Dear Shari and Toby,
2nd Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. ---Paul writing to Timothy
Who
wrote the Bible?
Most people
take what they have been told all their life that the Bible is the spiritually
inspired word of God. However, it is obvious that some of the inspiration has
been modified to suit the purposes of man. A comparison of several versions of
the Bible reveals differences in theology and basic concepts of man’s purpose
and interactions with God.
A quick look at the origins of the Bible from 4000BC through approximately
350AD provides information about who actually wrote down what was finally
translated in 1611AD as the King James version. The Creation story, the Flood
and the story of Abraham are all contained in the Sumerian tablets dating from
4,000 to 2,000BC and found in Nineveh, Iraq in 1948. Moses lived around 1450BC.
The actual Hebrew inscription of the Pentateuch did not start until around
500BC. The Septuagint (Torah) was formed by 72 rabbis around 200BC. Most of the
New Testament was written between 30 and 100AD and circulated as letters among
the different congregations for over 200 years. The emperor Constantine created
"The Church" in 325AD by the First Council of Nicaea. Within 25
years, a list of these letters and books, the Septuagint and letters, were beginning
to be recognized as the Bible. ( Personal opinion - I don't think we can trust
any congress of politicians and bishops approved by the emperor Constantine to
help control the people that would leave the Book of Enoch out of the Bible.
Jesus and the apostles studied and quoted it many times.) The Bible, written in
Sanskrit, Hebrew, Greek and Coptic was translated into English by a group of 31
picked by King James in 1611. The rest of the Bible was discovered in 1948
after most of their copies had been destroyed during the middle ages by the
Church. (See description and lists below.)
If you have ever played the "Telephone" party game, (whisper a message into the next person's ear until it has gone around the loop and compare the starting and ending messages) you can only imagine what happened to the scriptures when written from oral tradition 100's of years old, assembled and translated by politicians. Yes, the Scriptures' message IS the inspired word of God but, The Bible is the work of man with some convenient changes.
The New Testament Bible as we know it has gone through a lot of changes. It started as many writings and letters circulating among the churches. It ranged from first-hand accounts by the apostles to opinions or stories previously passed down as oral tradition. The Bible has changed significantly during the REAL HOLY WARS. Not the ones where The Britts and other Europeans went to Jerusalem to fight for the Temple ground, but the war that started around the end of the first century, involved the entire western world and has continued until today. It is a religious war between many groups of Christians and between Christians and ALL other religions. To understand what started the war it is necessary to follow the origin and development of the surviving scriptures available to us today. Taking a tip from Paul, we need to include ALL available scriptures and evaluate their worth by looking at their origin, purpose, content, and consistency with all other scriptures. In order to have a ruler to measure the worth of these I will suggest the one and only scripture written by an author with undisputable credentials for the purpose of providing guidance for all mankind. Its content is consistent with guidance given in all other scriptures. The scripture I’m describing is the Ten Commandments, the ONLY scripture written directly by Yahweh the God of Abraham (twice).
The Sumerian clay tablets (4500BC to 2000BC) found at Nineveh provided a rich description of mankind’s history similar to Genesis. The two are not contradictory but supplementary. These were dictated to the Priests who served the Anunnaki. The Anunnaki were considered deities at that time and there was no need for other religions. According to the Tablets, it was Enlil (one of the Elohim /Anunnaki) who commanded Abraham to go to the western lands where Israel is today. There were approximately 600 Anunnaki in residence throughout the world at that time. Around 800 to 500 BC they left Earth surface and their personal, direct guidance was not physically available except through telepathy and visions which continue today. The vacuum created by the lack of personal guidance of the Anunnaki During this period, was filled on each continent by people who taught science, ethics, politics and government from old records, insight or communication with the “ones who from heaven came”. As a side note, later information indicates the Anunnaki may still be a group of earthlings living underground today.
