Biblical Canon

[calamity]

lol...

my sentiments exactly

the world is evil, except for the few who can see the light. amirite?

 

[Exquisitor]

Methinks you have read too much in that Book of Revelation, which I find totally disgusting.

By too much, do you mean any?

Try Isaiah 41-43, it's much cheerier and specific to the present day beginning with the first Teacher, his students and the False Prophet and then the Prophet and first Avatar in 42. That covers the next 2,000 years.

Revelation is indicative of the world we're in, look at the Romans, the vain Egyptians, human sacrifice around the globe. Was something other than Christianity going to take up the torch?

Revelation is written to apply to many spheres, planets and times. Christ may not return until the end (such a long time). If he comes on this planet, the time is in five-million years according to Daniel 12:7 and 9:27.

Tribulation Theory

Tribulation Theory: At the White Horse Tribulation 2020-2026, 2030.5, the first Seal is prominent in the coronavirus. Five Convergences occur in the ten-thousand year Golden Age...

www.azapizzazz.com

 

[Exquisitor]

Native American tribes had democracy. The Greeks weren’t exactly slouches in the math and sciences. And, long before Christians discovered quaint concepts like freedom of religion, they burned people at the stake.

Diverse peoples made their contributions.

If a few people are burned at the stake, so what, you have to accept the good with the bad.

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin was burned at the stake in his previous birth?

I bet you can't guess who that was.

 

[calamity]

Diverse peoples made their contributions.

If a few people are burned at the stake, so what, you have to accept the good with the bad.

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin was burned at the stake in his previous birth?

I bet you can't guess who that was.

Joan of Arc...or was that the one swallowed by the whale?

 

[Exquisitor]

Joan of Arc...or was that the one swallowed by the whale?

Jonah wasn't burned at the stake, or was it Pinocchio?

Ya, Godfre read the book and thought he was Pinocchio.

I didn't know they burned Pinocchio.

No, what's interesting is where she went next.

She and her husband, who you can't guess, started a popular religious cult back in the 1930's that saved us from WWII, that no-one knows about, until, Zappo! You're ready to see the light.

 

[calamity]

Jonah wasn't burned at the stake, or was it Pinocchio?

Ya, Godfre read the book and thought he was Pinocchio.

I didn't know they burned Pinocchio.

No, what's interesting is where she went next.

She and her husband, who you can't guess, started a popular religious cult back in the 1930's that saved us from WWII, that no-one knows about, until, Zappo! You're ready to see the light.

I remember when that Nostradamus crap was on the tele every couple of weeks or so. Nothing ever came of that...at least not in this dimension.

 

[Exquisitor]

I remember when that Nostradamus crap was on the tele every couple of weeks or so. Nothing ever came of that...at least not in this dimension.

Godfre was not Nostradamus, we can be pretty sure of that.

 

[bongsaway]

If you have faith, you don't need proof. If you have proof, you don't need faith.

I've always been impressed that religion exists in all societies. You may comfort yourself by having faith or rejecting faith. It's really your choice. Until something changes the conditions of the consideration for you.

If that happens, then you may try to describe that change that you can feel to another. If you do, you will use descriptions familiar to yourself.

What is familiar to any individual will change based on the level of technology in his society, his language, his social customs, literary traditions and previous religious training and on and on.

The Washington Times indicates that 84% of the people in the world hold religious beliefs.

I'm amused that people seem committed to the idea that EVERYONE must share the beliefs they hold. Even those who hold the belief that no beliefs should be be held.

Along with liking religion, people seem to like being a part of the herd. I suppose religion is one of the herds of which people like to be a part.

My opinion religion exists in all societies is because man when under extreme pressure usually calls out to some omnipotent entity to get us out of it. An inability to deal in a given situation so we place it in the hands of the invisible entity in the sky. There are no atheists when the bombs and mortars are falling.

 

[devildavid]

My opinion religion exists in all societies is because man when under extreme pressure usually calls out to some omnipotent entity to get us out of it. An inability to deal in a given situation so we place it in the hands of the invisible entity in the sky. There are no atheists when the bombs and mortars are falling.

