The Bible and the Church:
Who Came First?
By Chris M. Forte
Every Christian claims to love the Bible. For Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox alike, it is the Word of God, the inspired record of salvation history, and the ultimate reference point for faith and morals.
But ask where the Bible came from, and suddenly things get complicated.
Was it dropped from heaven, leather-bound and cross-referenced? Did Jesus hand it to the Apostles before the Ascension? Or did it grow, organically, within the living community of believers — the Church — centuries before any list of “inspired books” was finalized?
As a Catholic, I often hear the phrase, “We’re a Bible-based church.” My response is simple:
“I don’t have a Bible-based Church. I have a Church-based Bible.”
The Church existed before the Bible — not the other way around. And history proves it.
1. The Catholic Perspective: The Bible Born in the Church
From the Catholic point of view, the Bible is a child of the Church, not its parent.
The Church existed — in its embryonic form — the moment Christ called the Twelve. By the time the first Gospel was written, the Church was already preaching, baptizing, and celebrating the Eucharist. The Word of God was alive, but it wasn’t yet a book; it was a proclamation, a living Tradition.
“This Gospel of salvation was promised in advance by the prophets, and fulfilled in Christ Jesus… handed on by the Apostles, and written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.” — Dei Verbum, Vatican II (1965), §7
The Apostles taught orally before anything was written. As St. Paul reminds the Thessalonians:
“Stand firm and hold fast to the traditions you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter.” — 2 Thessalonians 2:15
It wasn’t until the late first century that the earliest writings of the New Testament began circulating among local churches.
By the second century, hundreds of Christian texts were in use — Gospels, letters, apocalypses, acts, and commentaries — not all of which were inspired. Some were edifying; others were heretical. There was no universally agreed-upon “New Testament.”
So who decided which books belonged?
The Councils of the Church
It was the Catholic Church — guided by apostolic succession — that formally discerned the canon. The key moments were:
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Council of Rome (382 AD) – under Pope Damasus I, produced a list identical to today’s Catholic Bible.
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Council of Hippo (393 AD) and Carthage (397 & 419 AD) – confirmed the same canon, later ratified by Pope Innocent I (405 AD).
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Council of Trent (1546) – reaffirmed that canon definitively in response to Protestant challenges.
That’s the same Bible most Christians hold today, except for the seven Deuterocanonical books that Protestants later removed.
As St. Augustine wrote,
“I would not believe the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church moved me.” — Contra Epistolam Manichaei, 397 AD
In other words, the Church didn’t come from the Bible; the Bible came from the Church.
2. The Protestant Perspective: The Bible as Sole Authority
The Protestant Reformation (16th century) brought a radically different approach.
Martin Luther and other Reformers championed the principle of Sola Scriptura — “Scripture alone.” This meant that the Bible was not just inspired, but the sole infallible authority for faith and doctrine.
Luther’s motive wasn’t to create chaos, but to restore the authority of God’s Word over what he saw as corrupt or unbiblical traditions. As he wrote:
“The Word of God shall establish articles of faith, and no one else, not even an angel.” — Luther, Smalcald Articles, II
But the question remained: which Bible?
The Canon Controversy
Luther accepted the Hebrew Old Testament canon, rejecting seven books from the Greek Septuagint that had been included by the early Church:
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Tobit
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Judith
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Wisdom
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Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)
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Baruch
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1 & 2 Maccabees
He called them “Apocrypha” — useful for reading, but not equal to Scripture. Ironically, these were the very books used by Christ and the Apostles (who quoted the Greek Septuagint more often than the Hebrew texts).
By the time of the King James Bible (1611), most Protestant editions had officially excluded the Deuterocanonicals, even though early printings included them in a separate section.
The result was a shorter Bible, one that reflected theological presuppositions rather than ancient usage.
3. The Objective (Historical-Critical) Perspective: A Library, Not a Book
From an academic or historical standpoint, the Bible is a library — a collection of sacred writings developed over more than a millennium, written by dozens of authors, in multiple languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek), and formed through centuries of liturgical use.
The term “Bible” (from the Greek ta biblia, “the books”) itself implies plurality.
Scholars generally outline this timeline:
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c. 1200–100 BC: Composition of the Old Testament books (Torah, Prophets, Writings).
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c. 250–100 BC: Greek translation known as the Septuagint spreads among Jews in the diaspora.
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c. 50–100 AD: Composition of the New Testament.
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2nd–4th centuries: Diverse Christian canons in circulation.
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4th century onward: Gradual standardization of the canon through Church councils.
By any objective measure, the Church — as a community of worship and teaching — existed first, and the Bible arose within it, not apart from it. The canonization process was guided not by private inspiration but by liturgical usage, apostolic authority, and theological consistency.
As historian Jaroslav Pelikan put it:
“The Bible, in the singular, is a late ecclesiastical creation… The Church decided which books were Bible.” — The Christian Tradition, Vol. 1
Even Protestant historian F.F. Bruce admitted:
“The New Testament books did not become authoritative because they were formally included in a canonical list; they were included in the list because they were already authoritative.” (The Canon of Scripture, 1988)
And who decided they were authoritative? The Church.
4. The Bible and the Church: Two Sides of the Same Revelation
The Catholic Church teaches that Scripture and Tradition are not rivals but two expressions of one divine Revelation.
“Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God.” — Dei Verbum §10
The Bible is the written form of Tradition. The Church is the living interpreter of that Word, guided by the Holy Spirit (John 16:13).
Without the Church, there is no Bible; without the Bible, the Church would lose her clearest record of Revelation. They are inseparable, but in order — not equal origins.
5. My Personal Perspective: The Church-Based Bible
As a Catholic, I respect my Protestant brothers and sisters who truly love Scripture — sometimes even more than many Catholics do. But I also recognize a deep irony:
Every Protestant who claims to be “Bible-based” is using a Bible assembled by Catholics.
There is no such thing as a “Bible-based Church.”
The first Christians didn’t carry New Testaments; they were the New Testament.
When I open my Bible, I’m not holding the foundation of my faith — I’m holding its fruit. The root is the Church, the vine of apostolic witness from which the Scriptures grew.
That’s why I say:
“I don’t have a Bible-based Church. I have a Church-based Bible.”
The Church wrote it, preserved it, copied it, canonized it, translated it, and defended it. Every page I turn bears the fingerprints of her saints, scribes, and martyrs.
The Church didn’t come from the Bible — the Bible came from the Church.
And that makes me love both more deeply.
6. Conclusion: Word and Witness
Christ never said, “Go write a book.” He said, “Go and make disciples.” (Matthew 28:19)
The Word of God was living in hearts before it was ever written on parchment. The Bible remains the Church’s greatest treasure — but the Church herself is the living Body of the One who is the Word made flesh (John 1:14).
So when someone asks me what my faith is based on, I don’t say “the Bible.”
I say, “The Word of God — written, preached, and lived through the Church that gave us the Bible in the first place.”
Sources and Citations
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Dei Verbum, Second Vatican Council, 1965.
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Catechism of the Catholic Church §§80–82, 120–131.
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St. Augustine, Contra Epistolam Manichaei (397 AD).
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Councils of Rome (382), Hippo (393), Carthage (397).
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Council of Trent, Session IV (1546).
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Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition, Vol. I (1971).
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F.F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture (1988).
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Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI), God’s Word: Scripture, Tradition, Office (2008).
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Martin Luther, Smalcald Articles (1537).
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C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms (1958).
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