- 2 days ago
Did the Roman Catholic Church give the world the Bible as they claim? From a book titled “The Bible is a Catholic Book” by Jimmy Akin the inside flap has this written: “In The Bible Is a Catholic Book, Jimmy shows how the Bible cannot exist apart from the Church. In its origins and its formulation, in the truths it contains, in its careful preservation over the centuries and in the prayerful study and elucidation of its mysteries, Scripture is inseparable from Catholicism. This is fitting, since both come from God for our salvation.”
Is that accurate? Are the truths of the Bible inseparable from Catholicism? Is it true that the Bible cannot possibly exist apart from the Roman Catholic Church? The Roman Catholic Church wasn’t formed for some centuries after Pentecost in the book of Acts, which would mean God left His church without His word. He would have abandoned His church, which He promised He would never do.
How about a Protestant church? Did one of the Protestant churches give the world the Bible? The Protestant churches were born from the Roman Catholic Church, so they came later in time. If the Roman Catholic Church didn’t bring the world the Bible, then humanity was without the word of God for even more centuries.
One thing is certain – the instant one of the books of the Bible was written, someone had it; even if it was only the author. So, was there a church that had a continuous chain of custody of the scriptures? If so, what church was it? Is there historical proof that one group had a continuous chain of custody of the books of the Bible the instant they were written – not centuries later?
And most importantly… Who Really Did Give the World the Bible?
Click here https://cogwriter.com/BibleCanon.pdf for a free eBook of a comprehensive study guide to Who Gave the World the Bible.
Watch this video as Dr. Thiel shines the light of Biblical truth and historical proof on the possessors of the chain of custody of the Holy Scriptures.
Read the full article to this video titled “Although the Roman Catholic Church claims it gave the world the Bible, God did, and the Church of God had the chain of custody” at URL https://www.cogwriter.com/news/church-history/although-the-roman-catholic-church-claims-it-gave-the-world-the-bible-god-did-and-the-church-of-god-had-the-chain-of-custody/
Is that accurate? Are the truths of the Bible inseparable from Catholicism? Is it true that the Bible cannot possibly exist apart from the Roman Catholic Church? The Roman Catholic Church wasn’t formed for some centuries after Pentecost in the book of Acts, which would mean God left His church without His word. He would have abandoned His church, which He promised He would never do.
How about a Protestant church? Did one of the Protestant churches give the world the Bible? The Protestant churches were born from the Roman Catholic Church, so they came later in time. If the Roman Catholic Church didn’t bring the world the Bible, then humanity was without the word of God for even more centuries.
One thing is certain – the instant one of the books of the Bible was written, someone had it; even if it was only the author. So, was there a church that had a continuous chain of custody of the scriptures? If so, what church was it? Is there historical proof that one group had a continuous chain of custody of the books of the Bible the instant they were written – not centuries later?
And most importantly… Who Really Did Give the World the Bible?
Click here https://cogwriter.com/BibleCanon.pdf for a free eBook of a comprehensive study guide to Who Gave the World the Bible.
Watch this video as Dr. Thiel shines the light of Biblical truth and historical proof on the possessors of the chain of custody of the Holy Scriptures.
Read the full article to this video titled “Although the Roman Catholic Church claims it gave the world the Bible, God did, and the Church of God had the chain of custody” at URL https://www.cogwriter.com/news/church-history/although-the-roman-catholic-church-claims-it-gave-the-world-the-bible-god-did-and-the-church-of-god-had-the-chain-of-custody/
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NewsTranscript
00:03Greetings, friends. This is Steve Dupuy for the Bible News Prophecy Program with Dr. Bob Thiel,
00:09bringing you news and analysis of world events in light of Bible prophecy.
00:14Dr. Thiel, who gave the world the Bible?
00:17God did.
00:19What do the Roman Catholics claim?
00:22Well, I bought a book by a guy named Jimmy Akin titled, The Bible's a Catholic Book.
00:27He claims the Bible can't exist apart from the church.
