1. The books of the New Testament of the Bible were chosen by one man who was a servant of the Emperor Constantine and did that choosing to satisfy Constantine's agenda to completely reform early Christianity.
2. Besides the Apocryphal books eliminated from the Bible used by Protestant Church there are, at least, 28 other books mentioned in scripture, which do not appear in the Bible.
There was no specific list or accounting of all the books that made up the Bible until the commission of the first Bible by the Emperor Constantine in the 4th Century AD. The books that make up the Authorized King James Bible were chosen by men, not divine forces. The language of the King James Bible is obscure and limited.
So why? or has christianity lost it's way in the real world?
2006-11-23 08:04:17 · 29 answers · asked by Longjohn 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
James S - The majority of the bible was written long before the birth of Jesus, do we also ditch them?
2006-11-24 22:35:54 · update #1
Why trust those when whoever wrote them never saw Jesus? :)
2006-11-24 22:37:28 · update #2
Religion is one of the worlds biggest addictions . obsessive compulsive behaviour
2006-11-23 08:13:36 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
Counterpoint to number 1. Constantine or any of his servents didn't choose the books of the Bible. They were pretty much accepted in the early church. In fact, the preachings of the first century Christian leaders quoted the New Testament. In their writing and sermons, they quoted over 97% of the New Testament. They were mentioned as Scripture by these men. The 1st century Christian had already accepted them as scripture.
Counterpoint to number 2. The other books not included were written around 200 years after Christ's resurection. Why trust those when whoever wrote them never saw Jesus?
I suggest you search Josh McDowell and his Da Vinci Code investigation. The guy has done his research and you can find some interesting stuff there.
2006-11-23 08:16:29 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
The early church used Greek. The books we know as the Old Testament were those Jewish scriptures that had been translated into Greek for the Hellenist Jews and were known as the Septuagint. The western church became the state religion in 321AD when Constantine was emperor and both the Old and New Testament were translated into Latin, the official language of the Roman Empire, by a group of scholars led by Jerome. It was Jerome's scheme that divided the Bible into Chapters and Verses, but he did not choose the books - they were already well established.
The Jewish religion decided to go through all of its scripture and decided to omit a large number of books. Following the Reformation, Luther decided that the books included in Jerome's bible, but omitted from the Jewish canon should be downgraded and these are known among protestant churches as apochrypha. The Catholic church calls them Deuterocanonical which just goes to show that they're better at Latin than the protestants.
In the modern church there is a difference of opinion between those churches that believe that God's word should come down through a hierarchy of bishops and priests and those who don't. The Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican communions use a top down approach and account for about 90% of all Christians. The drawback with this approach is that the churches are vulnerable to a corrupt hierarchy.
For the other 10%, the bible takes on a much greater significance. They regard the whole bible as the indisputable word of God addressed to each individual personally. The drawback with this approach is that each individual tends to have his or her own version of the truth.
2006-11-23 08:26:19 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
1) The form of the Bible was decided upon at The Synod of Hippo towards the end of the Fourth Century, the culmination of many such meetings such as those in Carthage.
2) True, such as The Gospels of Thomas and Peter. Some of these may have been true gospels, but some were faked by various factions at the time. The Synods aim was to ensure that only those whose authenticity was absolutely certain would be included.
2006-11-23 09:08:53 · answer #4 · answered by waycyber 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm glad that you distinguished between Christians and protestants, because I'm not Catholic, or protestant. I believe in Christ as my redeemer and follow his teachings, but I do not worship the bible as so many Christians seem to. It's almost creepy. There are several versions of the bible, created by the different orthodox churches (Armenian, Greek, etc.) and they include different books. Twice in the bible it is written not to add any more to the book, but the books of the bible aren't chronological! The book of Revelations wasn't even the last one writ en. I think they meant not to change the statements of that particular author.
I believe in the bible as far as it is translated correctly and I believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and I believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to His Kingdom. Have you ever read the book of Jasher? Its one of the books quoted in the new testament. Its a very exciting book and it's still around.
Now you say these books were put together by men not divine forces but what do you consider a divine force? Just curious.
2006-11-23 08:46:01 · answer #5 · answered by rosewood 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Because the Bible is inspired of God. It is not a novel written by man. It was written by men who were told what to write by means of God's holy spirit. It is God's thoughts & ideas not man's. The bigger question is why do so many people have faith in priests, ministers, etc. who make up their own laws in the name of God. If it is not in the Bible I do not believe it. As for the Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha there is no proof that they were part of the original scriptures.
