| Nag Hamadi |
This Article addresses the Confusion within Christianity, explains who gains from trying to confuse us, explores what some ways to discover God might be, and concludes with the truth about what the Nag Hamadi documents have to do with our spiritual quest.
Christianity today is itself confused. Many Christians
have fallen out of touch with what Christianity itself teaches. There are many
voices that claim to speak for true Christianity. It is a bit of a long article,
but what you put into it...is what you get out of it.
There is a good deal of information to get to...before getting to the Nag Hamadi
library. Thinking is not always easy, and not all solutions can be found within
5 minutes. But those who make the effort are usually well rewarded.
What is missing today - in the discussions about Christianity - is an objective standard that can be used to measure everyone who makes claims about Christianity.
After all, there are many schools of thought about what Christianity is, and they compete with each other.
And there are forces today that are designed to attack Christianity, with the intention of harming it and those who claim to be Christians.
Obviously this article does not answer every point or every objection to Christianity. But it can give you a quick and broad overview of the different schools of thought ABOUT Christianity, and what each of them claim to teach.
Let's begin at the beginning of what we believe:
Whoever you are trusting ABOUT Christianity...should be willing to defend and explain what they believe. It is normal and reasonable to have questions about Faith and Spirituality, and it is normal to have questions about ourselves, our place in the Universe, and our reason for existing.
It is also normal to have questions about God.
It is normal and reasonable for those of us who have questions about God, to hope and pray that God will lead us to the right answers, both about Him, and about Spirituality. After all, spirituality is supposed to be the path to God.
And if Christianity is true, and real and authentic, then those who claim to be Christians should study to learn and know the answers to these questions, so that they can share them with others, and so that they can share the good news. After all, if God is a God of love, God did not make those answers JUST for the people who have those answers ...at this very moment.
Some of us are STILL looking for the answers, and for the right questions to ask also, and so God should help others FIND the answers and the ways to learn about Him.
The issue of Who we trust ABOUT Christianity or about GOD is very important. It is important because we could be determining our own Eternal Destiny. Eternity (the Afterlife) can be a very long time.
Differences between Eastern Religion and Western Religion
The major difference between Eastern Religions and Western Religion is what Western Religion (Christianity) teaches about Jesus Christ.
But the Second major difference between Eastern Religions and Western religion is that Christianity teaches that we each have ONE lifetime to find out about 1. God and 2. Our Eternal Destiny, but the Eastern Religions teach that we have MANY chances to find these things out, through the process of Reincarnation.
Just using the concept of self-preservation, IF my life has worth, then maybe my own life is worth preserving. And if it is worth preserving, it is Also worth doing whatever is required to preserve life. In other words, it is worth my making the effort - to do what is required - for me to preserve myself, not only in THIS present life, but also in the Afterlife.
So, who I decide to trust ABOUT the Afterlife matters, because IF I trust the right person, then I have made a good choice. But if I trust the wrong person or the wrong sources, then I can really hurt my own chances for a much better ETERNAL LIFE, AFTER this one.
Back to Western Religion and Eastern Religion compared -
IF I am a Buddhist, but God really was a Christian God and wanted me to be a Christian, then in the afterlife, I would be facing very grave consequences (usually called "Hell" if you can handle that...for a moment). And if Christianity were true, then I would NOT have Any New chance to be able to chose God, once the end of my current life - happens.
BUT - If I were a Christian today, and the Buddhist concept of Reincarnation were True, then I would simply be Wrong to have been a Christian, but I would have the chance to decide AGAIN - in the NEXT life - to be a Buddhist INSTEAD OF a Christian in this current life.
So, Taking the chance that I can only make ONE choice in this life, then the best choice to make is to be a Christian, because either I would have been right to make that choice and I would go to Heaven, OR I would be wrong to have decided to be a Christian - and Instead Reincarnation would be true, but I would STILL have the option of choosing to be a Buddhist in the next life.
So it seems like the best choice - for the moment - is to consider what it actually would mean...to become a Christian, or at least to FIND OUT what Christianity teaches, or claims to teach or wants to teach.
THE VOICES OF CONFUSION ABOUT CHRISTIANITY
But there are many different groups today that each call themselves Christian. On the other hand, there are many groups today that OPPOSE Christianity and THEY claim to be doing all of us a FAVOR.
Our Own Basis for Deciding
Our own Basis for deciding what to do with Christianity ...has to do with the Concept of the Love of God:
1. Any God who truly loves people would have to be loving enough for his offer to be Real. It could not be a FAKE offer.
2. The Offer that a loving God would make would - itself - have to include a means that demonstrates love.
3. We know enough about the Teachings of Jesus to know that Jesus taught that God would help those who wanted to learn about God with all of their heart. The idea of "All of their heart" was a test of sincerity, because God wants people to know HIM, when they are serious about learning about God.
4. The Offer that God makes should be FREE. In the Psalms, it says that God owns the Cattle on a thousand hills. That is a metaphor meant to say that God already has all of the wealth of the World. He would have to, if He is the one who created it. God would not need wealth, and God would want people to be able to find Him...without having to financially PAY in order to find out about God. Whatever God is doing in his attempts to communicate with mankind, the offers that God makes to each of us aught to be Free, as an expression of the love of God.
THE VOICES OF CONFUSION ABOUT CHRISTIANITY - WHO THEY ARE
There are many different "Schools of thought" that are organized to try to share their views about what Christianity is. We will list the major ones here, explain their goals, their history and what they are trying to do, and how to evaluate what they teach. After learning from this material, you should have at least some understanding of where people are coming from...when they are discussing the concept of Christianity and what they hope to convey to you.
The Early Christians and the Origins of Christianity
The Early Christians were simply followers of Jesus Christ. "Christ" means Messiah. The Early Christians believed and accepted that Jesus was Jesus the Messiah, the one who was prophesied about in the Old Testament who would come and save people in order to give them Eternal life.
Jesus preached his message of Love, but also preached repentance. Jesus taught that people could get to know God, but only by accepting the message of Jesus Christ. Jesus said "I am THE way, the truth and the life". The claims of Jesus Christ were exclusive. Obviously if there was one way to God, then the other ways would be wrong. Some people have trouble with this part of the message of Jesus. But Jesus ALSO taught that God reveals himself to those who truly seek to find Him with all of their heart. So if a person is truly trying to find God, then God would help those people find Him.