Confucianism, also known as Ruism, is an ethical and philosophical system, on occasion described as a religion, developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 BCE). Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during China’s Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han Dynasty. Following the official abandonment of Legalism in China after the Qin Dynasty, Confucianism became the official state ideology of the Han. Nonetheless, from the Han period onwards, most Chinese emperors have used a mix of Legalism and Confucianism as their ruling doctrine. The disintegration of the Han in the second century CE opened the way for the stereological doctrines of Buddhism and Taoism to dominate intellectual life at that time. Chinese writing tells a similar story to Genesis.
Hinduism is a categorization of distinct intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, common set of beliefs. These concepts were not considered a religion at that time but were the explanation of how the world had developed as presented by the Anunnaki. In the 3rd millennium BC, the Hindu concepts practiced today were developed.
Buddhism is a nontheistic religion "right way of living", that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha, commonly known as the Buddha ("the awakened one"). According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BC.
Egyptian Scriptures were developed. These were written in hieroglyphics. Much of this has to do with religion/science developed prior to 10,000 BC. These concepts, stories, and historical events were recorded for knowledge to be passed down. The origin of much of this knowledge was from the kings (worshiped as deities). Many of the Sumerian concepts were included. The two oldest versions are the Kolbrin (~1400 BC) and the Book of the Dead (I have not studied this one). The Book of the Dead is an ancient Egyptian funerary text, used from the beginning of the New Kingdom (around 1550 BCE) to around 50 BCE. The original Egyptian name for the text, transliterated rw nw prt m hrw is translated as "Book of Coming Forth by Day". Another translation would be "Book of emerging forth into the Light". "Book" is the closest term to describe the loose collection of texts consisting of a number of magic spells intended to assist a dead person's journey through the Duat, or underworld, and into the afterlife and written by many priests over a period of about 1000 years.
The Book of the Dead was part of a tradition of funerary texts which includes the earlier Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts, which were painted onto objects, not papyrus. Some of the spells included were drawn from these older works and date to the 3rd millennium BCE. Other spells were composed later in Egyptian history, dating to the Third Intermediate Period (11th to 7th centuries BCE). A number of the spells which made up the Book continued to be inscribed on tomb walls and sarcophagi, as had always been the spells from which they originated. The Book of the Dead was placed in the coffin or burial chamber of the deceased.
There was no single or canonical Book of the Dead. The surviving papyri contain a varying selection of religious and magical texts and vary considerably in their illustration. Some people seem to have commissioned their own copies of the Book of the Dead, perhaps choosing the spells they thought most vital in their own progression to the afterlife. The Book of the Dead was most commonly written in hieroglyphic or hieratic script on a papyrus scroll, and often illustrated with vignettes depicting the deceased and their journey into the afterlife.
All of the above point back to Immortal Man, God, Yahweh, Brahma—as the one who created man and begotten Son of Man, Christ, Adam of the light, Manu----. All of the above have a Pantheistic view of religion. God, Yahweh, Brahma,was created by another power in another dimension. All of the above have developed into religions in different parts of the world until today they are very clear and concise as to what is needed to improve our selves.
The Old Testament or Hebrew Bible starts with a BRIEF creation story provided by Yahweh to Moses and his directions for daily living. This is a similar story to the Sumerian Tablets. Both stories then tell of a priest who was relocated to UR in approximately 2200 BC, and his son Abram. Abram was commanded to move and settle in the western edge of Sumeria and take control of the region. His name was changed to Abraham and was promised the Earth would be blessed by his to-be-begotten children. These children became known as the Israelites and Arabs. Their history is recorded in the rest of the Old Testament. About 700-800 years later (middle of the 5th century BC), when Yahweh did not walk with the Israelites but did talk with them, it was stated that a leader/teacher would be born in a little over 450 years and would shed much light on how man was to progress. This “light” was Jesus, The Son of Man. In less than two years his teachings would affect everything that happened for the next 2,000 years.
