Posted on 12/01/2017 6:05:11 PM PST by sparklite2
“The Lord said, ‘James, after these things I shall reveal to you everything, not for your sake alone but for the sake of the unbelief of men, so that faith may exist in them’,” a Coptic fragment reads.
He seeks to reassure his brother everything is as it should be. He describes heaven. He gives James the passwords necessary to guarantee his entry. He gives advice on fighting supernatural challenges. He foretells future events. He warns James of the circumstances surrounding his own martyrdom.
Many other Early Christian texts, some of them immensely popular, were among those banned. Names include the Epistle of Barnabas, The Shepherd of Hermas, The Magdalene Gospel and The Gospel of Judas. Yet others were attributed to more familiar authors — including Matthew, Mark, John and Peter.
But chief among them was likely to be one key concern: Was it the real deal? Three hundred and thirty years is a lot of time for fan fiction to rise and circulate, after all.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
ping
Did they find where Jesus tell James not to talk to the Russians..
Heh, fan fiction. Indeed, that’s what these are and why they were not included in the final canon.
Some are and some are actual history. They are not in the cannon because they were not inspired and never pretended to be.
It is said that in A.D. 325 the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, along with his mother, Helena, edited out sections of the Biblical texts, including the New Testament.
And James was stuck with having to remember a password.
He has my sympathies.
We’re making the same point.
He has my sympathies.
St. Isidore of Seville, pray for us.
FTA
Any relation to this?
Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, presented the approved books of the New Testament to the world amid much fanfare — and controversy — in 367AD.
Swordfish. Marx Brothers fans will understand.
Was it ‘password’?
This sounds like something from the History Channel. These books weren’t “banned”, they were simply rejected for the canon. Books and Epistles were selected first by the criteria that they were written in times contemporary with Christ and the Apostles, not hundreds of years later. Ever so often someone comes up with the notion of banned books of the Bible. A lot of time and argument went into what was and what was not accepted into the canon of the New Testament.
People keep wanting to have secret knowledge. The root of fortunetelling and gossip. And Gnosticism.
I could tell you, but then I’d have to ascend you.
Wait a minute.
I thought the epistles were the wives of the Apostles....
;)
I don’t know, I’m no Biblical scholar.
I just remember hearing of the Constantine stuff.
Whatever it may be, it’s not a Bible book.
The Early Church Fathers knew what they were doing. To second guess them now is foolish.
No. “0000”
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