Alternative Christianities Volume I: Early Christian Sects and the Formation of the Bible

By Vince Nicola

Alternative Christianities is a series of books, articles, and lectures. This is only Volume I which introduces the many ancient Christian sects that were ostracized and had their Sacred Scriptures (what they were taught by one Jesus direct Disciples) not only left out of the New Testament but also suppressed, banned, and destroyed in the early centuries of Christianity by the emerging universal (catholic) Christian Church. Vince Nicolas is a historian not a theologian. Vince is a teacher not a preacher. Vince extensively researched this subject from the works of the best university religious studies professors in the United States. Additionally in compiling his treatise, Vince learned how the New Testament, besides more Sacred Scriptures were consciously being left out than included, many of the texts that were included had been repeatedly changed either accidentally or intentionally to suit the emerging Christian church and their "preferred Christian teachings;" then to accommodate the numerous and compounded Protestant Reformations. Consequently today there is not ONE Christian Bible or ONE Christian religion but dozens of versions of the Christian Bible and thousands of iterations of Christian religions, denominations, sects, and cults. Christianity is a hodgepodge disaster as viewed by outsiders!
A 20th century discovery of these discarded ancient texts brought them back to light. More amazing are the differences from the traditional Christianity being taught and followed today. This made many of todays Biblical scholars, theologians, and university professors question whether we all have been led down the wrong Christian path for the past 2,000 years. In fact, these ancient discarded Alternative Christianities even make more sense in todays world and brings Christianity back to being a religion of "Good News"! Maybe these recent discoveries were a Divine intervention to adjust Christianity back onto its right path; the real path that was intended by Jesus Christ? Maybe people now can have a fresh and refreshing new look at Christianity?
Volume I is guaranteed to pique your interest, get you hooked, and make you want to go more in depth in Volumes II and III. This treatise is not only very enlightening and educational for Christians but also for our intertwined Abrahamic-descendant Judaism and Islam relatives. This is an ecumenical book; it is not meant to convert anyone, promote any religion, or disseminate anyones beliefs. This series is a MUST READ for any serious theology or religious studies student to have a complete comprehension of the Bible and Christianity, especially if they are going to teach or preach it intelligently and correctly; or just for your own education.
WARNING: This series will ruffle many feathers among the ultra-conservative and closed-minded communities and promises to be very controversial! GET YOUR CORRECT FACTS HERE.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491829196

Vince Nicola

Vince Nicolas was born, raised, and educated in New York City. Being son of immigrants, he was privileged to spend many summers in Europe. As a young adult Vince was fascinated by the ancient history of Europe. When he was in High School, he studied Latin for four years. In learning the language, most of the school work centered on translating Latin writings from and about ancient Rome and the Romans. He made several pilgrimages to Italy and Rome, and loved being submersed in ancient and medieval Roman culture, art, mythology, and architecture. Of course, Rome was also intertwined with the history of early Christianity. In the course his studies, he discovered how Christianity struggled to survive and grow in the Roman Empire. Then as it was finally gaining acceptance, the smaller Christian groups were being snuffed out as the larger western Christian Church gained dominance. Many shows are aired on this period of time, especially about the “lost” or “banned” Gospels, on major networks including The History Channel and The National Geographic Channel. Innumerable books have been written on this and related subjects by very best and prominent professors from major U.S. universities. In fact a whole section of the library (220-232) and bookstores is dedicated to “General Christianity.” Vince cannot watch and read enough on the subjects of the “lost Gospels,” “Christian Gnosticism,” and “Alternative Christianities.” Vince had done teaching, speaking, and writing in his career, so his next logical step was to write a book, compile all this great information, and get it out to as many people as possible. There is so much information, Volumes II and III are already being written.

Book preview

ALTERNATIVE

CHRISTIANITIES

VOLUME I

EARLY CHRISTIAN SECTS

AND THE FORMATION OF THE BIBLE

A TREATISE DISCUSSING:

THE EARLY CHRISTIANS

ALTERNATIVE ANCIENT CHRISTIANITIES

BANNED APOSTOLIC TEXTS AND TEACHINGS

NEWLY DISCOVERED GOSPELS, EPISTLES, AND APOCRYPHA

THE VALIDITY OF TODAY’S BIBLES AND CHRISTIAN TEACHINGS

WARNING:

This is not a Religion book but a History book that will CHALLENGE what you have been taught

BY: VINCE NICOLAS

88233.png

AuthorHouse™ LLC

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2014 by Vince Nicolas. All rights reserved.

www.vince-nicolas.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/12/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-2920-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-2919-6 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

TREATISE SCOPE

CHAPTER 1 THE EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIANITY

CHAPTER 2 THE SCHISM IN THE BIBLES

CHAPTER 3 CHOOSING A BIBLE

CHAPTER 4 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN BIBLES

CHAPTER 5 THE BATTLE OVER THE SCRIPTURES

CHAPTER 6 SATAN AND EVIL

CHAPTER 7 THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION SENARIO

CHAPTER 8 JAMES, SON OF JOSEPH, BROTHER OF JESUS

CHAPTER 9 JAMES AND HIS LOST TEACHINGS

CHAPTER 10 EARLY ALTERNATIVE CHRISTIANITIES

CHAPTER 11 THE SHORTCOMINGS OF TRADITIONAL CHRISTIANITY

CHAPTER 12 WHO REALLY WROTE THE GOSPELS?

CHAPTER 13 WHO ALTERED THE NEW TESTAMENT?

