I am just curious
If you say the Bible is the foundation for what you believe in, its Gods word through the hand of man, then I am curious how much you know about the history of the gospels? If I were to base my beliefs solely on a book, I would be educated on where exactly the book "came from"
Some gosples were excluded because they contradicted what the other gospels stated, so there were certain ones chosen to be in the Bible...
2007-03-01 10:47:58 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Not a Christian, but a college Religious Studies major. True, contradiction was one reason they weren't included; but it wasn't the only reason.
A lot of people have this idea that some church council sat down, piddled through a pile of scrolls, and separated them into two piles: "canonical" and "apocryphal". This isn't the case. The canon of the New Testament was compiled over the course of about 300 years as the early church continued to grow. By the Fourth Century, there was debate on only six books: Hebrews, Revelations, the Didache, the Epistle of Barnabas, the Epistle (First) of Clement, and the Shepherd of Hermas. A church council finally ruled on these last six, keeping the first two and omitting the remaining four.
The Gnostic gospels were books used by the Gnostics, which were not really Christians, though there is some relationship between the Gnostics and early Christians. None of these works ever had a chance of being accepted into the Christian New Testament. Many other gospels were not felt to have been written by who they claimed to be. Others, such as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, portrayed such non-Christian ideas as Jesus going around killing children. These books, too, had no real chance of being included.
2007-03-01 10:58:31 · answer #1 · answered by The Doctor 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The 4 Gospels are self evidencing. They were proven to be written by the Apostles as they were read in the First Church services. And the writers of these4 Gospels accredited each or the other writers as being divinely inspired. There were no other Gospels at that time. The Early Church Fathers (the people that studied under the original Apostles) only acknowledged these 4 gospels because there weren't any others to choose from. They wrote document after document pertaining to this fact!! The other "gospels" didn't come about intil the second century, and nobody knows who wrote them. The Apostle John was the only surviving Apostle when the Letters to the Church were gathered together and verified!
2007-03-01 19:04:07 · answer #2 · answered by michael m 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Actually, the popularity of films like the Da Vinci Code have given rise to more interest in Gnosticism.
Things like the Gospel of Judas are full of bizarre claims for it and the views of Gnosticism it represents. I recommend you read the book, "Judas and the Gospel of Jesus: Have We Missed the Truth about Christianity?", by N.T. Wright, to better understand the issues.
2007-03-01 18:53:10 · answer #3 · answered by Ask Mr. Religion 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The "lost books" were never lost. They were known by the Jews in Old Testament times and the Christians of the New Testament times and were never considered scripture. They weren't lost nor were they removed. They were never in the Bible in the first place.
The additional books were not included in the Bible for several reasons. They lacked apostolic or prophetic authorship, they did not claim to be the Word of God; they contain unbiblical concepts such as prayer for the dead in 2 Macc. 12:45-46; or have some serious historical inaccuracies.
2007-03-01 18:54:35 · answer #4 · answered by iamwhoiam 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Most of those "lost" gospels weren't written until the third, fourth, or fifth centuries. Then we wonder why no one takes them at value. Especially the third, fourth, or fifth century believers. You should equate them with the fiction christian novels of today. They are fanciful writings, written for the amusement of the readers. Since they are not actual fact based, they were by necessity omitted from the Bible.
I am not saying that they are devoid of fact, but that the facts are shadowed by the fiction.
2007-03-01 18:57:49 · answer #5 · answered by Daniel 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The books were left out from the Bible for good reasons. Authors were not reliable, time line was not met.
The Gospels were written by people who either knew and followed, dined with Him and were taught by Jesus, or knew personally people who did so.
I have studied the subject, and I am confident that the Bible in your hand is God talking to you.
2007-03-01 18:56:18 · answer #6 · answered by SeeTheLight 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I see that many of your answers are confusing the Apocrypha and books of the New testment that were thrown out by gatherings of church officials editing the New Testament--Mary, Barnabas, Nicodemus, etc.
2007-03-01 19:05:09 · answer #7 · answered by Terry 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The books excluded were not excluded because they contradicted the others, it was because thay were forgeries, and were not written by witnesses to the events.
2007-03-01 18:57:37 · answer #8 · answered by great gig in the sky 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I'm not even sure how they got lost! and who lost them! If they were excluded from the orginal bible! who excluded them? and
then soneone had to loose them.
2007-03-01 18:54:56 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