Some people imagine the Bible arrived all at once.

Leather cover.

Gold edges.

Table of contents.

Maybe even the words of Jesus in red.

But that is not how it happened.

Not even close.

Wait… Didn’t the Bible Come Before the Church?

A lot of Christians think:

“The Bible is the foundation of the Church. First came the Bible, then came the Church.”

And at first that sounds right.

After all, Christians build everything on God’s Word.

But then you look at the actual history, and you have to stop for a second.

Because the order was the other way around.

The Church Came First

Jesus founded His Church around A.D. 30.

On Pentecost, Peter preached and three thousand were baptized (Acts 2:41).

Those first Christians:

“were persevering in the doctrine of the apostles, and in the communication of the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
— Acts 2:42

Notice what is missing.

A New Testament.

It did not exist yet.

The first book of the New Testament was probably written around A.D. 50.

The last ones near the end of the first century.

For a whole generation, the Church taught, baptized, and celebrated the Eucharist without a single New Testament book.

The Church Wrote It

Who wrote the New Testament?

Matthew, an Apostle.

John, an Apostle.

Peter, the first pope.

Paul, an Apostle.

Mark, Peter’s companion.

Luke, Paul’s companion.

James and Jude, leaders in the Church at Jerusalem.

Every New Testament book was written by members of the Church, for the Church, to be read in the Church.

Most of Paul’s letters were written to correct problems in churches that already existed.

The Church Read It at Mass

How did these writings spread?

They were read aloud when Christians gathered for the Eucharist.

Around A.D. 155, St. Justin Martyr described Sunday worship: the memoirs of the Apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, then the leader preaches, then the bread and wine are offered.

Wait.

The Bible was first “published” at Mass.

And the books that were read in the churches founded by the Apostles were the ones Christians came to recognize as Scripture.

Not Everyone Agreed

Here is a part of the story many people never hear.

For about three hundred years, Christians disagreed about some books.

Some churches did not read Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, or Revelation.

Other churches read books that did not end up in the Bible, like the Shepherd of Hermas, the Didache, and the Letter of Clement.

And false “gospels” were floating around too, written by groups who denied that Jesus was truly human.

Someone had to tell the difference.

The Church Recognized It

So how was it settled?

In A.D. 367, St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, listed the 27 books of the New Testament we have today.

In A.D. 382, a council in Rome under Pope St. Damasus gave a list of the books of Scripture.

The councils of Hippo (A.D. 393) and Carthage (A.D. 397) gave the same list of Old and New Testament books, and asked the Church of Rome to confirm it.

In A.D. 405, Pope St. Innocent I sent the same list in a letter.

Notice what the Church did not do.

It did not make these books inspired.

God did that.

The Church recognized which books were inspired, the way a jeweler recognizes a real diamond.

It did not create the diamond.

But you still need someone who can tell.

The Church Copied It

Then there is the small matter of making copies.

No printing press.

No photocopier.

For more than a thousand years, the Bible was copied by hand.

Mostly by monks.

Line by line.

Letter by letter.

St. Jerome spent decades translating the whole Bible into Latin, the language most people in the West could read. It was called the Vulgate, from the word for “common.”

Some popular stories say the medieval Church tried to hide the Bible.

The truth is, without the Church, there would have been no Bible to hide.

The Pillar and Ground

St. Paul wrote:

“But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
— 1 Timothy 3:15

The pillar and ground of the truth.

The Church holds up the truth.

Including the truth about which books are the Word of God.

So What Is the Catholic Claim?

Here it is in simple terms.

The Church existed before the New Testament was written.

Members of the Church wrote it.

The Church read it at Mass, recognized which books were inspired, and settled the list in the late 300s.

The Church copied it by hand and translated it for over a thousand years.

Catholics believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and that God used His Church to give it to the world (CCC 120).

So the real question is not:

“Do Catholics believe in the Bible?”

The better question is:

“If you trust the Bible, why not trust the Church God used to give it to us?”

Every Christian who opens a Bible is holding a gift from the Catholic Church.

Keep reading: Did the Catholic Church Add Books to the Bible?, or browse more questions in Catholicism Explained.

If this helped you, consider supporting Christian Catholic Media so we can keep creating content.

Catholic Sources

Scripture (Douay-Rheims): Acts 2:41–42; 1 Thessalonians 5:27; Colossians 4:16; 1 Timothy 3:15; 2 Peter 3:15–16.

Catechism of the Catholic Church: CCC 105–108 (inspiration); CCC 120 (the canon of Scripture).

Early Christian writers: St. Justin Martyr, First Apology 67 (c. A.D. 155); St. Athanasius, Festal Letter 39 (A.D. 367); St. Jerome, preface to the Vulgate (c. A.D. 405).

Church documents: Council of Rome (A.D. 382); Councils of Hippo (A.D. 393) and Carthage (A.D. 397); Pope Innocent I, Letter to Exsuperius (A.D. 405); Council of Trent, Session 4 (1546); Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum 8.

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