He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic [universal] and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. It happens, through the favoring providence of God our Saviour, that great numbers have united themselves to the most holy church in the city which is called by my name. It seems, therefore, highly requisite, since that city is rapidly advancing in prosperity in all other respects, that the number of churches should also be increased.
Do you, therefore, receive with all readiness my determination on this behalf. I have thought it expedient to instruct your Prudence to order fifty copies of the sacred Scriptures, the provision and use of which you know to be most needful for the instruction of the Church, to be written on prepared parchment in a legible manner, and in a convenient, portable form, by professional transcribers thoroughly practiced in their art.
The catholicus of the diocese has also received instructions by letter from our Clemency to be careful to furnish all things necessary for the preparation of such copies; and it will be for you to take special care that they be completed with as little delay as possible. You have authority also, in virtue of this letter, to use two of the public carriages for their conveyance, by which arrangement the copies when fairly written will most easily be forwarded for my personal inspection; and one of the deacons of your church may be intrusted with this service, who, on his arrival here, shall experience my liberality.
God preserve you, beloved brother! This fact is attested by another letter, which the emperor wrote in acknowledgment, in which, having heard that the city Constantia in our country, the inhabitants of which had been more than commonly devoted to superstition, had been impelled by a sense of religion to abandon their past idolatry, he testified his joy, and approval of their conduct.
There are two ancient Bibles including the Old Testament, New Testaments and Apocrypha 6 which some scholars believe might have been part of the 50 Bibles Emperor Constantine asked be made. Codex Vaticanus has been dated to A.
Codex Sinaiticus has been dated about A. The Codex was discovered in several parts between and , and is currently displayed in four locations 8 , with the largest part at the British Library. Except that's not how it really went. Voltaire , writing in the 18th century, repeated a centuries-old myth that the Bible was canonized in Nicea by placing all of the known books on a table, saying a prayer and seeing which illegitimate texts fell to the floor.
In truth, there was no single church authority or council that convened to rubber stamp the biblical canon official list of books in the Bible , not at Nicea or anywhere else in antiquity, explains Jason Combs , an assistant professor at Brigham Young University specializing in ancient Christianity. What evidence scholars do have — in the form of theological treatises, letters and church histories that have survived for millennia — points to a much longer process of canonization.
From the first through the fourth centuries and beyond, different church leaders and theologians made arguments about which books belonged in the canon, often casting their opponents as heretics. The books that make up the Bible were written by various people over a period of more than 1, years, between B. The Bible contains a variety of literary genres, including poetry, history, songs, stories, letters and prophetic writings.
These were originally written on scrolls of parchment, as opposed to being encapsulated in "books" as we think of them today. Remember, the printing press wasn't invented until Over time, the books that were deemed authentic and authoritative by the communities who used them were included in the canon and the rest were discarded.
Although the bulk of that editing work ended in the late s, the debate over which books were theologically legit continued until at least the 16th century when church reformer Martin Luther published his German translation of the Bible.
Luther had issues with the book of James, which emphasized the role of "works" alongside faith, so he stuck James and Hebrews in the back of the Bible alongside Jude and Revelation, which he also thought were questionable.
Combs says that in Luther's original Bible, those four books don't even appear in the table of contents. Eusebius was a Christian historian writing in the early s who provided one of the early lists of which books were considered legit and which were borderline bogus. Eusebius broke his list down into different categories: recognized, disputed, spurious and heretical.
Under "disputed," Eusebius included James and Jude — the same books Luther didn't like — plus a few others that are now considered canon, like 2 Peter, 2 John and 3 John. When Eusebius turns to the "spurious" and "heretical" categories, we get a glimpse into just how many other texts were in circulation in the second and third century C. Combs says that there were hundreds of texts similar to those found in the New Testament and Old Testament that didn't make it into the canon.
Why did some books make the cut and not others? Combs cites three criteria used by early church leaders. This proves to me that religion is an easy way to rule people… Constantine changed it to be more powerful. Hi Tylor Thanks for your comment. I would extend your argument to say that there are many ways, including using religion, to rule people. The communists are a case in point. And I am not advocating any religious rule.
But there is an urban myth out there that Constantine tampered with the Gospel. He used religion, set up religious holidays like Christmas but did not change the Gospel. I agree with Tylor that religion is often a means to rule people. When one can be the head of both religion and state, they tend to maximize their control, as in the case of Constantine.
Of course prior to Constantine, the Roman ruler was also a god. The Egyptian pharaoh was considered a god. In communism, eliminating religion is a strategy to leave all the power with the state.
Plus, both church and government demand payments tithes, offerings, taxes. So follow the money and look at who has power. Power can beget money, and money can beget power. In my view of what true Christianity should be, the people should choose their bishop or deacon from among their elders who in turn should serve, not command ; and Christians should most often use their resources to directly help those in physical or spiritual need, not simply send it off for some authoritarian structure to determine its use.
Some bits of truth as well. Including in the original article. Brian, longest sentences ever. One must pause to make the point clear. I ran out of breath just reading them. I believe that Constantine did changed the bible. Maybe by selecting certain verses or deleting them. Powerful people like to flex their muscles. We see this in the United States. The bible was compiled hundred years after Jesus death. The bible do favors certain races over other races.
Hi Maximus. We all can have opinions about what happened years ago, but it is best to base it on what we know, not what we guess. Your analogy to powerful people in United States fits the point I am making. There are powerful people in the US and elsewhere and some of them use religion to justify their agenda.
