Most Christians cross lines with at least one Roman Catholic in their lifetime. If you dare to challenge them on any of their traditions, rituals or doctrines, you can almost be sure that they will confront you with the argument, “WE GAVE YOU THE BIBLE.”
THE BLASPHEMOUS ROMAN CATHOLIC CLAIM
(Based on “Did the catholic church give us the bible?” – Bible.ca)
Catholics contend that the whole world is indebted to the Roman Catholic church for the existence of the Bible. This is another of their attempts to exalt the church as an authority in addition to the Bible.
“If she had not scrutinized carefully the writings of her children, rejecting some and approving others as worthy of inclusion in the canon of the New Testament, there would be no New Testament today.”
“If she had not declared the books composing the New Testament to be inspired word of God, we would not know it.”
“The only authority which non-Catholics have for the inspiration of the Scriptures is the authority of the Catholic Church.” (The Faith of Millions, p. 145)
“It is only by the divine authority of the Catholic Church that Christians know that the scripture is the word of God, and what books certainly belong to the Bible.” (The Question Box, p. 46)
“It was the Catholic Church and no other which selected and listed the inspired books of both the Old Testament and the New Testament…If you can accept the Bible or any part of it as inspired Word of God, you can do so only because the Catholic Church says it is.” (The Bible is a Catholic Book, p. 4).
WHY NOT PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH (IN THE BIBLE “YOU GAVE US”):
If the Bible is a Catholic book, why does it nowhere mention the Catholic Church? Why is there no mention of a pope, a cardinal, an archbishop, a parish priest, a nun, or a member of any other Catholic order? If the Bible is a Catholic book, why is auricular confession, indulgences, prayers to the saints, adoration of Mary, veneration of relics and images, and many other rites and ceremonies of the Catholic Church, left out of it?
If the Bible is a Catholic book, how can Catholics account for the passage, “A bishop then, must be blameless, married but once, reserved, prudent, of good conduct, hospitable, a teacher…He should rule well his own household, keeping his children under control and perfectly respectful. For if a man cannot rule his own household, how is he to take care of the church of God?” (1 Tim. 3:2, 4-5). The Catholic Church does not allow a bishop to marry, while the Bible says, “he must be married.” Furthermore, if the Bible is a Catholic book, why did they write the Bible as it is, and feel the necessity of putting footnotes at the bottom of the page in effort to keep their subject from believing what is in the text?
The following list give a examples of what we have been trying to emphasize. If the Bible is a Catholic book,
1. Why does it condemn clerical dress? (Matt. 23:5-6).
2. Why does it teach against the adoration of Mary? (Luke 11:27-28).
3. Why does it show that all Christians are priests? (1 Pet. 2:5,9).
4. Why does it condemn the observance of special days? (Gal. 4:9-11).
5. Why does it teach that all Christians are saints? (1 Cor. 1:2).
6. Why does it condemn the making and adoration of images? (Ex. 20:4-5).
7. Why does it teach that baptism is immersion instead of pouring? (Col. 2:12).
8. Why does it forbid us to address religious leaders as “father”? (Matt. 23:9).
9. Why does it teach that Christ is the only foundation and not the apostle Peter? (1 Cor. 3:11).
10. Why does it teach that there is one mediator instead of many? (1 Tim. 2:5).
11. Why does it teach that a bishop must be a married man? (1 Tim. 3:2, 4-5).
12. Why is it opposed to the primacy of Peter? (Luke 22:24-27).
13. Why does it oppose the idea of purgatory? (Luke 16:26).
14. Why is it completely silent about infant baptism, instrumental music in worship, indulgences, confession to priests, the rosary, the mass, and many other things in the Catholic Church?
DO CATHOLICS CONSIDER THE BIBLE AS THE FINAL AUTHORITY?
(Ref. Final Authority and Tradition – Biblebc.com)
If Catholics gave us the Bible, then why did they do “half a job” by not including everything that, according to them, were inspired by God? When it comes to final authority, the Roman Catholic church teaches that three authorities exist. The 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church declares:
“It is clear therefore that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.” (Pg. 34, #95)
So here we see, that along with Scripture, “tradition” (teachings handed down throughout the ages), and “magisterium” (the task of giving an authentic interpretation of the word of God) are associated so that one of them cannot stand without the others. In other words, “tradition” and “magisterium” are on equal grounds with the Scriptures. This is enforced by:
“Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit. And (Holy) Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit.” (Pg. 31, #81)
And should these authorities disagree with each other the Catechism states:
“The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living, teaching office of the Church alone. This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.” (Pg. 32, #85)
Thus, the final authority being the Roman Catholic Church! This too, is stated in the Catechism:
“For, of course, all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God.” (Pg. 39, #119)
In other words, according to Catholics the Scriptures are not sufficient in itself. Nowhere do we see that the Scriptures were given only to an elite group to explain it to others.
