Christianity: The Bible

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Gospels, epistles, etc. that became
 part of the Christian Scriptures, and
some books that were rejected

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Overview:

During the early Christian movement, there were about 40 Gospels and hundreds of Epistles circulating among the various faith groups. Centuries later, four Gospels, 13 Pauline Epistles, 8 Epistles written by others, and Revelation were selected to form the Christian Scriptures (a.k.a. New Testament).

It is composed of 27 books, containing a total of 260 chapters. However, not everyone has agreed with the official canon:

	There was considerable controversy over the Gospel of John in the early church councils. Many bishops felt that it should be rejected from the canon
	In his translation of the Bible into German, Martin Luther downgraded the book of James because it stressed good works, and the book of Revelation because he felt that its portrayal of a hate-filled, revenge-seeking God is incompatible with the Gospel message. He relegated both books to an appendix.

The final 27 books which form the official canon was written by an unknown number of authors; most estimates run from 9 to 15. They describe events, beliefs, activities etc. during the interval circa 7 BCE to perhaps the mid 2^nd century CE.

Comment:

Christians have many conflicting beliefs about the Bible. The table below contrasts the beliefs of the most conservative and progressive wings of Christianity. Roman Catholics and mainline Christians often hold intermediate beliefs:

These two widely divergent views make it impossible to make definitive statements about the Bible that are acceptable to everyone. Conservative and liberal Christianity are in effect two separate religions. We will describe the beliefs of both wings in this section.

Topics covered in this section:

	Description, author(s), and date of each book in the Christian Scriptures (and some that never made it into the official canon): The Gospels: the story of Jesus' life, ministry, execution & resurrection.   Overview of the Gospels in (and excluded from) the official canon   Differences between the Gospel of John and the Synoptic Gospels   Parallels between the Gospels and Pagan mythology   The Gospel of Q: A main source of Matthew and Luke?   The Gospel of Judas: An alternate description of Judas' role   The Gospel of Barnabas: Apparently a medieval forgery   A comparison of the Book of Job with the Luke's parable of the Good Samaritan   The Gospel of Matthew -- the Gospel for the Jews   Acts: a description of two of the three main groups within the early Christian movement: the Jewish Christians and the Pauline Christians.   "Pauline" Epistles: The early letters, major letters, prison letters and pastoral letters, most of which state that they were written by St. Paul. Theologians differ on their actual author.   General Epistles: Books by a variety of authors from the early Christian movement.   Revelation: A book about an anticipated time of great turbulence, pain and death. It has been interpreted by different theologians and faith groups as describing: Persecution of the early Christian church by the Romans, or A series of visions or hallucinations by its author, or Events that will happen some time in our future when the end of civilization as we know it is predicted.
	Deletions, additions etc. in the Christian Scriptures Translation errors and forgeries in the Bible Verses missing from the Gospel of Mark The last verses of Mark
	Interpreting the Christian Scriptures: Comparing Gospel interpretation by conservative and progressive Christians: Overview Additional material Bible Inerrancy (freedom from error) "Biblical Criticism"  - Analyzing the Bible as a historical document The Jesus Seminar (very progressive theologians, studying early Christian writings)

References:

1. P.N. Benware, "Survey of the New Testament", Moody Press, Chicago IL (1990) (conservative Christian beliefs) You can read reviews and/or order this book from Amazon.com bookstore
2. C.M. Laymon, Editor, The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible, Abingdon Press, Nashville TN (1971), P. 122 (liberal Christian beliefs) Read reviews and/or order this book
3. Bible Notes at http://www.aitcom.net/ (conservative Christian beliefs)
4. R.M. Helms, "Who Wrote the Gospels," Millennium Press, Altadena, CA, (1996) (very liberal beliefs) Read reviews and/or order this book
5. B.L.Mack, "Who Wrote the New Testament: The Making of the Christian Myth," HarperCollins, San Francisco, (1996) Read reviews and/or order this book

Copyright © 2001 to 2009 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance.
Most recent update: 2009-AUG-05
Author: B.A. Robinson

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