Ok, for the first few centuries of Christianity there was no official Bible. There were plenty of holy books, some of whom made it into the Bible, and a lot which didn't.
Until circa 1500 AD/CE, almost no one owned a copy of Bible and most people were illiterate. That's 3/4 of the history of Christianity right there.
So were the "Christians" of these areas really Christians since they didn't own Bibles?
2007-11-05 08:30:45 · 14 answers · asked by Defunct 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Should read "eras" instead of "areas."
2007-11-05 08:31:11 · update #1
Good question. They would have you believe that christianity did not exist until martin Luther, actually.
2007-11-05 08:36:32 · answer #1 · answered by Garrettsbiotch 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm not defending all the beliefs of fundamentalism, but the bottom line is we don't know who wrote the Penteteuch, so it could have been Moses. The New Testament existed long before the Roman Catholic gained control of Western Christendom in the 5th century. All you have to do is read a standard Christian history book. True, many New Testament books have been questioned. You neglected to mention that Martin Luther had trouble not only with Revelation but also with James. You are correct, early Christianity was very regional with differences between the churches, probably much like the various Christian secgts today. True, Jews in general don't believe Jesus was the Messiah. If they did, they'd be Christians. You are correct, we do not have a 100% "true" text of the New Testament. There are almost 6000 mss (from scraps of papyrus to codex's). However, there is no major impact on the basic doctrines of Christianity and the variants are primarily spelling, word order. While there are a handful of passages that are questionable these really have little impact on the whole. It is amazing that we have the Bible at all, and that the textual evidence is so rich. I would encourage you to continue your research and religious education because it is still lacking.
2016-04-02 06:59:13 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A Christian is someone who believes in Jesus's sacrifice on the cross as the atonement for their sins & they have committed themselves to repentance & being filled with the Holy Spirit. You do not have to read the bible to be a Christian! You will notice that the Apostles had direct contact with Jesus and they were able to teach people orally exactly what they knew about him.
Also, the New Testament is pretty much composed of long letters that were sent to the churches established in the various cities and then read aloud before the congregation.
Since then, the Bible has been read aloud in congregations (or should have been) so that people would know what happened and how to live the Christian life...
2007-11-05 08:35:52 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes not because they had a Bible but they had the belief of the risen Christ.
The Old Testament was around before Christ because the history, laws, Psalms and prophet books were painstakingly copied stroke for stroke by the scribes of the Jewish Temple. The Letters from Paul were also copied and passed around as the churches grew so that the words of Christ could be taught. The New Testament books were all written from about 60-110AD After Christ's death but still first hand accounts.
2007-11-05 08:42:03 · answer #4 · answered by 9_ladydi 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Christ's Church never forbade the Bible from people and saying so is absolutely untrue. The truth is that the Church did not approve most of the translations because they were corrupt and without proper scholarship. I am always shocked at the ignorance or gullibility it takes to believe such nonsense. Half truths are the same as whole lies. Please check out such nonsense before bearing false witness against Christ's Church.
In Christ
Fr. Joseph
2007-11-05 08:47:51 · answer #5 · answered by cristoiglesia 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the early Christians used the old testament, because the were Jews. The good news is the new testament is just the same information as the old. I think that is something a lot of people get hung up on . you cant have one without the other.
2007-11-05 08:36:20 · answer #6 · answered by mairszee 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, they went to church and the priest had a bible. Most of the nobles had personal bibles as well.
But as far as whether what the priest or the bibles said then vs. what they say now, is a different subject.
2007-11-05 08:33:48 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is nothing in the Bible that speaks about "owning" scripture. Instead it is to be known and "written" on our heart. You have to realize, the hebrews did most of their scripture orally and not written at all. If "having" a Bible made you a Christian, every motel visitor and prisoner would be a Christian!
2007-11-05 08:36:49 · answer #8 · answered by adamlutts 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
A Christian is one who accepts Christ's Death upon the cross as payment for the sins that they themselves have committed. Having reading or owning a bible does NOT make one a Christian. i am sure there are many atheist who own bibles.
2007-11-05 08:39:41 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yes, since owning a Bible does not make one a Christian. They knew what was presented to them and followed it with their hearts, they were Christian. The Catholic Church actually condemned people from reading the Bible, as this was a pecursor to insanity if they weren't a priest.
2007-11-05 08:35:16 · answer #10 · answered by Kiker 5 · 2⤊ 3⤋