BIBLE = BASIC INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE LEAVING EARTH

Did the Catholic Church give us the Bible?

It was God who decided and NOT the Catholic Church which books should be contained in the Bible. God is the one who made sure what scripture was valid and what was not. Just because a church compiled a list does not mean a thing.

The Word of the New Testament existed before the church (first given orally and then written).

The church was born of the Word (Matt. 13:19; Lk 8:11). The Word was NOT born of the church nor is the Church the mother of the Word.

In one breath the Catholic Church professes to adore the Bible, uphold it and propagate it, in the next breath she will ridicule it, cast reflection upon it and seek to destroy faith in it.

In one breath she will say that the Bible is inspired of God, in the next she will say that it is incomplete and insufficient.

In one breath she will talk about the good it has produced; in the next she will talk about the insidious evil, the error and the division that have come through individuals studying and applying their own interpretations to it.

The Catholic Church will appeal to the Bible in efforts to uphold her doctrines before prospective converts and then claim that it is not the standard by which to measure anything religiously.

Talk about hypocrisy.

The Jews still to this day do NOT accept the Apocrypha as Scripture inspired by God. The Jews were entrusted with the "oracles of God" (the Old Testament - Rom 3:1-2) not the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church had NO AUTHORITY to ADD to the Scriptures.

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.

The Muratorian Canon listed all the books of the Bible except for 1 John, 1 and 2 Peter, Hebrews, and James around A.D. 180.

Irenaeus, as bishop of Lyon, mentions all of the books except Jude, 2 Peter, James, Philemon, 2 and 3 John, and Revelation.

The Syriac Version, from the third century, leaves out only Revelation.

315-386. Cyril, bishop at Jerusalem, gives a list of all New Testament books except Revelation.

270. Eusebius, bishop at Caesarea, 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.

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.

In the light of the foregoing, the boastful claim of the 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. Even if the Catholic Church could prove that it alone is the sole deliverer of the Scriptures to man today, it still remains that the Catholic Church is not following the Bible and is contrary to the Bible. 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; Jn 11:49- 52).