Q & A of the Catholic Faith: 📜 The Earliest Complete Christian Scriptures Who Compiled Them? Who Preserved Them? And Do They Still Exist Today?

Saturday, February 14, 2026

📜 The Earliest Complete Christian Scriptures Who Compiled Them? Who Preserved Them? And Do They Still Exist Today?

Who Compiled Them? Who Preserved Them? And Do They Still Exist Today?

(An Apologetic and Historical Defense of the Christian Bible)

✦ Introduction: Did the Bible Just “Fall From Heaven”?

A common modern claim—especially in Bible-alone circles—is that the Bible is self-authenticating, independent of any Church authority.
But history tells a different story.

Before printing presses, before Protestant denominations, and even before the Latin Bible, complete Christian Scriptures containing both the Old and New Testaments already existed.

This article answers four critical questions:

What were the earliest complete Christian Scriptures?
Who compiled them?
Who preserved them?
Do physical copies still exist today—and where are they kept?

✦ What Were the Earliest Complete Christian Scriptures?

📖 1. The Septuagint Old Testament + Apostolic New Testament

The Septuagint (LXX) is the Greek translation of the Old Testament, produced between the 3rd–2nd century BC, centuries before Christ.

The New Testament, meanwhile, was written in Greek by the Apostles and their associates during the 1st century AD.

📌 Key fact:
The earliest Christians did not use a Latin Bible.
They used Greek Scriptures—the Septuagint for the Old Testament and apostolic writings for the New.

✦ The Earliest Complete Bible Manuscripts (4th–5th Century)

While early Christians possessed Scripture as separate scrolls and codices, the first surviving manuscripts that contain both Old and New Testaments together are from the 4th century.

📜 2. Codex Vaticanus (c. AD 300–325)

Codex Vaticanus
Written in Greek
Contains:
- Septuagint Old Testament
- New Testament (nearly complete)
One of the most reliable biblical manuscripts in existence

📍 Preserved today in the Vatican Library

📜 3. Codex Sinaiticus (c. AD 330–360)

Codex Sinaiticus
Greek Old and New Testaments
Includes some early Christian writings, showing how the canon was still being discerned

📍 Preserved today in the British Library

📜 4. Codex Alexandrinus (early 5th century)

Codex Alexandrinus
Greek OT and NT
Confirms continuity of the same canon

📍 Preserved today in the British Library

✦ Who Compiled the Bible?

❌ Not Jesus writing a table of contents

❌ Not individual believers deciding on their own

✅ The Early Catholic Church

📜 The Historical Process

The Apostles wrote Scripture
- Gospels and letters circulated among churches
Local Churches preserved and read them in worship
Bishops (successors of the Apostles) discerned authenticity
- Apostolic origin
- Orthodox doctrine
- Universal usage in the Church

📌 Important:

The Bible does not contain a list of its own books.
The canon had to be identified by the Church.

✦ The Canon Was Formally Recognized by the Church

🏛️ Church Councils (4th Century)

Council of Rome
Council of Hippo
Council of Carthage

These councils listed the same 27 New Testament books used today.

📌 This occurred more than 1,000 years before the Protestant Reformation.

✦ Who Preserved the Scriptures?

🛡️ The Early Catholic Church

The Scriptures were preserved through:

Apostolic churches (Rome, Alexandria, Antioch)
Bishops and clergy
Monasteries and scriptoria
Continuous liturgical use

Despite:

Roman persecutions
Heresies
Political upheavals

…the Scriptures were never lost.

✦ Do These Manuscripts Still Exist Today?

✅ Yes—physically, verifiably, and publicly accessible

Manuscript	Current Location
Codex Vaticanus	Vatican Library
Codex Sinaiticus	British Library
Codex Alexandrinus	British Library

The British Library is:

A state-run, secular institution
Overseen by the UK government
Independent of Catholic or Protestant control

📌 This eliminates claims of religious manipulation.

✦ What About the Latin Vulgate?

The Latin Vulgate was translated by St. Jerome (AD 382–405).

🔑 Critical clarification:

Jerome did not create the canon
He translated an already recognized canon into Latin

✦ Apologetic Conclusion: One Unavoidable Truth

✔ The Apostles wrote the Scriptures
✔ The Church compiled the canon
✔ The Church preserved the manuscripts
✔ The world received the Bible from the Church

Without the Church, there would be no Bible.
The Bible is not the source of the Church—
the Church is the historical source of the Bible.

✦ Final Thought

Any claim that Scripture exists independently of the Church collapses under historical evidence.

The earliest complete Christian Scriptures:

Were compiled by the Catholic Church
Preserved by the Catholic Church
And are verified today by neutral academic institutions

📜 History is not anti-Bible.
📜 History explains the Bible.

IF YOU ARE A DEVOTED CATHOLIC AND HAPPY TO DEFEND YOUR CATHOLIC FAITH, YOUR SUPPORT TO CONTINUE OUR MISSION TO DEFEND THE CATHOLIC FAITH, REALLY MATTERS AND WILL ALWAYS BE VALUED AND REMEMBERED!

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