Which came first: the Christian Church or the New Testament?

Answer 1

CHURCH

Answer 2

The Book of James is probably the oldest book of the New Testament, written perhaps as early as A.D. 45, before the first council of Jerusalem in A.D. 50. James was martyred in approximately 62 A.D.

The Christian Church, under the biblical teachings of all 27 books of the New Testament came much later.

Answer 3

The Christian Church was first. The New Testament was not compiled into its present form until later.

Answer 4

The Churches came first. However the Ruler of the nations found the many churches too hard to rule so he commussioned a group of people to make one set of rules and one Church, then when this was done, any Church who didn't follow the one ruled perfect was killed, and their teachings burned. The rules are the New Testament.

Answer 5

The New Testament was written in the Old. These things did not just suddenly happen or appear, they were written and established before they ever became historical. It depends also on what you mean by New Testament, do you mean the actual New Covenant or do you mean the collection of divine inspired wisdom called the New Testament, which is basically a written record of the the actual divine transaction.
The promise of the Messiah is in the Old Testament so that it shows the New was always planned and foreknown.
It also depends on wether you mean the New Testament message, or the actual collection of scriptures that make up the written canon entitled " The New Testament".
As I said the message itself and the actual New Covenant were both predestined from the beginning just as Jesus himself was written about in details which were foretold before he was ever manifested in the flesh, manifested at a certain time and place. So the New Testament was known yet not manifested to men. An example of this from scripture would be 1John from the begiining
as follows ,

"We write to you about the Word of life, which has existed from the very beginning. We have heard it, and we have seen it with our eyes; yes, we have seen it, and our hands have touched it. R1 2 When this life became visible, we saw it; so we speak of it and tell you about the eternal life which was with the Father and was made known to us. R2 3 What we have seen and heard we announce to you also, so that you will join with us in the fellowship that we have with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 We write this in order that our F1 joy may be complete"

There are many more old testament verses that are even better than this one but that would involve more time than I have at the moment. Let me just say that it is not clear and straightforwrd as people would like it to be, becasue we are dealing with much more than historical critical analysis can survey. Iw ill just list a few more without comment.

"The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the Lord. 33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant

Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

Answer 6

No! The fish thingamajig came first.

Answer 7

the former. this should be obvious since the latter discusses the former!

Answer 8

The christian church.........
The Apostles of Christ................