What does the Bible say about itself?

 1. The Bible clearly says that it is inspired by GOD, 2Timothy 3:16.
    This can only refer to the Old Testament, since there was no New Testament at the time that St. Paul wrote 2Timothy.
    Scores of spurious 'gospels' were written by Gnostics and others and were later declared by the Church to be not inspired.
    The new testament canon was not finalized until hundreds of years later in the fourth century and by the Church.

 2. The Bible clearly says it is useful for teaching, 2Timothy 3:16.
    Useful means just that, and it does not mean all encompassing or Bible only.

 3. The Bible clearly says that everything is not within it, John 20:30, John 21:25.
     Bye bye Sola Scriptura.

 4. The Bible clearly says that there are many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now, John 16:12.
    That implies future teaching, and again that everything is not in the Bible. Bye bye Sola Scriptura.

 5. The Bible clearly says you are being fed with milk (as with a baby)
    because you cannot eat meat as yet,  1Corinthians 3:2, Hebrews 5:12-13. 
   Again we see implied future teaching which comes over time. Bye bye Sola Scriptura.

 6. The Bible clearly says when the Spirit of Truth has come, He will teach you all the truth,
   and the THINGS THAT ARE TO COME He will declare to you, John 16:13.
   In this verse there can be no doubt that everything is not in the Bible,
   and that things that are to come will be revealed over time by the Spirit of Truth through His Church.

Here is but one of many prime examples of the fulfillment of this verse, and it is the word "trinity".
Sola Scriptura believers, please show me the word "trinity" in the Bible?
It is not there. It is not mentioned even once. Yet, most SS believers do believe in the Trinity and they use the word extensively.
Isn't that being hypocritical to say that you believe in Sola Scriptura and also in the Trinity?
Is not that the practice of "Doublethink"?
The Trinity was not formally defined until the year 381 by the Catholic first Council of Constantinople.
That was well over 270 years after the last book of the Bible, Revelation, was written.
Remember Ephesians 3:10, as listed above? It said it is the Church that is the teacher.
John 16:13 all by itself is the death knell of the false man made doctrine of Sola Scriptura, which means 'Bible only',
or 'if I cannot find it in the Bible, then I choose not to believe it simply because it does not exist or it never happened'.
Bye bye Sola Scriptura.

 7. The Bible clearly says that you cannot interpret the Bible on an individual basis, Acts 8:30-35, 2Peter 1:20-21.
    Why then do so many non-Catholics do it when Holy Scripture says they cannot?
    Who obeys the teaching of Holy Scripture, and who does not?

 8. The Bible clearly says that we are not to use 'eisegesis' to interpret Holy Scripture.
"I have applied all this to myself and Apol'los for your benefit, brethren, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another." 1Corinthians 4:6
The meaning of 'eisegesis' is, an interpretation of Scripture that expresses one's own ideas or bias, rather than the true meaning of the text.
In other words, reading something into Scripture that simply is not there.

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What does the Bible NOT say about itself?

 1. The Bible does not say it is the Bible only.
    The man-made false doctrine of Sola Scriptura cannot be found anywhere within it.

 2. The Bible does not say to discard Apostolic Tradition.
    After all, the Bible itself is merely Tradition written down.
    Jesus taught orally.
    The Apostles taught orally for many years before the first book of the New Testament was even written.

 3. The Bible does not say that it is the final authority.

 4. The Bible does not say that Jesus Christ told anyone to write the Bible itself.

 5. The Bible did not give us the Canon of inspired books that are included within it.
    The Canon of Holy Scripture was decided by the Catholic Church in the fourth century.

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What does the Bible say regarding the eternal existence of the one Church founded by Christ?

 1. The Bible clearly says that if it is man made it will be overthrown,
    but if it is from GOD, you will not be able to overthrow it, Acts 5:38-39.
    After almost 2000 years the Catholic Church is still here despite the many attempts to overthrow it.
    What does that tell you?
    What do those verses tell you about man made churches?