The teachings and theology of Jesus (Jimmanuel, Immanuel, Isa) were recorded by several people from the time of his crucifixion through the next 150 years. Exactly who wrote some of these stories is not well documented. The four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) read like four people standing on each of four corners of an intersection describing a car wreck. One says the red car was a little over the line. Another says the green car was a little over the line. Another says both were a little over the line and that was the cause of the accident. They differ a little in the details but together, they clearly describe the accident. These gospels clearly agree on theology and general themes of what Jesus said and did. Another gospel, Talmud of Jimmanuel attributed to Judas Iscariot, provides a clearly different theology. This theology aligns with the Gnostic beliefs and does not support the governing of people by the Church. These scrolls were found in 1963 and were translated by Isa Rashid into German from Aramaic. The original scrolls were claimed to have been destroyed by the Israelis. A copy and translation were provided, in 1974, to Billy Meier. The theology explained in this book agrees more closely with other religions. The inconsistencies noted in the New Testament are directly addressed and corrected.
For the first 300 years AD the church was groups meeting in houses and then larger buildings. Information and scriptures were shared along with ideas and concepts. The letters and writings forming the New Testament had been gathering into a list since about 140AD. Lists for the Old Testament had been gathering since about 500BC. The first known attempt to create a list, 3rd century BC, is known as the Septuagint. It is from the Latin word septuaginta (meaning seventy), is a translation of the Hebrew Bible and some related texts into Koine Greek. As the primary Greek translation of the Old Testament, it is also called the Greek Old Testament. This translation is quoted in the New Testament, particularly in the Pauline epistles, and also by the Apostolic Fathers and later Greek Church Fathers. The title and its Roman numeral acronym LXX refer to legendary seventy Jewish scholars who solely translated the Five Books of Moses as early as the late 2nd century BCE.[3] This translation is not extant, except as rare fragments. By the early 3rd century, Christian theologians like Origen of Alexandria may have been using—or at least were familiar with—the same 27 books found in modern New Testament editions, though there were still disputes over the canonicity of some of the writings (see also Antilegomena). Likewise by 200, the Muratorian fragment shows that there existed a set of Christian writings somewhat similar to what is now the New Testament, which included four gospels and argued against objections to them. Thus, while there was a good measure of debate in the Early Church over the New Testament canon, the major writings were accepted by almost all Christians by the middle of the 3rd century.
The Old Testament or Hebrew Bible is specific to the Jewish people and their relationship to Yahweh. It only provides the requirements for remaining loyal to Yahweh. References the soul (434) are clearly to a physical person with only a couple of ambiguous references to “something else”. The phrase “son of man” clearly refers to a physical man’s son. The New Testament is addressing the Jewish people and the Gentiles relationships to each other. It provides guidance for obtaining eternal life and a relationship to God. References to the soul (36) are divided between referencing to a physical person and clearly referencing the other part of man (13). The phrase “son of man”, as used by Jesus referring to himself, clearly refers to the concept of Jesus’ station in the hierarchical divinity. The development of this “soul” was the central theme in Christ’s teachings. During this first 300 years AD, a significant split in the understanding of Christ’s teachings developed. The larger portion of the church was concerned with persecution by the Roman Government at first and later with how to control the masses in order to establish a political base and promote the church as “God’s Kingdom”. A smaller group, who believed in reaching Christ and God from within one’s self, wanted no external legal system or governing body to direct that connection. The larger group also focused in on this three-dimensional planet as the center of God’s attention. The smaller group believed in a more Pantheistic point of view with “God” being the controller of more than just this universe. The smaller group were the Gnostics. In an Edger Cayce reading he was directly asked about them.
5749-14
Q. – 21 A problem that concerns a parallel to Christianity. Is Gnosticism the closest type of Christianity to that which is given through this source?
A – 21 This is a parallel, and was the commonly accepted one until there began to be set rules in which there were attempts to take short cuts. And there are none in Christianity.
