The Epistle of St. James is put by several at the very beginning of Christian literature, between the years 40 and 50, the earliest Epistles of St. Paul about 52 till 58.
Thus there is no NT Bible for at least 7 years.
A Church with no New Testament for 7 years?
How did it ever survive? [sarc]
Easy...it was aided by the OT scriptures as well as the preaching of the Apostles which was set down on paper later.
“A Church with no New Testament for 7 years?
How did it ever survive? [sarc] “
One might ask, how did the nation of Israel survive, since the first five books were written by, essentially, Moses. Then the books of prophecies and so forth by the various prophets at various further times; of course the Psalms much later by David, Proverbs to a great degree by Solomon, etc.
They had direct revelation from God, through the prophets. The canon of the Old Testament was slowly, over the centuries, assembled.
So in the first several years of the church, many believers had heard Jesus directly, prior to His death and resurrection. Jesus names all the apostles to preach and teach with His authority (not just one apostle, mind you), and gives further instruction about choosing out elders and deacons. During this time the apostles write the New Testament; by the time they are dead the New Testament is complete. The inspired epistles and gospels are accepted as the canon of the New Testament.
I don’t think it’s that hard to understand or accept.
Although there were many inspired writings as early as 40 AD there was no New Testament for another 300 years.