2006-12-24 06:19:57 · 12 answers · asked by fiddich59 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I've written many thousands of words on this before but the gist of it comes down to...
When the emperor constantine wanted to convert the roman empire to christianity he needed a unified and universal message (catholic means universal or all encompassing, look it up). So, he got together all the different respected christian leaders who were all teaching slightly different versions as well as radically different versions. So they had to figure out which gospels were real, which were fabrications and which were good but needed tweaking. Essentially, they picked 4 gospels, one book of acts, a load of epistles and one apocalypse out of a shedload that could've been picked. For convenience sake, those that didn't make the cut were burned and their proponents declared heretics.
The reasons could be many, some would say mass sexism in a patriarchal society, some would say coersion by religious leaders who saw their place in the world dwindling due to gnostic teachers. Some of the books are just plain controversial. The infancy gospel of thomas, for instance, has Jesus cursing people who didn't see things his way and the lost ending to mark (I think it was mark, might've been matthew) has what is potentially a homosexual tryst between Jesus and another, though I'd say that interpretation comes from a dirty mind.
Anyway, that's a rough guide to it.
2006-12-24 06:28:57 · answer #1 · answered by Shadebug 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is really no such thing as "original gospels". They were all based on oral tradition, and written down later.
However, some early gospels are excluded from today's bible, mainly because they contradicted the dogma of the catholic church. In particular, the so-called gnostic gospels, which emphasized that each individual person has access to god through jesus, not a church. According to these gospels, jesus said "The kingdom of god is within you." You can imagine how this doctrine would be a threat to the institution of the catholic church, which teaches that access to god is ONLY through the church. They really do preach that if you are not a member, you cannot get into heaven.
The bible, as we know it today, is the result of many decisions, mainly by the early catholic church, to either include or exclude different "gospels" and similar documents. There was heavy editing to make it what they wanted, for their purpose.
The gospel of thomas was rediscovered in 1945 and dated to about 200AD, which is earlier than some of the other gospels that are included in the bible today. It has a very strong claim as to authenticity vis a vis the other gospels.
2006-12-24 06:38:26 · answer #2 · answered by HarryTikos 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
why were some of the origional gospels left out of the bible?
2015-08-07 02:15:06 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Balaam's Talking Donkey, the angel that made the donkey talk is in my KJV Bible. Some men treat their wife worse than Balaam did his donkey and that is a gospel of bad news none ever talk about, maybe the angel Satan does this as he did in Genesis. Num.22:22-31;
2016-03-20 04:59:47 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because it did not fit politically/ Christianity has a history of needing political power and control. Of course, Christianity is not like that today. In today's world no politician would ever think that his faith is something he could use for political gain. No never, never never.
2006-12-24 07:21:22 · answer #5 · answered by copestir 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the Catholic Church couldn't control the populace with those, considering the ones we know of actually told people to think for themselves and meditate, etc. so they "deleted" them. They do that with just about everything if it doesn't fit their agenda, including science.
2006-12-24 06:24:34 · answer #6 · answered by vinslave 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you are referring to the Gnostic Gospels - they were written between 150 and 250 a.d. - they are counterfeits.
2006-12-24 06:26:30 · answer #7 · answered by padwinlearner 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
becuase they disagreed with the other ones. the ones in the bible now were hand picked by the church to conform with their ideas
2006-12-24 06:22:27 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
There were HUNDREDS of scripture/scrolls that ha d little or nothing to do with Jesus or HIS word.
They were not included because they were questionable.
2006-12-24 06:22:45 · answer #9 · answered by whynotaskdon 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
They stole too much away from the fairy tale image of an all-loving God.
2006-12-24 06:22:32 · answer #10 · answered by Atlas 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