 2. The Bible clearly says if you try to overthrow it you may find yourself fighting even against GOD, Acts  5:39.
    Do you think maybe that is the reason why you cannot not find any of those who have tried to overthrow it for the last 2000 years?
    For those who tried to bury the Catholic Church, the Church ended up burying them instead.

 3. The Bible clearly says, not to offend the Church of GOD, 1Corinthians 10:32.
    Do you make it a practice to offend the Church of GOD?

 4. The Bible clearly says the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church which Jesus Christ founded, Matthew 16:18.
    Did Jesus Christ lie in this verse?
    Do you say that the Church that Jesus Christ founded apostatized early on and therefore the gates of hell did prevail against it?
    Then why do you bother to quote the Bible at all since you reject so much of it?

 5. The Bible clearly says that Jesus Christ will be with His Church every day in every century until the end of time, Matthew 28:20.
    Again, did Jesus Christ lie in this verse?
    Do you preach to anyone who will listen, that the Church which Jesus Christ founded did indeed apostatize,
    and that He did leave it at some unknown, unwitnessed, and undocumented time?
    Again, why do you even bother to quote the Bible at all since you reject so much of it?

 6. The Bible clearly says that there shall be no end to the Kingdom which Jesus Christ will found, Luke 1:32-33.
    Did the angel Gabriel lie to the Blessed Virgin Mary in these verses? Can an angel of GOD lie?
    Do you believe that His Kingdom did in fact end? 

 7. The Bible clearly says that the Church which Jesus Christ founded will last for all time without end, Ephesians 3:21.
    Did St. Paul lie in this verse?
    Do you preach that the Church which Jesus Christ founded did not last for all time without end?
   Again then, why do you even bother to quote the Bible at all since you reject so much of it?

 8. The Bible clearly has a lot to say in the Old Testament, about the fact that the Church which Jesus Christ will found will last forever.

Isaiah 9:6-7,
"For a CHILD IS BORN to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and for ever: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."

Isaiah 41:10-11,
"Fear not, for I am with thee: turn not aside, for I am thy God: I have strengthened thee, and have helped thee, and the right hand of my just one hath upheld thee. Behold all that fight against thee shall be confounded and ashamed, they shall be as nothing, and the men shall perish that strive against thee."

Isaiah 54:11-17,
"O poor little one, tossed with tempest, without all comfort, behold I will lay thy stones in order, and will lay thy foundations with sapphires, 
And I will make thy bulwarks of jasper: and thy gates of graven stones, and all thy borders of desirable stones. 
All thy children shall be taught of the Lord: and great shall be the peace of thy children. 
And thou shalt be founded in justice: depart far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. 
Behold, an inhabitant shall come, who was not with me, he that was a stranger to thee before, shall be joined to thee. 
Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and bringeth forth an instrument for his work, and I have created the killer to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper: and every tongue that resisteth thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their justice with me, saith the Lord."

Isaiah 59:20-21,
"And there shall come a redeemer to Sion, and to them that return from iniquity in Jacob, saith the Lord. 
This is my covenant with them, saith the Lord: My spirit that is in thee, and my words that I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever."

Daniel 2:44,
"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever."
'Break in pieces'? How prophetic! Today, we have 38,000+ non-Catholic Christian sects. Aren't they 38,000+ 'pieces'.
What is the meaning of, "and the kingdom shall not be left to other people"?

Daniel 7:13-14,
"I beheld, therefore, in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the ancient of days: and they presented him before him. And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him: his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed."

 9. The Bible clearly says that the Church which Jesus Christ founded will be spread around the whole world,
    to all peoples and for all time, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8.
    All teaching, in all the world, for all time. Those three 'alls' are the definition of Katholicos, the Greek word for Catholic.

 10. The Bible clearly says that only GOD can build His house,
    and others that try to build another house of GOD are laboring in vain, Psalms 127:1
    Why then do some continue to labor in vain since the Bible clearly states that they are laboring in vain?

