Hi Malvina, yes it has been changed, I prefer to say it has been heavily revised and edited.
It first started with John, Jesus' brother, who had quite a few problems with the way the Disciples interpreted his brothers words and meanings. We know that John was pushed out for his views, so that the small band of disciples could build their'church' without any further obstructions or someone saying, "Hay, that's not what he meant."
After that, the changes to interpretations came thick and fast. At the Council of Nicea in around 330(ad) the Roman Emperor Constantine was the one person who told his religious counsellors what they would believe and what then would be included in the 'Book'.
And the rest is history. If you want to research for yourself there are vast amounts of historical evidence to prove that it has always been altered to suit the powerful individual and the Churches need for control and power. And all of it was mainly done to the new testament, so we would not know what Jesus was getting at, and so the church could lie to keep us down.
Hope this was a good place to start.
Love always.
The changing of the bible is directly related to the medieval (dark) ages. In this time priests were the only people allowed to read and preach the bible, and at that time the culture was much different. For instance there were origionally many passages about women in the bible, but at the time women were thought to be vastly inferior and anything that the priests didn't like they could take out and preach as doctrine. You can see the changes in the bible because there is more than one version. The changes are mostly subtle, but they are there. Each religion uses a different bible that suits what they believe, and if you were to compare each word from one bible to another you would see that they are different. This is why many religions can use their bible in arguing about anothers religion.
Don't listen to the serpents on this board. Jesus Christ is Lord and all will confess one way or the other to His reign over all creation.
Absolute Truth means that something is true and always is true no matter what. A perfect God manufactured the Bible and no matter what "evidence" the serpents spit at you it remains that God's Word is infallible and True in all regards.
All this astral projection crap is just a way to open your mind to demonic influences. Pray hard that Jesus will save you from the sins of the world and I GURANTEE you that you will thank me later.
All it takes is one genuine moment to absolutely let go of yourself to Christ and beleive in His physical ressurection. That is all it takes for eternal life.
Don;t be fooled by the serpent and his crafty followers.
God is real. The bible is created to enslave people. Religion is one of the many downfalls of humanity. Prayer should be done silently by yourself. It is something between you and god. Not you, some old guy in robes, and god.
Allanon, do you think that's something none of us have heard before? You might get a little farther by doing something other than flat-out Bible-thumping preaching. The Bible never says a THING about astral projections or even higher realms, and it sounds like some biblical characters even make reference to projection by talking more or less about visiting 'God' while out of body, and the Bible has been in the hands of many, many men, who are not 'God', but your average mortal men. Sounds to me like you're just going off what the you've heard from the church without thinking it through, either through ignorance or fear of 'God' most likely.
Well said Shadowatcher
The practises of the children of Israel before Christs birth were religious repetitive none productive but it served it's purpose until Christ. ie washing your hands before a meal.. good advice from God but made into a religious act my man.
God was frustrated with the continual misinterpretation man put into his guidance. Mans mind couldn't comprehend Gods simple guidance and freedom if abiding within God.They as todays ppl are stiff necked needing to make rules for themselfs and bind themself in dogmna egnoring Gods true purpose in life.
Jesus was scolled by religious fanatics like Allanon. IMO Christ was trying to free the people from religion how ironic ppl now use his words to ensnare others under the same religious repetitive none productive ways of old.
For thoughs that have ears to hear let them hear .....for you religious fanatics you have your way I'm not here to change your rules. I will not be made subject to them I am free in Christ.
Take care All
Ps One more thing we create our own prison cell and even appoint our wardens, but we have the key of freedom in our pocket who will use it ?
Allanon you have strange bunk buddys mate good luck
The closer we get to the truth the harder it is to see.
Beautifully said Krome!
Malvina,
For my two cents worth here, if there is anything in the Bible that can be considered of great value it's the words and teachings of Jesus HIMSELF, not all the rules and regulations as interpreted by Paul (lets face it, he was a lawyer - they never change).
Whoever you actually believe him to be, Jesus was without a doubt one of the wisest and most insightful people to have walked this earth. His messages were straight forward and practical, and did not need to be embellished at all as was done in the rest of the New Testement that followed.
James.
The bible is the devil. Period.
You guys anre missing the point. All the astral projection and relativistic thinking in the world is not going to free your soul from this prison. Astral projection is a way to allow demonic influences in to deceive you into not beleiving the objective nature of the Bible.
