by Mat 46 Replies latest watchtower bible
Christianity began it's formation without the “Bible”. The bible, as we know it, is a collection of what were very old texts when they were assembled by Christian leaders in the late second and third centuries because they were deemed to be inspired by God.
Whether they really were inspired by God or not is now open to debate, but should they prove to not be, it should not undermine Christianity as an establishment.
Discuss.....
Christianity was fractured into dozens of sects and belief systems. The foundation of modern Christianity depends on the Bible.
A religion that begins with a blood sacrifice has nowhere to go but down. The ransom sacrifice/redemption teaching had me worried at age 16.
Putting everyone else's needs before your own is psychologically dangerous. Being told that Christ died for you therefore you must give of yourself to serve Him is just more of the same. Self sacrifice is bad for you.
I'm just starting to explore the subject of Biblical texts. I'm deeply suspicious of the way the books were collected. I'm ignorant right now. Didn't the Catholic church finalize the canon - at least the one I'm familiar with having been a JW? If so, why would I trust the judgement of some third or fourth century Catholic leaders who probably had their own agendas - selfish, political, etc. - in choosing books?
I don't see how a religion could exist without some form of written code and/or instructions and/or history. My thinking is that a religion is, by definition, a system of worship. How could such exist without some basic written tenets and instructions and history? I guess such could be passed down orally if they were very basic and simple.
How could Christianity exist without documentation? A lot of people dismiss it even with its current alleged documentation. What if there was no documentation? How would anybody know who Christ is? What would define Christianity as an establishment today? Maybe at first when there supposed eyewitnesses to events it could have existed without documents, but what about today? How would we even know what Christianity is without documents?
edit: I didn't add that link to the word "canon". Is there something on my computer doing that or is that normal? I checked the link. It goes to Canon products listed on ebay.
edit#2: Damn, it did it in my edit, too.
Read up on how the Bible came into being; it was something like turning in a group assignment on time to obey an Emperor's command, not a particularly Godlike origin, eh?
If Christ had wanted a "Bible" written out he would have said so, or started one, don'tcha think?
My concept, Idea of christianity needs the bible.
From what I see a large number of people who call themselves Christians have never read the book.
The bible is like a score sheet ot keep everybody honest.
The bible is a joke and wrong in so so many places.
There are two approaches to Jesus and Christianity. One is that Jesus is about the journey or Jesus is about the destination.
For your journey pick out the kindest most honest 2 or 3 things he is said to have preached and stick with that on your journey......... or find some sort of church as your destination you can pick from 30,000 slightly different ones.
I like the Gospels. All about Jesus' life. It's when others give their spin on it, like the Apostle Paul, that it goes wrong for me.
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Christianity needed word of mouth. Constantine's endorsement helped. Pagels said that Christians stayed behind when plague struck and nursed strangers. Of course, it was a crime against humanity. cannibalism and incest b/c only baptized Christians could stay for the Eucharist. I would love to know what circulated among people those early years. Certain sayings in the canonical gospels also appear in the Gnostic gospels so there may have been earlier sources, now lost. The meaning is very different but the words are the same.
I could not stand Paul until I read Crossan's book. Certain sayings attributed to Paul made me want to throw up. It is sad b/c some of the verses are among the most beautiful and moving in Christianity. I used to want him resurrected so I could rough him up about the place of women. Paul wrote theology and that can be problematic compared to telling a story.
Not many people read back then for the Bible to be so important. During the Middle Ages, they carved sculptures and stained glass so common people would know the important stories. Recently, I read that Jesus would have had access to only a few Bible books.
