Countless Scriptures prove it, yes - but we didn’t add those particular Scriptures to the Bible until
after various Church Councils had defined these doctrines of the Church. It was only then -
after the Church had solemnly and infallibly proclaimed these Doctrines - that we were able to recognize that those particular books belonged in the Bible.
The order is like this:
- Jesus came.
- Jesus taught the Apostles in oral format.
- The Apostles taught others in oral format.
- More than 600 Gospel books, letters, and exhortations were written.
- The Apostles’ Creed and the Didache were promulgated throughout the Church.
- St. Clement establishes his pedigree as Successor of Peter and Chief Shepherd of the whole Church. It is established that the Bishop of Rome occupies the Chair of Peter, and thus takes on two roles - that of Bishop of Rome, and that of Chief Shepherd of the whole Church. (This is reaffirmed several times throughout the history of the Church, with each Pope naming his lineage at the time of his Accession to the See of Rome. (That’s where we get that list of all the Popes from.)
- The role of the laity is defined
- The formula for the Absolution of Sins is established.
- The nature and effects of Baptism are discerned.
- The nature of the Trinity and the character of the Incarnation are discerned.
- The indissolubility of Marriage becomes required for belief.
- The celibacy of the clergy is established as being the norm.
- The relationship between Baptism and the Sacrament of Confirmation is discerned; the norms for the Sacrament of Confirmation are established.
- The question of the baptism of heretics is addressed; it is established that if they are baptized with the Trinitarian formula with the intent to do what the Church does, they can be received into the Church with a Profession of Faith and a good Confession, without having to be rebaptized.
- The Nicene Creed is established, and promulgated to the Church.
- A canon of Sacred Scripture is proposed.
- The perpetual virginity of Mary is discerned and becomes required for belief.
- The process for entering into the life of a monk is regularized.
- A canon of Sacred Scripture is reviewed and approved in Carthage, for local use only.
- It is established that, if it is possible, the priest should hear the Confession of the dying and give the Absolution, before giving the Sacrament of Viaticum of the Dying.
- The Carthaginian Canon of Scripture is approved and promulgated infallibly for the use of the whole world. (We now have the Bible.)
- The question of who may administer the Sacrament of Confirmation is finalized.
… the Church continues to wrestle with a wide variety of questions; there is no indication of this coming to a stop at the moment that the Bible appeared on the scene. What I mean to say is, they never thought of “Scripture alone” when they gave us the Bible. It was and still is just one of several modes of transmission for the Holy Tradition - the
authoritative mode continued on and still remains the Pope and his Councils.