How do we know the Bible was put together properly?

The Bible was put together from the Old Testament, which was in existence as Jesus’ Scriptures, together with letters and manuscripts written by some of the apostles and others. The last book of the New Testament, Revelation, was written just before the turn of the century after Christ, so the entire Bible was in existence within about seventy years from the death of Christ. The Bible was put together with much prayer by the early church fathers, at a time when there was only one church, “the Church”, and as it was to be God’s Word, I’m sure that God inspired those church leaders to put in, and leave out, exactly what He wanted them to. The Church was started by Jesus Himself while on earth, together with the followers he chose, and grew with leaps and bounds in that first century.

The Roman Catholic Church, which the Church morphed into in later centuries, was therefore not in existence when the Bible came into being. In fact, later on, the Catholic Church wanted to add parts to the Bible, which they did in their own version, as the Apocrypha. These parts do not appear in the normal Bible.

As a Protestant Christian, I believe that the Bible is God’s Word, and as such He speaks to me through it. God is all-powerful, and is quite capable of keeping His Word safe through the centuries, so that I take literally the words in it. It is not the work of a single denomination, but was inspired by the Holy Spirit and written down by men in their own words.

Amos 3:7   Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

2 Peter 1     ²⁰ … no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, ²¹ for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

2 Timothy 3:16   All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness …

1 Peter 1:25   the word of the Lord endures forever.

Matthew 24:35   “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

Today we have the same Bible used by everyone, even though there are a host of different translations. The problem is that we have tens of thousands of different denominations, each “proving” their doctrines and reason for existence from the same Scriptures. The problem is therefore not the Bible, but human beings’ interpretation of the Bible. It seems as if just about anything can be proven from the Bible, if you are willing to pick and choose verses out of context and cobble them together to prove your point. God asks us to simply read His word and ask for the Holy Spirit’s interpretation, as He was the One who inspired it. But humans want to use their own earthly wisdom to put their stamp on the interpretation of God’s Word.

Christians accept by faith that the Bible is truly God’s Word. This is not blind faith, because we have seen ourselves and countless others changed by its teachings. No mere book is capable of transforming wicked people into kind, gentle, loving, calm children of God. Therefore we have experiential proof that the Bible is what it claims to be, and are willing to trust God to lead us through His Word if we sincerely pray for His leading. We accept that the Bible is for our salvation, and everything we need to know and understand is there.

I’m not sure whether I interpreted your question correctly or not. The Bible is the Christian’s guide for life, as well as God speaking to us. For the Catholic, the Bible seems not to count as much as tradition and the Pope’s proclamations. If this answer does not answer your question, please contact us again. God bless!