Jesus taught his message. At the time it was very revolutionary. It is still revolutionary today. This is true because Jesus taught that the caste or social order of Priests Could Not and Did not have an exclusive monopoly over the means to reach God. All of a sudden, the thousands of Priests from all religions were threatened. Jesus had come to show mankind how to have direct and personal access to God, not through priests but through Himself. That is why the New Testament says:
There is ONE Mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus.
The understanding of Jesus Christ (Jesus the Messiah) as the one and only Mediator between man and God is what was so very offensive to those who held religious power in His time. His message First offended the Jewish Elites of the day, and right after that, began also to offend the priests of the Pagan temples around the Roman Empire. As soon as They heard the message that Christianity was doing away with the automatic necessity of Priests as the mediators, those priests were hostile to Christianity, because they understood their religious monopoly was threatened.
Jesus had come to Free mankind.
The Word of Jesus were recorded by the Apostles and by
the other followers of Jesus. After Jesus was Crucified and died, He rose again
3 days later. That was not simply a Spiritual Resurrection. It was a Real -
Literal - Physical and Bodily Resurrection. The New Testament says that he
appeared to Hundreds of people IN ADDITION to his Disciples AFTER
His
Resurrection.
After His Resurrection, Jesus stayed on Earth for 40 days, teaching His Disciples even more about God and how to find Him, and how to follow Him. Then Jesus Ascended into Heaven in the Clouds.
And He said at that time - that he would one day return the same way - in the air.
In the meantime, Jesus went back to Heaven and said that He was preparing Heaven for those who accepted His message. The Disciples then had a lot of work to do, in order to explain the message of Jesus Christ to the whole world.
They wrote the New Testament. That is the first way that we know many of the 27 books in the New Testament that belong in It. The Apostles and Disciples who knew Jesus Christ personally are the one who actually wrote most of the books of the New Testament.
There are 27 Books of the New Testament. That could leave room for 27 different authors, but it doesn't. Those books were written individually as letters. And they were passed around and copied and recopied. There was no need for anyone to fight over who would "get the credit" for those letters. They were written by the authors that they claimed - in the different books - to have been written by.
Most of the Various Churches maintained contact with each other and knew the Apostles who traveled a great deal to the various churches around the World. The Roman Empire and its stone roads allowed great mobility to many within the Roman Empire at that time, as did the various ships in the Mediteranean. We can find several examples of one or another of the Apostles using Ships to move from one area of the Roman Empire to another. And remember that several of the Apostles had been fishermen first. They knew a lot about ships.
Today, some people want to pretend that there is such great confusion about the New Testament. Another reason there is confusion is because many people do not read it. And those who do not - can be easily confused.
Most of the Books of the Bible contain biographical information about those who wrote it. And those books of the New Testament were in great circulation soon after they were written. They not only had to be accurate biographically (about the authors), but they had to be accurate in what they taught. If those teachings had not been part of the teachings of the Early Christians, the letters would be identified (by those who knew Jesus) as being counterfeit and not from the authors who were claiming to have written them. Since the Apostles spent many years working with each other (both before the Death of Jesus and After His Resurrection) they knew Each Other very well.
The Gospel of Matthew was written by Matthew, a Disciple of Jesus. Mark was a friend of Peter. Luke was not only a Physician, but was also present with the Apostles before the death of Jesus. He speaks of being an eyewitness to the events that he describes. John was one of the disciples of Jesus. He would go on to write the Epistles of I John, II John and III John found towards the back of the New Testament. He was also later on exiled to the Island of Patmos, thanks to the attempt by the Roman Empire to break his spirit. It did not work, and on the Island of Patmos, he wrote the LAST book of the Bible, called the Book of Revelation.
That point - that St John wrote the LAST book of the Bible answers most questions ABOUT the New Testament. After all, what this means is that the LAST author of the books of the New Testament knew all the books, had access to all of the books of the New Testament, and wrote that his own was the LAST Book of the New Testament.
You can understand the obvious point: If St John - is writing under the Inspiration of God, and St. John says that HIS book is the LAST one, then this would mean that ANY book that comes AFTER it is going to be a Counterfeit book. Therefore any book or letter in the New Testament claming to be AFTER the time of St. John would obviously NOT be an authentic book that belonged in the New Testament. And St. John aught to know: He was the Last living disciple. The other disciples could not write any more because they were deceased.
The Book of Acts - is basically the Book of Luke, part 2. The book of Acts was written by Luke, the same author who wrote the Gospel of Luke. After the Book of Acts comes the book of Romans, which is the first book of the New Testament to have been written by Paul. In total, Paul (St. Paul) wrote Fourteen (14) of the 27 Books of the New Testament.
Peter the Apostle wrote the books of I Peter and II Peter. You can read what he wrote for yourself in any New Testament. The book of Jude is written by the half-brother of Jesus, Jude who was also one of the followers of Jesus and who accepted his message of being the one and only messiah.
So all the books of the New Testament were in WIDE circulation for a long time...before the death of the Apostles. By the time that the LAST Apostle (St John) died in 95 A.D., around 60 - SIXTY YEARS - had elapsed since his time with Jesus during the Ministry of Jesus Christ on earth.
The Early Christians then were taken and helped and nurtured by the 12 Apostles and by the Disciples of Jesus, those who knew Jesus personally and who had personally sat under Jesus Christ during his time of ministry on Earth.
How much could you do with 12 friends, if for 60 years - you devoted yourself to one cause - and worked at it day and night - and if your efforts were watched and blessed and protected by God ???
So think of what the 12 Disciples actually accomplished.
Their Churches were not centralized. In Fact there was one thing that would make it impossible for the Original Early Churches to be centralized: The Persecutions of the Early Christians by the Roman Empire.
Not much is taught about those times, mainly because there is a lot of
historical censorship going on, even today.
But for the first 300 years of Christianity, The Early Christians and their Churches faced TEN SEPARATE PERSECUTIONS by HARSH, WICKED AND CRUEL EMPERORS of the Roman Empire. Those Emperors deeply resented any group that refused to recognize the emperors as being actually Gods themselves.
But Christians would not agree. So the Roman Empire tried to exterminate them. The Old History books cover these persecutions in great detail. The new and modern history books tell us almost nothing about those times of great difficulty.
So the Early Church was on the Run. It was illegal to be a Christian. To Be a Christian was an automatic death sentence because being a Christian was understood to be an act of rebellion against the Roman Empire. It was a Capital Crime. The "Cross" that everyone thinks is cute today was simply a sign of crucifixion to the Early Christians.