Actually, there are. Not everyone turns to gods in tough times, even soldiers. It is a cliche with no basis in fact.

 

[calamity]

Actually, there are. Not everyone turns to gods in tough times, even soldiers. It is a cliche with no basis in fact.

I usually reserve my loudest cries to god for when I receive the best orgasms.

 

[Daisy]

I usually reserve my loudest cries to god for when I receive the best orgasms.

And when they are no more?

 

[calamity]

And when they are no more?

I look forward to orgasmic sandwiches. Pastrami on rye, with some pepperjack.

 

[code1211]

I've had several experiences that made me think about changing my mind...and, I am sure some of it has changed as a result.

Me, too.

I was not always a committed believer. I am now.

If this is a good thing for you at the time you find it to be so, then that will be the right thing and time.

I hate to sound like a teacher from the old Kung Fu Show, but that's pretty much the way I found it to be.

Nobody you see can SHOW you a thing you can't see. When you find it though, you'll know.

 

[devildavid]

Me, too.

I was not always a committed believer. I am now.

If this is a good thing for you at the time you find it to be so, then that will be the right thing and time.

I hate to sound like a teacher from the old Kung Fu Show, but that's pretty much the way I found it to be.

Nobody you see can SHOW you a thing you can't see. When you find it though, you'll know.

That assumes that there are things really there to see. But it is possible that the thing you can't see is Zoroastrianism, or Buddhism, or Atheism. It could be any number of things. So no matter what you see, you will know it, only because it works for you personally, not because it carries any inherent quality that makes you see it.

 

[code1211]

My opinion religion exists in all societies is because man when under extreme pressure usually calls out to some omnipotent entity to get us out of it. An inability to deal in a given situation so we place it in the hands of the invisible entity in the sky. There are no atheists when the bombs and mortars are falling.

Probably very true as far as it goes.

 

[code1211]

That assumes that there are things really there to see. But it is possible that the thing you can't see is Zoroastrianism, or Buddhism, or Atheism. It could be any number of things. So no matter what you see, you will know it, only because it works for you personally, not because it carries any inherent quality that makes you see it.

That is very true the way I see it.

I have posted here before that it seems that God communicates in ways that are pretty consistent, but it's likely that we hear it in ways that are inconsistent.

So a pacific islander might understand the same thought based on warmth and fruit an inuit might understand the same thought based on show and seal skin.

Not much different than anything else I suppose.

God is probably wondering why and how we confound the message and blame each other so violently.

 

[devildavid]

That is very true the way I see it.

I have posted here before that it seems that God communicates in ways that are pretty consistent, but it's likely that we hear it in ways that are inconsistent.

So a pacific islander might understand the same thought based on warmth and fruit an inuit might understand the same thought based on show and seal skin.

Not much different than anything else I suppose.

God is probably wondering why and how we confound the message and blame each other so violently.

I would question your assumption that it is an actual god communicating at all, let alone consistently. More likely is that different cultures create gods that fit their cultures.

If there were such a thing as god it would be no problem for it to deliver the same message to all and cut across cultural barriers.

 

[Somerville]

The ancient Sumerians were great people!
They invented beer!

Who invented wine, btw?

Off topic, but I must answer such questions: The oldest finds by archaeologists appear to say somebody in China developed wine about 7000 BCE. Other finds seem to indicate the beverage was developed independently in several other locations. Georgia - the nation, not the state - a thousand years after the Chinese, is the next oldest known place for booze.

Becoming intoxicated - drunk we call it - was seen as a way to communicate with your favoured deity; for the Greeks, that would have been Dionysus.

 

[Somerville]

As with many aspects of religious faith, the canon of accepted texts varies greatly. Most American Christians have next to zero concept of the variety of texts deemed canonical by Christians of churches not commonly found in the Western world or just how the canonical books came to be accepted.

The first synod ever held to decide the official contents of the Bible was the Synod of Laodicea in 363 CE. The bishops who were at that synod voted for the texts that we know today with the exception that they rejected Revelation.

