The real power lies in the hands of those who write history and create the mythos upon which a society is based. The easiest way to keep people (women, slaves and any other 2nd class citizens) in their place is to say that God ordained it that way and then produce a book to prove it.
There are a billion ways to interpret the Bible, and there are so many factors: what you are taught, what church you go to, how much biblical scholarship you are exposed to, etc. And then the approach TO the Bible must be considered. Because a council said so? Why did they do that? Convenience? Did they intentionally leave out certain books for political reasons, or were they truly guided by the Holy Spirit? And even if we all agreed on one method of interpretation, I cannot conceive that it would be possible that we would all reach the same conclusions which result from that