Although God never changes, Catholics kept on adding to their list of evil traditions. The following refer to the time each practices were either A) first introduced, B) formulated, C) adopted by council, or D) proclaimed by a pope:
310 Prayers for the dead began.
375 The worship of saints.
394 The Mass was adopted
431 The worship of Mary began to develop.
593 The doctrine of purgatory was introduced.
606 Claims to papal supremacy took root.
650 Feasts in honor of the Virgin Mary started.
709 Kissing the pope’s foot began with Pope Constantine
750 The pope first assumed temporal power.
787 The worship of images and relics was introduced.
819 The first observance of the Feast of Assumption began.
850 The invention of holy water.
965 The blessing of the bells.
983 The canonization of saints was formulated.
998 Lent, Advent, and fasting from meat on Friday.
1003 Feasts for the dead were introduced
1074 The celibacy of the priesthood was asserted.
1076 The doctrine of papal infallibility suggested.
1090 The use of prayer beads (Rosary)
1115 Confession of sins to a priest was instituted.
1140 The doctrine of seven sacraments was introduced.
1190 The sale of indulgences.
1215 Transubstantiation was adopted by Pope Innocent III.
1216 The acceptance of auricular confession of sins to a priest.
1220 Holy water accepted
1226 The elevation and adoration of the wafer began.
1274 Purgatory was declared doctrine at the Second Council of Lyons.
1303 The Catholic Church as the only true Church for Salvation.
1316 The Ave Maria was introduced.
1414 Only Catholic priests can say the Mass and partake of the wine.
1438 Purgatory and the seven sacraments officially decreed.
1545 Tradition declared to be equal with Scripture by Council of Trent.
1546 The Apocryphal books added to the Bible by the Council of Trent.
1547 Rejection of justification by faith alone.
1562 The Mass declared a propitiatory offering.
1854 The immaculate conception announced by Pius IX.
1864 The doctrine of the temporal power of the pope was proclaimed.
1870 Papal infallibility was proclaimed at Vatican I.
1950 The bodily assumption and personal corporeal presence of the Virgin in heaven proclaimed by Pope Pius III.
GOD INSPIRED THE BIBLE
As reborn Christians, we should know that the Catholic claim is a lie, as God Himself inspired every message in the Bible.
Paul describes the process of inspiration by the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 2:9-13: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: …Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” (KJV)
He also refers to the Hebrew Scriptures as the “word of God,” not of men, in 1 Thessalonians 2:13: “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” (KJV)
2 Timothy 3:16 says: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (KJV).
In the original Greek, it is stated that all of the Scriptures are “theopneustos” — “breathed out by God.”
In 2 Peter 1:20-21 we read: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (KJV)”
THE ROLE OF MEN IN WRITING THE BIBLE
(Ref. “How did the people who wrote the bible know what to say?” – Christianity.net.au)
In one sense, the answer is simple: they were inspired to wrote down some of the things that they experienced. For example, Luke says that since he had ‘carefully investigated everything’, he wrote down ‘an orderly account’ (Luke 1:3). In most cases, the writers were eyewitnesses who “supernaturally” knew that what they had seen was so important that it needed to be recorded for others to read. John speaks of himself as one ‘who testifies to everything he saw – that is, the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.’ (Revelation 1:2). Sometimes, they were given a specific message to write down (for example, Deuteronomy 31:19, explains where the words to Deuteronomy 32 came from, or Jeremiah 36), but more commonly they used their own words, but not their own messages.
But Christians believe that in all cases, God carefully ensured that what these people wrote down was exactly what he wanted. ‘For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit’ (2 Peter 1:21). The writers of the Bible often referred back to older books within it as being God’s words – and most importantly, Jesus himself described the Bible in this way. In fact, he described it as God’s word to his hearers (for example, in Matthew 22:31-32, which quotes Exodus 3:6).