CHAPTER 14 MAJOR DISCREPANCIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

CHAPTER 15 THE WHOLE JESUS CHARADE

CHAPTER 16 SCHISMS FROM CATHOLICISM

CHAPTER 17 RELIGION IN COLONIAL AMERICA

APPENDIX I BIBLIOGRAPHY & SUGGESTED VIEWING

APPENDIX II BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX III CREDENTIALS OF SOME FEATURED AUTHORS

APPENDIX IV ADDITIONAL RESOURCES CITED BY THE AUTHORS

AUTHOR BIO

PREFACE

Allow me to introduce myself: I am Vince Nicolas. I am a historian, not a theologian. I am writing as a historian, not as a theologian. I want to make that very clear.

I am one of the few Latin majors still living. I took four years of Latin in High School. That alone is a lifetime accomplishment. We had to translate Latin writings from the ancient Roman era. Being personally of Italian ancestry, I found it very interesting, historically speaking. As a result I have visited Rome and Italy many times in my lifetime. Coinciding with the history of Rome is the history of Christianity; the two are intricately intertwined with each other.

This book is a treatise, a work undertaken to prove a point. The treatise part will be explained in the Treatise Scope. I am sure that the historians of this ancient period probably will love it; however, I am similarly sure that there will be some of today’s conservative evangelical theologians and other religious-centric people will probably hate it, calling it blasphemy or the work of the devil. Well, I am neither alone on this subject nor the initiator; I have research dozens of hundreds of published books and works by dozens of Ph.D.’s, theologians, and Biblical scholars, many of whom are university professors of theology, if not also department chairpersons. I can write so many more volumes on this subject. In the historical stream, this treatise will deal, as best as it possibly can, only with the known and historical facts. I did not give much credence to any religion’s assumptions, word-of-mouth stories, fables, myths, legends, or such.

This all started when I saw "Banned From the Bible" on the History Channel; then someone introduced me to the Gospel of Judas Iscariot. That changed everything I was taught about Judas; he is a hero not a traitor! There were more shows and so many books on the lost Gospels of Peter, James, Philip, Thomas, Judas, and Mary Magdalene; that changed everything I was taught about Christianity. They were all left out of the New Testament! Why? They contradict the four traditional Gospels, which the four contradict each other anyway!

I am hoping this will open many eyes, especially among theologians, clergy, professors, students, and the general public. I do hope this treatise will become an integral part of the well-rounded educational and continual learning process of our religious leaders in order for them to be able to discuss and defend Alternative Christianities intelligently. This is not meant to destroy any specific faith, or a person’s favored faith or religious affiliation but, hopefully, to enhance it. I hope this book takes people’s faith and hope in God, their God, and the God of all of us, to a higher, more big picture level.

I did not give favoritism, preference, partiality, or bias to any particular religion or denomination (although it becomes obvious that some do have a better handle on or approach to Christianity than others); nor do I have any favoritism, prejudice, prejudgment, partiality, or hostility toward any particular religion, denomination, or sect. At times it may seem that way, but that is my fervor on the subject and to accomplish the purpose of this treatise. I am sure once many have finished the WHOLE work, I would have made my point, their eyes and minds will be opened, and they will tend to agree with my treatise. Ultimately, I want them to investigate those refreshing Alternative Christianities and newly re-discovered ancient Sacred Scriptures.

I have no problem giving praise or pointing out the shortcomings or misguidance in specific theologies, approaches, or interpretations. This is part of the treatise process, although at times there seem to more negatives than positives.

I do not mind constructive feedback but I do not appreciate nitpicking which only serves to prove that the more major points and sections are undeniably true. I am not a Rhodes Scholar, just a simple historian; please forgive and overlook any imperfection in my literary skills.

Enjoy, Vince Nicolas

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

Alternative Christianities is planned to be a three or more volume set; there is so much on the subject to write about. I assure you this will be a fascinating and mind-expanding journey. Volume I is the history of Christianity today and introduces various ancient Alternative Christianities. Volume II will delve deeper into the texts of these Alternative Christianities. Volume III and beyond will heighten and reinforce my treatise, taking these ancient beliefs and writings relating their context and relevance to the 21st century almost 2,000 years after they were written. I am not the originator of these controversies; I have drawn from the knowledge of the best people in their fields, some of the most intelligent ministers, educators, and authors. I cannot thank them enough for inspiring me and changing my life for the better. I hope to do the same and reach more people, changing their lives also.

First and foremost, this is a "treatise," which is like a thesis but more specifically defined as a more formal and much longer discussion on a specific subject in depth enough to make a pre-stated point. A more detailed description is found in the following section: Treatise Scope. In brief, I will attempt to show how Christianity from almost its very beginnings veered off in the wrong direction which continued to compound as the centuries and millennia progressed. The original and probably most real Christianities may be found in some Alternative Christianities. Throughout all my research of the Alternative Christianities, the path frequently led back to the ancient "Gnostics, Gnosticism, and the Gnostic Gospels. In fact, Gnostic Christians" were among the popular sects of the early Christians in the first centuries before a rigid system of doctrines, formalities, and hierarchies were established and became the official stance of Christianity in the 2nd to 4th centuries A.D. These ancient Gnostic beliefs based on the lost (really, ordered destroyed) Gospels, Epistles, Acts, and Apocrypha" can be found deeply rooted in many Eastern Orthodox Christian religions.

