How were the books of the bible assembled? Who decided what went in and what was left out? When?

Answer 1

It was a long slow process that took place mostly in the third century AD culminating with a group of people collectively known as "the council of Nicea" around 325 AD.

Answer 2

Try reading - what is suppose to be an original text, unedited. The 'Talmud Jmmanuel' text... I found a copy on the Internet somewhere... you might too... if you are intent enough on finding it - complete.... or simply order it through www.figu.org (English Discussion Forum)
www.tjresearch.info/overview.htm

The Bible that we have today - is I think edited by the various political motives of those, who were present - at the translating, editing and re-editing of the Bible, etc etc.
They took bits out (say, about reincarnation) and added some new text/interpretations in...
See the James Deardorff lecture comparing the TJ to current gospel text.

Answer 3

Apart from Nicaea 325 did you know that the bible we usually use today misses the so called Agrippa. Even early protestant bibles hat those books as extra part included.

Answer 4

Basically, it was decided by committe at the Council of Nicea. I also believe this was the meeting where it was decided that jesus was also god, thus creating the christian trinity.

In typical christian fashion, after the Council of Nicea, those who wanted to keep the books that were left out of the now-codified bible were declared heretics and punished, often by DEATH. Yaaaaayyyy christians!!

Answer 5

All of the writings ever found were gathered together by a council of 27 of the leaders of the known world. They then proceeded to assemble a single page from each writing on a wall, get ripping drunk, and choose through the method of the blind dart throw. Every page hit went into the bible in the order they were hit. Later they got completely stoned and filled in the gaps so it all would make sense.

Answer 6

The First Council of Nicaea was where they decided what books to include.

Edit:
By the way, even today not all "sects" of Christianity use the same set of books, some use more and some use fewer.

Answer 7

The was a show about this on the History Channel. Very Interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banned_from_the_Bible

Answer 8

council of nicea 325

Answer 9

The Gospels

The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written atleast 35 to 70 years after the time of Jesus' ministry, by the people who were not eye-witnesses of the events. The writers relied on oral traditions and some other earlier documents which have not survived.

The information they give is very scanty and there are numerous contradictions between the Gospels e.g. on who were the first witnesses to the resurrection of Christ. (Mark 16:5 a young man, Luke 24:4 two men, Matthew 28:5 an angel, John 20:12 two angels.) Among the many "Gospels" written about this time, these four were accepted as "Canonical" and were, it is claimed, inspired by the Holy Spirit, while many others were rejected and destroyed.

The Gospels like the rest of the New Testament, were written in Greek, a European language,while Jesus spoke Armaic (a Semitic language related to Hebrew and Arabic). This implies a further problem of translating Jesus' reported words into Greek. There is no certainity as to what Jesus' original words in his own language, or what they meant in the context of their times.

All these facts relating to the lack of full and accurate contemporary records by eye-witnesses of what Jesus did and said the absence of any record apart from a few words of what he said in his own language, make it very difficult to distinguish the Jesus of history from the Christ of faith as taught by the church. The Gospels contain ample evidence that Jesus was originally seen as a man and a Prophet, sent to reform the Jews. But because of the writings of Paul and others who followed Paul's ideas, Christians who read the Bible read it through Paul's spectacles, so to speak, and ordinary Christians are not aware of this or the tampering with the text or the contradictions. Only the scholars are aware of these facts and their findings are generally read and discussed only in academic circles. The Churches uphold the traditional beliefs of Trinity, the literal divine sonship of Christ, the incarnation, and the crucifixion as vicarious of history is not important, and that what is important is what people have come to believe about him - i.e. the Christ of faith. This is a way of saying that they are determined to hold on to their set of beliefs about Jesus, whether they are historically true or not, because they want to believe it or because they cannot face up to the implications of such radical re-appraisal of Christian Theology.

It is quite natural that if people have spent a lifetime holding strongly to a particular set of beliefs, and even propogating them, it is hard for them to change. Muslims must therefore excercise a lot of patience in showing them the facts and helping them to face up to the truth.


Who Speaks in the Bible? (i.e. the Authority of the Bible)

Unlike the Qur'an which Muslims believe is 100% the inspiration and actual word of God, the Bible contains writings from various authorities. These include:

1. God speaking - Exo.20:2
2. Prophet speaking - Nehemiah 13:30
3. Disciple speaking - I and II Peter
4. Theologian speaking - 1 Corinthans 7:25 & II Corinthans 11:16
5. Unknown author - The whole book of Hebrews

http://islam.thetruecall.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=268







“Gospel of the Kingdom of God”

MARK 1:14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of The Kingdom of God

From the above Verse, it is clear that Christ, Jesus-The Son of Mary preached the Gospel of The Kingdom of God. This Gospel (The Good News) actually contained the Words of God because of course, it was the Gospel of The Kingdom of God which was preached ONLY by Jesus. There is not even anything as the Gospel of Jesus as noted by Mark 1:1. The words of the Gospel which Jesus (pbuh) preached, were not his words as he says:


JOHN 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

Matthew and John were actually the disciples of Jesus (pbuh). But did they really write these Gospels by themselves. Do we have Gospels “BY” Matthew and John? From an account in the Gospel of Matthew, we can clearly see that this Gospel is not written by Matthew himself:

MATTHEW 9:9 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

If Matthew would have been the author of this Gospel, he surely would have written that “.. and he saith unto “ME”… and “I” arose and followed him.”

