Reverend Father John Chinenye Oluoma, a Catholic priest in Abuja, shared a message to the public in a recent Facebook post titled “The Church and the Bible.”
In his post, he delved into the origins of Christianity, challenging common perceptions about the Bible’s role in the faith’s formation.
Father Oluoma emphasized that Christianity existed before the New Testament was written. He stated, “If the Bible (New Testament) wasn’t written, Christianity would still have survived.” This is rooted in the belief that the early Church, based on sacred traditions and oral accounts, already recognized and worshipped Jesus as God before the scriptures were penned.
He explained that the Gospels, which narrate Jesus’ life and teachings, were written after communities of believers had already formed. These early Christians, he noted, relied on “eye witness accounts known as oral tradition” to sustain their faith.
Father Oluoma pointed out that “the letters of Paul were written before the Gospels,” indicating that the Church was already established and functioning, using oral traditions to teach and guide its followers.
“The Church is older than the scripture or Bible,” he continued, underscoring that the Church’s existence laid the groundwork for the creation of the New Testament, not the other way around.
He likened this to the Jewish tradition, where communities worshipped and observed religious practices long before the Old Testament was documented.
Father Oluoma’s then urged Christians to consider the foundations of their faith, asking, “Which of the two is superior to the other, the Bible or the Church? Which can survive without the other?” He admonished them to think critically about the relationship between scripture and tradition in the continuity of Christian faith….Vìêw–Morê