What do you think of what the internet, some scholars, and others saying that Constantine added things (not chapters but verses here and there) to the bible to get people to follow him in war? Do you think it's true? If so why and if not why?
2006-10-13 08:50:21 · 19 answers · asked by lilmama 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
well i'm catholic but yeah i believe the church added stuff. have you ever played the telephone game, you'll see it. things cannot be remain the same ppl add stuff.
2006-10-13 08:53:24 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
The truth of the matter is that Constantine added nothing nor removed anything from the scriptures. He had no authority to do so. A lot of people point to the Council of Nicea in 325 AD as the moment Constantine supposedly tampered with scriptures. They also cite that the divinity of Jesus was also agreed on and promoted by Constantine. All of this came from the poor scholarship done by Dan Brown and others of his ilk. All they did was mention a name and date and then said what they wanted behind them, but never delved into the event.
The Council of Nicea was about the divinity of Christ, but it was not about whether He was divine or not. The point of the Council was to try and articulate how one can explain Jesus as both human and divine. The Church and Constantine already accepted Christ as divine because of the testimony of the Gospels (which were written a few hundred years before Constantine). And as far as the scriptures, Constantine commissioned 50 bibles in 320 AD to promote Christianity in the churches of the capital. Yet, he did not change anything about them and in fact some of the books of scriptures were still in debate of whether they should be accepted or not during his time(e.g.) the book of Revelations. And so, if Constantine did change the scriptures, then he would have already included the book of Revelations or pronounced it unfit. If it was unfit then why is it included? From this we can see that he had no editorial authority in creating the bible during his time.
May the Lord bless and keep you. May He let the light of His face shine upon you.
God's and your beast of burden
Fr. john
2006-10-13 16:21:31 · answer #2 · answered by som 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
OH I LOVE THIS QUESTION!!
Not true. And no scholars are saying this. Only the uneducated.
Constantine called together the Coucil of Nicea around 350 AD to proclaim Christianity legal. The official canon of the Catholic church was established at the Coucil of Hippo in around 398 AD.
That's where most folks get confused. They see 398 AD and think the bible was "written" at that time.
Not true.
For almost 400 years Christians were using their scrolls, most of them the same. There is a codex from 71 AD that lists the scrolls Christians were using and it is almost exactly our bible today.
2006-10-13 15:54:38 · answer #3 · answered by Max Marie, OFS 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I don't pay attention to what people say or do so much as I pay attention to what God says very clearly in His Word.
Read Deuteronomy 18:20-22.
People are forbidden from adding to Scripture and from subtracting from Scripture. That doesn't have anything to do with putting God's Word into contemporary language for people to understand.
IF Constantine added verses then it was done by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but don't let that prevent you from reading God's Word and getting to know Him. But running around in circles trying to find out is neither here nor there.
2006-10-13 15:58:03 · answer #4 · answered by JOYfilled - Romans 8:28 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No,
The Eastern Church, what is known at the Orthodox and also some of the Eastern Churches that joined back with the Catholic Church were never under Constantines power. And if there had been changes, the difference between thier bibles and our bibles would be evident and it is not.
Next all bibles were hand written and the scribes would have died ( really died) before they would have errored in one word differnce as they hand copied the scriptures.
Next of course the bible was not one book, but a group of writings, each hand written by each local church or monastary.
And there were not even chapters or verses tot he bible at that time.
2006-10-13 15:55:40 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
If you could point out verses specifically then it might add to the believability of your question. Unfortunately there are no "PRO-WAR" verses in the NT. That is the only section Constantine could have added to.
2006-10-13 15:57:13 · answer #6 · answered by Bimpster 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You can be absolutely confident that what was written in the Bible about Jesus is accurate, and its accuracy has been confirmed by scholars (both Christian and non-Christian) repeatedly over the centuries.
After all, who had a stronger desire to preserve and pass along accurately the message of Jesus than the first Christians? They believed He alone was the Son of God, sent from heaven to save us from our sins. They also believed nothing was more important than obeying His command to "go and make disciples of all nations ... teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). What possible motive could they have had to change Jesus' message or suppress the facts about His life? The only logical answer is: none.
Instead, they diligently wrote down the record of Jesus' life and teachings (under the guidance of the Holy Spirit). Luke, for example, began his Gospel by assuring his readers that he had taken pains to be sure it was accurate: "I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning" (Luke 1:3).
Don't let anything shake your confidence in what God has given us in His Word, the Bible. Most of all, don't let anything shake your confidence in Jesus Christ, who alone came down from heaven to save us from our sins.
2006-10-13 17:11:56 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
lol, not true at all. read anything by David A. Fiensy, or Lee Strobel, or well a 5th grader. Satan is using the media and people's desire to be right to make people not believe in God, which i still say he cant do. in the end, every knee will bow and every toungue confess that Jesus is Lord. Da Vinci code or whatever else wont have an impact in the end. Let alone Yahoo! Answers people who havent read the Bible, or read a non-bias historical study in the Bible.
2006-10-13 15:54:45 · answer #8 · answered by Hafeman 5000 4 · 3⤊ 3⤋
No, it is not true, go to wikipedia and read up on Constantine yourself. He did not add anything to the Bible at all
2006-10-13 15:54:34 · answer #9 · answered by arewethereyet 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
No I don't think so! People have been trying to discredit the Bible for centries and this is just like smartie pants scholars . they are just scared to belive in anything they can't see or touch.so they try to make everybody else belive their nonsense.
2006-10-13 15:56:46 · answer #10 · answered by gigi 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
By faith we believe that God has preserved his word thru the history of the world. Discovery of the dead sea scrolls has shown that the gospels still are accurate to some degree.
2006-10-13 15:58:30 · answer #11 · answered by morris 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