When Jesus told his disciples: Pick up your Cross and Follow me, they knew that he was essentially telling them they were going to die for Him. Jesus was saying:
Pick up your Electric Chair and follow me.
The implications of the persecutions for Early Christianity are significant: there was no one central authority to guide the Early Christians. There were the Disciples and Apostles of Jesus, but the last one (John) died in 95 A.D. After all, all those Christians had, was the letters that the Apostles and Disciples had written, and the local leaders. The Roman Empire began its persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Nero in the 60s, while the Disciples were still alive.
Yes, there was a kind of central meeting place in Jerusalem. But Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D., At that time, The Roman General Titus was sent to Israel to destroy the Second Temple in an effort to destroy the spirit of the Jews and their resistance to Roman Occupation. Jews were also forbidden from living in Jerusalem after that time, by the Roman Empire.
So the concept of "Jerusalem" as the central meeting place for the Early Church fades very quickly...after 70 A.D. since Jews (including the first Christians who were Hebrew) could NOT live in Jerusalem, much of Jerusalem had been destroyed, and being a Christian carried an automatic death penalty. The Early Christians split up and went underground.
These events only encourage the dispersion of the Early Christian leaders, and the further spreading of the Gospel and the New Testament to all parts of the Roman Empire and further.
The Christian Churches were simply self-governing, which is what most Protestant Churches are still today. They were small independent congregations who saw occasional guests. But most of them lived secretly in the cities and towns. Several underground cities of Christians existed from Rome to Turkey. Their Catacombs have been found today, and they are often extensive and could hold thousands of Christians.
So Christianity had Three Hundred years to survive and to survive Underground, even while being hunted and persecuted by the Roman Legions. The First Three Hundred Years of Christianity were WITHOUT any Central Authority, and WITHOUT A VATICAN. The VATICAN did not exist. The Land had not been given to any Church, and the Land itself was part of the Imperial Capital City of Rome.
Those who became Christians did so understanding that they were defying the government and risking great harm to themselves, in order to stay faithful to the message of Jesus Christ. The early Christians understood the sacrifice that they were making, and were very careful and faithful to preserve the books of the New Testament.
Those books were spread out all over the Roman Empire. They were also hand
copied over and over.
And thousands of these copies have been found. The Roman Catholic Church likes to say that they are the ones who preserved the Bible. That is not the case, and has nothing to do with reality. They did not even exist at the time, AND the Early Christians were fluent in Greek and Latin, which were the languages of the Roman Empire [Ancient Greek was the common language, and Latin was the Diplomatic language of the Roman Empire].
It was the Early Christians who themselves were copying and recopying the Bible in all major areas of the Roman Empire. And THEY - living underground - during severe persecution - are the ones who preserved the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament, that we tend to take for granted today.
The Roman Catholic Church
By the time that the Roman Empire had got around to deciding that maybe Christians were not so bad after all, around Three Hundred years had passed. The Christians had continued to be persecuted during that time. But the more persecuted they were, the more people wanted to know just WHY anyone would be willing to be persecuted for believing in God. Who was this God, who could give such strength and answers worth dying for ?
In 312, the Roman Emperor issued his edict of toleration. This edict allowed for people to have their own religious beliefs without fear of Imperial Persecution. The Christians were included in this Edict of Tolerance, and the Roman Empire recognized that Christianity was not a real threat to the Roman Empire.
In 325, the Roman Emperor Constantine decided to convene a council of Christians. The Roman Catholic church today gives the impression of a centralized Roman Catholic authority at the time of Constantine and his calling of a Council of Christians.
But the facts of history do not agree. Constantine called the Council together by the Force of the Roman Empire. It was an Imperial Roman Edict that convened the first Church Council, the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D.
That Church Council had NOT been called together by any central or centralized Church, because there WAS NO Central Church or organized Church Authority.
Constantine was a Pagan Emperor, who was a worshiper of Mithras, also known as Sol Invictus or Helios. Later on, even with his official Advisor, Constantine remained Spiritually confused all of his life, and issued Coins, one side with Jesus Christ, and the other side dedicated to Sol Invictus (the Sun).
The Roman Catholic Church claimed that Constantine was saved because of a vision of a Cross that he saw. Even if Constantine had a vision of a Cross, that would not be the basis for Constantine to receive Eternal Life.
Contrast the Vision of Saint Paul with the Vision of Constantine
Saint Paul had a vision where Jesus Christ appeared to him. It was not a cross, but the living Jesus Christ who spoke to Paul during the Vision. However, even after that vision, Jesus told Paul to go to the house of a Christian named Ananias, where Paul would be told more about Jesus Christ.
That is what Paul did, and THAT is how he became a Christian. It is not enough for someone to have a vision, if that vision does not communicate the doctrines of Jesus Christ.
The Cross that Constantine saw was not the standard Christian Cross. The words in the Greek are extremely specific. The Cross that Constantine saw in his vision was described in great detail by Eusebius. As opposed to what the Vatican teaches, the "Cross" that Constantine saw was not a cross at all, but was rather an Egyptian ANKH, better known as a symbol of occult fertility. That was not a sign that God would use to reveal himself to Constantine, but it was a sign whereby Constantine could be deceived.
Constantine never understood Christianity. And when this Roman Emperor went to speak to his Spiritual Advisor, THAT spiritual advisor told the Roman Emperor NOT to convert to Christianity.
Imagine being a spiritual advisor, claiming to know the way to God, and then instructing your King NOT to convert to Christianity and receive Eternal LIfe. The worst part was that Constantine listened to the advice, and did not become a Christian until he was dying. (And whether Constantine EVER became a true Christian is very debatable, though the Vatican keeps insisting that he did).
It was (in 325 AD) at the First Church Council that the old Christians who had been persecuted until the year 312, showed up to the city of Nicea (which is in Modern Turkey), to finally meet and discuss Christianity and the issues surrounding their own independent (and independently controlled) LOCAL Congregation.
You can see the evidence of this in their names and titles. They each identified
themselves by specific individual local region, and NOT by any title of any
official hierarchical Church. There was NO pope. Out of the 318 Pastors who
attended, only TWO were from the local Bishop of Rome.
And NONE of those Pastors either recognized Rome or a Central Church as having authority. And the Church Council at Nicea never gave Bishop of Rome any authority over themselves, or the Church that would come after.
But Eusebius decided to try to organize a New Church, WITHOUT the authority of those local Bishops or anyone else. He would rely on the power of the Roman Empire.
So it was AFTER the CONCLUSION of the Church Council at Nicea, that the Spiritual Advisor of Constantine realized that these Pastors would not cooperate with his plan for a central Church of the Roman Empire.