Luke and Mark were not even the disciples of Jesus. Luke was a physician and a companion of St Paul and Mark was an interpreter who probably worked with St Peter in Rome.

The Gospels also differ from each other a lot:

Was Joseph the Son of Jacob (MATTHEW 1:16) or was he the Son of Heli (LUKE 3:23)?

Why isn’t the ascension of Jesus (pbuh) to heaven mentioned in Matthew and John?

These Gospels which were written down 100 Years after Jesus (pbuh) ascension, circulated anonymously, no names were attached to them until almost 200 and the Christian theologians who came up with the idea of having a New Testament was condemned as heretic.

Do we have that True Gospel which Jesus Christ (pbuh) Preached in Hebrew or Aramaic?
Did Jesus (pbuh) asked Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to write these Gospels?
How can Christians rely on the accounts in these Gospels which are the basic Pillars of their Faith?

Answer 10

THIRTY - NINE OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS PLACED IN PROPER ORDER

GENESIS FROM ADAM TO JOSEPH
Adam died age and yr 930. Noah born yr 1056, in Flood age 600, Gen.7:6; has 350 years life after flood, to die yr 2006. Gen.9:28,29;
At 352 years after flood, Abraham is born.
Abraham's [ father Terah was born 222 yrs after flood ], father Terah died age 205, yr 2083, 427 yrs after flood. Gen. 11:32 ];
Abraham is age 75, Gen.12:4; to get the Promised Land cvenant.
Isaac born when Abraham is age 100, yr 2108, Gen.21:5; Isaac is age 75, & Abraham age 175 dies, 527 yrs after flood. Gen.25:7,9;
Isaac dies age 180, year 2288, 632 yrs after flood. Gen 35:28,29;
Jacob is age 120 when Isaac dies, Isaac was age 60 at his birth. Gen.25:26;
Jacob is age 130, 642 yrs after flood, 215 yrs after Abraham;s covenant Gen. 47:9,11, & placed in Rameses Egypt, with 70 in his family including Joseph his 11th son who has been governor of Egypt 10 yrs.
Joseph born yr 2258, was sold at age 17, & in prison in Egypt 13 yrs, now in
yr 2298, Joseph has his family in Egypt, Jacob dies Gen.47:28; age 147, yr
2315, 659 yrs after flood, Joseph dies yr 2368, 712 yrs after flood. Gen.50:26;
BOOK OF JOB
Job dies yr 2433, 777 yrs after flood.
EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS AND DEUTERONOMY BY MOSES
Moses age 80, Exo7:7; is 430 yrs after Abraham's covenant. Exo.12:40,41; & Gal.3:16-18; yr 2513, 857 yrs after flood, in 40 yrs, 603, 550 Promised Land heirs ar law keepers, givers and law enforcers, yr 2553, 897 yrs after flood.
Moses died Deut.34:7;
BOOK OF JOSHUA
Joshua ends 40 yrs 14th day New Year Josh.5:6,10,12; Across Jordan, yr 2554, 898 yrs after flood.
BOOK OF JUDGES, BOOK OF RUTH, BOOKS 1 AND 2 SAMUEL. 1 KINGS.
Judges 11:26 [ 300 yrs ]; yr 2854, 1198 yrs after flood, Jephthah is Judge.
Acts 13:20,21 [ 450 yrs from Exodus ]; Samuel age 80, Saul is king 14 yrs, yr 2963, 1307 yrs after flood, + 26 yrs Saul, is 2989, 1333 yrs after flood. King
BOOKS; PSALMS, PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SOLOMON.
David 40 yrs yr 3029. Ruth 4:18-22 [ David's family, 1Chr.3:9-17; Matt.1:1-17 ];
Solomon. 1Ki.6:1 [ 480 yrs after Moses dies ]. King Solomon began temple. Solomon yr 4, yr 3033, 1377 yrs after flood has 36 yrs life, dies yr 3069, 1413 yrs after flood, 1Ki.11:42; 997 before Christ.
Elisha and Elijah.
King Rehoboam, Abijam, Asa, Jehosaphat and Jehoram with Elijah & Elisha,
913 B. C. to Jehoram dies 905 B. C. [ ISAIAH, HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, JONAH,
OBADIAH, NAHUM, HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH & MICAH.

At yr 3460, [ 606 B. C. ], 1804 yrs after flood, 907 years after Moses dies, there's no 420 yr old temple by Solomon now dead 391 years, the Promised Land is desolate, no Judah kings, all is captive to Babylon world Empire #3.
2 KINGS 25:8,27-30, 1 AND 2 CHRONICLES 36:20-25; Jer.52:31-34;
Books: Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel 1:2; Daniel [ 633 ], 606 B. C. [ 533 ];

Cyrus, Ezra 1:1-3 [ Decree to rebuild, Isa.44:28; Isaiah 827 to 714 B. C ].
Cyrus in world Empire #4, 536 before Christ.
BOOKS: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, 443 B. C.

At yr 2513, O.T. 1110 yrs, 39 books, Many write, done 443 before Christ.

Greece world Empire #5, 336 before Christ in Rome world Empire #6.