Jesus Christ is the Son of God and only when you put Him before yourself are you free from the law.
If you plan on opening your mind like that I would be sure that I was freed from the law first because God scorns those who commune with false spirits.
Hey
Thanks for ALL the replies here :)
I am a born- Christian, but somehow what people told me about my religion and Jesus, felt "wrong". Now i know.
I feel love and admiration for Jesus, who died for what he believed in, for managing to "change" the system. Unfortunately, it seems, his name and words were manipulated from people who wnated to make the best of a situation or weren't ready to understand or accept his words. :(
I don't believe Jesus' plan was to create a "religion", to plant the fear of God, Sin and Devil in peoples' hearts, but rather to give them "freedom" from the paradigm of those days.
It is sad how things turned out.
Malvina
quote:
God is real. The bible is created to enslave people. Religion is one of the many downfalls of humanity. Prayer should be done silently by yourself. It is something between you and god. Not you, some old guy in robes, and god.
Nice one shadowatcher !!
ever thought of starting your own religion ? hee hee....
quote:
Originally posted by WalkingThePath
I was just wondering, everybody it seems here, says that the Bible has been changed. Do we have evidence for this? And to what degree was it changed? And by who?
Let us use reason. Man has been given free will, so he can do as he wishes. There was never a complete book in the beginning. The Bible we have today is a collection of writings by men inspired by God, it did not just fall out of the sky from the divine. These writings were done by many people over the course of centuries. Some were written many years after the fact. These writings have passed through many political hands in the course of the centuries as they have been brought together. Now using reason, how many would trust a politician? How many think that politicians do not lie and cheat to secure their power? Look at most of the politicians today, honesty take a look. Things have not changed that much in the political field. Since man has free will he has the free will to change whatever he wishes. So based on reason does it not seem likely that a politician would given the chance change documents to aid his power, especially if he did not believe in these documents? Use your own reasoning and make your decision.
If you want the proof, you might have to do a search. I know that there are several posts about this where people have given proof about changes in the Bible. Or maybe they will post it in here again.
Allanon, your Bible states that the laws of God are written on the hearts of all men. God and his laws are within us, all of us. So by meditating and looking within, which is encouraged and practiced here, one will find truth. Your Bible says so. One does not have to read anything to know the truth, for it is within all of us. We only have to look.
Seek and you shall find. This is also in your Bible. It is said that if you look for God you shall find him. That is what astral projection is about, seeking truth. So how is it wrong to leave our bodies and go to the realms of spirit seeking truth? Is God not in the all the realms? If so why would he let someone seeking truth not find him but instead find demons?
quote:
Let us use reason. Man has been given free will, so he can do as he wishes. There was never a complete book in the beginning. The Bible we have today is a collection of writings by men inspired by God, it did not just fall out of the sky from the divine. These writings were done by many people over the course of centuries. Some were written many years after the fact. These writings have passed through many political hands in the course of the centuries as they have been brought together. Now using reason, how many would trust a politician? How many think that politicians do not lie and cheat to secure their power?
God is not a deceiver and would never allow the serpents to tinkle on His book like you imply.
THE BIBLE IS, WAS, AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE TRUTH. PERIOD.
You just trapped yourself buddy:
You say that everything in the bible is true, and in the bible god says that we have free will. But if god prevents us from tinkling on his book, he takes away our free will...So which is it?
You can CHOOSE to tinkle on the True Word of God all you want but the EFFECT of God's unchangeable Word's being warped will not be the case. Ever.
Jesus is the Word incarnate and you can CHOOSE to reject Him but He is the Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end. The EFFECT of your choosing not to be part of Him makes little difference on the unalterable character of God and His Word.
Question: how can we say that something is unalterable ?
Please answer and don't hide behind your JESUS-LORD-TRUTH-MUST-SATAN and all this nonsense preaching...
You are puting(sadly) a shame on the christians that use to post here...
Why would God create people to live an extremely short amount of time just to send them to Heaven or Hell based on whether or not the people believe in him? That just seems... wrong.
innit !
I dont get it...If I made a copy of the book "Astral Dynamics", and sold it as "The Holy Bible". Wouldnt I be changing the word of god?