The cost to these individual Pastors had been too high, and they knew their doctrines and their New Testament very well.
The Spiritual Advisor came up with his own plan. This spiritual advisor was named Eusebius. He made contact with the Bishop of Rome. And it was through Constantine and Eusebius that the Bishop of Rome was given the Land which is now the 29 acres of the Vatican
(by the mid 1800s, the Lands of the Vatican in Italy had grown to thousands and thousands of acres - around 17,000 - and the poor people who lived there had to pay taxes to the Vatican, which also had physical troops under its own control. This did practice of the Pope as a TEMPORAL and POLITICAL RULER over Italy continued until the Revolutions in Italy of 1848, when the People of Italy were sick and tired of the corruption of the Vatican. The Vatican responded to the Italian Revolution with calling a Roman Catholic Council of Cardinals and Archbishops known as Vatican I, the Vatican Council of 1869-70 where the Pope says that he speaks for God directly and that he has the authority to become the POLITICAL LEADER over all the Nations of the Entire World. )
But Back to Eusebius. Eusebius became convinced of the need to use a centralized Church Organization as the means for Political Control over Christianity. In order to do this, the Bishop of Rome was subsidized and sponsored by the Roman Empire. It is important to note that CONTRARY to the idea that the Roman Catholic Church was established by Peter (which is entirely false) - The establishment of the Vatican was an action of the ROMAN EMPIRE:
THE Vatican was born as a Roman Imperial Corporation, and as one personally sponsored by the Family of the Roman Emperor. It was Funded by the Imperial Treasury of the Roman Empire.
And the Pope accepted the Transfer of Titles that came with his new job as the Spiritual Leader of the Roman Empire. As the Embodiment of the old Pagan Spiritual Leaders of Rome, Constantine gave the Pope the Title of PONTIFEX MAXIMUS.
THAT Was the Title that had formerly been reserved for the Occult Pagan Spiritual Leaders of Rome. It was the Title that Julius Caesar had, BEFORE he became Caesar.
When the Vatican tried to be accepted by the other Churches, it was ignored for a very long time. When its efforts were acknowledged by the other churches, it was in order to REBUKE the Vatican.
The Vatican had a very tough mission: In order to become the replacement of Christianity, it had to wage war against the beliefs and doctrines of the true Christians, those who were the followers of Jesus Christ, who simply read the New Testament, believed what it said and followed its advice to love people.
That same procedure takes place today - with the World Council of Churches. Most people do not even know that this group exists. But the World Council of Churches exists today. It has been around since the 1940s. It goes around pretending to be the "Official" representative of Christianity around the Globe. It has offices, it receives funding from most denominations today. And it has advisors that are accredited to the United Nations. And yet, for most of its existence, the doctrines followed by the World Council of Churches have nothing to do with either the New Testament or Christianity. In Fact, the leaders of the World Council of Churches make it very clear that they do not believe the Bible in any sense of the word. The beliefs of the World Council of Churches are better known under a different name: Marxism Leninism.
But they STILL exist, they STILL hold meetings, they STILL publish documents. They claim to speak in the name of God, but their documents during the old Cold War constantly favored the Repression of Christians around the world. When they were informed that they were working with Communist Intelligence agents pretending to be Christian in order to harm the Christians in the Soviet Union and China, this knowledge did not upset the World Council of Churches. They are occasionally upset by being called Communist, but their own conduct which funds the subversion of Christianity is their life mission. Several documents were presented over the Course of the Cold war that demonstrated their actions and their intentions. But they still continue - even today - to pursue their goal. Can't we all get along, under a church controlled by Marxists ? (The Soviet Union tried that, and it did not produce a good or a pure or a strong Church).
Just like the Vatican before, the World Council of Churches is largely ignored by the majority of the hundreds of thousands of Pastors and Churches around the World. The World Council of Churches represents true Followers of Jesus Christ about as much as the Vatican Bureaucrats do.
Eventually, the Vatican obtained enough Political Power through the Roman Empire that they began to persecute other churches, that would not agree to the Power of the Vatican. In this process, they also began to confiscate Bibles, and to kill those who were caught teaching anyone to read who was Not a Bishop of the Vatican Established Church. They did not preserve History. They tried to destroy it. And the reason was that the actual history...tells the story of the hundreds of ways that the Vatican betrayed the People that they claimed to serve.
The theology of the Vatican today is more corrupt than it originally was, but it is important to remember that the Vatican did not exist as an institution until AFTER it was founded by Constantine and Eusebius, after Eusebius came to realize that he could not manipulate local Pastors who had attended Nicea, into agreeing to give power to the Roman Emperor or to Eusebius.
Later on, The Roman Empire broke into two halves: The
Eastern Half and the Western Half.
The Eastern Roman Catholic Church: Minor External Differences, Same Core Vatican Influence
The Eastern Half of the Roman Empire was ruled by the Roman Empire of the East. That Roman Imperial Family began its own sponsorship of its own Official Church in the Eastern Half. This became known as the Roman Catholic Church of the East. ITs head was John Chrysostom. The problem with Chrysostom was that even though he headed up an official Imperial Roman Church, Chrysostom himself was a true Christian. He never prayed to Mary and he refused the false doctrine of Salvation by Works. For his reward, the Roman Imperial Family made sure that Chrysostom stayed in his post as leader for not more than Ten Years.
Chrysostom was exiled, and abandoned. He was also hunted by the military of the Roman Empire. He died alone and abandoned by the Roman Catholic Church of the East, today which today calls itself the Eastern Orthodox Church (Fake Church). His absence was not missed for long, as his competitors were installed in his place, and took to subverting the Eastern Orthodox Church even Faster without Chrysostom being there to stop them.
[The Eastern Orthodox Church of today is very LOUD in discussing Chrysostom and publishing liturgies that they claim were written by Chrysostom [many of which were not - as they know]. But what the Eastern Orthodox Church does NOT like to confess is that THEY are the ones who kicked their own Patriarch Chrysostom - out of his position around 400 A.D.
