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The Roman Catholic Church did not give the world the Bible!
A conservative, bible believing perspective!
God's providence gave us the 27 book New Testament Canon, not the church.
God, not men decided the canon. This providence does not mean that church
leaders were inspired in their selecting the canon, only that God had his
eye on the scriptures the whole time and brought about His will to form the
Bible we see today!
The Roman Catholic Church did
not give the world the Bible!
Go to: "Canon of the Bible" Home Page
The Roman Catholic Church did not give the world the Bible!
Introduction:
1. The claim of Roman Catholic and Orthodox leaders that they
gave the world the Bible, is as outrageous as it is blasphemous.
2. We invite Roman Catholics and Orthodox to read out "Questions"
section.
I. Discussion:
The councils of the church played little part in the canonization of
scripture. When councils did speak on the subject, their voice was a
ratification of what had already become the mind of the church. (Lee Martin
McDonald, James A. Sanders, Editors: The Canon Debate; Everett Ferguson,
Factors Leading to the Selection and Closure of the New Testament Canon, p
319, 2002)
Even James Bernstein, an Orthodox leader admits: "The councils did
not legislate the canon so much as set forth what had become self-evident
truth and practice within the churches of God." (Which Came First: The
Church or the New Testament?, Fr. James Bernstein, Orthodox churchman,
1994, p 13)
In other words, the New Testament canon is a recognition and
acknowledgment of books that were authoritative from earlier periods on,
not a creation of the fourth-century church. (Lee Martin McDonald, James A.
Sanders, Editors: The Canon Debate; Peter Balla, Evidence for an Early
Christian Canon: Second and Third Century, p 373, 2002)
Of interest here is the fact that the community of faith, rather
than church authorities, were responsible for this process; what they
determined to be edifying and useful later found a place in the canon.
Church authorities only authorized or sanctioned what had already been in
use. (Lee Martin McDonald, James A. Sanders, Editors: The Canon Debate;
Kent D. Clarke, The Problem of Pseudonymity in Biblical Literature and Its
Implications for Canon Formation, p 467, 2002)
In establishing the Canon, the Church authorities of the second and
succeeding centuries only subsequently ratified the decisions which had
already been reached by the Christian communities, or more exactly, by the
individual believers. The organized Church as such did not create the
Canon; it recognized the Canon which had already been created. It is only
from the second half of the fourth century onwards, in connexion with the
closing of the Canon, that the Church authorities began to have an effect."
(David G. Meade, Pseudonymity and Canon, p 206, 1986)
In most discussions of the canon of the New Testament little or no
attention is paid to the basic question whether the canon should be
described as a collection of authoritative books or as an authoritative
collection of books. These two formulations differ fundamentally and
involve totally different implications. (A third formulation, that the
canon is an authoritative collection of authoritative books, is merely a
modification of the second formulation, and may be set aside in the present
discussion.) ... In the former case, the books within the collection are
regarded as possessing an intrinsic worth prior to their having been
assembled, and their authority is grounded in their nature and source. In
the latter case, the collection itself is regarded as giving the books an
authority they did not possess before they were designated as belonging to
the collection. That is to say, the canon is invested with dogmatic
significance arising from the activity of canonization. In one case the
Church recognizes the inherent authority of the Scriptures; in the other
she creates their authority by collecting them and placing on the
collection the label of canonicity. If the authority of the New Testament
books resides not in the circumstance of their inclusion within a
collection made by the Church, but in the source from which they came, then
the New Testament was in principle complete when the various elements
coming from this source had been written. That is to say, when once the
principle of the canon has been determined, then ideally its extent is
fixed and the canon is complete when the books which by principle belong to
it have been written. (Bruce M. Merger, The canon of the New Testament,
1987, p 282)
II. Roman Catholic and Orthodox :
1. Before we begin:
a. Remember that even James Bernstein, an Orthodox leader
admits: "The councils did not legislate the canon so much as set forth what
had become self-evident truth and practice within the churches of God."
(Which Came First: The Church or the New Testament?, Fr. James Bernstein,
Orthodox churchman, 1994, p 13)
b. Brace yourself for a bit of double talk for two pages later he
says:
c. "It was clear from my study that the Church had, in fact,
determined which books composed the Scriptures." (Which Came First: The
Church or the New Testament?, Fr. James Bernstein, Orthodox churchman,
1994, p 15)
2. Refutation of James Bernstein (Orthodox):
a. First Bernstein says it was the church, not the councils
that set the canon, then two pages later he says the church determined the
canon. Yet Bernstein tries to prove his point by telling us the canon was
determined by the Council of Laodicea A.D 363 and third Council of Carthage
in A.D 397. Obviously then Bernstein contradicts himself. First he says it
was not the councils, then he refers to two church councils to prove the
church had the authority to set the canon.
b. Bernstein is walking on eggshells by referring to the Council
of Laodicea A.D 363 and third Council of Carthage in A.D 397, because he
knows the first council accepted only 26 books and rejected the book of
Revelation, while the second council accepted all 27 books including
revelation. We would ask the obvious question: What good is the "authority
of the church" if it contradicts itself? One council rejects the book of
Revelation the other council accepts revelation. Which "authority" was
right?
3. Obviously then, no church council set the canon, and it was
not by "church authority" that the canon was set. Rather there was a common
understood canon of 22 books that had never been questioned and widely
distributed since 100 AD, along with 5 other books that were in full
circulation since 100 AD, but questioned.
Conclusion:
1. Neither the Roman Catholic or Orthodox church gave the world
the Bible or determined the Canon.
2. This was done centuries earlier around 100 AD.
3. Historical "canon lists" we possess today are an
incomplete image of history.
By Steve Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections.
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