Remember this--
Revelation 22:18-21-- "I am bearing witness to everyone that hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone makes an addition to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this scroll; and if anyone takes anything away from the words of the scroll of this prophecy, God will take his portion away from the trees of life and out of the holy city, things which are written about in this scroll. " He that bears witness of these things says, 'Yes; I am coming quickly.' " " Amen! Come, Lord Jesus." [ May ] the undeserved kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ [ be ] with the holy ones.
2006-11-23 09:13:19 · answer #6 · answered by Gone With The Wind 1 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The study of Scripture and the Church Fathers, we see that, not only is the Catholic faith biblical, Catholicism is Bible Christianity par excellence.
Because the Old and New Testament Scriptures are the divinely-revealed, written Word of God, Catholics venerate the Scriptures as they venerate the Lord's body. But Catholics do not believe that God has given us His divine Revelation in Christ exclusively through Scripture. Catholics also believe that God's Revelation comes to us through the Apostolic Tradition and teaching authority of the Church.
What Church? Scripture reveals this Church to be the one Jesus Christ built upon the rock of Saint Peter (Matt. 16:18). By giving Peter the keys of authority (Matt. 16:19), Jesus appointed Peter as the chief steward over His earthly kingdom (cf. Isaiah. 22:19-22). Jesus also charged Peter to be the source of strength for the rest of the apostles (Luke 22:32) and the earthly shepherd of Jesus' flock (John 21:15-17). Jesus further gave Peter, and the apostles and elders in union with him, the power to bind and loose in heaven what they bound and loosed on earth. (Matt. 16:19; 18:18). This teaching authority did not die with Peter and the apostles, but was transferred to future bishops through the laying on of hands (e.g., Acts 1:20; 6:6; 13:3; 8:18; 9:17; 1 Tim. 4:14; 5:22; 2 Tim. 1:6).
By virtue of this divinely-appointed authority, the Catholic Church determined the canon of Scripture (what books belong in the Bible) at the end of the fourth century. We therefore believe in the Scriptures on the authority of the Catholic Church. After all, nothing in Scripture tells us what Scriptures are inspired, what books belong in the Bible, or that Scripture is the final authority on questions concerning the Christian faith. Instead, the Bible says that the Church, not the Scriptures, is the pinnacle and foundation of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15) and the final arbiter on questions of the Christian faith (Matt. 18:17). It is through the teaching authority and Apostolic Tradition (2 Thess. 2:15; 3:6; 1 Cor. 11:2) of this Church, who is guided by the Holy Spirit (John 14:16,26; 16:13), that we know of the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, and the manifold wisdom of God. (cf. Ephesians 3:10).
Satan is responsible for the divisions of Cristianity.
The Church is one In the unity of the Blessed Trinity.
2006-11-23 08:19:21 · answer #7 · answered by Gods child 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Every religion loses its way for the very fact it is a religion. Still Christians place so much faith in the Bible because it is there holy book. It is there religion. A God is only a God at a mental level because he has followers. You can not persuade anyone against what they believe so easily. They know the Bible is limited by men, but the very fact it is the book makes it real. It is a divine spiritual ideal. To everyone else it is paper and binding.
2006-11-23 08:12:33 · answer #8 · answered by weism 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋
A) I do not place my faith in the bible.....my faith is in Christ.
B) Could you show me where you are getting your info. from?
Where are these 28 other books mentioned at?
The last I knew the books removed from the bible because there was evidence that the book was written well after the death of the Apostles and had no reference to any other place in the bible.
I would be curious to see your resources.
2006-11-23 08:11:44 · answer #9 · answered by Mikki 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I'm just gonna say something... if you read history constantine had nothing to do with the bible election and the bible was chosen by a council of hieracy.
Yes that is right the books might be right but they are not believed to be truly inspired doesn't mean there wrong most protestants will tell you anything that isn't in the bible is false that is wrong.
King James bible was written long time after the Latin vulgate was the first translated and yes the english is obscure such as referring to cattles as unicorns... Yes your right there was no Bible but it is false to assume the bible was commissioned by constatine i know alot belief this but this is myth please read actyal history.
2006-11-23 08:11:10 · answer #10 · answered by Borinke 1 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Do you think that God could not see to it that the most important parts of the letter he had written to us would remain intact? Do you think that Constantine was more powerful than God? Do you not know that God is alive and he works through his loyal servants here on earth even today?
2006-11-23 09:52:37 · answer #11 · answered by Sparkle1 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