Look, this is stupid. It's proven FACT the bible was manipulated and mistranslated. Go learn hebrew. You'll find there is no word for 'eternity', the word used in the bible that was translated as such means nothing but 'a long period of time'. So that eternal death is really just death for a while bub.
Get your facts straight and then you can preach. That's my philosophy.
Tab_
You're right! The greek word used is 'aeon' which has variable meanings (usually 1000 years) but certainly *always* a fininte amount of time.
We might think this is a simple mistake in translation but the word 'aeon' has been correctly translated in other passages with different context and its proper meaning is preserved.
Just one example of a small change with huge implications for christian teaching.
Constantine's Nicea conference was hugely influential and he had a huge personal influence on later christian teaching. It was at this conference that reincarnation was ruled out as being incompatible with christian belief and it was also decided (by vote!) that Christ was 'god' rather than a prophet, a dispute which had raged for some time.
Leading up to this period, the feminine aspects of christianity were finally excised, leaving us with a firmly patriarchal religion.
Originally, there was an 'earthly mother' residing on earth, in partnership with the 'heavenly father' who resided in the heavens.
Interestingly, in the dead sea scrolls, we see a much earlier formulation of the holy trinity which is made up of the Mother, the Father and the Son. This has been changed as you can see. The prayer to the earthly mother has also been completely removed from the Lord's prayer, leaving us with the firmly patriarchal prayer we are all familiar with.
Interestingly, the original notion of the dual aspects of heavenly father and earthly mother are close to modern Wiccan thought. In fact the earthly mother is a throwback to an ancient pre-christian universal belief in an earthmother type godess, worshipped in most ancient societies.
It can be argued that this belief is so inbuilt that it resurfaced in christianity with the worship of Mary in catholic belief = she is really a watered down version of the archytypal mother goddess.
With regards to particular details of the New testement. Most of the actual details were already common features of pagan mythology.
The Greek god Dionosyus AND the persian god Zoaroaster (not sure if spelling is correct with that one!) all had common elements that later made up the christian story.
eg, Dionosyus and Zoraoster were both 'god men' who traveled the land performing miricles and healing the sick. They were all born via an 'imaculate conception', a fairly common feature of classical religion; Apollo and Zeus were always having it off with mortal women!
Both were attended at birth by shepherds and wise men!
Both had a 'last supper' before being betrayed.
We might then ask why such common pagan elements were used in the gospels.
Well, in order for the new cult/religion to appeal to the populace at the time, it had to include common pagan elements that would appeal to people, otherwise it would never be accepted. Thus all the miracle working, etc was included. All the above themes are common themes found in classical mythology and religion, Read Ovid to check out some of these common themes (you will also find the little talked about Roman god Lucifer there, in his pre-christian guise as the Morning star, or 'light bearer' nothing to do with any conceptions of Satan; later christians just borrowed his name!).
BTW I am not saying that there was no historical figure called christ, what I am saying is that much of the information contained about him in the bible was already a pre-exising factor of pagan religion. In this way, christianity is a true heir of pagan beliefs and not its great enemy as many fundamentalists would have you believe!
Regards,
Douglas
Thank you for that post Gandalf, it was some great insight.
quote:
Originally posted by Gandalf
Tab_
You're right! The greek word used is 'aeon' which has variable meanings (usually 1000 years) but certainly *always* a fininte amount of time.
We might think this is a simple mistake in translation but the word 'aeon' has been correctly translated in other passages with different context and its proper meaning is preserved.
Just one example of a small change with huge implications for christian teaching.
Greek too! Interesting. I was referring to a quote from Isis Unveiled;
"the word "eternal" by which our theologians interpret the words "for ever and ever" does not exist in the Hebrew language, either as a word or meaning. There is no Hebrew word which properly expresses eternity; oulam, according to Le Clerc, only imports a time whose beginning or end is not known. While showing that this word does not mean infinite duration, and that in the Old Testament the word forever only signifies a long time, Archbishop Tillotson has completely perverted its sense with respect to the idea of hell-torments."
http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/isis/iu2-01.htm
quote:
Originally posted by Gandalf
Interestingly, in the dead sea scrolls, we see a much earlier formulation of the holy trinity which is made up of the Mother, the Father and the Son.