Second, I am a historian, NOT a theologian. I am a teacher, not a preacher. This book is not meant to convert anyone; there is nothing to convert you to. I am a lifelong, well-educated, and practicing mainline Christian. I am not an evangelist, religious fanatic, an agnostic, nor am I the devil. I believe Jesus Christ came to this Earth as our Lord and Savior. He preached a wonderful message of love, good works, compassion, and everything that is good. He was arrested, prosecuted, and executed (although there are difference beliefs on the reason why) . . . BUT FROM THIS POINT ON, IT GETS VERY "FUZZY!" The Bible-thumpers will argue it and try to reconcile it, but all four published Gospels relay completely different stories about His trial, passion, death, and resurrection. Then, if that is not "fuzzy" enough, read the Gospels, Epistles, Acts, and Apocrypha not published in the Christian Bibles of today, which were similarly revered and just as valid, attributed to some of Jesus’ other Disciples: Peter, James, Philip, Thomas, Judas, and Mary Magdalene. These writings spawned ancient Alternative Christianities some which are alive and still practiced today, such as by the Catholic Coptics and Orthodox Coptics mainly out of ancient Egypt.

Third, the purpose of this treatise is to expose you to these lost Gospels and the Alternative Christianities that also arose from the Disciples in Jerusalem and the Middle East, and those Disciples that spread out to different regions of the world. They produced "Christianities with different versions of Jesus’ life, teachings, and death. Although their followers were very diverse in their practice of Christianity, they were also unified in their fundamental beliefs. This was due to the Apostles’ Creed" which is said to have been agreed upon by The Twelve and passed along. This is meant to expand your horizons, it is not meant to detract you from your religions. Conversely, if you are NOT open to expanding your horizons, or too set in your immutable beliefs, PLEASE CLOSE THIS BOOK NOW!

Fourth, I will explain the historical formation and evolution of the various Christian Bibles of today, as well as the source of the innumerable religions, denominations, and sects who all call themselves "Christians" (and all consider themselves to be the real Christians) while outwardly differing in doctrines and beliefs (unlike Judaism and Islam). Why were there only FOUR GOSPELS (out of ten Gospels) chosen by a selected few early church fathers in A.D. 180 (mainly, one person) to be the only ones included in the New Testament? All were written at the same time and are just as authentic, or in some cases prove to even more authentic, than Matthew, Mark(?), Luke(?), and John. More than 40 other Epistles, letters, Acts, Apocrypha, etc. also were written by these six Disciples but were not included in the New Testament. You would think super-religious Christians would want to read EVERYTHING written about Jesus Christ!

Fifth, the new emperor of the Roman Empire, Constantine, a recent convert to Christianity, used the faith to unite the Roman Empire under his rule. He called together all the bishops from all around the Roman Empire to Nicaea, Turkey, in order to come to an agreement and unify all the differing Christian beliefs (e.g., Was Jesus God or man or both? Did he really physically die on the cross? Did he really rise from the dead?). He wanted there to be one set of common Christian beliefs. In 325 A.D., they expanded the "Apostles’ Creed" and issued the "Nicene Creed" which established the One, Holy, Catholic (meaning universal), and Apostolic Church with one set of beliefs going forward. Unfortunately, not all the Christian Churches and sects, especially in the eastern Roman Empire, agreed or complied.

Sixth, as mandated by the Council of Nicaea, by the end of the 4th century the canon (official list) of which Sacred Scriptures would comprise the New Testament was established. Basically, the list of the four Gospels and selected Epistles formulated in A.D. 180 was chosen as the canon (with very few changes). All other Sacred Scriptures were banned and ordered destroyed by the new Christian (Catholic) Church; and the practice of any other Alternative Christianity were strictly forbidden. This also was not appreciated by the Eastern Churches that it effected.

Seventh: "The Bible is a very human-book. I know that will be highly criticized by the evangelical and fundamentalist Christians who believe in a strict interpretation of the inspired word of God" considering it as if it was hand-delivered by God personally to us here on Earth in a shrink-wrapped, tamper-proof package (like Tylenol ©) and must be believed and followed to the letter and under penalty of eternal damnation. This is not for those people—their views are too immutable and they will challenge anyone with even the simplest differing viewpoint. Let me say to them: That’s Nice, Good for You, Good Luck, Enjoy, Peace Be with You, God Bless… but maybe this book is something you SHOULD read! For everyone else with more open minds, we will be discussing the innumerable fallacies, inconsistencies, discrepancies, and outright contradictions in the New Testament. Consequently, I think many people will agree: do not follow a Christian sect that explicitly or implicitly is mainly a "Bible-based religion." That means their focus, faith, and salvation is based almost 100% on this [being kind] 25% accurate book; not very good odds! (ASK!)

Finally, as research has led me to seriously wonder: Maybe it is true, it does make more sense, Jesus did come to SAVE us NOT from the human sin but from that mean and vengeful "God of the Old Testament?" Also to show us that our earthly body will suffer and die but it is our spirit and soul will live on forever; which was not the Judaism belief at that time. Maybe for 2,000 years we have been taught erroneously and misled down the wrong path further and further away from the real Christianity that Jesus’ intended?

What a thought! What a revolution! What a reformation!!

TREATISE SCOPE

A "Treatise is like a thesis but more. It is defined as a formal and systematic discourse written on a subject, generally longer and treating the subject more in depth than an essay, similar to a thesis, but it is more concerned with investigating and exposing the principles of a subject, or an argument, for specific issues, philosophies, or trains of thought."

The New Testament teachings of the Christian preachers and teachers of today (to the greatest extent being the evangelicals and fundamentalists) are the furthest from the teachings of Jesus Christ and His 12 direct Disciples.

