Which came first?

Question

I just saw this as an answer and it prompted a question.

Here is the question and answer:http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aj0vT2RlnBGocjJ88OrzLWzsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071119102003AArwMnO

(The answer:
bible come first, before a man, before a church, before a preacher. bible tells us so.)

I have read the bible completely many times. The Bible states the Church came before the bible did. Am I wrong? Where in the bible does it say the bible came before the church or man or preacher?

Answer 1

Hi Tebone,

The Church teaches by looking not only at Sacred Scripture, but into History and by reading what the earliest Christians have written, what those who've sat on the Chair of Peter have spoken consistently with Scripture and Tradition, and what they've solemnly defined. To believe that the Bible is our only source of Christian Truth is unbiblical and illogical.

Answer 2

According to the bible in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with god and the word was God it is found in John 1:1

However that is saying that Jesus is the word, it is not talking about the written bible.

According to the bible there was God and Jesus the word they together created all there is. There was man then the religion of the patriarchs then the law of moses which is the Old Testament first written scripture then Christ and then the church and the New testament was written then 300 years after Jesus death the bible was canonized making up the bible as we know it today. Many writings that claimed tobe inspired of God were rejected.
BB

Answer 3

Those who think the Bible preceded the Church should check the historical and biblical records. Jesus began laying the foundation for the Church on the "rock" of Simon Peter about 30 AD, and the building was complete with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, shortly after the Resurrection. The Bible collection wasn't all written until nearly 100, and it was not fully selected as scripture until nearly 400 AD.

Those who think the Bible preceded the Church may be thinking that God wrote the Bible. This is a superstition that rejects both historical scholarship and the texts themselves (e.g., 1 Corinthians 16:21: "I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand").

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 4

The Bible defines itself several ways: the Word of God, the Scriptures.

Before a man could be a preacher, it was necessary for the Word of God to come to him.
Example: the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:4 "Then the word of the LORD came unto me"
Therefore the Bible (as the Word of God) came before the preacher

The church was established around 30 AD; Scripture existed long before that.
2 Timothy 3:15 "and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
Timothy's childhood preceeded the establishment of the church; the scripture is older than the church
Therefore scripture came before the church that Jesus built.
***
The question you are asking is more like asking "which came first, the consitution or the United States?" The authority for the church is revealed in the Bible, which is the representation in writing of the authority of Christ. This is truly what the church is built on (Matthew 16:16)

Answer 5

The bible as we know it today, did not exist in early christendom. In the early stages of christendom all that christians had were the collections of writings from the apostles to the various churches. It was the church, specifically the catholic church, which formed the bible as we know it. Take note that this was not an easy process but a very involved and debated one. St. Agustine for example, petioned heavily for the inclusion of the Book of Revelations into the canon of scripture. The church had to decide which books were inspired and which were not as there were many other writings circling about such as the gnostic gospels.

In a sense the church and the scriptures grew up together, but as I said before the two are inseperable. It is akin to asking which is needed more to survive: air or food?

Answer 6

The Bible (the Scriptures) came before the Church, Moses wrote the first four books of the Bible, Job exited before the Church, David exited before the Church.
U have to remember the Bible was a book written by Hebrew people, to Hebrew people, for Hebrew people.
We as Gentiles got the nod because Christ wasn't received by the Hebrew people.
Although the first Church was only Hebrew people.
The Newer testament was written after Christ.

Answer 7

Well, if the bible speaks of the church then the church had to be before the bible. The bible is the record of things that have already come to past or the things that are yet to come!!

Answer 8

I think he means "The Bible is the ultimate authority, over people, the Church, or a preacher."

I don't think he meant to say that the Bible existed before the church did.

Answer 9

You are wrong. The author of the bible inspired men to write down his thoughts and directions. 2 Timothy 3:16. Even Jesus quoted from the scriptures and he founded the true church.
The True Church and Its Foundation

IF WE want to live eternally in God’s new system we must acknowledge the true church and its foundation. With reference to them, Jesus said: “Upon this rock I will build my Church.” (Matthew 16:18, Dy) What is this church and what is the rock upon which it is built? The Bible provides us with the right answers.

2 While many persons speak of the buildings in which people meet for worship as “churches,” did you know that the Bible never does? In the Bible the word “church” always refers to people, actually to an assembly or congregation of persons. (Philemon 2) The Greek word ek·kle·si′a, translated “church” or “congregation,” literally means “that which is called out.” It refers to a group of persons called out from among others for a particular purpose; but it is used as the equivalent of the Hebrew word qahal′, meaning “congregation” or “assembly.”

3 The true church or congregation is likened to a human body, because it has many members but only one head, just as a human body has. The inspired Scriptures, at Ephesians 1:22, 23 (Dy), tell us that God made Christ “head over all the church, which is his body.” This church is also compared to a virgin girl engaged to Christ, because as a group the members of the true church are to be closely united to Christ, as a wife is to her husband. Writing to certain members of the church, the apostle Paul said: “I personally promised you in marriage to one husband that I might present you as a chaste virgin to the Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:2; see also Revelation 21:2, 9, 10.) So it is a clean congregation, free from worldly corruption and devoted to its Head, Jesus Christ.

Answer 10

The old testament, at least the first five books of it have been around for longer than the Christian church.

If you are asking about the new testament.

The church was started right after Jesus made himself known to the apostles that he was indeed alive and well. He empowered them and sent them to Jersualem to await the coming of the Holy spirit.

This happened at pentecost (about a month after Jesus ascended into heaven)

As the apostles traveled further and further away from Jerusalem, they wrote letters to churches that they had started and wanted to make sure they were keeping the way of Jesus Christ. These letters that were written became a large part of the new testament. We also call them epistles, which means letters.

The gospels are simply books that others wrote about the birth, life and ministry of Jesus Christ and they contain lessons given to us directly from Jesus himself. Many bibles put these lessons in red ink, rather than black to distinquish when it is a lesson from Jesus or writings inspired by the Holy Spirit.

The last book of the bible is Revelation and it is unique to the new testament because it goes back to old testament style writing and gives us prophecy for the future, rather than lessons for current life and how to follow the way of Jesus Christ.

These letters and books were put together well after the first churches were started. They give us a glimpse into the thoughts and questions that new christians had about who and what they were now following. These questions are as pertinent today as they were then.

I believe that is why its called the living word. No matter what time in history we are in the bible remains very current to our everyday situations.