THE BIBLE VS. THE CHURCH
Well, that's not even close to being quite right. The Bible teaches us and shows us that the Church came before the Bible. After all, what books did Jesus write? Not one! Jesus deliberately chose NOT to write. Instead, he chose to establish a Church to teach in His name.
Jesus establishes His Church when He states in Matt. 16:18, And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, the rock, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The Church that Jesus established is meant to 'teach', not to 'read the Bible'. The apostles didn't read from the New Testament, which wasn't even written yet. They taught by "word of mouth". All this is demonstrated in the following verses:
Matt. 28:19 -- Jesus states, Go ye therefore, and TEACH all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Mark 16:15 -- Jesus states, And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and PREACH the gospel to every creature.
Mark 16:20 -- And they went forth, and PREACHED everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs following. Amen.
2Thes 2:15 -- Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
2Tim 2:2 -- And the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
You might, by now, be asking where the Bible came from in the first place. The Bible came from the Catholic Church. The New Testament was put under one cover in 397 A.D. by the Council of Carthage. Among other things, this means that for over 300 years the members of the early church were taught by means of tradition and "word of mouth", because the Bible didn't even exist. The Church examined all the books that were in question at the time, to be used in the New Testament and decided which were inspired and which weren't. Catholic monks spent the next 1100 years copying scripture over and over until printing was developed in 1440 A.D. And even then, it was far too expensive for every member of a household to own a Bible.
So, for over 1,400 years the Church taught the people by tradition.
Where does it say that the Bible is the only authority? It doesn't! Nowhere in the Bible does it say that it's the only source of information available to a Christian. As a matter of fact, the Bible does state that we must look to the Church for the proper interpretation.
2Peter 1:20 -- Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
2Peter 3:16 -- As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
Acts 8:30 -- And Philip ran thither to him, and read him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some men should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
So, who is the teacher of the Scriptures? The Holy Spirit, acting through the Catholic Church. There's a reason why there are so many non-Catholic churches; because there are so many different interpretations of the Bible. The Holy Spirit cannot be responsible for such mass confusion. There's no "universal" Protestant Church. There's only one "universal" Catholic Church, we have one belief system, and one leader to guide us.
John 14:26 -- Jesus states: But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 16:13 -- How be it when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.
Acts 1:6 -- But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.
This shows that when decisions had to be made in the early Church, a council, along with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, was gathered to decide crucial questions.
Acts 15:1-2 -- When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about these questions ...
This verse shows that councils did not use scripture to settle differences.
Acts 16:4 -- As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions which had been reached by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem so the churches were strengthened in the faith and they increased in numbers daily.
So, the Bible is shown to be very important to the Catholic faith. The Catholic Mass is saturated with scripture. Catholics believe that the Bible is very necessary, along with the teachings of the Church - the Bible cannot exist without the Church.
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