00:31Its origins, its formulations, its careful preservation over the centuries is inseparable from Catholicism.
00:37If you're a Catholic who sometimes gets intimidated by the Bible, especially scriptural challenges from Protestants,
00:43we are the original Bible Christians.
00:47Well, that's what he says.
00:48I went to Catholic Bible 101 and they asked where the Bible come from.
00:53He says the answer is the church gave the world the Bible.
00:55The Bible does not exist apart from the church.
00:58The New Testament was not finalized in its present form until Pope Damasus I, the Council of Rome, 382,
01:05proposed the current canon of scripture of 73 books.
01:10So that was that response.
01:12Then I went to the Roman Catholic EWTN website.
01:18They have a question from a guy named Bill.
01:21If the Roman Catholic Church gave the world the Bible being infallible, then why did Rome reject or question the
01:27inspiration of James and Hebrews and then later accept it?
01:30If the Catholic Church really is illuminated by the Holy Spirit, so men can trust her as God's organization, why
01:36was she so wrong about something so simple?
01:39Here's the answer from a priest by the name of John Eckert.
01:43The recognition of the canon of the scripture was not accomplished in an instant.
01:48Never was the church wrong in such a matter, as she never infallibly declared a wrong canon.
01:55Well, the fact is the church of Rome admits that they weren't sure about things.
02:00The old Catholic Encyclopedia said they questioned the epistle to the Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 3 John, Jude, and
02:10the Apocalypse, and those books of Revelation.
02:14They admit they don't know it.
02:16Why?
02:16Because unlike the Church of God, they did not have the chain of custody.
02:19Now, the New Catholic Encyclopedia specifically claims they did not infallibly declare the canon until the Council of Trent in
02:30the 16th century.
02:33Now, although most Protestants don't accept that particular canon, their scholars tend to agree that the canon of the scripture
02:43was not known for a long time.
02:46Yet, in Hebrews 13, verse 5, God promised he'd never leave or forsake us.
02:53Well, if we didn't know what the New Testament was for 200, 300 years, or 1,500 years, it kind
02:58of sounds like God would forsake us.
03:00Look, in 2 Timothy 3, the apostle Paul wrote Timothy and said that you'd become complete from the scriptures.
03:08Well, if you didn't know what they were, it doesn't make sense to the true Christians who didn't know what
03:12they were.
03:15Now, there are some Protestant scholars who get some parts of it right.
03:18Dr. Kruger wrote,
03:21After all, aren't God's books still God's books?
03:24Hard anybody using them or recognizing them?
03:27Well, yeah, it's correct to conclude that the Council of Men's did not change the books inspired by God.
03:32Those that God inspired were always inspired, despite the fact that various Roman Catholics and Protestants, for that matter, were
03:39confused about them.
03:41The instant one of the books of the Bible was written, someone had to have possession of it.
03:46Did any one person or group of people ever have possession of all of the books of the Bible?
03:52And if so, when did they possess them?
03:55Well, the writers had them from the beginning, and the recipients got them from when they got them.
03:59But, and I'll go over this later, the disciples, the apostles collected them.
04:04And the last one who died, and the last one who wrote the books of the Bible, the apostle John,
04:09had them.
04:10And he lived in Asia Minor.
04:13Now, 27 books in the New Testament, between 14 and 20 of them were written to people in Asia Minor
04:19or from people in Asia Minor.
04:22And according to historical records, Polycarp was a disciple of John, and he learned from John and the apostles.
04:31And according to a document known as the Paris Fragment, Apostle John passed the canons to Polycarp, which we would
04:41have believed would have happened anyway, because he knew him.
04:43So, we believe this is evidence that the canon of Scripture was known from the beginning in Asia Minor.
04:52Now, a Protestant scholar by the name of James Moffat wrote, was not the apostolic canon of Scripture first formed
05:00in Asia Minor?
05:01And we said, yes.
05:03And it was the Church of God that was prominent, predominant in Asia Minor until the early third century, and
05:09had the chain of custody.
