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To: Cvengr

Thank you, but I don't consider the Book of Judas, for example, to be insignifigant. You have to remember that the first centuries of Christianity very often were consumed in, and shaped by, such philosophical differences and debates.

It may be insignigant because, in the end, the Gnostics lost the argument with in the Church, but from an historical viewpoint it is huge. How many people actually ever heard of Gnosticism, what it was, it's biggest defenders, it's greatest foes, prior to the Da Vinci Code (pure crap) or the more recent news reports vis-a-vis the Book of Judas. It is a very important period and philosopohy in the early development of the Christian faith.

Now, it's one thing to strictly adhere to all aspects of Scripture as an act of faith, it's an altogether different animal to trace the path that faith and Scripture took to it's modern form, warts and all. You can't know where you're going until you know where you've been. I think that the biggest concern to organized Christianity in regards to the Book of Judas, etc, is not that these writings exist or but that the insights or ideas they might provide might cause some to "leave the reservation".


189 posted on 05/06/2006 8:25:03 PM PDT by Wombat101 (Islam: Turning everything it touches to Shi'ite since 632 AD...)
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To: Wombat101

You still don't get it.

It isn't up to man to decide what is God's revelation.

God Himself will use what He has provided in the fulfillment of His plan. That which was made by man, independent of Him, is good for nothingness and He will not use it in the further sanctification of our soul (our thinking) or our spirit as we are now also living spiritual beings.

Likewise, that which He has revealed to man, He is free to use to further His plan in righteousness.

Those who have been advocating the Gospel of Judas and many who have been criticizing the canon of Scripture, miss the point that manmade groupings of literature are NOT what composes Scripture.

On the contrary, when a man submits to faith in Christ, his new spirit and heart will yearn to continue his fellowship with God, and his further sanctification is only possible through the work of the Holy Spirit. That further work is entirely the work of God, not the legalism or rationalism of the believer. Nevertheless, the regenerate man still has an old sin nature, a scarred soul, a faulty thinking process that is likely to sin again out of habit. Accordingly, if one has developed a habit of comparing literature to choose what he likes, rather than first coming to God through faith in Christ, turning away from even sins of doing what is right in own eyes rather than submission to God, then that same thinking is scarred and good for nothingness.


214 posted on 05/07/2006 6:31:22 AM PDT by Cvengr
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