Posted by Introspective Continued....... Historians have also discovered that there have been changes made to the New Testaments biblical text under the holy Roman Emperor Constantine around 325ad at the council of Nicea. Constantine called the council among the religious leaders to solidify his political power and he placed himself above the Church. The early Christians believed in Reincarnation and Karma but Constantine believed that Karma placed too much responsibility on the individual and he wanted the Church to have the ultimate authority over ones fait here on earth and in the afterlife. He declared Karma and Reincarnation heretical and all the Gnostic texts that referred to those spiritual concepts were ordered destroyed. Just about all the Gnostic texts were destroyed but a few survived in Egypt and were discovered by the Muslims around 900ad and were preserved. At the council of Nicea there was a dispute among the Arian Bishops and the Gnostic Bishops. The Arian Bishops insisted that Jesus is God and the Gnostic Bishops insisted that he was a mere man. They had to compromise under the orders of Constantine and they came up with the god man theology that was passed down to modern Christianity. The emperor Constantine had the four synoptic gospels which are in the bible slightly changed to reflect the New Theology. He ordered all the other Gnostic Gospels destroyed a few of them survived in Egypt but most of the other gospels were lost forever. Constantine told the council that he wanted four gospels to evangelize the four corners of the world under his empire. If it wasnt for the Muslims most of this history would have been lost forever along with the few surviving Gnostic texts that were hidden in Egypt in the fourth century. Some of the Gnostics fled the Holy Roman Empire after being declared Heretics for not believing in the new Christian theology. Religious theologians do not know which Gnostic group or society buried the Gnostic scrolls in Egypt in the fourth century but it is believed by most religious scholars that there were 13 gospels written by various Gnostic groups in the early church only a few of the Gnostic texts have survived. It is also believed that Constantine viewed the Gnostic teachings as a threat because it places responsibility on the individual for spiritual growth and Constantine wanted the church to have full authority on the persons outcome on earth and in the afterlife. The term Gnosticism means Knowledge and the Gnostics believe that knowledge is implicit within all of us and that it is assessable through spiritual discipline and spiritual exercises such as meditation. The emperor Constantine by placing himself above the Church gave the Church and himself the ultimate authority of knowledge within the Holy Roman Empire. This later became a problem for Christians as knowledge began to develop secularly and a power struggle ensued between secular rationalism and religious faith. There are numerous examples of this power struggle throughout history were the traditional church took a stand against advancements in scientific knowledge and in developing that knowledge further to enhance humanity. The traditional church viewed itself as sole heir to all of humanities knowledge and understanding in our relationship to god and the surrounding Universe. An example of this is that the Catholic Church in the middle ages held that the world was the center of the Universe and that the Sun revolved around the world. Scientist that discovered that the world and the other planets in our solar system revolve around the Sun were declared heretics because they contradicted the bible. The Catholic Church declared Newtonian Physics as heretical as well because of its views on gravity. The Pope at that time declared that any Catholic teaching it would be excommunicated. The Pope made the statement that god holds men in existence in the world not gravity. The Church refused to acknowledge that the world was round because it contradicted the bible which holds the world has four corners. In the middle ages when it was becoming common knowledge that the world was round the church continued to declare it heretical teachings and if you were a Catholic teaching it at that time you would have been excommunicated. The Catholic Church in the late 1700s during the forming of the new American government declared that democracy is an immoral form of government. They viewed Democracy and the separation of Church and State as being morally evil. The Church also declared evolution to be heretical and they still hold the view that man was created fully man and the belief in human evolution is a fallacy. The current Pope declared Embryonic Stem Cell research as a moral evil it is the same historical pattern within the Church. The Churches view on embryonic stem cell research is just another example of their irrational stance against the advancements in science, technology, and human knowledge in general for the betterment of humankind. Throughout history the churches views have been proven to be erroneous because the scriptures must not be viewed as a science book, historical documentation or a literal moral guide; the scriptures are simply theological literature which I personally enjoy reading. We must also take into account the cultural and historical influences surrounding the writing of the scriptures such as when the scriptures were written. The scriptures for me are masterpieces of great literature and they had a profound influence throughout history due to the religious significance humanity has placed on them and its religious institutions. It is only now that we are gaining a much more holistic understanding of the biblical text and its profound impact on humankind due to our deeper understanding of the power mythologies have on human cultures and on the human psyche in general. Our growing understanding of the scriptures has given us a much greater appreciation of the power we as human beings have given the scriptures throughout history. Our understanding of the significant impact the bible has had on world history both positively and negatively is also continuing to evolve and mature with each passing day. I have also come to understand intuitively that we cannot and must not limit our understanding of god to a single book because we are maturing and evolving revelations of gods love. When we reveal the love that is within us we become the living and breathing presence of gods love for others to embrace and emulate. What we give to humanity we give to ourselves and what we change in ourselves we change in humanity if we want to witness more loving people in the world and directly in our lives we must change for the better by loving others more fully this is the essence of gods revelation. Written by, Thomas F. O'Neill E-mail: introspective7@hotmail.com
on 10/23/2004, 9:28 pm, in reply to "My understanding of the Biblical Scriptures....... Part 1"
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