It's been a long while since I picked up The Secret Doctrine, but IIRC the mother-father-son goes as far back as the esoteric vedic teachings revealed in that book. Such teachings were closely tied to the chaldean and hebrew kabalas, so it's not surprising to see it pop up somewhere like the dead sea scrolls.
Al just has very little grip on reality, tis all. If the devil made it so that all historical fact proves that christianity is mostly corruptions of other beliefs, then.. well.. that sounds more like the mother of all cop-outs, and is obviously BS. OMFG ALL OF HISTRY IS A LIE FROM TEHDEVIL!!1oneone
Sure dude, sure. And they say us projectors are mental.
quote:
Question: how can we say that something is unalterable ?
You can beleive the world and what you perceive through your senses or you can beleive the Perfect Word of God. God is Perfect and thus His words cannot be changed.
The tribulation is coming where those that are dead in Christ shall reign. Those that reject His Word shall reap their reward as well.
Hebrews 5:12
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
1 John 2:5
But if anyone obeys his word, God's love[ 2:5 Or word, love for God] is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:
15Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. 16The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled. 18The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."
Mark 6:10 And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place.
Mark 6:11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
Quoting the bible wont help, people say enough stuff in the bible so that you can find a quote about anything. People have "proven" way too much with bible quotes for their to be any credibility.
Allanon, if you want to post quotes from the Bible, at least spare us the long pages and put the quotes in 1 message, and not 40934503945 of them.
quote:
Allanon, if you want to post quotes from the Bible, at least spare us the long pages and put the quotes in 1 message, and not 40934503945 of them.
My apologies.
9 He said, "Go and tell this people:
" 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes. [1]
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed."
How is quoting from a work that many of us believe and have stated facts for our belief to be altered and thus not absolute truth suppose to hold any weight with us?
ss
Well, thats Allanon for ya.
Guess who back!!! THE WORD.
quote:
Allanon believes that scripture will work on people regardless of belief.
4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. 6The angel said to me, "THESE WORDS ARE TRUSTWORTH AND TRUE. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."
Yawn...
What can anybody say to Allanon that hasn't already been said? Allanon, you're not a stupid person. Extremely thickheaded, but not stupid. So you should understand why we don't like your constant out and out Bible-thumping, yet you continue to post as if it's your duty to convert us all.
Think of it this way: when you get a splinter in your skin, your skin is usually able to push it outwards on its own until you can pull it out with your fingers. However, porcupine quills, upon entering the skin, are able to force themselves deeper and deeper into the victim's body.
In the same way as a normal splinter, when someone doesn't like a particular idea, that's fine, and no harm is really done. But when you keep forcing ideas onto people, they're just going to get annoyed, eventually angry, and that's when you have a problem.
Corny analogy, but you get what I'm saying. I know you're aware of this situation, but like I said, you probably see it as your divine mission or whatever to convert people here. Don't see it that way. Let God and Jesus convert people on their own. No offense, but it doesn't seem to be your place.
What can Allanon say that he hasnt said already?
He only has to post about the whole other half of the Bible.
quote:
Not only do I believe the Bible has changed but also there used to be more books in the Bible. Did you know there are now 66 books in the Bible?
Peace & Love,
Paul
18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon."
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.
2 Corinthians 12:2-3 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into Paradise--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows--"
In this passage Paul is talking about himself, of course. His wording "whether in the body or out of the body I do not know" clearly indicates that Paul and his readers were familiar with, and not bothered by the concept of being out of one's body.
Also, there are continual references throughout the Bible about being "in the Spirit" which are probably also references to OBEs.
Books like "The Oxford History of the Bible" (look for it on Amazon) will provide a thorough and scholarly history of how the Bible came to be in it's current form. Nearly every seminary in the country teach classes on this, so it's not a secret or a plot to suggest that our current version of the Bible has been subjected to a variety of revision and editing through the centuries.
Also, it should be noted that at the time of the Reformation several books were removed from the Canon. Martin Luther wanted to also remove The Revelation (not Christ-centered enough) and James (to works-oriented) also but didn't have enough support for that. So for those that argue that the Bible is and always was God's complete and perfect and unalterable word, - you must then ask which canon are you referring to, the one before the Reformation or after. They can't both be perfect and unalterable. So either God allowed his church to use a screwed up version for 1600 years or else he's letting us use a screwed up version now - which is it?
