Was the Catholic Church the first holder of the Bible?

Was the Catholic Church the first holder of the Bible?

Asked by Maureen

Was the Catholic Church the first holder of the Bible?

No. When the Bible was first received, Christians weren’t divided into Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches as they are today.

The division of the Christian Church into Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant branches happened quite some time after the Bible was received by the church.

Each of those three branches of the Church sees itself as the continuation of the church which begun with Jesus and his original followers—the church which you could say first held the Bible. But it wouldn’t be true to say that any one branch and not the others was the first holder of the Bible, because at that time there was only one, united church.

What makes it slightly confusing is that before those divisions the united church was sometimes called the “catholic” church, which just means the “general” church or the “universal” church. However, what we call the Catholic Church today is not the same thing but represents only one part of that original Church.

We at christianity.net.au would suggest that the Catholic Church has actually moved away from the teaching of the Bible in some very important respects, and that the teaching of Jesus and his original followers is most accurately preserved in what is called the “evangelical” tradition (part of Protestantism). For more information on the differences, see here.

Answers are kindly provided by our friends at Christianity.net.au

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