05:12Now, we have a free e-book available at ccog.org, Who Gave the World the Bible?
05:19ccog.org, if you're on a literature tab, you can find it.
05:22In it, there's a chart of chain of custody.
05:24And on one side, we've got Church of God chain of custody.
05:28The other side, Breck and Rowan Catholics and Protestants.
05:31Now, for most of the few original points, we all agree.
05:35So, let me read a lot of the original points.
05:37God inspired various ones to write books of the Bible.
05:41Paul wrote Timothy to bring Mark and the parchments.
05:45So, that's part of the Bible.
05:47Peter has Paul's writings according to 2 Peter.
05:50We all believe that John gets Paul's writings from Peter.
05:55Peter and Paul are killed.
05:57And after John is on the Isle of Patmos, he moves back to Ephesus.
06:05Now, one thing we teach that Greco-Roman Catholics and Protestants don't teach is Isaiah 8-16, that John fulfilled
06:12that.
06:13That said, seal the testimony of your disciples.
06:16And John was the last of the disciples, the last one to the original apostles, the last one to write
06:21the book.
06:22So, he had them all.
06:25And we believe he passed what he knew to Polycarp.
06:29Now, others, except he passed some to Polycarp.
06:33All right.
06:34So, now, let's go to where it gets more showing that we had the chain of custody.
06:40One of our people in Asia Minor, a guy named Papias Heropoulos, accepted the book of Revelation.
06:45You're writing around 120 A.D.
06:50Polycarp writes a letter to the Philippians around 135.
06:53And I had this published, by the way, in a theological journal, where he quotes or alludes to all 27
07:00books of the New Testament.
07:02Now, the Greco-Roman Catholics and Protestants said, well, he alludes to most of them.
07:06I'd say with all of them.
07:07Anyway, but he also writes that the Philippians were well-versed in the sacred scriptures.
07:13Well, how could they be well-versed if they didn't know what they were?
07:16Now, another Church of God leader in Asia Minor by the name of Melito of Sardis wanted to verify that
07:22we had the true Old Testament canon.
07:26So, he went down and he checked that out.
07:28And that writing is accepted by the Greco-Roman Catholics.
07:32But they take books that aren't in here.
07:35Church of God Bibles and Protestant Bibles do not include what's called the Apocrypha of the Old Testament.
07:41Melito didn't include that.
07:42And they all call him a saint.
07:44He's one of our people.
07:46Now, also in Asia Minor, you've got Colicaries of Ephesus.
07:51And he told Bishop of Rome, Victor, that he'd gone through every sacred scripture.
07:59Well, how could he go through every sacred scripture if he didn't know what they were?
08:03Also, close to Asia Minor, you've got a guy by the name of Serapion of Antioch, who was one of
08:11our people.
08:12He said that the scriptures were handed down to him.
08:15And that's what we say.
08:16They were handed from John, the Polycarp, Polycarp, and others, passed it on.
08:22That's how it was handed down to people like Serapion.
08:27Also, Serapion, he visited this one church.
08:29And they were using something called the Gospel of Peter, which the Church of God was not using, but some
08:37of the Greco-Roman Catholics were.
08:40Now, that's around 209 AD.
08:42Furthermore, there was a church, or actually a school in Alexandria.
08:48And according to Origen, in the 3rd century, they thought that Hebrews, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, James, and
08:56Jude were contested writings.
09:00Now, around the year 250, an Orthodox guy by the name Serapion of Carthage, he wrote the first Latin Bible.
09:08It does not include Hebrews, 2 Peter, James, or Jude.
09:13Now, while there's a school in Antioch, a school in Alexandria, one in Antioch rises up with one of our
09:21people, Lucian.
09:23And he uses the Hebrew Masoretic text, and he uses the Textus Receptus, what we call the traditional text of
09:30the New Testament.
09:31Again, our books, what we would use.
09:34The Greco-Romans in the 4th century, according to Eusebius, they still weren't sure about Hebrews, James.