I have done extensive research on the origins and progression of Christianity from the original 12 Disciples to the Christian religions, denominations, preachers, and teachers of today. NOTHING COULD BE MORE DIVERGENT!

Using a consolidation of viewpoints and arguments from many prominent Ph.D.’s, who are chairmen and chairwomen and professors of Theology and Religious Studies at the best universities in the United States, I intend to show that for two thousand years we have been taught the wrong doctrines and completely misled down the path of an incorrect Christianity. Jesus’ mission can be found in the ancient Alternative Christianities that have been suppressed and obliterated long ago by the selfish, powerful leaders of the early Christian Church. Many of these suppressed works dating to the first centuries have surfaced in a desert discovery in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945 and have been brought back to light.

In the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation placed more emphasis and faith on the selected Scriptures, especially the Epistles of Paul. This steered the original Christianity more off its course. Then in the early 20th century, the evangelical Great Awakening movement arrived in America, preaching the New Testament is irrefutably the 100 percent inerrant, directly inspired word of God—willfully blind to its obvious discrepancies, contradictions, historical inaccuracies, and inconsistencies. They put MORE emphasize on the Epistles of Paul and considered them also infallible in his teachings. They effectively "drove Christianity completely off the cliff" by taking it more in the wrong direction.

It should be noted that the four Gospels that were included in the New Testament, which provided the basis for the beliefs and dogma of the majority of Christian sects, were passed on for decades from generation to generation solely from memory only by word of mouth; eventually these narratives were written down, albeit anonymously; then centuries later, when it came to forming the New Testament at the end of 4th century, they were assigned the best guess or probable originating Apostles’ name. So at best they can be called the "alleged words" passed down "allegedly from" Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (of course, Mark and Luke were NOT Disciples and are pretty much unknowns of whom there are only uneducated guesses as to who they were). Not even mentioning the missing (or so-called lost) Gospels, writings, and teachings from the other Disciples: James, Peter, John, Philip, Thomas, Judas, and Mary Magdalene.

These facts are NEVER MENTIONED in the major Christian religious teachings and as such many preachers have been ignorantly or intentionally misleading people down the path of the wrong Christianity possibly sacrificing their salvation. [To give them the benefit of the doubt: that is, of course, assuming those preachers have even been taught thoroughly about ALL the Gospels. The quickie seminaries just teach you what they want you to know and what they want you to preach, no more and no less. This is something you usually learn in advanced master and doctorate Religious Studies at the more progressive universities; sometimes called the historical critical approach.]

In fact, my whole treatise practically can be based upon one of my favorite quotes (paraphrased) from Jesus to Peter that can be found in the Gospel of Peter:

"Beware of the false ministers, for they will worship the dead man [Jesus] instead of the Living God [Christ], for their wells are empty, and they will lead you to Hell, and you will lose your salvation along with them."

I am positive that most of the readers of this whole treatise who have an open mind will come to agree with me!

Trust me, this book is only the tip of the iceberg!

CHAPTER 1

THE EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIANITY

This is to give you basic information on the evolution of Christianity from the time following the death of Jesus Christ up to modern day. This treatise will dig deeper into this evolution, chapter by chapter. Some information will be purposely repeated as necessary to its importance in that chapter. Also each chapter will expose the readers to the various Alternative Christianities; some still may exist in some form or another today, while others have been banned, suppressed, and left to die by dominant and overpowering Christian leaders. The traditional Christianities that are practiced today are a result of this evolution. This treatise will question whether it is the Christianity as Jesus Christ had intended it.

This treatise is the unbiased historical facts for others to make an informed decision about that question. As I previously stated, I am a historian not a theologian. These may be facts that some of today’s conservative Christians do NOT want to hear and will interpret them as being written by the devil to bash today’s Christianities, some Disciples and apostles, the Bible, Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Fundamentalism, or Evangelism; it is not! All Christian religions are man-made and are not perfect whether it be Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodoxy, or Evangelism.

Part of the goal of this treatise is to systematically show how the Christian Church, the forerunner to the Catholic Church, although initially started by the Disciples James, Peter and John, was almost immediately taken in the wrong direction because of Paul’s uninvited interference. Then the Christian Church veered more permanently in the wrong direction with doctrines in the Christian Creed emanating from Council of Nicaea in 325. In 398 it was cemented further when the bishops-in-attendance selected which Scriptures were acceptable and the only texts that would comprise the New Testament to the exclusion of all the other revered books by other Christian groups, who may have had a different perspective than the one they had chosen, calling them heretical. Eventually, the Eastern Orthodox Churches again and permanently broke from the Western Church of Rome in 1054 in order to be able to maintain their heritage apostolic origins and the sacred teachings taught to them by several of Jesus Christ’s Disciples who preached in their region. They insisted on preserving these Apostolic teachings and consider themselves as the real and orthodox Christianity.

Then in the late 1500’s, the Protestant reformers initiated by Martin Luther took a sharper turn away from these original apostolic teachings by dropping more books and chapters, and changing verses from the established 1200 year old Bible to suit their new reformed theology. They placed more emphasize on Paul’s letters and teachings (which were Paul’s teachings not Jesus’ teachings). Then the Evangelists and Fundamentalists profoundly compounded the Protestant detour by placing even more emphasis on the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible (the one they just changed) and the teachings of Paul driving the original Christianity of Jesus and the Disciples off the cliff!

