𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊 & 𝐋𝐔𝐊𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒 — 𝐘𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋𝐒?

Did you know that for the first 300 YEARS of Christianity… there was NO CHRISTIAN BIBLE?

Yet the Church grew, converted nations, survived persecutions, and kept the teachings of Jesus alive — WITHOUT depending on a “Bible alone.”

Why? Because Jesus never said,

“Write a book!”

He said,

“Preach… Teach… Do this in memory of Me… Listen to the Church.”

Let’s uncover truths many Christians don’t know (or don’t want to admit):

𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙠 & 𝙇𝙪𝙠𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝘼𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨 — 𝙎𝙤 𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝘿𝙤 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙨?

Many assume apostles wrote the Gospels. But in fact:

• Mark was NOT an apostle. He was Peter’s disciple, writing Peter’s preaching.

• Luke was NOT an apostle. He was Paul’s companion, writing Paul’s account of Christ.

Now ask yourself:

Who told us Mark and Luke wrote these Gospels?

Not the Bible!

There is NO verse that says:

“Mark wrote this gospel.”

“Luke wrote this gospel.”

The ONLY reason we know their authorship is because the Catholic Church preserved this information through Sacred Tradition.

Tradition, not the Bible, tells us who wrote the Bible.

𝘿𝙞𝙙 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙆𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙄𝙨 𝙐𝙉𝙆𝙉𝙊𝙒𝙉?

Even scholars agree:

No one truly knows who wrote Hebrews.

It could be Paul, Barnabas, Apollos, Luke, Clement… no one is sure.

So why did the early Church include it in the Bible?

Because Sacred Tradition AND the Magisterium accepted it as inspired.

Not because the text declared its own author.

Not because of “Bible alone.”

But because the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, discerned it.

𝙏𝙍𝙐𝙏𝙃 𝘽𝙊𝙈𝘽 :

The Bible Quoted Books That Are NOT in the Bible!

Did you know the New Testament quotes or references books that are NOT included in the canon?

Book of Enoch — quoted by Jude

Book of Jubilees — alluded to by early Christians

Assumption of Moses — quoted by Jude

Book of Jashar — quoted in Joshua & 2 Samuel

Book of Nathan the Prophet

Book of Gad the Seer

Book of Samuel the Seer

Epistle to the Laodiceans — mentioned by Paul

Enochic literature referenced in NT theology

The Bible quotes books that the Bible did not include.

Who decided which books stay and which books do not?

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH — through Tradition and the Magisterium.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙀𝙀 𝙋𝙄𝙇𝙇𝘼𝙍𝙎 𝙤𝙛 𝙏𝙍𝙐𝙏𝙃 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙢

The Catholic Church teaches that God’s revelation comes from three inseparable sources:

Sacred Scripture (the Bible)

Sacred Tradition (oral teachings before Scripture existed)

The Magisterium (teaching authority of the Church)

These THREE form the “Three-Legged Chair of Truth.”

Remove one leg — the entire system collapses.

This is why Sola Scriptura (Bible alone) is impossible.

Read this carefully:

If the Bible is the ONLY source of truth…

Then there was NO truth for the first 300 years before the Bible existed.

And that is historically FALSE.

The Church lived the truth, preached the truth, defended the truth, and taught the truth before a single New Testament book was formed.

Truth existed because the Church existed.

And the Church existed because Christ founded it — not because of a book.

𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙃𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙃𝙐𝙂𝙀 𝙍𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚

Before ANY New Testament book was written:

Christians were already baptizing

Celebrating the Eucharist

Ordaining bishops & priests

Using the sign of the cross

Praying liturgically

Believing in the Real Presence

Worshiping on Sunday

Keeping Apostolic teachings orally

Tradition came FIRST.

Scripture came SECOND.

The Magisterium preserved BOTH.

The Bible did NOT create the Church.

The Church created the Bible.

𝙁𝙤𝙧 300 𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨, 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙎𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙖 𝘽𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚

From A.D. 33 to A.D. 325:

No printed Bibles

No canon list

No “Bible alone” theology

No pastors waving personal scriptures

No church had all 27 NT books

And yet…

Christianity exploded across the Roman Empire because it was built on Tradition and led by the Magisterium, not bound to a book that did not yet exist.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙪𝙢 𝘿𝙀𝘾𝙄𝘿𝙀𝘿 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙣

The final list of inspired books came from:

Council of Rome (382)

Council of Hippo (393)

Council of Carthage (397)

All were Catholic councils, led by bishops, guided by popes.

They declared infallibly:

which books were inspired

which books were rejected

the exact 73-book Catholic Bible we use today

No Protestant pastor existed then.

No Reformation existed then.

No “Bible alone” belief existed then.

The canon is a Catholic product.

𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇

The Bible Cannot Exist Without the Church, Tradition, and the Magisterium.

• The Bible did NOT fall from heaven.

• The Bible did NOT write itself.

• The Bible did NOT choose its own books.

• The Bible did NOT preserve its own manuscripts.

Every Christian who holds a Bible today — Protestant or Catholic —

is holding a book created, preserved, and canonized by the Catholic Church.

So when someone says:

“Bible alone!”

You can boldly respond:

Without the Church, the Bible would NOT exist.

Without Tradition, the authorship of Scripture is UNKNOWN.

Without the Magisterium, the canon could NEVER be decided.

The Church came first.

Scripture came from the Church.

Truth comes from Scripture + Tradition + Magisterium — together.

Source: The Catholic Faith Guardian