But none of these people in the US are changing the Bible. What they do is invoke certain passages, or ignore others, or take things out of context. And one can argue whether Constantine did the same years ago but a corrupt application or interpretation of the Bible is totally different than corrupting the text itself. The translators and the mindless zombies that follow the inane adjusted scripture are the problem.
History stands for itself. Interesting point-of-view. But the issue is that it is the English language that changes over time so that different words are in translations as words take on different meanings through time.
The concept of homosexuality is there in the Bible regardless of whether the word is there or not in the older translations. The issue is not the specific word used, but the meaning that is being conveyed. All we have is all we have. I believe in what I have and it is very real and alive to me. God will honor us for that. The truth is never modified, it remains pure and always prevails.
I thank that we give man to much credit and God not enough. We need to relize that the bible has a plot and a story. And that the knowledge that is gained by reading it, is to help us. If the bible was rewritin or writin in a way that would distroy the plot then whats the point.
No bible is better then the other. They are the same. Its the people and the supposed teachers that distort the plot and the story. You should research the bible and the information, question everything you are told..
You should question the origans of mans information and traditions. And realize that most preachers, reverends and the like are tought not bible knowledge but the traditions and theological implications of man…. At best, if any accounts are true, they are accounts of things that were witnessed that our ancient ancestors had no words to describe.
Hence, we have accounts of angels and demons among us. I lean toward the Ancient Astronaut Theory. The bible is simply a coded book for events that are completely miss-interpreted about information and events that rulers at the time did not want to be known. So, they wrote a bull-shit story that changed certain aspects of accounts so that actual events and explanations could never be nailed down by ignorant, uneducated humans with no vocabulary to speak with. The Bible is merely a cover story for the actual history of our world.
Nothing more, nothing less. Even if the Bible was an an entirely true accounting of events, there are still two glaring problems no one seems to acknowledge. What if there was one of the parts that was destroyed was an explanation of how the whole thing was written metaphorically? Who knows what was destroyed. For every part we know of today there may have been another part that was completely contradictory.
Second, whenever the final canon was finished, there was still many centuries of copies being made one by one, and translations from language to language. Now throw into the mix that not only was the Bible not written in English but it went through a great number of translations, all by hand, and in a time where education was extremely rare. Further, these works had to survive hundreds of years before any canonization. Much of it was likely passed down over so many generations, by the time it was officially written down it would be surprising if they got the names right!
And of course as Anthony already pointed out, at the time all this was happening, no one knew anything about the world. Events that have now been explained by science and are accepted by even the most evangelical, used to be acts of god. So with all the advancements that have taken place, why does most of the population of the planet still take it all word for word? The answer is both obvious and simple.
No one wants to believe that for themselves, or the people they care about. Even an atheist may speak to a loved one that has died because it makes us feel better.
One ofthe major consensus reached by all these brilliant minds has been that unpleasant as it may be, there is no god. They came to these conclusions even when sometimes it meant risking death from the opposition of the church.
And why would the church have a problem with someone showing disagreement with them? For the age old reason that is still around in contemporary society: the acquisition of power. Hi Jeff. Thanks for your comment. You put some time into it! You cover many points but your one on many translations seems misinformed. In fact the New Testament was written in Greek and all translations today come from this base Greek Text. The same is true for the Old Testament but the original language is Hebrew.
So in all cases the Bible we read today, regardless of what language we read it in, is the product of a one translation step, not a series of translations. The message of Jesus was the message of the Kingdom of God in heaven reconciling itself back to mankind on Earth. Once Adam partakes in rebellion against God and defiantly eats of the knowledge of good and evil, apart from God, there is no life,and he chooses death, God has pity on us and reconcilies back to him with a plan he designed before the world was created The Scripture reads, the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world.
He instituted a system of redemption with Blood and the Hebrews. He took the penalty for our sin, and offers himself up as the penalty. We now have eternal life through faith in Jesus the King, and his sacrifice. God counts faith as righteousness, as, the just shall live by faith. He redeems us by sending a unique creation, His Logos, or Idea or Word. Once we submit to him as Lord, he is a benevolent king, and takes care of his citizens.
The Gospel is the message of the Good news of the Kingdom of Heaven returning to earth. The message of a Kingdom, from Heaven, returning to Earth, in the hearts of men.
All those who wish to enter,by faith, in God, and his righteousness, are welcome. Please I want to know was there any book made for all Christians of different beliefs to use during Constantine era. The short answer is the Bible. Getting to the things in the Bible that Constantine took out——Anything that was removed from the Bible by Constantine was planned by God himself, not Constantine. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
Notify me of new posts by email. The Council of Nicaea In AD Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea , the first empire-wide meeting of church leaders to discuss various controversies. Corruption or Conspiracy? Constantine vs. Constantine, in his Easter Letter, makes it quite clear that his intention was to completely eradicate the Jewish influence in the Passover, and make it something completely different, We ought not, therefore, to have anything in common with the Jews, for the Saviour has shown us another way; our worship follows a more legitimate and more convenient course [the order of the days of the week]; and consequently, in unanimously adopting this mode, we desire, dearest brethren, to separate ourselves from the detestable company of the Jews.
Do more research about Constantine. Any deviation from the word of God is not of him. Hi Ann Thanks for you comprehensive thoughts on the Bible. Thank you. The word for sphere or ball is DUR. Earth is flat and round with a dome above. Not a sphere. That is a satanic lie. Research Flat Earth. Thanks for the post and platform Peace. We have no evidence that we have the FULL version or even a non disfigured version anymore.
Constantine Pinckney sr. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Loading Comments Email Required Name Required Website.
0コメント