Obviously, even the most brilliant poet or novelist cannot hope to write something that will affect readers for millennia, yet the Bible has done and continues to do so. We recognise it as inspired, because God worked, often behind the scenes (subconsciously, if you like) to ensure that the words we have in the Bible are his powerful, life-bringing words.
Catholics often boast that the Bible was written by Catholics, e.g., “All the books of the New Testament were written by Catholics.” (The Bible is a Catholic Book, p. 14). When we consider the word “catholic” as meaning “universal,” we readily admit that the writers were “catholic” in that sense; they were members of the church universal–the church of Christ which is described in the New Testament Scriptures (Col. 1:18; Rom. 16:16). However, we firmly deny that the writers of the New Testament were members of the Roman Catholic Church as we know it today. The Roman Catholic Church was not fully developed until several hundred years after the New Testament was written. It is not the same institution as disclosed in the New Testament. The New Testament books were written by members of the Lord’s church, but they are not its author. God Himself is the author of the New Testament.
AN IN-DEPTH LOOK INTO THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CLAIM
(Based on “Did the catholic church give us the bible?” – Bible.ca)
It would seem unnecessary for the Catholic Church to make the boastful claim of giving the Bible to the world when both it and Protestantism accept the Bible as a revelation from God. However, it is an attempt to weaken the Bible as the sole authority and to replace it with their man-made church. If it is true that we can accept the Bible only on the basis of the Catholic Church, doesn’t that make the Catholic Church superior to the Bible? This is exactly what they want men to believe. They try to prove the Bible by the church and prove the church by the Bible.
Notice, again, the following from Catholic sources:
“Because it never was a Bible, till the infallible Church pronounced it to be so. The separate treatises, each of them inspired, were lying, as it were dispersedly; easy to confound with others, that were uninspired. The Church gathered them up, selected them, pronounced judgment on them; rejecting some, which she defined and declared not to be canonical, because not inspired; adopting others as being inspired, and therefore canonical.” (What Is the Bible? p. 6).
“And since the books of the Bible constituting both the Old and the New Testament were determined solely by the authority of the Catholic Church, without the Church there would have been no Bible, and hence no Protestantism.” (The Faith of Millions, p. 10).
The Catholic officials above claim that without the Catholic Church there would be no Bible; they argue that mankind can accept the Scriptures only on the basis of the Catholic Church which gathered the books and determined which were inspired. Surely the Catholic Church cannot claim that it gave us the Old Testament Scriptures.
The Old Testament:
The Old Testament came through the Jews (God’s chosen people of old) who had the holy oracles entrusted to them. Paul said, “What advantage then remains to the Jew, or what is the use of circumcision? Much in every respect. First, indeed, because the oracles of God were entrusted to them.” (Rom. 3:1-2; see also Rom. 9:4-5; Acts 7:38).
The Old Testament books were gathered into one volume and were translated from Hebrew into Greek long before Christ came to earth. The Septuagint Version was translated by seventy scholars at Alexandria, Egypt around the year 227 B.C., and this was the version Christ and His apostles used. Christ did not tell the people, as Catholics do today, that they could accept the Scriptures only on the basis of the authority of those who gathered them and declared them to be inspired. He urged the people of His day to follow the Old Testament Scriptures as the infallible guide, not because man or any group of men has sanctioned them as such, but because they came from God. Furthermore, He understood that God-fearing men and women would be able to discern by evidence (external and internal) which books were of God and which were not; thus, He never raised questions and doubts concerning the gathering of the inspired books.
The new testament and the council of hippo:
These quotes are from Catholic regarding the Council of Hippo:
“… in A.D. 390, at the Council of Hippo, the Catholic Church gathered together the various books which claimed to be scripture, passed on the merits and claims of each and this council decided which were inspired and which were not. The Catholic Church put all the inspired books and epistles together in one volume and THAT is the Bible as we have it today. The Catholic Church therefore gave to the people and the World, the Bible as we have it today.” (From a magazine advertisement published by the Knights of Columbus bearing the title, “Who Gave the Bible to the People?”)
“It was not until the Council of Hippo in 390 that the Church gathered these gospels and epistles, scattered about in different churches, and placed them within the covers of a single book, giving the Bible to the world.” (The Faith of Millions, p. 152).
