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The Cannonization of the Bible

Riders

Well-Known Member
So why were the books that were Cannonized Cannonized? Why not the Gnostic gospels instead? How did it happen, whats the history?
 

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
So why were the books that were Cannonized Cannonized? Why not the Gnostic gospels instead? How did it happen, whats the history?

In terms of which particular religion (or denomination, assuming a form of Christianity is what you mean)? Without specifying that, the information sought can't be provided.

My best guess is you're talking about the Catholic religion, but I thought I should clarify.
 

Riders

Well-Known Member
In terms of which particular religion (or denomination, assuming a form of Christianity is what you mean)? Without specifying that, the information sought can't be provided.

My best guess is you're talking about the Catholic religion, but I thought I should clarify.


Christian
 

Reggie Miller

Well-Known Member
So why were the books that were Cannonized Cannonized? Why not the Gnostic gospels instead? How did it happen, whats the history?

Men filled with the Holy Spirit decided the issue long ago. The Spirit is truth. The gnostic "gospels" are lies. End of story.
 

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
In terms of which particular religion (or denomination, assuming a form of Christianity is what you mean)? Without specifying that, the information sought can't be provided.
All Christian groups use the same Bible, but some include the Apocrypha and some don't. The selection process was made by the Catholic Church in the latter 4th and early 5th centuries, and that selection process was hardly simple or even agreed upon at the end.
 

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
Men filled with the Holy Spirit decided the issue long ago. The Spirit is truth. The gnostic "gospels" are lies. End of story.
Hardly. It was a difficult and time consuming process with plenty of disagreements, whereas they couldn't even resolve the Apocrypha debate.

BTW, what evidence can you supply for the HS supposedly deciding the canon? You present it as if it is a fact, so you must have something beyond sheer belief in order to state it as such.
 

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
All Christian groups use the same Bible, but some include the Apocrypha and some don't. The selection process was made by the Catholic Church in the latter 4th and early 5th centuries, and that selection process was hardly simple or even agreed upon at the end.

Yeah...I have a thing for Byzantine history. Strange but true.
 

Reggie Miller

Well-Known Member
Hardly. It was a difficult and time consuming process with plenty of disagreements, whereas they couldn't even resolve the Apocrypha debate.

BTW, what evidence can you supply for the HS supposedly deciding the canon? You present it as if it is a fact, so you must have something beyond sheer belief in order to state it as such.

The Holy Spirit reveals truth to the believer. I don't need a council.
 

JakofHearts

2 Tim 1.7
So why were the books that were Cannonized Cannonized? Why not the Gnostic gospels instead? How did it happen, whats the history?
The books that are in the Bible were long accepted by the early church Christians centuries before they were compiled together to form the Bible.

The gnostic gospels came about relatively later after the four gospels in the bible, so they were not considered canonical for the reason that they were not well accepted by the early Christian church, the substance they hold is radically different and contradictory from the four gospels, and the fact that when you just look at them you'll quickly discover that these books themselves exclude themselves from the Bible.

The history of the early Christians is rich and for an age of antiquity it is well documented.
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
Hardly. It was a difficult and time consuming process with plenty of disagreements, whereas they couldn't even resolve the Apocrypha debate.

BTW, what evidence can you supply for the HS supposedly deciding the canon? You present it as if it is a fact, so you must have something beyond sheer belief in order to state it as such.
I guess the differences in canon between denominations was just the Holy Spirit messing with people. :D
 

Mister Emu

Emu Extraordinaire
Staff member
Premium Member
So why were the books that were Cannonized Cannonized?
They were inspired by the spirit to do so. Also, those were the books considered most authoritative and authentic since the earliest days of Christendom.

Why not the Gnostic gospels instead?
Because no one in the Church considered them in any way authoritative or authentic. The earliest, Thomas, was 30-50 years after the latest gospel of the Canon.
 

Reggie Miller

Well-Known Member
How would you describe the experience of the Holy Spirit revealing the truth? How do we recognize the action of the Holy Spirit?

You just know. He communicates without words to most people. He communicates in many ways. If you aren't listening for Him you'll miss His teaching.
 

Neophyte365

New Member
You just know. He communicates without words to most people. He communicates in many ways. If you aren't listening for Him you'll miss His teaching.

But how do you listen? Is it a process we initiate somehow? What is actually involved from our end? Please trust that I'm not just being obtuse. I'm thinking that if being led by, or communicating with, the Holy Spirit is so crucial for making the right decisions about what to believe and do in this life, then we need some way to verify that we are in contact with the Holy Spirit.
 

buddhist

Well-Known Member
So why were the books that were Cannonized Cannonized? Why not the Gnostic gospels instead? How did it happen, whats the history?
The simple, yet complex truth is that any one particular bible is a collection of books chosen as authoritative by one faction of the christian church for themselves. Other christian factions have their own, differently chosen books.
 

Reggie Miller

Well-Known Member
But how do you listen? Is it a process we initiate somehow? What is actually involved from our end? Please trust that I'm not just being obtuse. I'm thinking that if being led by, or communicating with, the Holy Spirit is so crucial for making the right decisions about what to believe and do in this life, then we need some way to verify that we are in contact with the Holy Spirit.

First, you must become a Christian, i.e., confess your sins, declare your belief that Jesus is the Son of God and be baptized. After that every Christian who has sincere faith receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. As you grow in faith the Holy Spirit reveals more and more truth to you.
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
First, you must become a Christian, i.e., confess your sins, declare your belief that Jesus is the Son of God and be baptized. After that every Christian who has sincere faith receives the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Including the ones who disagree about what the Holy Spirit says?
 
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