FYI... the Bible is Catholic!

Q-How did we get the Bible?

A-The Only Authority for the Bible is the Catholic Church

If we want to use scripture to prove anything.. 

we must first be assured it is scripture!..

..and if you say Bible Alone; 

you've got a bigger problem..

because the bible doesn't tell us what books make up the bible.. Who could? 

The Bible was determined (in A.D.382) by bishops of the Catholic Church consisting of 27 New Testament and 46 Old Testament books (73 total)

These scriptures were primarily established to be the only liturgical readings, read at Mass.

The Bible is the Word of God; but not the only Word from God... 

God would not allow almost 400 years of time to pass without any direction for Christians.. (over 12 generations after Christ walked our earth)

He promised us the Church with tradition and authority guided by The Holy Spirit. Jesus never commanded the apostles to write; but He did tell them “To Go into all the world and preach the Gospel” (Mark 16). He also said.. “He who hears you, hears me; he who rejects you, rejects me” (Luke 10:16). Saint Paul gave instructions;"Stand Firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter"(2 Thess.2:15). If not for the Teaching Magisterium of the Church; the scriptures would be words without authority!

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Saint Athanasius (Church Father in A.D.367) witnessed to the contents of the New Testament, exactly as we have them today.

(listing same books of NT.. however some variances of OT).....

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The entire Canon of the Bible was confirmed by Bishops at the

Synod in Rome (A.D. 382)

and also at:

Council of Hippo (A.D. 393)

Council of Carthage (A.D. 397)

Council of Carthage (A.D. 419)

At the Synod in Rome: In concurrence St. Augustine, Pope St. Damasus I, and St. Jerome, along with Bishops at the Council of Rome, issued a "Decree of Damasus, from the Acts of the Roman Synod, 382 A.D." In this Decree, the pope listed the canonical books of both the Old and New Testaments (the complete and perfect Canon which has been that of the Church Universal ever since). He then asked St. Jerome to prepare a new Bible translation which included an Old Testament of 46 books, and a New Testament of 27 books. He completed it in 404 CE and in 405 it was published. These books are gathered together into one book called The Bible, or Holy Scripture. Pope St. Boniface I (418-422) ratified the decision and declared the canon settled for the Western Patriarchate. He also sent the decision to the Eastern patriarchs in Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. At that point, the Catholic Canon of Sacred Scripture was informally accepted worldwide. The Fourth Council of Carthage in 419 reaffirmed Pope St. Boniface. The Council of Nicea II in 787 ratified the same canon as authoritative for the Eastern Churches.

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Early Church Councils reviewed submitted books, and tested them against Church tradition.  Books contradicting Catholic Church Tradition (for example denying the Divinity of Jesus) were excluded. The writings of the Fathers of the Church of the 2nd and 3rd century, show that the Church's considerations were well established. Many other writings (considered Apocryphal) were in circulation. They are not included in the canon of the Bible. Its very Interesting to note; that a criterion to discern, is 'Church Tradition'.  

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Martin Luther established his New Testament in 1522 and his entire bible in 1534.

Roman Catholic Christians look to the Council of Florence, an ecumenical council in 1441 for the first definitive list of canonical books.

The final infallible definition of canonical books for Roman Catholic Christians came from the Council of Trent in 1556 in the face of the errors of the Reformers who rejected seven Old Testament books from the canon of scripture to that time.

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The first bible ever printed was in 1455, and 'btw' was a Catholic Bible; because there only was one. (Gutenburg printing press).

It just happens to match the 73 books in the Catholic bible.The Bible that Gutenberg printed was the Latin (Vulgate) translation from about 380 AD

An important notation..

In 1454, there was no bible in anyone’s home. Only hand written carefully copied bibles existed. 

Until 1455 Bibles were only kept by the Church in Churches or monasteries libraries or scriptoriums.

Think about This: For almost 1500 years; Most believers could only hear the scriptures proclaimed at Church worship..~The Mass~.. No personal bibles existed!

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The Catholic Bible had been translated into Spanish, Italian, Danish, French, Norwegian, Polish, Bohemian, Hungarian and English, there was exactly 104 editions in Latin; 38 editions in German language, 25 editions in Italian language, 18 in French. In all; 626 editions of the Bible with 198 in the language of the laity, had been edited before the first Protestant Bible was sent forth into the world.

