The collection of books that we know as the Bible was written, verified and handed down under the authority of the Catholic Church. Only by this authority is there a logical basis to believe for sure that the Bible is the Word of God.
Initially, the Sacred Scripture available to the early Church consisted of the same 46 books of the Septuagint Old Testament that Jesus and the Apostles used.
Eventually, Gospels that documented Jesus’ public life along with written accounts and letters of the early Church were shared during liturgical worship. The 27 books that were authenticated and met the criteria established by the Church became the New Testament.
While the Church promoted legitimate Sacred Scripture they suppressed heretical teachings and fictitious stories about Jesus that were being circulated.
As the authoritative interpreter and guardian of the Bible, the Catholic Church has provided the complete and official list of 73 sacred books that are considered to be inspired by God.
The Bible is the Church’s book:
A book born from the authority of the Church:
The Catholic Church came before the Bible:
But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known [the] Sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3: 14-17
Sacred Scripture and the Church support one another:
Scripture first found its home in the Mass:
The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since, especially in the sacred liturgy, she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life from the table both of God’s word and of Christ’s body. She has always maintained them, and continues to do so, together with sacred tradition, as the supreme rule of faith, since, as inspired by God and committed once and for all to writing, they impart the word of God Himself without change, and make the voice of the Holy Spirit resound in the words of the prophets and Apostles. Therefore, like the Christian religion itself, all the preaching of the Church must be nourished and regulated by Sacred Scripture.
Pope Paul VI, Dei Verbum, 18 November 1965
Human authors cooperating with God:
Protecting, interpreting, and sharing God’s treasure:
Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom He expresses Himself completely: You recall that one and the same Word of God extends throughout Scripture, that it is one and the same Utterance that resounds in the mouths of all the sacred writers, since He who was in the beginning God with God has no need of separate syllables; for He is not subject to time.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 102
Some non-Christian writing mentions Jesus:
Meeting the criteria determined by the Church:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
A day in the life of a Benedictine Monk:
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