This means that the Eastern Orthodox Church that survived Chrysostom was rule by the ENEMIES of Chrysostom. They were not his friends before, and that same Church is NOT his friend today. But they always like to pretend that they are...because this gives people the Impression that they had a nice guy who ran the Eastern Orthodox Church way back. He was a nice guy...then they killed him off, literally, with the help of the Empress who ordered Chrysostom to be replaced with someone more politically correct for Empress worship]
in 1054, 600 years later, the Eastern Half of the Roman Catholic Church decided to accept fully the weight of its own doctrines, insisting now that it was legitimate while the Vatican Roman Catholic Church was not to be recognized as legitimate. All this step accomplished, was to call into question the reason WHY the Eastern Orthodox Church, for Hundreds of Years had accepted the Vatican Church as being Legitimate under ANY occasion, ANY pretense on ANY basis.
But for itself, the Eastern Orthodox Church remained Roman Catholic. It officially refused a pope, and instead of taking the commands of a Pope, simply called Eastern Orthodox leader a Patriarch, and accepted his "suggestions". But its core doctrines remained the same as those of Rome. It was salvation by works, and of course, the control of the People through the Mediation of Priests that claimed to have access to God while the People did not.
The Eastern Orthodox Church did not go to the trouble of outlawing the reading of the Bible. They had no need. Their own neglect of their congregations for so long had produced Eastern Orthodox Congregations that did not know how to read, much less read Ancient Greek. And those congregations were far more happy with processions, Icons and Incense that brought them comfort, far more than any serious study of the 27 letters (of the New Testament) written by the Apostles at the time of Jesus.
Meanwhile the Eastern Roman Empire had given way to the
Byzantine Empire, and the Byzantine empire though officially Christian, was busy
training the staff and administrator for the Islamic Empire that had
progressively conquered most of the byzantine sphere of influence, thanks to the
spiritual neglect of the people by those same Priests.
The Byzantine Bureaucrats were given good pay and good employment while working for the Islamic Empire. Only the issue of presenting the Gospel of Jesus to the Moslems presented a problem. But no price was too high. The Byzantines simply decided to Accomodate themselves to Islam. They would abandon the PREACHING of the Gospel, and speak out against those "toublemakers" who bothered to tell the spiritual slaves of Islam that they might find true Freedom through Christ.
The task was not so difficult. After all, most Byzantine Orthodox had no idea what the Contents of the New Testament any more was. But their Icons, those graven images are the ones they kept and adored, even while accepting their pay from Islamic masters.
Most of these practices have continued to today. And the Eastern Orthodox hides today under a cloak of "mystery" what it cannot defend or what it wishes NOT to explain. Its institutions operate under the guise of accepted emasculation within Islam, and its influence would largely wane, were it not for its influence in Jerusalem and the final adaptation of its theology to the Mystical orientations of Origen.
The God Haters of the Revolution
The Vatican teaches the Rational Path to Origen, The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches the Mystical Path to Origen, and the First Church Council of Nicea established very clear teachings Against the doctrines of Origen.
But those are contests for what kind of Christianity should be presented to the masses. Only Non-State individual local pastors today (Which Roman Catholic Europe knows nothing about) seem to retain the capacity for a Strong personal Christianity, undiminished and untarnished by an OFFICIAL STATE AFFILIATION.
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It was in 1793 that European Revolutionaries overthrew
their king and gained control of their government and of the Military. The
desire for each person to be able to democratically have representation was a
noble gesture. However, in the European Revolutions of the 1700s, this
degenerated into an attack not only on the Vatican leaders, but on all religious
people of any and all kinds.
These revolutionaries were supreme Rationalists. They worshiped the God of Reason. They claimed to have found the Goddess of the enlightenment. They built temples - physical temples to honor her.
And they began an attack on Religion. Their motive is not hard to understand. Most of the Protestants had already been murdered during the past two centuries before by the Roman Catholic Priests (Fransiscans, Dominicans and Jesuits) of the INQUISITION, so most of the Revolutionaries had very little understanding of Protestantism, the kind which is simple and honest and is the kind where they love their neighbor and try to help others. The only religion that these revolutionaries knew anything about, was the OFFICIAL ROMAN CATHOLIC VATICAN religion - sponsored by the Government.
Those Revolutionaries did not know about Private Religion, or a Personal Relationship with God. The Very idea would have shocked them, because they had not heard of a God where the Priests were NOT the Mediators between the People and God for the price of Money. And in Fact, the Revolutionaries made it a point - over and over - to state that they were waging NOT ONLY a war on the Vatican but a war on God. They were professional Atheists, angry to the core and willing to kill those that refuse to worship at the altar of State Secularism. They burned Churches, persecuted the religious, and went after those who believed in God to any extent. In other words, their religion was one of Enforced Atheism. Many of those did not simply vanish after these revolutions. They became Authors and Academics and decided that they would teach their religion of Enforced Atheism to the New Generations. Some vowed to complete this task even while working in religious institutions. They were mostly - Successful.
The Rise of the Secular Humanists
IT was in the 1930s that Religion was thought - rather mistakenly - to be dying out in the West.
(You will notice - about every 10 years, some "great" person [read: Media overhype] comes out and announces the "Death" of religion, the Death of Christianity. The media which often hates Christianity for giving people personal empowerment, runs with the story and tries to convince viewers that Christianity will "Die". Then they wait, hoping that people will believe them. That does not happen. Instead they just continue to loose more viewers)
Many leading academics had been convinced by the Fraud of Evolution. The Actual Science argued against Evolution, but evolution was the handmaid of Eugenics, and both were necessary to the funding of War. So the Rich Captains of Industry financially endowed the Scientific Chairs of the Science Departments of many universities, conditional upon the teaching of Evolution. The young students were eager to learn, knew nothing of the uses of the ideology that they would be seduced into accepting. By the time they realized that they had been deceived, most of them had achieved tenure, comfort, status, prestige and the aproval of men. The science of this was supposedly Evolution, but even Marx had understood that the importance of Evolution was not in Science but in PHILOSOPHY. Marx wanted to dedicate his own work to Darwin, but Darwin was mortified, understanding that this would make it more difficult for Evolution to gain social acceptance.
So both men agreed to pursue their agenda as if they were separate. The claims of Science could be bent to teach Evolution, but evolution itself was missing a Moral Component, the illusion of righteousness. But the time was finally right, and it was in the 1930s, that several different groups came together to create the Humanist Manifesto. The Humanist Manifesto is an actual document. It's own claims are to PRO-CLAIM that MAN - instead of God - is the Measure of All things. In other words, God is not GOD: Man is God !
(If only that were so...now go ahead ---> create a planet right now...out of thin air...so much for the "we are God theory")
This code of Conduct - Elevates Man to the Role of GOD. IT makes Man the decider of what is right and what is wrong. It tries to say that God is irrelevant.