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The bible is a manifestation of the Word of God…(in human words)..

and amazingly (since each one was an individually hand written copy of a copy), the integrity of this word is not compromised.. even later discoveries of fragments do not dispute or contradict its contents… (the ‘telephone game’ theory does not work with the bible)

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In 1227, Stephen Langston, Archbishop of Canterbury (a Catholic Bishop), divided the Bible into the modern chapter divisions. The present verse division was first introduced by the Dominican, Santes Pagnino (1528), and his system is still in use in most of the books of the Old Testament. The modern verse division in the New Testament is the work of Robert Stephen, a Paris printer of the sixteenth century. The chapter and divisions are of great value for purposes of reference but frequently break up the sequence of thought.

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Some minor discrepancies of some books (such as Esdras between Carthage and Trent) can be examined further and explained by chapter and numbering variances between Greek/Syrian manuscripts). Indeterminable at best..

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Book Titles and Authors are another contentious issue because they were added later than the writings themselves..and we again rely of the Church for guidance in this matter.

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The bible did not fall from the sky..

it was harvested by bishops of Christ’s Church.

No other visible Church can boldly claim authority from Jesus through apostolic succession. There is no stealth (behind the scenes) or virtual church being guided by the Holy Spirit. No other Church has such credentials…

Jesus told us “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matt.16:18-19)

And, if you are English speaking; Why put your faith in a bible that claims authority of a king.. not king David or Our Lord.. but from a king named James. From where did James get such entitlement? Or was the Holy Spirit waiting for Martin Luther to figure it out after squandering 1500 years of humanity?

If you undermine this Church; you undermine the only manifest authority that gathered, discerned, nurtured and protected these Holy Scriptures.. from oral preaching, to parchment, to scroll, to book! Church martyrs protected these writings with their very lives!

In truth this Church is a perfect Church; in practice it is a sinful church (a hospital for the sinfulness of humanity).

The Bible also tells us; “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.”(2 Peter.2:1).. But without the Church, this means no more than words written in a classic novel.

And read from Acts 8:30-31

"Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I, unless some one guides me? .. If you claim this guide is the Holy Spirit, why is he so confusing?  With each new interpretation we see a new church being built; only 'one' has stood for over 2000 years!

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Excerpt From the Council of Carthage (A.D.419)

Canon 24. (Greek xxvii.)

That nothing be read in church besides the Canonical Scripture

Item, that besides the Canonical Scriptures nothing be read in church under the name of divine Scripture.

But the Canonical Scriptures are as follows:

• Genesis.
• Exodus.
• Leviticus.
• Numbers.
• Deuteronomy.
• Joshua the Son of Nun.
• The Judges.
• Ruth.
• The Kings, iv. books.
• The Chronicles, ij. books.
• Job.
• The Psalter.
• The Five books of Solomon.
• The Twelve Books of the Prophets.
• Isaiah.
• Jeremiah.
• Ezechiel.
• Daniel.
• Tobit.
• Judith.
• Esther.
• Ezra, ij. books.
• Macchabees, ij. books.
  • The New Testament.
    • The Gospels, iv. books.
    • The Acts of the Apostles, j. book.
    • The Epistles of Paul, xiv.
    • The Epistles of Peter, the Apostle, ij.
    • The Epistles of John the Apostle, iij.
    • The Epistles of James the Apostle, j.
    • The Epistle of Jude the Apostle, j.
    • The Revelation of John, j. book.

Let this be sent to our brother and fellow bishop, Boniface, and to the other bishops of those parts, that they may confirm this canon, for these are the things which we have received from our fathers to be read in church. ... Just as we have today!.

+++ Interesting note for those claiming (as Luther) that Old Testament can only be scriptures written in Hebrew.. (a stated reason for taking out 7 books out of OT).

The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah (or 'Chanukah', 'Festival of Lights', 'Feast of Maccabees', 'Feast of Dedication' etc.), is only mentioned in 'John' and 'Maccabees' (1 of the 7 bks. removed in protestant bibles).. Since Jews don’t take their teaching from New Testament, maybe ‘tradition’ does have bearing and precedent .. since this Holiday is still celebrated today, but not found in their scriptures!.. (and btw.Jesus observed this 'Feast' ref.John.10)... 
And how do they explain those ‘dead sea scrolls’? ~ +

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so when someone asks..

Q.why are you Catholic?.. answer..

A.because i believe in Jesus Christ and only one Church can claim or prove consistent doctrine, example and teaching since He came over 20 centuries ago...

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'Dogma or doctrine is nothing other than the church's infalible reading of scripture'..Cardinal Ratzinger.