Thank you for the question on the Bible, “Is the Bible a Catholic book?”
The Word of God belongs to God. The Bible does not belong to any believer, church, or denomination.
It is true that at the Council of Nicea whereby representatives from different churches in the Roman Empire were present to discuss the Deity-Humanity of Jesus Christ and the Scriptures. This is the first recorded ecumenical meeting of the Christian church about 325 CE. Emperor Constantine commissioned the writing of 50 Bibles in 331 CE. Rome was one of the main centers as Antioch, Constantinople, Ephesus, Alexandria were other centers throughout the Roman Empire. As the Roman Empire began to collapse, the church in Rome was able to withstand the Saxons who invaded Rome. The bishop of Rome was viewed as “pappa” who later became the Pope of the Christian churches. Church leaders look to church in Rome for guidance. Thus because of her stances within the Christian churches, the Church in Rome was given the authority to interpret the Scriptures and developed its theology. It was Martin Luther who questioned the Catholic church’s teaching and unintentionally brought about the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century that had religious and political overtone that affected all of Europe.
SUMMARY: One can say that the Catholic Church was the guardian of the Bible but its interpretation of the Biblical text came into question through Martin Luther.
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