Why were some gospels put into the bible and some left out?

Question

Does that mean some of the story was never told?

LOL No seriously I am curious. They have found lost gospels, all of which are pretty interesting. I can't figure out why they weren't put in. I mean...if they were left out then the whol story isn't there is it?

Acts of Philip, the Gospel of Mary are two examples.

Second part of the question..why is it so hard to find a bible with Song of Songs? Before the puritan movement it was in all bibles. Why did it get taken out?

Answer 1

I don't think man should censor the word of God. If it is truly God's word, who is man to change it? That would be like a law review editor changing the wording of a law passed by the legislature just to fit his own opinions. However, some translators have done just that. Perhaps the most infamous is the Reader's Digest version, which condensed the Bible to what the editors believed was the bare essentials.

In general, the best translations are those that are made by groups of men from varied backgrounds. This reduces the amount of prejudice in translation. Thus the King James Version, the American Standard Version, or the New International Version are better translations than the New World Translation (Jehovah's Witnesses), Moffatt's translation (single translator), Barclay's translation (single translator). Some versions admit they are not word for word translations, but paraphrases. These include Today's English Bible and The Living Word. Any translation, however, may be valuable in studying God's word. Best would be to use several translations and compare them.

That said, it is true that some translations have paraphrased certain things for the sake of sensitivity to the audience. For instance what is literally translated in the King James Version as "everyone who pisseth against the wall" is rendered in some versions "every male."

Answer 2

It was not a pick and choose deal. Certain criteria had to have been met, and those other so-called "gospels" were found to have been flawed in either facts, or doctrine, or known by the early Christians to have come from a source that was not inspired.
True writings are inspired by God, therefore they are without doctrinal flaw or contradiction. So if you find a "gospel" that says something different than the others, for example, then you know something's fishy.

In the Bible, the writers warned and spoke of phonies that were running around at that time, preaching a false gospel, another, different, Jesus.
They were the gnostics.
By and large, their writings had been lost or destroyed. Recently however, some have come to light, and have been widely published. So now again, people are being deceived by these spurious works, and causes people to question the whole of the Bible.
Since the church has done a rather poor job of educating their people in this area of their history, not many know the real story, and end up falling for alot of junk.

All that God has wanted us to know, for now, has been preserved. An Almighty God can certainly make sure what He wants would be preserved and set forth for a mere 2000+ years.

Answer 3

What gospel is left out? There is but one gospel and that is written in 4 different books by 4 different witnesses. Since all scripture is divinely inspired by God, I trust Him to reveal (or preserve) the Word just as He wants. He has preserved the Holy Bible just as is for all this time without any so called hidden gospels. On that observation I think I can accurately assume He gave us what He wanted us to have and understand. There are no prophesies saying we will discover lost scriptures so I don't think I will so easily give credibility to anything like that. Now, I do know that God has withheld some things from us, but, I think it is because our human minds can't understand them, or it just isn't something we need to know (like the exact time that Christ will come again). I just don't worry about what might not be included in the Bible, because in one life time I couldn't possibly comprehend all that's recorded already. The main purpose He gave us the Word is for the redemption of man to God and that is thoroughly covered with what we have.

Answer 4

There are some “Gospels” discovered at the Nag Hammadi archeological dig that purport to have been written by Mary Magdalene, Thomas, Judas and others. However, they have all been debunked as writings of Gnostics. And none stand up to scrutiny under the cannon.

Answer 5

I believe you're referring to the Apocryphal, or "hidden" books. The Catholic church maintains some of them, but the early Christian church denied many on these basis(s): Christ sinned in Gospel of Thomas (if Christ sinned, all of the world is destined for Hades); language discrepancies (written not in Greek, Aramaic, or Hebrew text like the rest of God's word); and finally, date (so many of these were written during "dark periods" where scripture is silent. But the main selling point for me (and I have read them all) is that you can tell... something does not sit right in my spirit when I read them. I knew, via the Holy Spirit, that I was reading perfect truth when I picked up the Bible. Hope this helped!

Answer 6

The Church officials that put the Bible together only put in Gospels that would benefit them, nothing like the Gospel of Mary that says women played an important role in the early church.

Answer 7

Some of the gospels didn't "fit in" with what they wanted it to say so they left them out. I mean really, wouldn't it be terrible to know the whole truth? ;-) By that I mean what all the gospels said and not just the ones that supported what they wanted to force on people.

Answer 8

The human bishops at the council of Nicaea decided which ones were the word of god and which were just made up by humans.


They of course had divine guidance to do this so that the version they can up with would eventually change into the exact words god wanted in the version we have today.


And I have some seafront property in Kansas I would be willing to sell you.

Answer 9

It is upsetting.

What about the Gospel of Mary Magdeline???

Answer 10

You must mention what 'gospels' were left out ....otherwise it is a general question of disputed claims.