“Indeed, when you accept the Bible as the Word of God, you are obliged to receive it on the authority of the Catholic Church, who was the sole Guardian of the Scriptures for fifteen hundred years.” (The Faith of Our Fathers, p. 68).
“When were all these writings put together? The Catholic Church put all of them in one book between the years 350 and 405.” (A Catechism for Adults, p. 10).
Thus, Catholics argue that since the Council of Hippo in 390 A.D. proclaimed which books were actually inspired and placed them in one volume, all are indebted to the Catholic Church for the New Testament and can accept it only on the authority of the Catholic Church. There are several things wrong with this.
First, it cannot be proven that the church which held the Council of Hippo in 390 A.D. was the same church which is now known as the Roman Catholic Church. For example, the church of 390 had no crucifixes and images because, “The first mention of Crucifixes are in the sixth century” and “The whole tradition of veneration holy images gradually and naturally developed” (Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VII, p. 667). The church of 390 took communion under both kinds because that was the prevailing practice until it was formally abolished in 1416 A.D. (See Lives and Times of the Roman Pontiffs, Vol. I, p. 111). The church of 390 was a church altogether different from the Roman Catholic Church today.
Furthermore, in the proceedings of the Council of Hippo, the bishops did not mention nor give the slightest hint that they were for the first time “officially” cataloging the books of the Bible for the world. It was not until the fourth session of the Council of Trent (1545-1563) that the bishops and high-ranking officials of the Catholic Church “officially” cataloged the books they thought should be included in the Bible and bound them upon the consciences of all Catholics. (See Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, pp. 17-18).
Secondly, God did not give councils the authority to select His sacred books, nor does He expect men to receive His sacred books only because of councils or on the basis of councils. It takes no vote or sanction of a council to make the books of the Bible authoritative. Men were able to rightly discern which books were inspired before the existence of ecclesiastical councils and men can do so today. A council of men in 390 with no divine authority whatever, supposedly took upon itself the right to state which books were inspired, and Catholics argue, “We can accept the Bible only on the authority of the Catholic Church.” Can we follow such reasoning?
Thirdly, it cannot be proven that the Catholic Church is solely responsible for the gathering and selection of the New Testament books. In fact, it can be shown that the New Testament books were gathered into one volume and were in circulation long before the Catholic Church claims to have taken its action in 390 at the council of Hippo. In the following we list some of the catalogues of the books of the Bible which are given by early Christian writers.
326. Athanasius, bishop at Alexandria, mentions all of the New Testament books.
315-386. Cyril, bishop at Jerusalem, gives a list of all New Testament books except Revelation.
270. Eusebius, bishop at Caesarea, called the Father of ecclesiastical history, gives an account of the persecution of Emperor Diocletian whose edict required that all churches be destroyed and the Scriptures burned. He lists all the books of the New Testament. He was commissioned by Constantine to have transcribed fifty copies of the Bible for use of the churches of Constantinople.
185-254. Origen, born at Alexandria, names all the books of both the Old and New Testaments.
165-220. Clement, of Alexandria, names all the books of the New Testament except Philemon, James, 2 Peter and 3 John. In addition we are told by Eusebius, who had the works of Clement, that he gave explanations and quotations from all the canonical books.
160-240. Turtullian, contemporary of Origen and Clement, mentions all the New Testament books except 2 Peter, James and 2 John.
135-200. Irenaeus, quoted from all New Testament books except Philemon, Jude, James and 3 John.
100-147. Justin Martyr, mentions the Gospels as being four in number and quotes from them and some of the epistles of Paul and Revelation.
Besides the above, the early church fathers have handed down in their writings quotations from all the New Testament books so much so that it is said that the entire New Testament can be reproduced from their writings alone.
Thus, the New Testament books were in existence in their present form at the close of the apostolic age. As a matter of fact, the apostles themselves put their writings into circulation. “And when this letter has been read among you, see that it be read in the church of the Laodiceans also; and that you yourselves read the letter from Laodicea.” (Col. 4:16). “I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren.” (1 Thess. 5:27). The holy Scriptures were written for all (1 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 1:1) and all will be judged by them in the last day (Rev. 20:12; John 12:48). Jesus said that His Word will abide forever (Matt. 24:35; 1 Pet. 1:23-25).
