The Bible is why I am Catholic.  There is a lot to be said about a Church whose theology uses ALL of the Bible.  Even the most obscure teaching from Tradition is founded on Scripture.  Something to consider about the Bible is that the Bible tells us that if everything Christ taught were written down the world could not contain the books.  Yet the Bible also teaches that the Holy Spirit was promised to the disciples so that they would have everything Christ taught to them brought to their minds so they could teach others.  In the book of Timothy the Apostle gives advice on how to select men for leadership, men who would be anointed and take the place of the Apostles when they were gone.

The Faith taught by Jesus Christ was primarily passed down verbally by the Apostles. Their writings were collected over time, discussed and debated by their spiritual sons, men taught by them or by their students so that the teaching of Christ, given verbally would be handed down verbally. To this day we listen to the scriptures read in order to learn them and internalize them.  It is not enough to read because understanding comes by hearing.

Reading the early Christian writers, quite a few of which we call Church Fathers, shows a distinctly sacramental mindset.  The men who were the students of students of men trained by the Apostles were called Bishops/Patriarchs before the death of the last of the men who knew the Apostles personally.  They took very seriously the Sacrament of the Eucharist, believed literally the words of Christ, and even the earliest Church Fathers urged the people to stay in unity of belief which could be recognized as unity with the Bishops.

The first ecumenical council is recorded in Acts.  The final decision of the council was reiterated by the Apostle Peter, first among the Apostles, and given a special leadership role among the Apostles by Jesus.  In the Bishop of Rome, the church he planted and where he was martyred for the Faith, his special role continues to be passed down.  Other ecumenical councils were called when the disputes about what Christ taught and what the Apostles passed down with the help of the Holy Spirit became a problem and threatened to divide the Church.  Through these councils came the Apostles and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creeds, defined the Trinity and other doctrines, and later established the official list of books that were to be considered Scriptural.

The Bible is a Catholic book and the Catholic interpretation is the one closest to Christ.  Taking the entire Bible, cover to cover, and studying the themes thoroughly will lead to a theology which is Catholic. The Catholic Church drew together the Books of the Bible, and preserved the Old Testament in the SAME form Jesus and his Disciples used and quoted.   In the Douai-Reims the Catholic Church made the first English language translation of the Bible that is still in use today. Their translation of the New Testament, published in 1582, predated the King James by nearly 30 years. The translation of the Old Testament was finally published 1609-1610 a year before the King James. To read more about the Douai-Reims reference the Catholic Encyclopedia at newadvent.org Those who enjoy the language of the King James might find the Douai-Reims lovely as well.

I had been asking Jesus for His Church which interpreted His book His way and, in the end, as a Bible Christian who follows Christ the choice was clear, enter the Catholic Church or turn away from Christ.