[Mycernius]

Originally Posted by Someday

Have you ever played that game where one person whispers a phrase into the ear of another and then they whisper it into the ear of another and then another, etc.? We all know what happens to that whispered message when it reaches the end of the chain. Almost always it is perverted into something having nothing to do with the original phrase.
There was a time, before our society was literate, where oral tradition was passed from generation to generation nearly unchanged. That changed with the advent of books and literate society. Our memories for the spoken word is nothing like it used to be.

Would you still throw the Bible out?

If you where a Muslim would you still throw the Qu'ran out, that was, after all, based on oral tradition? Even so with a oral tradition stories still change. Look at the various myths from Sumer, Greece and Egypt. The basic outline is there, but changed to suit the differing tribes and cultures as it spread. I'd say the best example of a ancient myth becoming something different within a seperate culture is the story of Noah. Originating in Persian myth the details vary from Sumerian, Babylonian and Abassinyian and change quite radically by the time it gets over to Judea.

You may say I'm being silly, or that that wouldn't happen, but the fact of the matter is, look around you, it already happens. Christian cults already exist that distort the message of Jesus in ways that are very harmful towards themselves and others. Some more mainstream Christians distort it in some ways when it pleases them, and we have the Bible to counter it. I wonder how to counter it in ways they would find meaningful without referring to the Bible?

But various differing denominations have changed the Bible to suit themselves, who is to say what the originally should say. As I don't know which denomination you follow I couldn't say whether you think your version is the coreect one.

This is exactly why the New Testament was put together to begin with. Not to be inspired holy writings to be worshiped in the place of God, but to counter the many perversions of what many orthodox Christians considered false instructions by groups that adopted Jesus, such as the Gnostics did.

Blessings

The original bible passages were selected by committee by St. Augustine and his mob. The Gnostic texts very nearly found their way into the Bible except they lost out by voting, not that they were incorrect. Some denominations still use the rejected texts. I take it you are protestant in your belief, so you have rejected passages and books that Catholics accept. So is the Catholic Bible the real bible or they one created after the reformation?