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Do Not Add to His Words Thoughts on the New Testament Canon by Joel Kalvesmaki Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. (Thomas 5) There are people today who would claim this to be an authentic saying of Jesus Christ and that the book it comes from, the Gospel of Thomas, should be included in the Bible. As Christians, how do we know that Thomas and other gospels are not proper parts of the canon? How do we know that the 27 books we read are genuine, reliable, and...

It's still a jolt for some people to realize this, but the Bible did not fall down out of the sky, leather-bound and gold-monogrammed with the words of Christ in red, in 95 AD.  Rather the canon of Christian Scripture slowly developed over a period of about 1500 years.  That does not mean, of course, that Scripture was being written for 1500 years after the life of Christ.  Rather, it means that it took the Church some fifteen centuries to formally and definitively state which books out of the great mass of early Christian and pseudo-Christian books constituted the Bible....

ROME, JAN. 19, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Prominent figures from the city's Catholic and Jewish community met Tuesday at the Lateran University to mark Italy's 17th annual Day of Study and Dialogue between the two faiths. The conference has been organized since 1990 by the Vicariate of Rome and its Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue. One of the commission members is Sister Lucy Thorson of the order of Our Lady of Sion. She gave me a list of initiatives linked to Tuesday's observance. The activities comprise 10 days of study and celebrations including parish and school visits to Rome's synagogue. Sister Thorson,...

...Fest said he has talked to critics, heard their concerns and has the authority he has been given. He suspended 17 people, including Alston, from usher and church duties -- they can now attend only services -- saying they didn't follow orders or the chain of command. He rejects the contention that he runs the church like a plantation. As a member of an order of priests devoted to black Catholics, Fest has been assigned to black parishes in Baltimore and New Orleans. "This is not a plantation," Fest said in an interview. "If I'm a racist, I have picked...

Deuteronomy 21:1 1 He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord. 2 A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord.

......If anyone is qualified to answer that question it is surely Jesus Christ, the Living Word himself. And, in fact, he does. To the religious leaders who highly revered but failed to truly understand this book, Jesus declared, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:40). I am reminded of the type of preaching I often heard growing up in which the answer for nearly everything was: read the Bible more....

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe...

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 23, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the Advent sermon delivered today by Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher to the Pontifical Household, in the presence of Benedict XVI and members of the Roman Curia. The sermon was the fourth and last in a series. Father Cantalamessa offered a series of reflections on the theme "'For What We Preach Is Not Ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord' (2 Corinthians 4:5): Faith in Christ Today." * * * "To You Is Born This Day a Savior" The Experience of the Salvation of Christ Today 1. What Savior for...

Why is Jesus the “reason for the season"? Celebrating the birth of Jesus makes eminent sense when we contemplate His unique person and situation in history.His Arrival 1. Because Jesus was the only person with a pre-announced arrival. When a head of state visits a foreign country, he announces his arrival weeks ahead of time. Otherwise, he would linger at the airport without any official welcome or anybody to receive him. It is therefore logical that if God sent to the earth His own Son with the mission of saving humanity, He would “pre-announce” His arrival and His message!...

Flip to the back of any of the fancy, leather-bound Bibles that are so common in evangelical churches these days, and chances are there is an index. Called a concordance, it offers a list of specific words mentioned in the Bible and where they are referenced in the text. Those who turn to their concordance for guidance about abortion will not find the word at all. "I can't take you to text that says, 'Don't commit abortion,"' said Michael Gorman, a professor of New Testament and early church history and dean of the Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary's...

“Have you been born again?” the Fundamentalist at the door asks the unsuspecting Catholic. The question is usually a segue into a vast doctrinal campaign that leads many ill-instructed Catholics out of the Catholic Church. How? By making them think there is a conflict between the Bible and the Catholic Church over being “born again.” To be honest, most Catholics probably do not understand the expression “born again.” Yes, they believe in Jesus. And yes, they try to live Christian lives. They probably have some vague awareness that Fundamentalists think being “born again” involves a religious experience or “accepting Jesus...

