If the Bible is the "Word of God" then why were so many books left out?

Question

And why were so many hidden?
Wouldnt God want us to read all of his words?

And Please refrain from yelling i'm bashing.. I am not. I am merely asking a question.. Don't Quote I want Opinions... Yours

but if all the books have something to do with the bible then why not include them all?
Could be construed as religious censorship...
And if Man is who put the book together decided what was to be included then man censored it.. How do we know god didnt want those books in.. Wouldnt that be another book in itself?

Answer 1

The Bible isn't the word of God, the bible is a collection of histories that have been interpreted and reinterpreted to represent alot of different things, and began specifically with the greatest propagandist of all time, the Catholic church. It's a tough job to gleen the truth of history when all of the history is recorded by the winners and the Catholic church were definitley the conquorering force for a very long time, but not impossible, by means of their own ego they actually kept a few proofs of what they were up to. Then there are the rewrites from other folks that decided that the Catholic church wasn't the way to go and that is why there are so many "versions" these versions really are quite different, proving my point. It all boils down to collections of political correctness as deemed by whatever church wrote it at the time of printing. I think that there was probably some really good stuff in there originally. But honestly I never had to do more than step out my back door and see a new bud on a tree branch or a baby bird in its nest to know God is real and is life and is everything. I need no book, intact or otherwise. and you know what's funny? That's in the Bible too!

Answer 2

The theological term for this question is "canonicity." It's the study of how certain writings became part of the Bible. There are too many good books and articles on this (before the modern silliness regarding the DaVinci code) to answer your question quickly.

The bottom line is that Christians believe that some of what God communicated is "inspired" or "God-breathed" in a way that all other communication is not. It was not people who chose what to include in the Bible, but God did this because He intended what is now known as the Bible to be a special class of writing. The same thing happened among the ancient Jews in what Christians call the Old Testament.

Since atheists don't believe in God, they see the canonicity as a completely human endeavor. Attempting to convincing an atheist otherwise would be fruitless. However, if atheists would simply ask Christians to describe the process of canonicity, Christians would respond that God directed it, and it's not a matter of human choices.

Answer 3

We only left out the ones that are not His word. Its not like ever book ever written with a mention of God is inspired by Him. For instead, I doubt that we should add The DiVinci Code to the next Bible printing even though it mentions Jesus, as it is a work of fiction (even the author says so).

The books that compose the New Testament were carefully choosen. The council of Nicene looked at the age of the book (when was it written), the author of the book (was it someone who actually knew Jesus or a church leader in the first generation of Christianity) and was the book in common usage throughout all the churches.

If the books currently included in the New Testament were all to dissapear tomorrow, we would be able to recreate all by 11 verse of the New Testament using quotes from letters, commentaries, and other Christian (and non-Christian) books all written before 200AD. (Jesus' resurrection was around 30AD, and the earliest New Testament books - some of Paul's letter - were written beginning aroud 50-52AD - the last -- John's writings were completed aroun 90-95AD). So we have quotes of 99% of the New Testament within 100-150 years of it being written). We have a least (often more) one quotes from 25 of the 27 New Testament books that were written before 120AD (within 70 years of the time the earliest books were written). The two missing books are 2 John and Philemon, both of which are only 20-25 lines long.

The "excluded" books have no quotes in any books, letters, commentaries, etc. until 250-300AD. They do not appear to have been written until 200 or more years after the time of Jesus.

Some early books, like "The Shepherd of Hermes" (a story that tells about Hermes and how he is guided through life by the Great Shepherd), though commonly read, was not written by one of the recgonized apostles of the church. The author was a third generation Christian, who neither knew Jesus or was a recognized church leader. So the book was excluded. It has always been available for reading if anyone wants to see it.

Thirdly, they looked at what books were already in use in churches. The council of Nicene that made the content of the New Testament official, did so around 320AD. But the list they worked from was compiled by St. Ignaus, a Christian scholar, somewhere between 180 and 200AD. At that time, he claimed to simply be listing the books that were already recognized as the complete Christian scriptures then. The 27 books the council made official were the same one Ignatius listed and were already in use as the scriptures, in 95% of the churches. (Some were missing a couple of the smaller, one chapter books like 2 and 3 John and Philemon. Others had the Shepherd of Hermas or the one chapter Epistle of Barnabas included). Again, if you want to read the Epistle of Barnabas it is available.

If these others gospels are so dangerous, and contain truths that the church has been trying to hid for 2000 years, why have they been available to anyone wanting to see them all this time? The only reason who know they ever existed it because they are still around. There has been attempt to hide or destory them. They are available on the Internet for free, and I have copies of several of the "excluded" books that I purchased in Christian bookstores back in the 1970's long before Dan Brown's book made them the lastest fad.

If you want to read them, then go ahead. But just a casual flip through on most of the works will show you why they are not included in the New Testament. They are not inspired by God.

Answer 4

Council of Nicea, 323 A.D.
The Emperor Constantine declares Christianity the religion of Rome. A group of Holy Men and Scholars take up the task of gathering the Books of the Bible. Since it has been 300 years since Christ appeared, many people have written a version of what happened. So these men were put the the test. They argued divinity of Christ, lineage, validity, etc. Finally, they were able to agree on the validity of the Books now collected in the Bible and the falsehoods of the other books (the new found Judas gospel was considered heresy and mostly destroyed, for example). That is why we don't have all of them together, a bunch of people 300 years removed from the events decided what was truly the Words of God and what wasn't.

Answer 5

They were judged no longer actual. even as the books were being assembled, the former testomony books were for sure scriptures that the Jews had used. because the apostles, and later, Paul, wrote the books that grew to change into our new testomony, they were copied and despatched to the church homes of the day. They were frequently commonplace then as actual and utilized by technique of those church homes. In assembling the bible, the church fathers brushed aside many "forgeries" and different books that purely had no credibility with any of the first church homes, and were no longer utilized by technique of them. There are 2 books you may look at, "the position We were given Our Bible" and "Halley's Pocket Bible practise guide". The latter actual lists the books that were no longer blanketed contained in the bible and let us know why.

Answer 6

There is a video out that is done by the History Channel called Beyond the DiVinci Code. It has bible historians etc etc on it and they talk all about why books were left out or put in according to records they have found dating back to that time. It really is interesting to watch. And the video is not at all expensive. I bought it for 6 Euros. But it does answer some of the curious questions. Hope that helps...

Answer 7

Yes, the Bible is the Word of God. The books that are included are inspired and written by the apostles or their close associates within 60-70 years of Jesus' death and resurrection. Those that are not included do not meet these requirements, are not reliable, and contain information that are contrary to the vast majority of the books of the Bible.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/bible.asp

Answer 8

I think that many books were not completed and some are still not found. And the books of the Bible are what God's message is to us all even if it is not all of them. I think God would want us to read them all, but for whatever reasons they were not all in the Good book, his message is there if we want to know him reguardless of the hidden or left out books. I am curious though to know what message the other books would have given.

Answer 9

Every book in the Bible contains the "Word(s) of God" but not the completeness. God will never stop talking to men and giving them directions. I believe there are more scriptures out there (Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, and others that haven't been found or written yet)

Answer 10

The Bible may very well be the Word of God. However, it was put together by men. For a few centuries, only those in the upper rungs of the church were allowed to see it. Before it was available to the general public, these men needed to be sure it said only what was needed to be said in order, perhaps, to rule the masses. It has been corrupted.