Jesus came to bring truth to the Jewish nation but they were so hung up on their written law that they couldn't accept Jesus' message. Jesus exhorted people to live by the "perfect law of freedom" and to "live by the Spirit" rather than to blindly follow a written law. It is obvious that he wanted people to genuinely seek and relate to God via the Holy Spirit rather than to follow a written law. What is sadly ironic is that today the Christian church has fallen into the same trap all over again, inventing a new written law - the New Testament - and making that their God instead of genuinely seeking God through the Holy Spirit. When Jesus ascended he said that he would send a helper - the Holy Spirit - but he didn't say anything about a new written law. Unfortunately it is our human nature to be scared little bunnies, foolishly clinging onto something we can hold and touch (The Bible) instead of embarking on the less clear, and more challenging path of genuinely seeking God through direct experience - it's the golden calf thing all over again.
I believe the Bible contains valuable spiritual truths, but I like to think of the Bible as a God's workbook and the Holy Spirit as the teacher. When one places the Bible before the Holy Spirit it is a religious "cop-out" that only serves to ensure a spiritual status-quo.
If you took a math class you would use the textbook to learn how to solve problems. You wouldn't just memorize the answers in the back of the book. Unfortunately people treat the Bible differently. They pretend that it contains the exact correct answer for each of life's problems instead of thinking of it as a book that will help them in their approach to life's challenges. When you turn it into a rule book, so lose all of the value and you end up living a life of fearful obedience rather than joyful, spiritual discovery.
It should also be noted that the Christian church has a long history of mysticism (St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila) who clearly have had OBEs. There is a current re-emerging interest in a form of "centering prayer" that Catholic monks have practiced for centuries (look for books at Amazon on Centering Prayer, or by Thomas Keating). In one book I read it sounded like among Catholic monks various phenomina like OBEs, levitating, speaking in tongues, etc. are all very common - which is not suprising since in every spiritual tradition continued practice in quieting the mind and meditating seem to lead to OBEs.
It's clear that God built a spiritual mechanism into us that facilitates us leaving our bodies. Those who believe OBEs are somehow a gateway to evil need to ask themselves why God would make it so easy for us to leave our bodies if *he* didn't mean for us to do it? Which is not to say that certain people won't abuse the ability, - but just to assert that it is a normal, spiritual occurrence that can be used for the purpose of spiritual growth.
Please bare in mind that the Roman Catholic Church kept the Holy Bible under lock and key until about 1840-1850. The Masses were spoken in Latin for many years, so many people could not understand what was being said...just showed up on Sundays and made a contribution. With the advent of the printing press, it was reprinted and distributed to the public. It was shortly thereafter that many Protestant religions came about, as people coule now read it for themselves. The problemn was that they interpreted a SPIRITUAL book MATERIALISTICALLY. This created misunderstandings that exist today.
You have asked what appears to be a simple question. However, it is not. There are countless stories, reportings, etc... that support the impetus for your question, though.
Most people are looking for ONE singular truth that is all pre-packaged and ready to be read/explained. HOWEVER, this was never the case, nor will it be. The truth is eternal. It is changing as we currently exist, as the universe itself changes. We are ALWAYS seeking the truth...
quote:
Originally posted by WalkingThePath
Hey
Thanks for ALL the replies here :)
I am a born- Christian, but somehow what people told me about my religion and Jesus, felt "wrong". Now i know.
I feel love and admiration for Jesus, who died for what he believed in, for managing to "change" the system. Unfortunately, it seems, his name and words were manipulated from people who wnated to make the best of a situation or weren't ready to understand or accept his words. :(
I don't believe Jesus' plan was to create a "religion", to plant the fear of God, Sin and Devil in peoples' hearts, but rather to give them "freedom" from the paradigm of those days.
It is sad how things turned out.
Malvina
It's very refreshing to come across Christians who come to a greater understanding of their faith without being angry and refuting it all. FYI: 95% of today's Christianity is incomplete and incorrect. However, this does not mean that we should throw out the whole of it and start Jesus bashing, as many do.
As your understanding grows, EVERYTHING will make perfect sense.
I hope that you're able to find all of the answers that you seek.
