The Bible

[MGEISING]

When speaking to my mother inlaw, who happens to be a Independant Fundamental Baptist, I informed her that the Catholic Church finalized and binded the twenty-seven books in the canon of the New Testament.

She gasped …like I told her I was a serial killer. She said that the Holy Spirit did.

What is taught in the Protestant Faiths on the subject of who finalized the Book of The Bible. Isn’t it a Historical Fact that it was indeed the Catholic Church.

Thanks,

Mgeising

 

[RCCDefender]

When I was groing up in the Southern Baptist church. Nothing was ever said about how the Bible came to be. Yes, they all taught us that the Holy Spirit guided the authors on what to write, but as far as assembling of the scriptures, nothing. I never knew, for instance, that there were about a hundred different gospel accounts or that in 303:

Diocletian went about [stamping out Christianity] by destroying Christian books, and he did it by torture or execution to get them. Christians had an advantage because the police weren’t completely sure which books - if any - were really important to Christianity; but Christians couldn’t tell where to draw the line either. Which books could you give up with no great loss, and which were worth dying for?

(emphasis mine)Why Do Catholics Do That? p.23

And yes indeed, it was the Catholic Church!

 

[heisenburg]

What I’ve always heard as a response to this is that once the books were writen, the holy spirit ensured that the true beleivers knew which of the books were valid and which were not…

Its sorta an extension of the same idea that says if you read the bible, The holy spirit will guide you to truth…

Of coarse, this doesnt realy hold up to history as what books were valid were debated by even the truest of beleivers…

In Christ

 

[Eden]

What I’ve always heard as a response to this is that once the books were writen, the holy spirit ensured that the true beleivers knew which of the books were valid and which were not…

Its sorta an extension of the same idea that says if you read the bible, The holy spirit will guide you to truth…

Of coarse, this doesnt realy hold up to history as what books were valid were debated by even the truest of beleivers…

In Christ

Well, it’s true in the sense that the Catholic Bishops who set the Canon at the Councils of Carthage and Hippo were guided by the Holy Spirit in their decision as to which books were inspired and which were just inspiring. But individuals outside of the Church being guided, that’s just not scriptural. Thank heavens the Canon was set before all of this sola scriptura business. At least the thousands of denominations who who have been created as a result of the Protestant revolts are using inspired books, even though they do not have the entire canon.

 

[Verbum]

Hi MCGEISING,

Given any number of books out there, how will you know which ones were inspired by the Holy Spirit. There is no way. Furthermore you cannot prove the truth of the Bible by quoting the Bible itself.

No there is no way to prove the inspiration of the Bible, except through an authority appointed by God. Jesus founded a church; he set his apostles at the head of it; the apostles transmitted His truth to others, including which books were inspired by the Holy Spirit?

The Protestants have adopted the books of the New Testament that the apostles transmitted to the first Christians because the Catholic Church determined that they were inspired.

Verbum