DEFINITIONS

Probably it is best to define, explain and clarify the terminology that will be used while at the same time will provide their historical significance:

CHRISTIANITY is a monotheistic (one God) Abrahamic religion (descendant from Abraham along with Judaism and Islam). It is based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christianity is the world’s largest religion with approximately 2.2 billion adherents, known as Christians. Christians believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, who was send to save humanity as was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. Christians refer to Jesus as Christ or the anointed one. Beyond that there are many differences between religions, denominations, and sects in their interpretation and opinion of the Bible on which Christianity is based. Christians share a set of common beliefs that they hold essential to their faith.

Christianity began as an offshoot of Judaism in the 1st century after the execution of Jesus Christ. It quickly expanded beyond Judea to Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and Egypt. It grew fast in the first few centuries after Jesus died and by the end of the 4th century had become the official state church of the Roman Empire under Constantine. During the Middle Ages Christianity spread through the rest of Europe and co-existed with the religions in the Middle East, North Africa, Ethiopia and India. Missionaries spread Christianity to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and eventually the whole world. Christianity played a very focal and stabilizing role in emerging Western civilization.

Today worldwide, the three largest divisions of Christianity are the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Protestantism with its innumerable denominations and sub-sects. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox split in a theological schism in the 11th century. Protestantism came into existence beginning with Martin Luther (Lutheranism) and other reformers splitting from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th and 17th centuries.

CREEDS are theological tenets or doctrinal professions of one’s religious beliefs:

The Apostles’ Creed is considered the most generally acceptable tenets of Christian faith professed by most of the Christian denominations. The Apostles’ Creed dates back to the 1st century and each of the doctrines in this creed can be traced back to tenets from the Disciples. This creed was not only used as the memorized summary of the Christian doctrines for baptismal candidates in the Apostolic churches but is also widely used today by a number of Christian denominations in their baptisms, liturgies and religious training, including the Catholic Churches, Eastern Orthodoxies, Lutherans, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists.

The Nicene Creed was an expansion of the Apostles’ Creed as a result of the Council of Nicaea in 325 and the Council of Constantinople in 381 called by the Roman Emperor Constantine to iron out the variety of Christian beliefs that were in circulation around the Roman Empire at the time. It was ratified as the universal creed of Christian beliefs by the First Council of Ephesus in 431 establishing the One, Holy, Catholic (meaning universal), and Apostolic Church.

The Chalcedonian Creed came out of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 which stated that Jesus Christ was two natures perfectly united into one, divine and human, indivisible and inseparable. This was in conflict with several ancient Christianities and was rejected by many of them eventually causing schisms and Alternative Christianities.

The Athanasian Creed went even further by explicitly proclaiming the Christians worshipped only One God (Abrahamic monotheism) and Jesus Christ is completely and has forever been consubstantial with the Father and Holy Spirit in the Holy Trinity. Like the Nicene Creed and Chalcedonian Creed, it was well-received in the Western Churches but rejected by the Eastern (Orthodox) Churches. This was the basis for many of the Alternative Christianities.

Most Christians (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestants) accept and subscribe to at least one of the creeds above.

CATHOLICISM is a board term encompassing many different Western and Eastern Rites who basically have a common faith, Christology, doctrine, liturgy, and ethics. The Western and Eastern Rites that are in full communion with the Holy See in Rome are usually referred to as the "Catholic Church or more specifically the Roman Catholic Church."

There are Rites that fall under the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith who share reciprocal recognition but remain independent. Such is the case with Eastern Orthodox Churches who also share the same unbroken apostolic succession and it mutually recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. Similar reciprocity is shared with certain rites of the Anglican, Episcopal, and Lutheran Churches whose breaks with the Roman Catholic Church took Bishops with them.

The Roman Catholic Church has many Rites under its wings respecting their varied apostolic heritages; although they share the same theology and dogma, their worship liturgies may vary. The most populous and well-known is the Latin Rite, the Western Church, or the Roman Rite. There are also 22 Eastern Catholic Rites or Churches, 14 of which are the Byzantine Liturgical Rites. There are 7 non-Roman, non-Latin, Eastern Catholic Rites or Churches: Armenian, Coptic, Byzantine, Ethiopian, East Syrian (Chaldean), West Syrian, and Maronite; they all still fall under the Pope in Rome.

Then there are Catholic Churches, basically the same as the Roman Catholic Church except they may profess different traditions that are not agreed upon or fall under the auspicious of Rome, the Holy See, and the Pope, such as Anglican (the Church of England formed by the English Reformation), Episcopal (the American Anglican Church), the Old Catholics, the Liberal Catholic Church, the Apostolic Catholic Church, Aglipayans (Philippine) Catholic Church, the African Orthodox Church, the Polish National Catholic Church, the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church (a state supervised Catholic Church), or hybrid churches such as the Reformed Anglican Church or the High Lutheran Church.

PROTESTANTISM broke away from Catholic theology and dogma based on their beliefs call the Five Solas claiming salvation is gained only through God’s will and action (which are major differences from the beliefs of Catholicism):

• Sola Scriptura (only by the Scriptures. They are ALL inspired and without error, providing daily guidance).

• Sola Fide (only by having Faith in Jesus Christ. Faith only is needed without having to do any Good Works).

• Sola Gratia (only by the Grace of God. Salvation is granted by God at His will without any human contribution).

• Sola Christos (only through Jesus Christ. He is the sole intermediary between man and God the Father).

• Sola Deo Gloria (only by giving Praise and Glory to God; Praise and Glory always must be given to Him).