In 367 CE, Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, wrote in a letter to his congregations that the bishops' vote in Laodicea was correct except for their rejection of Revelation, which he said was canonical. During the next few centuries, debate continued with Gregory of Nazianzus stating that Revelation was not canonical though the Wisdom of Solomon and Ecclesiasticus were to be accepted as part of the Old Testament. It looks like there were enough bishops and church leaders during those days with different thoughts on canonicity that the Epistles of Jude, 2 Peter and 2&3 John were often rejected.

Then we can read – in some truly boring texts – about a mystery that is still unsolved.
The Trullan Synod was called by Emperor Justinian in 692 CE, in order to determine just which books were to be accepted in the Church. The gathered bishops decided that the statements from the Synod of Laodicea and the 39th Festal Letter of Athanasius were to be accepted, despite the fact the two had opposing words about Revelation.

Now – the “mystery”. The Synod of Trullan decided that the "Eighty-Fifth Apostolic Canon" attributed to Clement of Rome, but more likely to have been written by written by Clement of Alexandria, was also to be seen as providing support for the canonicity of the Bible we are familiar with but with some odd additions – two letters of Clement were to be accepted as "sacred books", part of the "venerable and holy" Bible, along with eight other books "which it is not appropriate to make public before all, because of the mysteries contained in them." This one statement seems to indicate that the early Church had secret doctrines and sayings that were to be known only by the 'initiates'. Today, we don't know what these “mysteries' had to say as they have been lost – probably because they were destroyed by the order of later Church leaders, as were many other early 'Christian' texts that provided contradictory beliefs to the orthodox.

The Syrian Bible, called the Peshitta, was accepted in eastern churches by the 5th century: Philemon was included, along with James, 1 Peter and 1 John, but the remaining books were dropped, 2 and 3 John, 2 Peter, Revelation, and Jude). It is still used today.

The Armenian Bible is essentially the same as the Western version, with one addition: a third letter to the Corinthians, taken from the non-canonical Acts of Paul.

The Coptic Bible adds the two Epistles of Clement.

The Ethiopic Bible has some truly interesting additions: the Sinodos, the Octateuch, the Book of the Covenant and the Didascalia

The Deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Assyrian Church of the East to be canonical books of the Old Testament but which are considered non-canonical by Protestants.

 

[code1211]

I would question your assumption that it is an actual god communicating at all, let alone consistently. More likely is that different cultures create gods that fit their cultures.

If there were such a thing as god it would be no problem for it to deliver the same message to all and cut across cultural barriers.

If there were actual Dark Matter and Dark Energy it seems that it would be very easy for our scientists to clearly define what it is.

The truth of the matter is that our scientists can show that Dark Matter and Dark Energy affects the stuff we CAN see and understand, but cannot show us the Dark Matter or Energy.

The inability of men to do anything does not prove anything outside of that inability.

I feel that a person is entitled to believe as they will in regard to the existence of God. If it feels good, do it!

 

[bomberfox]

Israel is the navel of the planet. India contains the pituitary and pineal glands and the lobes of the brain are Russia and China the heart extends through America and the Alps, the anus is Mecca.

The raising up of Israel from Jericho as a people for Christ is totally logical.

No other people came up with churches, hospitals, science and Democracy like the Christians.

They got mathmatics from others as well as the number 0. Christians had help from other peoples and no peoples have ever created everything all by themselves.

 

[bomberfox]

Diverse peoples made their contributions.

If a few people are burned at the stake, so what, you have to accept the good with the bad.

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin was burned at the stake in his previous birth?

I bet you can't guess who that was.

What previous birth?

 

[Exquisitor]

What previous birth?

Read the thread.

 

[bomberfox]

Read the thread.

I wasnt aware Benjamin Franklin had a previous birth before the day he was born.

 

[Exquisitor]

I wasnt aware Benjamin Franklin had a previous birth.

Human birth is rare.

He had a following birth too, He and Washington started the I am movement in the 1930s to save us from WWII.

They're Ascended now.

Lots of people have multiple famous births. Ike was Napoleon, The Beast was Cornwalis and Atilla, the False Prophet was Loui and Jefferson.