"What is Truth?" Pontius Pilate asked the basic question for all humanity when he asked Jesus, "What is Truth?" The irony of the scene is powerful and poignant because the Eternal Truth stood before him incarnate as a human person. In John 14 Jesus proclaimed, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." Later in the gospel Peter said, "Where else shall we go Lord, but to you? You alone have the words of eternal life." So the Christian answer to this profound question is that Jesus himself is the Truth. If you want the Truth, come to him.This...

Cuban police recently raided a home in the Cuban city of Colon and confiscated what officials later called "subversive and dangerous." But the contraband wasn't drugs, or pornography, or bomb-making instructions. What police confiscated were printed Gospels of John and a small printing press. It was Sunday morning, Oct. 9, and five plainclothes secret police entered the house. After calling for reinforcements, a truck arrived with 12 armed, uniformed police who seized the gospels and the printing press. Cuban officials called the materials "subversive and dangerous." Police then took Pastor Eliseo Rodriguez Matos, head of an Assembly of God church...

Pat Robertson, a former GOP presidential candidate and host of the "700 Club" daily Christian TV show, noted, "If you read back in the Bible, the letter of the apostle Paul to the church of Thessalonia, he said that in the latter days before the end of the age that the Earth would be caught up in what he called the birth pangs of a new order. And for anybody who knows what it's like to have a wife going into labor, you know how these labor pains begin to hit. I don't have any special word that says this...

THE hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church has published a teaching document instructing the faithful that some parts of the Bible are not actually true. The Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland are warning their five million worshippers, as well as any others drawn to the study of scripture, that they should not expect “total accuracy” from the Bible.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- On The Way To Jesus Christ, the newest book by Pope Benedict XVI, which is released exclusively by Ignatius Press this month, is about the true Jesus, the Jesus of the Gospels, who is "quite different, demanding and bold." This Jesus is controversial, inconvenient, and brings an often- unpopular message. Ignatius Press is releasing a total of four new books by Pope Benedict XVI this year.Jesus remains as popular as ever -- as the recent books, films and news articles prove. Yet is this "popular" Jesus an accurate rendering of the true Jesus...

Denver, Sep. 16, 2005 (CNA) - A unique program in the Archdiocese of Denver commenced a new year of classes this week in an effort to lead Catholic lay people into a deeper understanding and appreciation for sacred scripture. The Denver Biblical School, now in its 24th year of existence, hit record enrollment this year with 648 students enrolled in the 4-year program--311 of whom are starting their first year. Tim Gray, the program’s director told the Denver Catholic Register that “We have a high-quality program…The teachers are dynamic and unique…The program”, he said, “not only makes the Bible come...

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 16, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI believes that the recovery of the practice of "lectio divina," prayerful meditation of Scripture, will bring a "new spiritual springtime" for the Church. When meeting today with more than 400 experts attending a congress in Rome on "Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church," the Holy Father recommended this ancient practice which literally means "divine reading." "Assiduous reading of sacred Scripture accompanied by prayer makes that intimate dialogue possible in which, through reading, one hears God speaking, and through prayer, one responds with a confident opening of the heart," the...

Tapestry with Bible passage hung in county courthouse Fearing an expensive legal challenge from the ACLU, a county commissioner begrudgingly ordered removal of a display of the 23rd Psalm from a courthouse. Lawyers with the Georgia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union charged that displaying the tapestry at the Oglethorpe County Courthouse in Lexington, Ga., essentially is the same as displaying the Ten Commandments, the Athens, Ga., Banner-Herald reported. As WorldNetDaily reported, the U.S. Supreme Court this summer ruled against the Decalogue's display in a Kentucky courthouse. County Commission Chairman Robert Johnson directed an employee Monday to remove the...

1 Corinthians 14 (New American Standard Bible) 34The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. 35If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.