"... It wasn't until 1534, that Luther's translation of the Bible appeared. And this is when text/books of the Bible were added or taken away. I suggest you and your wife read "Where We Got The Bible" Our Debt to the Catholic Church by The Right Rev. Henry G. Graham. And until the Protestant/ Reformation the Bible remained the same. Where does it say in the Bible that the Bible is the only authority? It doesn't, nowhere in the Bible does the Bible say that it is the only source of information available to a Christian. As a matter of fact, the Bible states that we must look to the Church for the proper interpretation. After all, the Bible cannot interpret itself, can it? (2Peter 1-20), (2Peter 3-16), (Acts 8-30).

[Ednote: The Holy Bible used is "The King James Version" which is the authorized version. The traditional Christian view of the Bible is that it was all written under the guidance of God and that it is, therefore, all true, literally or under the veil of allegory... the chief emphasis of modern fundamentalism has been on the inerrancy of the Bible. The interpretation of the Bible is one of the cardinal points of difference between Protestants, who believe that individuals have the right to interpret the Bible as they read it, and Roman Catholic Church, which teaches that she alone may interpret Scripture and that the individual may read the Bible only according to the interpretation of the Church; such an interpretation is provided in the notes to the text which appear in Roman Catholic Bibles. These notes vary from edition to edition.

Celebrated extant manuscripts of the Bible include Codex Vaticanus (Greek, 4th cent.), at the Vatican; Codex Sinaiticus (Greek, 4th cent.), in the British Museum, discovered by Tischendorf on Mt. Sinai; Codex Alexandrinus (Greek, 5th cent.), in the British Museum, given to Charles I by Cyril Lucaris; and Codex Bezae (Greek and Latin, 6th cent.), at Cambridge, England, given by Theodore Beza. The first great translation of the whole Bible was the Vulgate of St. Jerome, the Latin version still used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Greek text generally received in the East is, for the Old Testament, that of the Septuagint; the New Testament was written in Greek. In England there were current from early times veracular versions of parts of the Bible, especially of the Gospels, since the Gospel was often read at Mass in the vernacular after its recitation in Latin.

John Wyclif (d. 1384) was one of the first to project the publication and distribution of the Bible in the vernacular among the Englisih people, and two translated versions go by his name. In the 15th cent. the Lollards did much to extend the use of the Wyclifite translation. The next name in the history of the English Bible is that of William Tyndale (d. 1536), whose translation was not from Latin, like Wyclif's but from Hebrew and Greek. Its excellence is made evident in its use as a basis of the Authorized Version. Tyndale's New Testament (1525-26) was the first English translation to be printed..

The greatest of all English translations was the Authorized Version (AV) or King James Version, of 1611, made by a great committee of churchmen, let by Lancelo Andrews composed of many of the finest scholars in England.

The beautiful English of this version has had great influence and is generally ranked in English literature with the word of Shakespere. The phraseology of much of it is that of Tyndale. The Douay; or Rhema-Douay, Version was published by Roman Catholic scholars at Rheims (New Testament, 1582) and Douai, France (Old Testament, 1610); it was extensively revised by Archbishop Challoner. In the 19th cent. the project of revising the Authroized Version from the original tongues was undertaken by the Church of England with the cooperation of nonconformist churches. The results of this revision were the English Revised Version and the American Revised Version (pub. 1880-90)... (The Columbia Encyclopedia 2nd ed.1950/59) end Ednote]

The Holy Spirit, acting through the Catholic Church is the teacher of the holy Scriptures. The reason why there are so many non-Catholic churches is because there are so many different interpretations of the Bible. The Holy Spirit cannot be responsible for such a mass confusion. There is not a "universal" Protestant Church. Some Protestants believe infant baptism while others do not. The Catholic Church, however is universal, we have one belief system, and one leader to guide us. (John 14:26), (John 16:13), (Acts 1-8), (Acts 15:1-2), (Acts 16:4).

[Ednote: "But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him." (1 John 2:27) - end Ednote]

The Bible is very important to the Catholic faith. The Catholic Mass is saturated with scripture. Catholic's believe that the Bible is very necessary along with the teachings of the church - one cannot exist without the other. There is strong support on papal authority in Scripture and it can be easily traced historically. In the OT, when God established His Covenant with the nation of Israel, He provided for a living, continuing authority in the Mosaic priesthood (2 Chr 19:11; Mal 2:7).

Ednote John 17:17- "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." Jesus said: "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:3-5) Jesus didn't teach that the Catholic Church should be betwen the believer and Himself.

Who is the our priest now? "And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron (Mosaic priesthood). So also CHRIST GLORIFIED not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God a high priest after the order of Melchisedec. " (Hebrews 5:4-10)

One of the Pope's titles is Melchisedec Priest, which makes him an impersonator of Jesus Christ without the credentials. The Pope has not been glorified, nor is he the only begotten Son of God. The Bible does not speak of any other priesthoods. end Ednote]

Among the twelve Apostles, St. Peter is clearly the head. Matthew 16:13-19 well "And so I say to you. you are Peter (Rock), and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. 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." Jesus changes Simon's name to Peter, which means "rock" Many Protestants argue that Jesus is not building His Church on Peter by pointing out that, in the Greek text, the word Peter is Petros, a masculine noun, while the word used for rock is petra, a feminine noun. Petros means "small stone," while petra means "massive rock." They claim therefore, that the "massive rock" (petra) upon which Christ will build His Church must not refer to Peter, the "small stone" (Petros) but rather to Peter's profession of faith to Jesus.