09:42Jude, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, and Revelation.
09:48And in something called Canon 85, the Apostolic Constitutions, they included two epistles of Clement as sacred books.
09:57And they're not in the New Testament, by the way.
10:00Now, in the late 4th century, Jerome wrote that the Nazarene Christians use the Old and New Testaments.
10:08Well, the Pope wanted him to put together the Bible.
10:12So he goes and he consults with the Nazarene Christians, our people, to know what the books of the Bible
10:17were.
10:19And he doesn't want these extra books in the Old Testament.
10:21But the Pope tells him he's got to put them in anyway.
10:25And I've got writings from Jerome where he objected, by the way.
10:28You can read them in our free e-book at ccog.org.
10:33Anyway, while our people continued the original canon, Augustine of Hippo said the Hebrews was still disputed.
10:44In 405 AD, Pope Innocent I left Hebrews out.
10:50In 405, Jerome finally completes his Bible.
10:53When he succumbs to pressure, he includes Apocrypha.
10:58But our people kept working in the Bible, translating the New Testaments in different languages.
11:03And we had them.
11:05There were edicts against our people in the 12th and 15th centuries.
11:09And supporters of Rome took the books from us.
11:15Now, what about the Protestants?
11:17Well, in the 16th century, one of their reformers, a guy by the name of Zwingli,
11:22did not accept the book of Revelation as Scripture.
11:26And in 1546, Martin Luther still doubted the inclusion of Hebrews, James, Jude,
11:34and Revelation in the books of the Bible.
11:37Because, for example, Martin Luther said, you're saved by faith alone.
11:43And James says, no, you're not.
11:45So he didn't want to use that one.
11:47But what about the Roman Catholics?
11:48In 1546, they declared the fixed canon as a dogma of their church.
11:55They could not be changed.
11:56That's 1546.
11:58Okay.
11:591,450 years approximately after the last book of the New Testament was written.
12:05Now, in 1611, the King James Version of the Bible was published with the Apocrypha included as an appendix.
12:12In 1672, the Eastern Orthodox finalized their canon at the Synod of Jerusalem.
12:20And in the 19th century, the Protestants finally dropped the Apocrypha from their appendix of the edited King James Bible.
12:31Now, while this is all going on, the Church of God leaders continued to have the chain of custody to
12:38cite the same canon of Scripture from the beginning.
12:41They got from John through Polycarp.
12:44And we've used the Masoretic text for the Old Testament, where the Greco-Romans used the Septuagint, and the Protestants
12:53used the Masoretic.
12:54And we use the Texas Receptus for the New Testament as the best source.
12:59Protestants, sometimes they do it, and sometimes they use something else.
13:03And the reality is, the view of agnostic scholars, Greco-Roman Catholics, and Protestants, is that nobody knew what the
13:12books of the Bible were.
13:17But we don't agree.
13:19We think the Bible itself points to the fact that the true Church would know what the books of the
13:23Bible were,
13:24and that we've had the chain of custody throughout, and history supports our view.
13:28You know, even though Jesus said that his Church would be a little flock, Luke 22-12-32,
13:35most scholars ignore that, and they think, well, no, it was the Greco-Roman Catholics to represent Christianity as a
13:41whole.
13:41So they've taken their view of the Council's as a fact.
13:46I want to circle back to my original question, Dr. Thiel.
13:49Who gave the world the Bible?
13:52God gave the world the Bible.
13:54Well, Jerome, who Catholics tend to, Rome Catholics tend to point to, they basically got it from us,
14:00and we got it from the Apostles who were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
14:04Hopefully, the facts of history will help people realize that which Church had the chain of custody
14:09because they didn't know what the books were, and we did.
14:14Thank you, Dr. Thiel.
14:15For more interviews with Dr. Thiel, and in addition to written, as well as audio articles,
14:20visit our website at BibleNewsProphecy.net.
14:23This is Steve Dupuis for the Bible News Prophecy Program.