PROTESTANT EVANGELISM began in the 1730’s in England out of the Methodist movement by Presbyterians. It originally came out of the original Calvinist movement whose major belief was predestination or that your eternal fate in Heaven or Hell had already been determined from the moment you were born and you can do nothing to change that fate. This underlying theme is in some of the Five Solas. It came to America as part of the Great Awakening of the 18th and 19th centuries by the Methodist founders John Wesley and George Whitfield. It became a mixture of Methodism, Pietism, Presbyterianism, and Puritanism. It is a loose configuration of 100’s of churches and 100’s of organizations under the umbrella of World Alliance of Evangelists. The United States today has ¼ of the world’s evangelists.

There 4 tenets of Protestant Evangelism are:

• The need for "Conversionism or being born again" and changing your life (John 1:12-13 and 3:1-21); which is similar to the need for constant life-long repentance espoused by Martin Luther.

• "Biblicism" is that the Bible is the sole and inerrant basis and authority for salvation; a tenet of Martin Luther.

• "Crucicentrism" that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was for the forgiveness of our human sins.

• "Activism" or the active expression and sharing of the Gospels including preaching and social actions.

FUNDAMENTALISM has been described as the militant evangelists who aggressively attack liberals and liberal mainline Protestants and Catholics. The movement was begun by conservative Presbyterians at Princeton Theological Seminary. It was solidified by the Niagara Bible Conference (1878-1897) and was formalized with the publication of The Fundamentalist in 1910. Evangelism and fundamentalism were considered one and the same until the 1950’s and the fundamentalists became too militant for the evangelists.

The fundamentalists even to a greater extent emphasize Biblical inspiration, inerrancy, and the absolute historical accuracy of the events and miracles described in the Bible and especially the New Testament.

PENTECOSTALISM believes in the inerrancy and strict interpretation of the Bible and in accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. They believe that Baptism is by the Holy Spirit (like the Pentecost of the Apostles) in which, if you are sincere, you will receive spiritual gifts such as speaking in foreign tongues and being able to perform Divine healings.

DISCIPLE(S), as derived from its Latin and Greek origins, means a pupil, student, apprentice, or an equivalent. In formal Christian usage it is a student of Jesus, or in the plural refers to Jesus’ inner circle, the Twelve, the Twelve Disciples, the Twelve Apostles, or equivalent. If spelled with a capital "D in this treatise it is meant to reference the 12 direct Disciples in Jesus’ inner circle" plus Mary Magdalene only. Some of the Twelve Disciples were given a mission, making them Apostles (defined next) or missionaries, sent out to proclaim the Good News of the Savior to the world. The early Greek phrase Good News evolved into the word Gospel.

APOSTLE(S), as defined from its Greek and Roman origins, means a missionary. A Disciple can be referred to as an Apostle which is indicated with a capital "A. But obviously not all people called apostles (with a small a) were one of the original Disciples. This is an important distinction when talking about the propriety of a group of people. Jesus’ Disciples would instruct, train, and send out apostles as missionaries to other regions to preach and convert. Used in the strictest sense, the apostles were only the ones trained by Jesus or His Disciples on what to preach; after that it starts getting fuzzy over who preachers were trained by. There are people who call themselves, or are referred to by others, a disciple or an apostle but who are neither. No one beyond those trained and sent out by the Disciples is an apostle."

IMPORTANT POINT: Paul was neither a direct Disciple of Jesus nor an authorized apostle or missionary. Paul had no problem calling people disciples or apostles like himself or Barnabas, whereas they really were not. In fact, James, Peter, John, and other Disciples did not approve of Paul’s teachings and told him to cease and desist.

PRONOUNS, like He, Him, Himself, My, Me, Mine are usually capitalized when they refer specifically to Jesus or God. This is not only for a matter of clarity reflecting to whom the pronoun pertains; but also as a sign of respect in this treatise.

RANKING OF WORLDS RELIGIONS:

It is probably appropriate to show where Christianity stands with the world population.

33% Christian (The three major theological divisions are: Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant)

21% Roman Catholic

7% Protestant

5% Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Other Non-Protestant (e.g. non-Roman Catholics)

21%Islam

45%Other

13% Hindu

6% Buddhist

26% Indigenous Religions, Atheists, and Others

Credit: Wikipedia for helping with the definitions and statistics

###############################

CHAPTER 2

THE SCHISM IN THE BIBLES

THE CATHOLIC VERSION VS.

THE PROTESTANT VERSIONS

NATIONAL BIBLE ASSOCIATION

According to the National Bible Association’s website (nationalbible.org), Catholics and Protestants have different versions of the Bible because Catholics and Protestants have different doctrine and dogma which results in differences in word choices, translations, style, and explanations. A major difference is the contents; both have the four same gospels but the Catholic version has 73 books, whereas the Protestant has only 66 books. The missing 7 books are: Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Shoman, Sirach (or Ecclessasticaus), and Barach; plus extra verses and chapters in the Book of Daniels and Esther. Wording was deleted or changed to accommodate the Protestant Reformers.

What difference does it make? A GREAT DEAL! And more so when it comes to selective translations. For example, for the French au revior, most would say it translates into English as goodbye, or some would say see you later, or so long. All mean different things. The same in the Bible, there are many ways words and sentences could be translated. A word for word translation of au revoir is until the next time we see each other, which is quite different than some saying a finite goodbye. In the days of Jesus and for centuries afterwards, there were no dictionaries or vocabularies to reference in translating, and for the lost languages of ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Coptic Egyptian some never existed.

