PART ONE
Not too long ago, I was accused of following man-made doctrines and making decisions based on my interpretations and definitions because I consider the Bible alone as the final authority (Sola Scriptura) in my life as a Born-Again Christian. I was told that "according to the Bible, I was not of Christ and did not belong to His Church, but rather I was following a different religion and a different god." I was also told that "Christ didn't come down and give us a Bible. He came down and gave us a church and died for our sins. It is the Bishops of the Catholic Church who are the successors to the Apostles, and they gave us the Bible with the table of contents determined by a Catholic council in Rome in AD 382 until Luther took out seven books in the 1500's. The books called the "New Testament" were the books read at the Catholic Eucharist for the first 300 years of Christianity and are still practiced at Catholic masses. The Eucharist is the new covenant, the new Passover. Without the Catholic Eucharist, you don't have the Bible." This message will address the early church, the authority, and history of the New Testament, the offices of Apostle and Pastor-Teacher, as well as Transubstantiation in Communion.
THE EARLY CHURCH
The early Church was all-embracing of everything in the Bible, which is the definition of 'catholic.' For the first 280 years of Church history, the Roman Empire banned Christianity, and Christians were horribly persecuted. There was no official organized 'church,’ just the Bride of Christ, THE Church.
The Roman Emperor Constantine decided to provide religious tolerance with the Edict of Milan in AD 313, which lifted the ban on Christianity. Constantine called the Council of Nicea in AD 325 in an attempt to unify Christianity as a religion that could unite the fracturing Roman Empire. Constantine did not fully embrace the Christian faith. He continued many pagan beliefs and practices, including turning the Temples of the dozens of false Roman goddesses and gods into Christian churches while keeping their statues, which facilitated the Christian churches to become a mixture of true Christianity and Roman paganism. Some attribute this leading to the worship of, and prayer to, Mary and the Saints.
Constantine was instrumental in the compromise of Christianity with pagan religions. Instead of presenting the saving message of the Gospel, the ever-expanding Catholic Church compromised and incorporated pagan beliefs in the church to make itself attractive to the lost people of the Roman Empire. As a result, the Catholic Church became the dominant religion in the world for centuries.
"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4 ESV)
THE BIBLE ALONE IS THE FINAL AUTHORITY
The historic church has had the complete written Word "logos/graphe" since before AD 100. Below is the majority consensus of Bible-believing Born-Again Scholars for the timeline in which each book was written.
James - AD 40-46
1 Thessalonians - AD 50-52
2 Thessalonians - AD 51-53
Galatians - AD 53-56
1 + 2 Corinthians - AD 56-57
Romans and 1 Peter - AD 57-58
Philippians - AD 59
Matthew - AD 35-60
Titus, Philemon, Mark - AD 61
Ephesians, Colossians, 1 Timothy, Hebrews - AD 61-63
2 Peter, 2 Timothy, Luke, Jude, Acts - AD 58-67
John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John - AD 63-80
Revelation - AD 89-95
Both the Old (OT) and entire New Testament (NT) could be reconstructed from the writings of the early Church Fathers such as Clement of Rome, who wrote a letter to the church at Corinth in AD 95 that contained numerous OT Scriptures as well as the writings of the Apostles Jesus had hand-picked, that were considered as sacred Scripture.
The OT Scriptures were completed by 400 BC+-. The Jews recognized God's messengers and accepted their writings as inspired by Him, and by AD 250, there was nearly universal agreement on the Canon of Hebrew Scripture.
The NT Scriptures (27) were compiled into one book in AD 144 by Marcion of Sinope (AD 85-160), the son of the Bishop of Pontus.
Paul considered the writings of Luke to be as authoritative as the Old Testament (1 Timothy 5:18; see also Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7). Peter recognized Paul's writings as Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16). Some of the books of the New Testament were being circulated among the churches (Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27).
- AD 95 - Clement of Rome mentioned at least eight NT books.
- AD 108 - Polycarp, a disciple of John the Apostle, acknowledged 15 books.