A council of Christian bishops was convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. The results of this Council put an end to the split in the understanding of Christ’s teachings. The larger group became the Catholic Church and they extinguished the Gnostics and their scriptures as heretics. Many of the Gnostic concepts were edited or “translated” out of the scriptures of the “acceptable” list and the Bible as we know it today was formed. The Gnostic scriptures were destroyed except for the buried ones which were rediscovered in the 20TH century near Qumran. The early church fathers regarded anything the Hebrew wrote as "heresies" and called many of the Jews "gnostics"; however, it is quite clear from the writings of Shaul (Paul), from Yahshua himself, and from the apostolic letters (called the "general epistles", the ones written in Hebrew and were disputed by the church fathers) that "gnosticism" was a prevalent religious concept in both Judaism and the Primitive Congregation of Yahshua. These "gnostics" (any first century Jew writing in the Hebrew language about the concept of "good and evil") were considered heretical. The reason for this is that the latter "church" (from 70 C.E. onward) was steeped in Babylonian mysticism due to so many of its members being former pagans who promulgated the "savior god" or the "man-god" of the Babylonian and Egyptian pantheons. This was the beginning of the Watcher’s descendants taking control of the world. The “Church” became subservient to the ruling families of these descendants. The pantheistic view and belief in the power and responsibility of the individual placed the Gnostic concepts at odds with the legalistic Church. This follows an identical pattern as Christ’s teachings of man having internal access to God and the legalistic views of the established Jewish Church. The results were very similar for similar reasons. The Catholic Church extinguished the Gnostics and their writings.
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN WHICH BIBLE?
ALSO SEE EARLY JEWISH WRITINGS
1 Maccabees.
o Legendary
o Apocalyptic
2 Esdras (see also Apocalyptic literature)
o Didactic
Sirach (also known as Ecclesiasticus)
Tobit
Hellenistic Jewish Literature:--
o Historical and Legendary
o Didactic
1 Esdras | Introduction and Summary |
1 Maccabees | Introduction and Summary |
2 Esdras (a.k.a 4 Ezra) | Introduction and Summary |
2 Maccabees | Introduction and Summary |
3 Maccabees | Introduction and Summary |
4 Ezra (a.ka. 2 Esdras) | Introduction and Summary |
4 Maccabees | Introduction and Summary |
Baruch | Introduction and Summary |
Bel and the Dragon (addition to Daniel) | Introduction and Summary |MENTIONS MARDUK
Daniel and Susanna (addition to Daniel) | Introduction and Summary |
Esther, Additions to | Introduction and Summary |
Judith | Introduction and Summary |
Letter of Jeremiah | Introduction and Summary |
Prayer of Azariah (addition to Daniel) | Introduction and Summary |
Prayer of Manasseh, The | Introduction and Summary |
Psalm 151 | Introduction and Summary |
Sirach | Introduction and Summary |
Tobit | Introduction and Summary |
Wisdom of Solomon, The | Introduction and Summary |
This is a popularized translation of the OT pseudepigrapha, quasi-Biblical writings which never achieved canonical status (or inclusion in any of the official Apocrypha). This isn't to say that these documents are forgeries, just that for one reason or another they were not considered part of the Biblical text by the first millenium (C.E.) compilers.
The
First Book of Adam and Eve
The
Second Book of Adam and Eve
The
Book of the Secrets of Enoch
The
Psalms of Solomon
The
Odes of Solomon
The
Letter of Aristeas
Fourth
Book of Maccabees
The
Story of Ahikar
The
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
Testament
of Reuben
Testament
of Simeon
Testament
of Levi
The
Testament of Judah
The
Testament of Issachar
The
Testament of Zebulun
The
Testament of Dan
The
Testament of Naphtali
The
Testament Of Gad
The
Testament of Asher
The
Testament of Joseph
The
Testament of Benjamin
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTING OF EARLY CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES
WITH RANGE OF APPROXIMATE DATE OF WRITING (AD)
BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ARE MARKED “NT”
BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT ARE MARKED “OT”
BOOKS CONTAINING BASIC GNOSTIC BELIEFS ARE MARKED “GB”
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Some scripture of ancient origin are found in the Septuagint but are not present in the Hebrew. These additional books are Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach, Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah (which later became chapter 6 of Baruch in the Vulgate), additions to Daniel (The Prayer of Azarias, the Song of the Three Children, Susanna and Bel and the Dragon), additions to Esther, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, Odes, including the Prayer of Manasseh, the Psalms of Solomon, and Psalm 151.
3/2/2020