Why are so many books thrown out of the bible?

Question

like the book of enoch and the gospel of Barnabus?

Answer 1

They simply don't meet the requirements of Holy Scripture.
Most books don't meet the requirement of being apostolic which is to be written by the hand of an eyewitness.

Answer 2

Some books weren't deemed appropriate. There were different sects of Christianity when the Bible was canonized, and not all of them fit in with what the Council was trying to build. Some books were just retelling of stories that were already being told. Some books didn't fit in chronologically with the story (like the book that deals with the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus. If they put it in, it would have had to come before the Gospels, and that would almost make Mary - a female - seem more important than Jesus.) Some books had lessons that the Council didn't want to become doctrine of the new Church (like the idea that everyone can get out of Hell - as stated in the Apocalypse of Peter).
Oh, and some books just weren't written in time.

Answer 3

There weren't any books that were accepted as part of the Bible and later thrown out. There are sources dating back as far as the second or third century confirming that there were only four gospels widely accepted by the church as God's word. Some of the other so-called gospels contain information that seriously contradicts vital components of four accepted gospels. Lots of people were capable of writing about Christianity, but being capable of writing something on the topic does not mean what was written is gospel.

Answer 4

About 1600-1700 years ago, a bunch of writings were considered for a list of writings that Christians could rely on -- as telling the true story of Jesus, as reflecting God's word, and as not containing false teachings. The writings that are in our New Testament are those writings.

The writings that were not included were not "thrown out" of the Bible. They were never included in the Bible in the first place. They were writings that were determined to be unreliable or to contain false teachings. Many of the writings that were considered for inclusion in this list that were not included were written after the books that are included in the New Testament and/or are books written by people trying to support odd sects like the Gnostics (books like "The Gospel of Judas," "The Gospel of Peter," etc.).

Answer 5

Unfortunate, but true. Actually about 67% of the texts meant for the "Holy Bible" are missing...mostly because their writings did not coincide with what dogma of the times were teaching and would have shaken their power. To this day, many of these gospels are hidden in the Vatican, but are no longer open to public or private research. You can, however, find quite a few in Gnostic texts, mainly because, as seekers of knowledge, they were not only involved in many of their discoveries, but they were at one time allowed access to them for research purposes.

Answer 6

Because those books tended to undermine the authority of the early church. The books of Enoch in particular, undermine the idea of a human Christ. If there was no human Christ, then he could not have granted his authority to the church of Rome via a line of succession all the way back to Peter.

Answer 7

Early Jewish and Christian leaders were given the responsibility of caring for the spiritual wellbeing of the people by keeping the teachings free from human tampering. Many books were written by individuals that either did not have inspiration from God or had their personal agendas. Some wrote for financial gain, others for personal power and still others because they wanted to discredit Christianity. Some thought that they had to embellish the truth to make it more appealing. Their writings spreaded error among God's people. God's word needs no help from us but to truthfully and faithfully preach and teach it. God honors only what he has inspired men to write.

The people of God looked to the leader in the religious community to keep the teachings free from error and intentional attempts to deceive them. God likewise holds the leaders responsible. He has guarded his Word with a watchful eye that no one may remove it from those that truly want it.

Just as he raised up special people to write for him he also raised up special people to protect and keep his written word pure. So those early religious leaders did not accept every book that was written but only accepted those that clearly demonstrated that they were inspired by God. Many books that were writen about religion may have been good books, but did not demonstrate that they had been inspired by God. They often conflicted with those that did demonstrate that they were God's word. Those early church leaders guarded purity of the scriptures with their lives so that we can feel safe in trusting that the bible that we read today truly is the Word of God and is just as accurate as it was when it was written centuries ago.

Answer 8

my theory is it doesn't work with today's government, that's why they're not in there. How many times can we be told 2 different answers to the same question? This may be why they were "thrown out of the bible".

Answer 9

bcoz at that time people argue with each other about what to put in the bible. and they formed those official critics to decide. those people had to make sure that things dont' contradict each other. and each book's got its own believers. so it's more like a popularity contest. whoever has the most believers wins the spot.

Answer 10

How about the gospel of Judas. He was supposed to be closer to Jesus than the rest and the church villified him.