Fourthly, the Catholic claim of giving the Bible to the world cannot be true because they have not been the sole possessor of the Bible at any time. Some of the most valuable Greek Bibles and Versions have been handed down to us from non-Roman Catholic sources. A notable example of this is the Codex Sinaiticus which was found in the monastery of St. Catherine (of the Greek Orthodox Church) at Mount Sinai in 1844 and is now in the British Museum. It contains all of the books of the New Testament and all but small portions of the Old Testament. Scholars are certain that this manuscript was made early in the fourth century, not later than 350 A.D. This manuscript found by a German scholar named, Tishendorf, who was a Protestant, and this manuscript which is the most complete of all has never been in the hands of the Roman Catholic Church.
Another valuable manuscript that has never been possessed by the Roman Catholic Church is the Codex Alexandrianus. It, too, is now on exhibit in the manuscript room of the British Museum in London. It was a gift from the Patriarch of Constantinople (of the Greek Orthodox Church) to Charles I in 1628. It had been in possession of the Patriarchs for centuries and originally came from Alexandria, Egypt from which it gets its name. Scholars are certain that this manuscript was also made in the fourth century and, along with the Codex Sinaiticus, is thought to be one of the fifty Greek Bibles commissioned to be copied by Constantine.
CONCLUSIONS
In the light of the foregoing, the boastful claim of the Roman Catholic Church that it has been the sole guardian and preserver of the sacred Scriptures down to the present, is nothing but pure falsehood. The Bible is not a Catholic book. Catholics did not write it, nor does their doctrines and church meet the description of the doctrine and church of which it speaks. The New Testament was completed before the end of the first century, A.D. The things in it do not correspond to the Catholic Church which hundreds of years after the death of the apostles slowly evolved into what it now is. The Catholic Church is not the original and true church, but a “church” born of many departures and corruptions from the New Testament church. Furthermore, even if the Catholic Church could show conclusively that it alone is responsible for gathering the books, it does not prove that the Catholic Church is infallible, nor does it prove that it is the author of the Bible. God has at times used evil agencies to accomplish His purpose (Jer. 27:6-8; 43:10; Hab. 1:5-11; John 11:49-52).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A Catechism For Adults, William J. Conan, ACTA Publications, Chicago, Illinois, 1959.
Catholic Encyclopedia, Knights of Columbus, (Fifteen Volumes), The Encyclopedia Press, Inc., New York, 1913.
Canons and Decrees of he Council of Trent, H.J. Schroeder, B. Herder Book company, St. Louis, London, 1950.
Lives and Times of the Roman Pontiffs, Chevalier Artand De Montor, D & J Stadler & Co., New York, 1869.
Question Box, Bertrand L. Conway, The Columbus Press, New York, N.Y., 1913.
Question Box, New Revised Edition, Bertrand L. Conway, The Paulist Press, New York, N.Y., 1929.
The Bible is a Catholic Book, Knights of Columbus Religious Information Bureau, St. Louis, 1948.
The Faith of Millions, John A. O’Brien, Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, Ind., 1938.
The Faith of Our Fathers, James Cardinal Gibbons, John Murphy Co., Baltimore, Md., 1917.
What is the Bible? W.H. Anderson, International Truth Society, Brooklyn, New York, 1962.
Who Gave the Bible to the People? Knights of Columbus Religious Information Bureau, St. Louis, 1948.
CATHOLIC TRANSLATIONS
Confraternity-Douay Version, Timothy Press, Chicago, 1959
Douay-Rheims Version, Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York, 1945.
Catholic Edition-Revised Standard Version, Published by Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd for the Incorporated Catholic Truth Society, London, 1966.
By David J. Riggs
Catholics Assembled Canon?
The Syriac and Coptic versions were translated from the Greek in the second century
Latin Version was translated from Greek in the 2nd century in 375 the Gothic Version was translated by Ufilas
Jerome stated that in his work of revising the Old Latin he used a Greek Bible which belonged to Origen who lived in the early part of the third century
Constantine, the emperor of Rome, at the end of the third century, ordered fifty copies of the Bible transcribed
Origen, born A.D. 185 and died A.D. 254, named all the books of the Bible in his writings
Eusebius, 270 A.D., lists all of the books of the NT
Cyril, 315 A.D. to 386 A.D., lists all NT books, except Revelation
Both the Vatican Manuscript and the Sinaitic Manuscript date back earlier than 390 A.D.
