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Question:

Thanks for the reply!

Dr. Blizzard mentioned "the Church" rejecting the Gnostic books, isn't that "Church" the 2000 year old Catholic Church?

The Book called the Bible was discerned with the help of the Holy Spirit, and given to the world by the Catholic Church, your Bible as well as mine; it is just a matter of Salvation history, as shown here...

Various Catholic Bishops developed lists of inspired books:

Mileto, Bishop of Sardis, c. AD 175
St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, AD 185
Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, c. AD 325
Pope Damasus in 382 A.D. prompted by the Council of Rome, wrote a decree listing the 73 Old and New Testament books of the Bible.
At the Council of Hippo, in North Africa, 393 A.D. the same 73 Books of the Old and New Testament were approved or canonized.
Again at the the Council of Carthage, (North Africa) 397 A.D. approved the same 73 books of sacred scripture that the Catholic Church uses today.
Finally, in 405 A.D. Pope St. Innocent I approved the same 73 books of the canon and closed the canon of the Bible.

Up until the close of the canon there was much debate among faithful Catholics. That is probably why it took four official decisions to close the canon: Two Councils and Two papal decisions.

From AD 405 until 1529, this was the Bible for the whole Christian world, the inspired, inerrant Word of God. In 1529, Martin Luther removed seven books of the OT and added the word “alone” in his German translation of Romans 3:28.

The One True Faith: Where Did The Bible Come From?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpogtkWabTk

The Catholic Mass - Origins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHey29ZZYDo

ScriptureCatholic.com provides over 2,000 Scripture citations from the Old and New Testament that explain and defend the teachings of the Catholic Church.
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/

Isaiah 22:22
I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open.

Matthew 16:19
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Praised be Jesus Christ, Now and Forever! John

Answer:

Dear John
I will attempt a brief answer of your most recent question. No, when I refer to the Church, I am not talking about the Catholic Church. The fact is that the Roman Catholic Church as we know it today was a process of development that took place over several hundred years. In spite of what you might read in some kind of Catholic encyclopedia, the fact is that there was no Catholic Church until somewhere around the 7th century of the current era (CE). Some of the Catholic encyclopedias list it around 621 or thereabouts. But, the individuals that you mention are simply early church fathers, i.e., Iraneus, Eusebius, that were indeed bishops in the Church but that was not the Roman Catholic Church.

I do not know as I have not done it myself, but you might go online and just type in a search engine “History of the Roman Catholic Church” and see what you get. You really have to be careful with some of the information that is out there because each different group will slant the information towards their own denominational beliefs.

One good printed resource is Philip Schaff’s History of the Christian Church in seven volumes – although I think the first three are the most significant. Then, there is Lars P Qualben’s History of the Christian Church. In other words, there are numerous authoritative sources to which you can go to read about the development of the Church, which ultimately resulted in what we know as the Roman Catholic Church today.

Best wishes,

Roy