New testament used by Eusebius (approx 300 C.E.):

   Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of John, Acts,
Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 &
2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, 1 Peter, 1 John


New testament fixed by the Council of Carthage (which included several of the
key figures who ordered the kidnapping, gang-rape, torture, and murder of
Hypatia):

   Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of John, Acts,
Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 &
2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter,
1 & 2 & 3 John, Jude, Revelation of John


   Other books commonly used in some variations of early New testament
canons:

   Acts of Peter, Apostles, Didache, Gospel of the Hebrews, Gospel of Mary,
Gospel of Thomas, Letter of Barnabas, Pistas Sophia, Revelation of Peter,
Teaching of the Twelve, The Shepherd of Hermas, Wisdom of Solomon


   Books in the modern canon that were specifically excluded from several
early New Testament canons:

   Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, Jude, Revelation of John


   Not to mention a variety of Gnostic texts that occassionally appeared in
various New Testament canons (beyond a few already  mentioned amongst the
books listed above).