According to the National Bible Association there are eight major English translations of the Protestant Bible:

• Contemporary English Version

• King James Version

• The New King James Version

• The New American Bible

• The New International Version

• The New American Standard Bible

• The New Revised Standard Version

• The Living Bible

However, according to the National Bible Association there is only ONE English translation of the Catholic Bible:

• Revised Standard Version—Catholic Edition

It is the English translation of the Latin Vulgate Bible, still in use, translated from the most original Greek texts in 375.

In the 1500’s (16th Century, 1200 years later), the Protestant reformers re-organized and re-wrote the "Catholic’ Bible. According to religiousfacts.com, the Protestants of the 16th century OBJECTED and REJECTED books and verses in their NEW version of the Bible to accommodate the changes they wanted in order to delete selected catholic teachings, for example:

• 2 Maccabees 12:39-46 had the doctrine of Purgatory and importance of prayers and sacrifices for the dead.

• Tobias teaches the importance in the eyes of God of doing Good Works.

Protestant reformers rejected the doing of good works. They appear in the Lutheran and Anglican appendices, but the other Protestant churches rejected them all together. Luther especially disapproved of the Epistles of the Disciple James it espoused the necessity of doing good works.

The Protestant Bible changed the Gloria in Luke 2:14 from "men of good will to read good will toward men." This treatise will include the changes, accidentally and purposely, made by the persons who rewrote the Bible.

THE AUTHORS

The author is to whom the narrative is attributed, which may not actually been written by them, but later by someone else. The 12 Disciples were Peter, Matthew, Thomas, Andrew, Simon, James Zebedee, Bartholomew, James Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Philip, John, and Judas Iscariot. Mark and Luke were not Disciples [speculation forthcoming].

WHO ARE OFFICIALLY CHRISTIANS?

In A.D. 325, the Nicene Creed was issued by the Nicaea Council, a conference of Christian bishops, to be the agreed upon universal Christian beliefs. It was based on the wording established by the Disciples, called the Apostles’ Creed which had to be recited from memory and with sincerity in order to be baptized as a Christian. If you do not, or no longer, believe or profess any of these creeds, you are NOT a real Christian according to the Council of Nicaea.

The Apostles’ Creed (a current version)

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth,

And in Jesus Christ, His only son, Our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;

He descended into Hell; on the third day he arose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

The holy catholic [universal Christian] church,

The communion of saints,

The forgiveness of sins

The resurrection of the body,

And the life everlasting. Amen

The Nicene Creed (a current version)

I believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the God, born of the Father before all ages,

God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,

Begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through Him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven,

And by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man.

For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, He suffered death, and was buried,

And rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

Who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins

And I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

For those of you that prefer to read the Nicene Creed in its original Latin as written by the Council of Nicaea of 325:

Credo In Unum Deum, Patrem Omnipotentem,

Factorem Caeli et Terrae, Visbilium Omnium et Invisibilium.

Et in Unum Dominum Lesum Christum,

Filium Dei Unigenitum,

Et Ex Patre Natum Ante Omnia Saecula.

Deum de Deo, Lumen de Lumine, Deum Verum de Deo Vero,

Genitum, Non Factum, Consubstantiarem Patri,

Per Quem Omnia Facta Sunt.

Qui Propter nos Homines Nostram Salutem

Et Propter Descendit de Caelis.

Et Incarnatus Est de Spiritu Santo ex Maria Virgine,

Et Homo Factus Est.

Crucifixus Etiam Pro Nobis sub Pontio Pilato,

Passus, Et Sepultus Est,

Et Resurrepit Tertia Die, Secudum Scriptures,

Et Ascendi in Caelum, Sedetad Dexteram Patris.

Et Iterum Venturus est cum Gloria,

Ludicare Vivos et Mortuos,

Cuius Regni Non Erit Finis,

Et in Spiritum Sacratum, Dominum et Vinificantem Qui Ex Patre Filique Procedit,

Qui Cum Patre et Kilio Simui Addratur et Conglorificantur,

Qui Locutus Est Per Prophetas.

Et Unum, Sanctum, Catholicam et Apostoliram Ecclesian,

Confiteor Unum Baptisma in Remissionem Peccatorum.

Et Expecto Resurrectiunem Mortuorum,

Et Vitam Ventruri Saeculi. Amen.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

There is not a full agreement on the Ten Commandments (Jewish, Catholic, Protestant respectively):

I J: I am the Lord your God who has taken you out of the land of Egypt.

C: I, the Lord, am your God. You shall not have other gods besides me.

P: You shall have no other gods but me.

II J: You shall have no other gods but me.

C: You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.

P: You shall not make unto you any graven images.

III J: You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.

C: Remember to keep Holy the Lord’s Day.

P: You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.

IV J: You shall remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy.

C: Honor your Father and Mother.

P: You shall remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy.

V J: Honor your Mother and Father.

C: You shall not kill.

P: Honor your Mother and Father.

VI J: You shall not murder.

C: You shall not commit adultery.

P: You shall not murder.

VII J: You shall not commit adultery.

C: You shall not steal.

P: You shall not commit adultery.

VIII J: You shall not steal.

C: You shall not bear false witness.

P: You shall not steal.

IX J: You shall not bear false witness.

C: You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.

P: You shall not bear false witness.

X J: You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.

C: You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

P: You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Postscript: I heard that when people want to post the Ten Commandments in City Hall or any public place, they always have to ask, Which Ten Commandments?

CHAPTER 3

CHOOSING A BIBLE

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY BIBLES…?

WHICH VERSION SHOULD I CHOOSE TO READ?