All the best.
quote:
Originally posted by RJA
It should also be noted that the Christian church has a long history of mysticism (St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila) who clearly have had OBEs. There is a current re-emerging interest in a form of "centering prayer" that Catholic monks have practiced for centuries (look for books at Amazon on Centering Prayer, or by Thomas Keating). In one book I read it sounded like among Catholic monks various phenomina like OBEs, levitating, speaking in tongues, etc. are all very common - which is not suprising since in every spiritual tradition continued practice in quieting the mind and meditating seem to lead to OBEs.
I'd just like to elaborate on this point a bit...
The RC Church assumed an ambiguous position regarding magnetisim. At first it comdemned it in 1841, but adopted a more open policy in 1856. In
Le Monde occulte ou Mystereres du magnetisme (The Occult World or Mysteries of Magnetism; 1851 and 1856), Henri Delaage felt that magnetism was a proper means for bringing back unbelievers to the faith. His book was prefaced by the celebrated Father Henri Lacordaire who, from 1846, spoke favorably about this science after having assumed the pulpit at Notre-Dame in Paris.
In the 18th century, the Church did not preoccupy itself with condemning magnetism. It was more resolute toward Freemasonry, because the infatuation with esoterism had caused many Christians to seek entry into the Lodges. Freemasonry was denounced in a papal bull (
In emineti) of 1738, renewed by the bull of Benedict XV (
Providas) in 1751. Yet this interdiction remained ineffective, and the lodges expaneded nearly everywhere in France. Freemasonry was even found in monastaries. Jose A. Ferrer-Benimelli estimates that nearly 2000 clerics frequented the lodges. In this period, nearly 650 Masonic workshops were distributed around the country. With the onset of the Revolution, nearly all of them went inactice.
quote:
Also, it should be noted that at the time of the Reformation several books were removed from the Canon. Martin Luther wanted to also remove The Revelation (not Christ-centered enough) and James (to works-oriented) also but didn't have enough support for that. So for those that argue that the Bible is and always was God's complete and perfect and unalterable word, - you must then ask which canon are you referring to, the one before the Reformation or after. They can't both be perfect and unalterable. So either God allowed his church to use a screwed up version for 1600 years or else he's letting us use a screwed up version now - which is it?
Jesus came to bring truth to the Jewish nation but they were so hung up on their written law that they couldn't accept Jesus' message. Jesus exhorted people to live by the "perfect law of freedom" and to "live by the Spirit" rather than to blindly follow a written law. It is obvious that he wanted people to genuinely seek and relate to God via the Holy Spirit rather than to follow a written law. What is sadly ironic is that today the Christian church has fallen into the same trap all over again, inventing a new written law - the New Testament - and making that their God instead of genuinely seeking God through the Holy Spirit. When Jesus ascended he said that he would send a helper - the Holy Spirit - but he didn't say anything about a new written law. Unfortunately it is our human nature to be scared little bunnies, foolishly clinging onto something we can hold and touch (The Bible) instead of embarking on the less clear, and more challenging path of genuinely seeking God through direct experience - it's the golden calf thing all over again.
I believe the Bible contains valuable spiritual truths, but I like to think of the Bible as a God's workbook and the Holy Spirit as the teacher. When one places the Bible before the Holy Spirit it is a religious "cop-out" that only serves to ensure a spiritual status-quo.
If you took a math class you would use the textbook to learn how to solve problems. You wouldn't just memorize the answers in the back of the book. Unfortunately people treat the Bible differently. They pretend that it contains the exact correct answer for each of life's problems instead of thinking of it as a book that will help them in their approach to life's challenges. When you turn it into a rule book, so lose all of the value and you end up living a life of fearful obedience rather than joyful, spiritual discovery.
RJA,
Excellent explanation. I've also found this to be true. To say that the bible has not been altered is just plain ignorance. God's truth is still there, it hasn't changed but the book has been altered by those with ulterior motives. It can be said that by ommitting information and altering meanings the bible is misleading and is used by satan to lead people into living by the law, afterall, satan can quote scripture. Its possible. Christ came to condem the law cause it was of man and not God.
Allanon, question, If you believe the bible, satan rules over the earth (God gave him dominion) and will continue to do so till the time Christ comes again as stated in Revelation. Why is it so hard to believe that the bible has been altered? Satan is in control of the earth and God has allowed him to deceive and control man.
hello
I was just wondering, everybody it seems here, says that the Bible has been changed. Do we have evidence for this? And to what degree was it changed? And by who?
Anything related to these questions would be great help
Malvina