Good arguements could be made for the inseparability of the church and bible, as well as the converse. The church existed, albeit in a somewhat different format, before the bible. This would lead one to believe that they are different entities. However, the church also created the bible (chose which works should be "canonical") and later edited, and translated it for the purpose of having a guiding document. Knowing this, it seems like separating the two would be like separating chicken and eggs. But given the course Christianity and all its divisions have taken, and many of them basing their differences on minor theological points not present in any "revealed" scripture, it appears the church has distanced itself from the Bible. Also the disparity in tenets between sects of Christianity, all which claim to follow the Bible, makes the book seem a bit less like an absolute document, and more like a malleable tool. Hence the different versions for Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, Gnostic and Protestant divisions. Since each church would be somewhat separate from differing churches respective bibles, the notion of the Bible being separate from church seems to be the more accurate. Just as any religious text can be quite separate from its corresponding organized religion.
Noah