(The Idea of pretending that if God does not exist, that this would make HIM stop existing, is like the child that covers his eyes with his hands, and then thinks that just because this is done, that You will no longer be there.)
Now if only the words of Men, had the same actual power as the words that emanate from God, when He spoke the World into existence.
But reality notwithstanding, the Humanists were leaders in many fields. Their goal was to attack those who believe that God BELONGS in society, and that GOD SHOULD be involved in the decisions of men, and consulted. They do not object to a theoretical concept of God, as much as to a CHRISTIAN concept of God.
The Good part about the Christian God is that He DOES forgive, all those who sincerely ask Him for the Forgiveness of Sins "in the name of Jesus Christ". The BAD part about the Christian God, is that He will not give his Forgiveness - UNTIL each person asks for it, on an individual basis ...to God.
And THAT IDEA - the IDEA that God should have the capacity to set the rules of the World, has always been something that struck a Rebellious Chord within the Secular Humanists. But life is Short, and then you die !
So people can either disagree with God and be angry that they themselves are Not God, or they can decide to find Peace and Harmony with their Creator, and live the REST of their life at least in strong Harmony with HIM.
The Only Risk for being a Humanist, is dying...and then Being wrong. Because whatever a person is and believes at the time of their Death, THAT is what they stay for the Rest of Eternity, as the Christian New Testament affirms it.
The First problem of the Humanists was that THEY did not want to believe in God.
But the Second Problem was they...did not want YOU to believe in God.
So their Bargain was simple: Wherever possible, in whatever capacity possible, Humanists agree to use their leverage and influence to prevent anyone who believes in God, from participating in any of the decision-making processes, in Society.
So where Humanists can control access, they simply try to find out who is religious, and especially in the case of Christians, to discriminate against them at all levels, at all times, in all ways. They are open about this, and disdainful of those who refuse to believe in their religion of "no-religion". The Supreme Court has ruled - on several occasion - that Secular Humanism is a Religion.
The Secular Humanists are often found in Philosophy classes as the Professor. Usually, they have achieved this by demonstrating their thoroughly SECULAR views to the rest of the establishment at that school. And they have been accepted into employment as professors, on the Implicit condition that they will try to Convert as many students as possible to also fighting AGAINST Christianity.
In order to accomplish this, they invest great amounts of time in slandering Christianity and presenting False information about it. Most of their attacks come under the disguise of getting their students to believe that "Christianity" is Equal to the Roman Catholic Church, and the Roman Catholic Church is the same thing as Christianity.
Those who do not know anything ABOUT Christianity often believe them. Those students... do not understand that they are being lied to. For example, there are today more than Five Hundred MILLION Christians who are Pentecostals. Those Pentecostals have Nothing to do with Roman Catholicism.
That is ONE example, of Five Hundred Million people who are Christian, but do
not Come from Roman Catholicism, are not related to Roman Catholicism,
could never be called Roman Catholics. But the Secular Humanists do not want you
to know this.
There are Hundreds of Millions of Other Christians ALSO NOT related to the Roman Catholic Church. In Fact, millions of them died being put to death by the Roman Catholic Church in the Global Vatican Inquisition of 1200 to 1868. But to bring that point up would expose college students to the Contrast between Centralized Christianity that depends on Control and Hierarchy by Priests, and Independent Christianity which has existed since the time of Christ. AND To present THAT to the students, would give them too much hope, to much Potential Freedom.
Remember, College Professors often understand that they are prisoners of the system (even if they volunteered for this). The Last thing they are about to do is to give their students freedom and real information. Most of College is about the piece of Paper, and not about honest intellectual inquiry. Students are very familiar with the example of the student who asks too many questions or questions the information of the professor, only to find themselves failing the course. THAT - is what censorship is all about.
The Education Establishment and its Hidden Agenda
The Education Establishment is often the meeting of several different Groups. What most of them share in common, is an allegiance to their own paychecks, and a hatred of Christianity and Civil rights.
They SAY
that they favor Choice, but they are Against
Vouchers (which would give student Choices).
They SAY that they want to help minorities, but invest millions of dollars in education programs that are PROVEN to NOT teach people how to read.
Its pretty easy to offer divestment from Israel. But when did they ever actually offer to divest themselves from Companies doing business in China ? When have College professors sponsored meetings and protests to help the ACTIVE SLAVE TRADE that is happening right now in the SUDAN against Blacks by their Islamic Masters ? Where is the Exposure of the violations of Human Rights by Ethiopia and Nigeria against anyone not Islamic ? Why is there No discussion about ISLAM and how MOST of the leaders in the ISLAMIC world are personal descendants of the Prophet Mohammed, and those families are the ones that harshly Oppress their own Arab Populations ? Why is there no discussion about How Islam is supposedly good even though they can cut off your hands and refuse to teach women to read and write, but Christianity is bad even though it teaches Forgiveness for offenses, and Proclaims that women have EQUAL WORTH in the eyes of the Christian God ?
But those are topics that get in the way of the Education Establishment and their Agenda to saturate your mind with false information (their major premise being that they are seriously trying to teach History at most colleges).
They SAY that they care about Children, but instead attempt to either Drug children, or stigmatize them with psychological labels during their time in Junior High and High School.
They SAY that the problem in Public Schools is a lack of funding, but they have more funds in this generation, than any other generation of educators have had - at any point in time - in the history of mankind.
They SAY that they are For Parents, but spend their time working AGAINST Parents in the State Legislatures, trying to deny parents as many rights as they are able to deny them.
This education establishment works both at the High School Level, AND at the College Level. The Goal of these organizations is to ensure that:
1. Competition for Wealth / Financial Capital in Western Civilization stays very Minimal through the Dumbing of the Students, and
2. That Christianity is blamed for all of the mistakes and deliberate harm that Amorality is responsible for.
Now it will almost never be explained this way. But whenever students are in regular University Classrooms, the job of most of the professors - as they understand their own job - is:
A. to make students understand that Christianity (and Christians) are always Bad, and
B. to prepare students to give up their own rights, their own American Constitution and Bill of Rights, their own right to create Wealth, and to Trade in the American Way of Life, for a De-Industrialized America administered by Regional Governments under the Control of the United Nations. (and they will keep Programing you, they will keep Programming your mind....telling you over and over and over...that "it's Innevitable"). Nothing is Inevitable, but they want you to believe it is.
What does this have to do with Christianity ?
Here is the Answer: Christianity is the source that allows men to Free
themselves from the Oppression of OTHER men.
