English Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português 繁體中文 Bahasa Indonesia Tiếng Việt ภาษาไทย
All categories

Was the Bible compiled by politicians (by compiled I mean they choose which Gospels to add etc and which to leave out)?
Is there really a Gopel of Mary Magdalene?
Did the church demonize other beliefs/people they did not want included/worshipped etc (ie the Pagan horned God became the basis for a horned devil)?

I know what I think but I was wondering is this taken to be true by everyone or just some? Are these ideas offensive to Christians (sorry if they are, I mean no offence... just curious)?

2006-11-12 00:34:39 · 6 answers · asked by Claire O 5 in Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality

By policians I mean Roman officials (dont know what their official capacity was though sorry)

2006-11-12 00:41:57 · update #1

6 answers

In essence this is true, although you may want to examine what you mean by politicians.

In the early Christian times, there were no elected officials. There were various selection processes for leaders of the church. Some of them were appointed by the government leaders, others locally selected. As the church's influence grew, the powerful wanted to have some say in its governance.

The following were texts that competed for inclusion into the New Testament:

* Gospel of Thomas
* Epistle of Barnabas
* 3rd Corinthians

Parts of the New Testament (Ephesians, Colossians, 2nd Thessalonians, Hebrews and Revelation) were included despite controversy over their authorship.

"The Birth of Christianity: Discovering What Happened in the Years Immediately After the Execution of Jesus" by John Dominic Crossan is an excellent resource for this era.

2006-11-12 00:40:51 · answer #1 · answered by NHBaritone 7 · 1 1

The canon, or the Bible as you refer to, were the books selected by early church figures to be the genuine Word of God. There were several purported Gospels, such as the Gospel of Thomas, but many of them contradicted the message that was generally accepted by Christians. In essence, they selected only the "Christian" gospels for the cannon and rejected ones that Christians had already found false. The only exception to this was perhaps the Revelation of John, which for a considerable time was excluded until it finally found its place in the Bible.

The Gospel of Mary, Thomas, Judas, and others are considered Gnostic texts, which were considered a heretical sect departing from the truth of Christ and replacing it with their own false ideologies. Since the Gnostic texts paint a different picture of Christ than the Christian gospels do, it is believed that the Gnostic gospels were not authored by Biblical figures, but instead by the Gnostics themselves. Also note, the Gnostics existed before Christ was even born, so they were not a "Christian" sect, they had their own set beliefs prior to Christ and after he became popular they took a greater interest in Christian theology.

As to your question, the cannon was not so much "assembled" more than it was "confirmed", because the books that were chosen were already popular amongst Christians as the true gospels. In other words, Gospels did not "pop up" out of nowhere and find themselves in the canon, the Christians had already decided which gospels were truly Christian and which were false.

Some pagan rituals were accepted into the early church structures, such as the celebrations of Christmas which were parallels to Roman celebrations of the sun god. The New Testament itself was not heavily influenced by pagan ideas, however since the New Testament was written in Greek, there were refrences that meant more to the Greeks than to the Jews. For instanc the word "Hades" when referring to hell was borrowed from Greek myth, and the word "logos" in John 1 (meaning "Word") was taken from Sumerian cuneiform, the oldest language known to man. "Logos" is so old, in fact, that the name "God" is younger than logos, so when the author says "In the beginning was the Word" he truly does mean "in the beginning". The Gentiles (Greeks) understood this more than the Jews, which indicates the author was directing his gospel more to the Gentiles than the Jews.

And no your question wasn't offensive, so keep asking questions.

2006-11-12 09:03:21 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

NO to your first question. It was the inspiration of God to several goddly men.

No to your next quesiton.

I do pesonally find your line of questioning offensive. And so does God...

Revelation 22:18-19 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

2006-11-12 08:38:13 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1 1

It is all true. The believers are easily offended because they are afraid of the truth. It threatens their faith. Faith is a very fragile and fleeting possession.

read up on revelations from bible scholars,
http://www.antipas.org/books/revelations/rev_4.html
and realize it is hoakum as well.

Edit: Try the Roman Emperor Constantine and the council of Nicea.

2006-11-12 08:42:59 · answer #4 · answered by Barabas 5 · 1 1

you know, I think we think alike.

2006-11-12 08:39:46 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1 1

it is true

2006-11-12 08:38:47 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1 1

fedest.com, questions and answers