 11. The Bible clearly says that no one can lay a foundation other than what was laid already by Jesus Christ, 1Corinthians 3:11.
    Why then, do others still lay unauthorized foundations and continue splitting the Body of Christ into more and more pieces?  

 12. The Bible clearly says that the Church which Jesus Christ founded is His Body, Ephesians 1:22-23.

 13. The Bible clearly says that Jesus Christ is the savior of His Body which is the Church, Ephesians 5:23.

 14. The Bible clearly says that Saul persecuted and ravaged the Church which Jesus Christ founded, Acts 8:3.
Do you walk in the footsteps of Saul?

 15. The Bible clearly says that Jesus Christ said to Saul, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?", Acts 9:4.
Saul was persecuting the Church that Jesus Christ founded (Acts 8:3), so why didn't Jesus say,
"why do you persecute My Church?", instead of, "why do you persecute me?"?
It is because His Church truly is His Body, Ephesians 1:22-23.

Now, isn't it true that since Saul persecuted the Church before his conversion,
that the book of Acts had to have been written many years after the Church was founded?
Isn't it fair to say that those who today persecute that same Church which Jesus Christ founded could very well have their own names substituted for Saul's in Acts 9:4?
Since every church on earth had a founder with a name, I would strongly suggest that those who persecute the Catholic Church had better find out who is the founder of the Catholic Church.
If they say it was not Jesus Christ, then the onus is upon them to name the person who did,
and to provide genuine historical documents to prove what they say.
"What is gratuitously asserted can be gratuitously denied."
In other words, statements made without proof can be denied without proof.

If you persecute the Catholic Church, aren't you really persecuting its founder, just as Jesus said to Saul in Acts 9:4?

What does the Bible NOT say about the Church which Jesus Christ founded?

 1. The Bible does not say that Jesus Christ founded more than one Church.

 2. The Bible does not say that the Bible is elevated higher than the Church that Jesus Christ founded.

 3. The Bible does not say that it is the final authority over the Church that Jesus Christ founded.

 4. The Bible does not say that the Church which Jesus Christ founded is an 'invisible Church' but is a highly visible one.
    "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, 
    after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." 1Corinthians 12:28, King James Bible.
    Governments? How could anyone possibly govern an invisible church? 

 5. The Bible does not say that anyone has the authority to found another church
    other than the one which Jesus Christ founded.
    There is no verse in all of Holy Scripture which gave authority for anyone to do so.
    In fact there is one verse in particular that says anyone who
    does so is laboring in vain, Psalms 127:1.
 

The Bible clearly says there will be wrath visited upon those who refuse to submit to the truth, Romans 2:8.
I have previously shown that the Bible says that the pillar and foundation of the truth is not the Bible but it is the Church which Jesus Christ founded, 1Timothy 3:15. So to what teaching source would Romans 2:8 apply?

The Bible clearly says there will be the wrath of GOD upon those who hold back the truth of GOD, Romans 1:18.
Since I have already pointed out that it is the Church which is the teacher of all the wisdom of GOD in Ephesians 3:10,
then isn't it obvious that those who hold back the teaching of His Church, 
are risking their salvation since the wrath of GOD is upon them, as stated in Romans 1:18?

At the beginning of this page, the question was, "Is it the Bible, or is it the Church?"

Non-Catholic Christians say, "It is the Bible Only", Sola Scriptura, either/or, is their choice.
They sit upon a wobbly one legged stool called Bible only.

The correct answer for Catholics is both, not either/or but 'AND'. It is certainly not 'only the Bible'.

However, the Catholic Church does not sit upon an unstable two legged stool, but upon a sturdy three legged stool.
For Catholics it is the Bible 'AND' the Church 'AND' the Magisterium, each of which is dependent upon the other two.

The Church existed for many years from the time of the death of Jesus on the cross in about 30 A.D., 
until the first book of the New Testament was written in about 51 A.D.. 
The New Testament teaching during those years was none other than Tradition.
By the time that the last book of the New Testament was written around 100 A.D., the Church
which Jesus Christ founded was already on its fifth successor of Peter.