WHICH ONE SHOULD I BELIEVE?

My research has taught me so much about all the really different versions of the Bible; major differences. In Chapter 2, we have already established there are two different main categories of the Christian Bible: the Catholic version and the Protestant version. Just to recap one of the main points in Chapter 2, the Protestant version, or we should really establish, the multiple Protestant versions, is an abbreviated version of the Catholic Bible. It is missing whole books, chapters and verses. They even purposely changed the long-standing historical version of the Bible in order to conform to the revised beliefs of the Protestant Reformation in the 15th and 16th centuries. Notably, "no need for good works and no need to pray for the dead" which became a firm line of demarcation between Catholicism and most forms of the new Protestantism; so all references to them were deleted from the Protestant Bible [which will be covered later on].

In all fairness, we can no longer properly use the term "Bible." A bible, derived from the Latin, means "a book" or more loosely "a collection of books." There is no one book we can call exclusively The Bible. There are innumerable versions of this book, currently and in antiquity, for which all have been referred to as The Bible or Holy Scriptures.

On a high-level, there are arguably five major categories of Bibles, or to be more exact, Holy Scriptures:

1. The Jewish or Hebrew Bible, or the Tanakh (which the Christians call the "Old Testament"),

2. The Islam Bible, or the "Qur’an," or "Koran" (which include the books of the prophet Mohammed),

3. The Catholic Bible, or the "Latin Vulgate" from the 4th century, which includes all the books of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) and the Christian Bible (the New Testament),

4. The Protestant Bibles were abbreviated and retranslated versions of the Catholic Bible, and

5. The Church of Latter Day Saints which is a Protestant Bible which includes "The Book of Mormon."

It should be noted that only the Jewish and Islam Bibles are still used religiously in their original form and language and which have not been subject to translations and, as such, cannot be included in this discussion.

This is not meant to discredit the Protestant Bibles, just that they should not act like or refer to it, as many of them do, as if it is: "THE BIBLE or THE ONE AND ONLY Bible." It is ONE OF MANY versions of The Christian Bible.

When someone says, "It says in the Bible…" the best response comes from the world-renowned psychic and Gnostic, Sylvia Browne who replies, Which one of the many Bible versions are you referring to?

There are two main reasons for there being so many versions of the bibles currently available:

1. Translations:

It is the choice, or the selection, of words used in translating the Bible from one language to another. This "selection or choice" of words can be influenced intellectually or can be politically motivated. Sometimes, the words were unintentionally or accidentally changed due to the lack of education in the language of the original document being translated (and even more likely when it is an ancient language or an ancient form of a language, for which there are no longer any native speakers or educators fluent in a language of thousand years previous). Also those not familiar with the language into which the Bible is being translated would change some words (somewhat less likely but more consistent when there is no exact matching corresponding word that properly reflects the same exact meaning as the original word being translated). Then there is an opportunity that conveniently presents itself to change words consciously either arbitrarily, theologically, or politically to represent a specific meaning or for a desired result.

Such is the case when the line in the "Gloria" words at the nativity, "Peace to men of Good Will" the translation of "pax (peace) hominibus (to men) bonae (good) voluntatis (will) was purposely and flagrantly changed to Good Will towards men" (what happened to "pax"?) by the Protestant Reformers who wanted to distance themselves from the need to perform "Good Works for salvation as professed by the Catholic Churches but instead claim faith only" is required.

2. Intentional Changes:

Whole books, chapters, and verses have been deleted or changed with the pure and simple intention of restructuring dogma. Such was the case when Protestant Reformers left out sections from the 1200 year old Christian Bible and deleted passages that referred to the Judeo-Christian belief in a "state of purgatory or purification" before entering the Kingdom and the need to pray for the dead.

So the purpose of this chapter is help you decide which is the right biblical translation and version for you; that is, of course, if you are not already firmly set on YOUR preferred version, but are interested in making an educated decision. Beware, there are plenty of people who have no problem telling you which versions are the "bad" ones—but more times than not this means it is NOT the approved version of their church, pastor, or denomination. It is up to you to leave your decision and spiritual path to be led or misled by people with a prejudiced and biased opinion.

My favorite quote (paraphrased) of Jesus in the Gospel of Peter is, Beware of the false ministers, for they will worship the dead man [Jesus] instead the Living God [Christ], for their wells are empty, and they will lead you to Hell, and you will lose your salvation along with them. Sometimes it is not easy to tell which are the false ministers?

SO WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS WITH TRANSLATIONS?

Although the translation of words, meanings, and ideas from one language into another language is usually a fairly simple process, sometimes obstacles are encountered. There are words or idioms for which there are not any word for word, or meaning for meaning, exact matches in the new language. Sometimes the translator does not have sufficient knowledge of the old, or worse both, languages. Many times they just settle for their "best translation, that is, what is in their opinion the best translation. There are nuances found in the oral versus written word, such as vocal inflection, or the difference between a face-to-face conversation versus via email or text. Sometimes it is good enough to translate verbatim by use of a dictionary, but to use the correct word, not just any dictionary word, but one must consider the more appropriate word within the larger context that represents what the author actually meant. It is like translating the word to play" depends on whether you mean to play a game or to play an instrument, which in many languages, unlike English, has different equivalent words or for which there is no close equivalent. I know this all sounds very confusing, but let me give you an example: I had a teller who when she took in a transaction at the bank, had as the first item listed in her notes, "Make sure everything is Kosher." For those that don’t know, "Kosher" is a Jewish word