Christianity is the method that is responsible for Teaching that ALL men ( & Women) have EQUAL worth in the Eyes of God, and that Respect for each other should be given to everyone, because Everyone is made in the Image of God.
Christianity is the Method that gives people Strength to find Courage and to withstand Tyranny and the Rule of those who seek to do Harm to the average person.
Christianity is the Means by which each person comes to
understand their True Worth, Find the Genuine Love from God, and find out that
each of us does NOT need the Monopoly of Priests in order for us to find God or
Personal Peace.
True Christianity is Free. True Christianity can be found in the New Testament. And the Old Versions are much better than the new ones, though the New versions of the Bible are Easier to Read.
(Here is a Link for a Good Modern Version of the Bible [Jay Green, Ed.] for those who cannot Read the Old King James).
The Point about Christianity and why these Groups oppose Christian Teachings.
To put it bluntly, and though it will be denied, These groups Oppose Christianity because it is a threat to their Monopoly of Personal Power that they use to enslave others to themselves.
THAT - is why these Groups attack Christianity each chance they get. The first side of the coin is YOUR future. Most of these people are Afraid of their Fellow man. They are Afraid of competition, they are Afraid of the Free Marketplace of Ideas.
So in Order to make sure that you do not Find Strength, in Order to make sure that you do not find Courage, that you do not Find Peace and that you do not Find God, they try to make Christianity appear as Un-Appealing as Possible.
The Second Side of the Coin is that these people have studied History. Most people today have forgotten about History. But these Secularists have studied history, and they know, how time after time, they ALMOST win, they ALMOST enslave millions and millions of people, but Christians come along and prevent them from Victory.
The Only Solution to their monopoly is Your Decision to learn about History and Your Decision to learn about Christianity. Only it is important to learn it from Accurate Books and not from the Propaganda of lies that these Secularists are hoping you can be deceived by.
The Christians of Today - Who are they ?
It would be nice if everyone knew - automatically - what the term "Christians of today" meant, but there are Many definitions of Christians around. We try to make a difference between those who simply CALL themselves Christians and those who actually are. We try to make a difference between those who SAY that they like Jesus, and those who are able to actually know and explain what Jesus meant in the New Testament.
A true Christian is not someone who is "born" a Christian. A person cannot be "Born" a Christian, because being physically born is NOT what makes someone a Christian. Baptism does NOT make a person a Christian either, and joining a Church, or doing "good things" does not make anyone a Christian either. A Christian is a Christ- Follower. That means that they follow the actual words of Christ. The words of Christ are nor hard - Jesus says to believe in Him and in Him ONLY.
THOSE are the words of Jesus Christ: that HE ONLY is the way to God and to Eternal Life.
That is why you have probably heard of that Verse in the New Testament:
"I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life. No Man comes to [God the] Father but through me."
In that one verse (and many others), Jesus claims that His claims are EXCLUSIVE. To follow Jesus Christ is to follow Him and believe in Him, in the exclusive sense that Jesus taught. Let's Face it, if what Jesus Christ is saying is false, then Jesus ...would simply be a Liar.
But if what He says is True (that asking God to forgive us of our sins "in the name of Jesus Christ"), then we Should pay attention to it, we should believe it, and we Should accept it. And if we do that - then we should ACT on it also, and Ask God to help us find Him and believe in Jesus Christ.
Now Imagine Two Scenarios:
1. The Scenario of the Christian, and
2. The Scenario of the Academic who wants good Job security.
The Christian - who is sincere - for better or worse, actually places their FAITH and Their ETERNAL destiny in what they believe. They may be wrong, but they are willing to Risk Everything because they Believe that what they know and experience with God is True, Genuine, and Authentic.
But let's not kid ourselves: If they are right, then good for them. But if they are wrong, they will really could pay a serious price in Eternity, in the Afterlife.
In fact, for anyone who is wrong (no matter what you believe), to believe WRONGLY will carry many consequences right after we die.
So we have the example of a Christian who commits themselves to their own Eternal Destiny (Heaven ?) by trusting God and His Unique and Only Son, Jesus Christ.
On the Other hand, we have MANY Academics, Many Professors, Many Television Consultants, many Historians, who are willing to attack the Traditional Christian History that is in the New Testament.
SO the question is: WHAT are THOSE people personally risking ? What are THEY putting on the line ? What do THEY stand a chance of loosing, as a result of the ADVICE that THEY are giving you ?
The Point is that many of these so-called experts are part of the Education Establishment. IF they ever DARED to disagree with their College Department, they would be fired, and lose Tenure. Their Careers would be OVER. On the other hand, if they tell you that Christianity is FAKE, and if they Attack Christianity, they will continue to have Job Tenure, Job Promotion, Job Security and Increased Social Status.
SO whatever you decide to believe, it is important to realize that even though You may decide to believe what these Academics want to teach that is Anti-Christian, it is NOT THEY who will live with the ETERNAL consequences for Accepting to believe what they Teach: IT is YOU.
YOU will STILL be responsible for what you believe. And whatever you decide...for yourself, and about Your Eternal Destiny, will rest only on YOUR shoulders. God takes what you believe Seriously. God takes what you believe - ABOUT HIM - Very Seriously. In Fact, It is SO Serious that making the wrong decision carries many consequences.
Some people hope that God will simply convince them, AGAINST their own Free Will, because this would Free individual people up - from the Responsibility of Choosing whether to believe What Jesus taught About God and Himself in the New Testament. But God has refused to give mankind any "Easy Way Out" on these issues. After all, man keeps telling God that they can do things on their own, so God gives them a spiritual dilema for them to try to work out. And no Decision...on the issue...counts as a decision.
And what can you do ? The moment you have been exposed to this information, the moment you have had these thoughts occur across your mind...How can you undo that ??
The Hope is not to forget them, but rather to investigate the matter seriously. And God says that He HELPS every single person who calls out to Him or prays to Find Him.
God is interested in your choice, but NOT in misleading you. If you seek God with all your heart and pray to find Him, and pray to understand what He wants to show you, then you will Find God.
The Nag Hamadi library is about those who did not Take God Seriously. They took Christianity seriously, but only because they thought that they could use portions of it for their own ends, to subvert Christianity. They were written by Occultists, those who had already decided (whether they realized it or not) that the Christian God did not matter and that they could be their own God. [It's not too late for them to change their mind, unless they die before they have that chance]
In the early era of Christianity, many
cults flourished. As people began to see the growing influence of Christianity,
some of them tried to cut themselves in, for a piece of the action.