However, Jesus spoke Aramaic, which leaves no room for the Greek Petros/petra distinction.. In Aramaic, the word for rock is kepha, what Christ said was "You are Kepha (Rock) and upon this kepha (rock) I will build my Church." In Aramaic, the identification of Peter as the rock is clear. Why does the Greek use two different words for Peter and the rock? Because the Greek word for rock, petra, is feminine. It would not be appropriate to give a man a feminine name. So the translator gave petra a masculine ending and rendered it Petros. Since petros was a preexisting word meaning "small stone" some of the original word-play was lost.

[Ednote: There is no evidence as yet that Peter was the first pope. Peter was married which made him inelligible for the office of the Papacy. Pope's have to be single. The first Pope established with documents is St. Victor I in 189-99.

We all know who the rock is. Matthew 7:24,25 "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock [Apostle Peter or Jesus Christ??] And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not; for was founded upon a rock."

"As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumblingstone and rock of offense: and whosoever believeth on HIM shall not be ashamed. (Romans 9:33) Does this apply to the Apostle Peter?

"And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and the Rock was Christ. (1 Cor 10:4) end Ednote]

But no early Church Father, including those who spoke Greek as their mother-tongue, ever saw a distinction between Peter and the rock. They are unanimous in teaching that Peter is the rock on which Christ built His Church. The early Church always accepted the Bishop of Rome as head of the Church. In about 80 A.D.. the Church at Corinth deposed its lawful leaders. The fourth bishop of Rome, Pope Clement I, was called to settle the matter even though St. John the Apostle was still alive and much closer to Corinth that was Rome. St. Iranaeus, who was taught by St. Polycarp (a disciple of St. John the Apostle), stresses that Christians must be united to the Church of Rome in order to maintain the Apostolic Tradition.

He then lists all the bishops of Rome up to his time. St. Irenaeus presents this teaching as something taken for granted by orthodox Christians. For 250 years the Roman Emperors tried to destroy Christianity through persecution. In the first 200 years of Christianity, every, Pope but one was martyred-the Romans certainly knew who the head of the Church was! Jesus is drawing this image of "the keys" from Is 22:19-22.

From this context, at least three concepts are included. (1) The keys are a symbol of the authority given to the chief official-the Prime Minister-of the Kingdom of David. (2) The Prime Minister is a father-figure. Remember, "Pope" comes from the Italian word for "Papa" - father. (3) The office implies dynastic succession. The office of Prime Minister continued as long as the Kingdom of David continued. Catholics believe that Christ is the King, and that the Pope is the "Prime Minister" of His heavenly kingdom, the Church. Christ is the Head of the Church; the Pope is His earthly representative. Peter often spoke for the rest of the Apostles(Mt 19:27; Mk 8:29; Lk 12:41; Jn 6:69).

The Apostles are sometimes referred to as "Peter and his companions" (Lk 9:32; Mk 16:7; Acts 2:37). Peter's name always heads the list of the Apostles (Mt 10:1-4; Mk 3:16-19; Lk 6:14-16; Acts 1:13). Finally, Peter's name is mentioned 191 times, which is more than all the rest of the Apostles combined (about 130 times). After Peter, the most frequently mentioned Apostle is John, whose name appears 48 times. Peter is conspicuously involved in all the Church's important "firsts." Peter led the meeting which elected the first successor to an Apostle (Acts 1:13-26).

Peter preached the first sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:14), and received the first converts (Acts 2:41). Peter performed the first miracle after Pentecost (Acts 3:6-7), inflicted the first punishment upon Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5:1-11), and excommunicated the first heretic. Simon the magician (Acts 8:21). Peter the first Apostle to raise a person from the dead (Acts 9:36-41). Peter received the revelation to admit Gentiles into the Church (Acts 10:9-16), and commanded the first Gentile converts to be baptized. (Acts 10:44-48). Ecumenical: General; universal; specifically, an epithet applied to an ecclesiastical council regarded as representing the whole Christian Church or Catholic Church.

As Christians, the Catholic Church has dialogue with people of other faith and cultures. We are not teaching separation of this world, we live in this world, but are not of the world. We do not conform, we believe that homosexuality is wrong, abortion, and oh yes contraception is wrong, as a matter of fact all Christendom condemned contraception until 1930, when Anglicanism gave permission for it in a few cases, after which all Protestant denominations quickly absorbed the secular morality on contraception.

[Ednote: What does the Bible teach about the world: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (1 John 2:15) "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, said the Lord Almighty." (2 Cor. 6:16-18) end Ednote]

Today none stand with the Catholic Church and maintain the ancient Christian faith on this issue. How far things have decayed may be seen by comparing the current state of non-Catholic churches---where most pastors counsel young couples to decide before they are married what form of contraception they will use. The early Church Fathers condemned both contraception in general and particular forms of it that are popular today (such as sterilization and oral contraceptives), as well as popular contraceptive sex practices that were then common (such as coitus interruptus and orally consummated sex).

[Ednote: What do contraceptives have to do with the message? "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death." (Philippians 3:8-10) end Ednote]

However, there is hope as many Protestants are now returning to the historic Christian position and rejecting contraceptive sex practices. So who is conforming to the ways of the world? If this is separating ourselves from this world then we say yes! An this is only one example. George and Rita you prove nothing. As former Mormons, what was that, Joe Smith's church? I can see how you still have trouble finding the Truth. Where are your church roots now, is it in Apostolic Tradition. I pray you get to know about the Early Church, the Early Church fathers, and look for the true Church, and not what you have learned till now, incorrect instruction on the Church. May the Peace of Christ reign in your heart.
Peggy Smith, Bensalem, PA

[Ednote: If the Word of God is not the message than we are all lost. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.. And the WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:1-4,14) "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:17) "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:30) end Ednote].