Can anyone give me a quick explaination of what these books say? And was Martin Luther really the one who cut out some of those books because they didn't mesh with his theology?
How can we trust the past to protect the word of God?
What is the most important messege in these books?
2007-01-01 15:17:58 · 17 answers · asked by sugarsweetsweetiepie 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The books of Judith, Baruch, Tobit, etc.
These are included in the Catholic bible but not in the King James version. There are various accounts of why King James took them out, ranging from, to get a "lucky number" of books in the bible, to questions of their scholarly authenticity.
Tobit
Judith
Baruch
Parts of Daniel and Esther
Parts of 1 and 2 Macabees
These are mostly historical books that tell the story of Isreal in the last few centuries BCE. Although the book of Tobit tells a charming tale of a young man who is escorted by an angel to find a cure for his ailing father and works 14 years to "earn" his bride.
There are also a great many books which were in circulation at the time of the Council of Nicea, and these were discarded because they did not fit the agenda of the Church of Rome. These are a lot more interesting and recently some of them are coming to light again.
2007-01-01 15:20:07 · answer #1 · answered by Joni DaNerd 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It is very likely we will never know the extent in which different scrolls and writing existed. A good start would be to gain access to the Vatican, and all the secrets that a kept within, and under, the grounds.
This is the subject of great debate. It has been for some time, and will be for a long time to come. Dan Brown's book just made it something popular to talk about now. While the story and character are fiction, much of the content is considered fact. Of course, that depends on what you read, interpret, and want to believe.
The truth is, you can't trust that the past protected the word of god. It is very feasible that the modern church is way off course from how god wanted his people to live. I do not blame the various modern religions, as they are a result of the motives of the past.
To the above answer, people don't ask these questions because the "hate jesus". They ask them because they want to know the truth. While the words of the bible may have been inspired by god, the bible, and christianity, was created, debated, and voted on by man. It was brought to fruition by a lifelong Pagan Emporer who was faced with losing his empire if he didn't gain control of his people.
Missing books, I don't think they are missing. Hidden would be a better description.
2007-01-01 23:40:55 · answer #2 · answered by digsrocknroll 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Martin Luther railed and assailed against the book of James, calling it a book of "straw." Obviously he failed in is quest.
Luther called these obscure books, not lost, fine to read but hardly edifying for the soul.
The books are often patchworks of various books. In those times, it was common to write something and then put a famous person's name on it. 2 Peter is most likely such an example. The books are devotionally fine, but offer little to advance our walk in the faith.
As the Bible formed over the decades and at the key theological centers, some books were unanimous and others were negotiated into the Bible. Those who did not get in were collected into the Apocrypha and Pseudopigrapha. The Jewish and Christian bibles contain several of them together.
Remember, the Bible simply means book. That is all it is. Luther also write the Bible hold the Word of God as the manger held the Christ.
If we needed to protect the book/Bible, then it would hardly do us any good in providing us w/ the protection of Jesus.
Most important message: God cares whether or not we know it.
2007-01-01 23:34:30 · answer #3 · answered by Joe Cool 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some books were deleted from the Protestant Bible. Referred to as "The Apocrypha," you can find them in the Roman Catholic Bible.
For the most part, they were deleted in the 17th Century by the Septuagint for a number of reasons. Some of their criteria included "verifiable authorship," agreement with other verified books, use of mythology in the texts, and time line regarding dates of the writing, among many others.
Several Roman Catholic dogmas have been established as doctrine because of some of the things in these deleted books.
It was not Martin Luther's idea to review the texts. It was King James who prompted the establishment of the Septuagint, hence the name, King James Version of 1611.
The Septuagint was made up of well educated linguists and Bible scholars, who reviewed the original manuscripts.
2007-01-01 23:34:36 · answer #4 · answered by Bob L 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have read the found missing books and I have not read the Catholic Bible which contains that which Martin Luther didn't find relevant. I was especially pleased where Jesus upon understanding that his male deciples were displeased with his spending so much time with Mary, threatened to turn woman into men so that they could see womans worth was as great as theirs.
The past doesn't protect anything and our reliance on tradition hurts us more than it helps us, but until we can recognize slowness as being more efficent, we're stuck with tradition.
The importance is as John says at the end of his Gospel, Jesus taught much more but this account proves that he was/is and that there is a better way to live. Seek and ye shall find.
2007-01-01 23:46:33 · answer #5 · answered by Marcus R. 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's strange that you should ask this question because I am about to read a book that I bought from a dealer some time ago that is titled The forgoten books of Eden. It was written in 1927 and contains several different versions of the books of Adam and Eve, also the odes of Solomon, The letter of Aristeas, the fourth book of Maccabees, the story of Ahikar, and the testaments of the twelve patriarchs which contain early Christian attempts to rewrite Jewish tracts.
2007-01-01 23:39:08 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
hmm... somebody has been reading that DaVinci crap!
Listen up, NO authentic books have been deleted from the bible. Those books that these people speak of are called "Gnostic texts" and the Gnostic gospel is false! Its a bible based cult that eve goes as far as to glorify the serpent (satan) in the garden of Eden.
If you really want an answer, then e-mail me. cause you are not going to get an accurate answer on this forum.
2007-01-01 23:31:06 · answer #7 · answered by venom! 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are too many to list. In the early church (around 300 ad) the church fathers established the primary doctrines of the Christian Church. The Gnostic sect was a minority Christian sect whose teachings were deemed heretical. Other books were deemed too Universalist (everyone goes to heaven). Mostly the early church wanted to include books that identified Jesus as a Deity and one with God. there is plenty of scholarly work for examination on-line.
2007-01-01 23:27:47 · answer #8 · answered by Turnhog 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
One book talked about Jesus as a child and a real trouble maker. Also the 30 or so other gospels. There were over 30 gospels but the 4 that were selected were the only ones that talked about Jesus as being devine.
2007-01-01 23:21:44 · answer #9 · answered by skunkgrease 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
What I would GIVE for one of the missing books of the bible! No one knows what they say, they can only suppose because they were taken out a while ago, by vote of the church.
I think that DaVinchi's Code hit the nail on the head.
2007-01-01 23:22:52 · answer #10 · answered by TiGeR 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