The result was the apocryphal books. There are many books that are considered
apocryphal. Many of them are of a "pietist" nature, with much
religiosity thrown in. But God is not impressed with books just because they
SOUND religious. You want people who SAY they are interested in you,
to actually try to get to know the real you. God is the Same Way. God
wants people who SAY that they are interested in Christianity to read what He
has written (through Human authors) about Himself, in the New Testament. God
hopes you will be Interested In Him.
Most of the Apocryphal books have not only mistakes but glaring mistakes in them. They say they are written by God, but they have basic Geographic errors in them. Would God really be THAT stupid ? Those books then claim to be written by Disciples, but then they contradict the 27 Letters that are ALREADY in the New Testament. So would God produce different sets of books that Contradict each other ?
One can speculate endlessly about the material. (and many Academics WANT you to speculate, but never to actually come to conclusions)...But when you look at the DETAILS of what the New Testament letters teach, and when you compare that with what most Apocryphal books teach, it becomes obvious that the Apocryphal books are teaching Doctrines that are CONTRARY to what was already known and accepted by the Early Christians About Christianity, Christ and the Apostles who came before the writing of those Apocryphal books. The Book of John has been dated to 60 AD. Other books of the New Testament have been found in fragments that have been dated to almost that time also. These books of the New Testament are the same ones that the Apostles had 2000 years ago (If the Translation you are reading from is Accurate).
Most of the Apocryphal books try to
capitalize in some way - on an attack on the
central
message of the books in the Bible, which is Salvation by faith alone in
Jesus Christ, accepting to believe in his death and resurrection as payment for our
sins, a sacrifice that accomplish our entire and total redemption, once and for
all. Most of the Apocryphal books also claim some kind of system of salvation by
faith, or to be recognized by God as special, on the basis of Good Works,
instead of the meritorious work of Jesus Christ.
Some of the apocryphal books were attacked - in great detail - by some of the Church Fathers, such
as Tertullian in his long book in Ancient Greek called "Tertullian against Marcion".
In the 19th century, many scholars
attacked the Bible for its supposed lack of archeological and historical basis
(as we previously discussed).
The 20th century was much less kind to the attackers, who spent most of their
time conceding that the Bible was right archeologically speaking, after all.
The response by Bible Attackers has been to attack the Canon,
- those 66 books of the Bible which have been Canonized and are authentic - and press for
a change in
the content of the Bible, with such books as The Lost Books of the Bible, and
the fake Gospel of Thomas.
Elaine Pagels as a
Self-Promoting, Christianity-attacking artist
of Confusion
Elaine Pagels, a well known Gnostic advocate has argued (wrongly) that the
Gospel of Thomas is genuine and should be accepted as the "true"
Gospel of Jesus. Mainly what the Gospel of Thomas says is that you can save
yourself, if you recognize that
you are inherently divine.
Again here is the Obvious Question: Are you willing to bet your Eternal Life on it ? Will Elaine Pagels take personal responsibility for the Risk that She may be asking you to life with, for placing your faith in what She says ???
What would Elaine Pagels do personally for her faith ? Jesus went to the point of dying. He put His life on the line. And Thousands of Christians have testified...with their Lives...and still do today...for daring to believe in the God of the New Testament and in Jesus Christ.
The SAD fact is that when Most of these academics are pressed for answers or to make a commitment, most of them will say that they have No Idea...No idea what truth is, no idea how to find Truth, no idea how to establish which books are real or which ones are not, no personal experience in dealing with the God of the New Testament. In Other Words, they have No clue, No Idea about what they are talking about.
Both Elaine Pagels and Bishop Spong...are a bit different...because both of them had personal tragedy in their lives. When they did, they had a choice in how to react to this: they could either decide to put their faith in God, or they could decide to fight AGAINST God and be Angry at Him, rather than trust God to know best.
Thinking themselves to be the measure of all things, both Spong and Elaine Pagels have decided that they know best, and they have carried this philosophy to deciding for themselves what they think Christianity AUGHT to say. It is simply their own Anger at not being God themselves. But being angry does not help them to resolve the dilema of how to deal with the REAL God who DOES exist, and who they will have to deal with, after they die.
Elaine Pagels also worked on the editing of the Nag Hammadi library. Her career
has been built on the promotion of the Nag Hammadi books and on undermining
traditional historic Christianity. The Nag
Hamadi library (essentially a compilation of gnostic and occult texts) is
interesting, but it should be kept in mind that many of its
"scholarly" advocates are on the same page as those from the
"Jesus Seminar" who are committed to undermining Christianity and the
specific message of Jesus Christ, in all ways possible.
Now of course, if the academics were going to undermine Historic Christianity, they would not always announce this, when the public at large would reject this. So they choose names for their groups - like the name "Jesus Seminar". The "Jesus Seminar" is really Christian-attackers who have decided that the Bible Should not be true, and their goal is to take as many people to their own eternal destination. (It probably would not be the destination of being with the Christian God, whom they have decided to fight against). Many of them are also Freemasons, a point they often Omit because it makes them appear very un-academic and anti-historical, the fictions of Freemasonry being too great to point out here.
It is more difficult to defend traditional christianity these days, as
detractors attempt to use tools of literary deconstruction to suggest that the
"true" Gospel of Jesus Christ, could be about anything, except what He
himself said it was...in the New Testament.
The Deuterocanonical Books in the Douay version were formally incorporated into
the Roman Catholic Bible, but
were not formally elevated to the level of
scripture and scriptural authority until the Council of Trent in the 1500s, when
the Catholic Church leaders decided finally to "anoint" the additional
books with the sanction of its church leaders - as being scripture itself -, as
an additional means of argumentation against the writings of Luther and Calvin,
which were specifically condemned in the 27 anathemas of the Council of Trent.
Of course to condemn those works was the easy part. To actually refute them would be quite another.
While some apocryphal books were read in some of the early Christian churches,
most were not. IF a specific bishop happened to endorse a particular apocryphal
book, that is a far cry from the book being endorsed by the true Christian Churches
as a whole.
What is consistently found within almost all of the lists of authentic books
that the early church advocated - are the 27 books of the New Testament.
Though it is not the Nag Hamadi library, the book "The Dead Sea
Scrolls" by Randall Price does explain some of the historical context for
old texts in circulation at the time of the Early Church.
Septuagint, the Canon of the Bible and Tough Questions
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"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."
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Don't Let anyone tell you that Christians support Forced Conversions.
That is False. True Christianity is NEVER forced.
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