Questions I ponder as a Christian: 1) How can Jesus Christ expect us to believe something written by someone else, yet if we don't believe what's

written, we're accused of not believing in the Father? He didn't write it himself, so if we do believe what's written, we're essentially putting our faith in the people who wrote it, not in Jesus directly. After all, we didn’t hear it from the horse's mouth.

I believe that any thoughtful person will critically scrutinize the Bible. Sorry, I can't just buy the argument, "The Bible is the word of God, you should just believe it."

We know the Bible was compiled in the late 4th century and wasn't originally a single book. So, the idea of the Bible being the word of God stems from those who compiled the manuscripts, books, and epistles. What we as Christians should do is approach the Bible as a historical document, understanding that it may contain errors, and focus on Jesus Christ. In reality, we can't be certain about the accuracy of every part of the Bible. But by following Jesus Christ, he will guide us toward what is truth and what isn’t.

The individuals who compiled the Bible were clearly aiming to control the narrative. In the early Church, there was a lot of division, and early Christians did not share the same beliefs. The early Church sought uniformity, kind of like The Lord of the Rings, "One Ring to Rule them all." That is why Constantine called the Council of Nicaea and declared "The Catholic Church." Those in power were the ones who determined for everyone else which books and doctrines we should adhere to, and how to interpret those teachings. They chose to include certain letters and exclude others because the ones left out didn’t align with the message they wanted to promote.

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Natalie15 · F

The individuals who compiled the Bible were most certainly trying to control the message to align what the church (at that time) deemed as orthodoxy. However, it wasn't a smoke-filled room of people trying to advance their own agendas. They did a pretty good job of selecting only first century materials. Their goal was to get the earliest writings, and with Paul's letters (most of them, anyway) it was mission accomplished. They also did a good job of weeding out many false works from the second and third centuries.

But were they perfect? No. They dismissed and rejected a lot of works on the more Jewish side of the tradition. They called it "Judaising" which is a ridiculous accusation. Unfortunately, because of this many of the Jacobite works and the Gospel of the Hebrews is all but lost to time.

I guess the big takeaway from all this is that we shouldn't put too much stock in the Bible. Put your faith in God. I firmly believe that the Bible is a trustworthy arrow sign that points to God (or Christ). But it is a mere heap of papers when sat next to God's Holy presence. The Bible isn't the end-all-be-all of anything. It is just a good book. But, y'know. A while after the master ascends, people are prone to make a golden calf.

Perhaps "golden calf" is too strong a term. What I really should say is that people (though they mean well) overemphasize the importance of the Bible. The most important thing they need to do is open up a line of communication with God. THEN, I think the Bible is an important resource for proceeding from there. But it is not the foundation of my faith. God is the foundation.

Ragnarock1276 · 46-50, M

Im just wondering how much was changed in the translations for population control. The church executed anyone that tried to translate it from Latin to english to make sure only they could read it. Aren't they also the ones that translated it from greek and hebrew to latin?

Jokersswild · 22-25VIP

@Ragnarock1276 Absolutely! You know, you're so on point with that. It wasn't just that they declared these books as the "Word of God," they used enforcement. They took all the copies of any other manuscripts and either burned them or buried/hid them, and anyone who dissented was burned at the stake! Well, surely some of the NT was written in Hebrew, but we don't have any surviving copies today. They translated it to Latin and declared it could only be read in Latin and could not be translated into any other language.🤣

SomeMichGuy · M

@Jokersswild

Well, surely some of the NT was written in Hebrew, but we don't have any surviving copies today.

You should look up Aramaic...

WintaTheAngle · 41-45, M

I very post here is written by someone else. So on your logic it can’t be believed.

Jokersswild · 22-25VIP

@WintaTheAngle I'm not saying that at all. I'm a devout Christian. It was just my personal opinion. But, when it comes to the idea of the Bible being the word of God... maybe it was inspired by God, but it was written by humans. What we have are books and letters that were independently written, and they weren’t part of a unified canon until the 4th century. So, overall, my belief is that we don't have to accept every book in the bible as divinely inspired.

BritishFailedAesthetic · M

And this post is the reasoning of how "Christian" cults start.

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