THE SECRET, HIDDEN BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
by Larry Bubb

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"How do we know truth?" asked someone during our Bible study home group. In a rare moment of brilliance, I had the answer ….. "Go to snopes.com!"

It is interesting how many Discovery Channel or History Channel shows try to pull viewers in by "informing" them about some secret writing, like the Gospel of Judas, not included in the Bible, that has been covered up and kept secret from the masses until now. Another of these is the Gospel of Thomas. I saw a video clip of a lady scholar on one of these TV shows who spoke very highly about the Gospel of Thomas. You could tell she was an authority because she was sitting in a church with a cross behind her! Unfortunately, I am not so sure she has actually read the entire book. Check out this passage:

114 Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life."² Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. ³For every female who makes herself male will enter the domain of Heaven." (emphasis added)

I'll bet you did not know that Jesus advocated sex changes and required everyone to be male to enter heaven! On top of that, Paul tells us that Peter's wife was also a believer [1 Cor 9:5], so it's hard to believe that Peter thought women were not "worthy of life." Let me assure you, there are huge reasons why books like this did not make it into our Bible Canon.

Another huge reason our current Bible stands out above other early writings is the incredible manuscript evidence. Undisputed historians of that time have very few manuscripts to support their work. For instance, the writings of Tacitus have 20, yet no one disputes their reliability. 643 manuscripts support Homer's "The Iliad" which is the most for any book written during that time ….. except one. Over 24,000 manuscripts all confirm the accuracy of the New Testament. It blows every other writing out of the water!

The brilliant Bible scholar and apologist, Norman Geisler, sent me his massive PowerPoint on the veracity of the New Testament (I'd be happy to send it to you if your email allows you to receive a file of 11 megs!). One of Geisler's illustrations, which resonates with me, is in response to the misleading accusations made by author Bart Ehrman about errors in manuscripts.

 If you got a letter in the mail saying:

1. YOU HAVE WON TEN MILLION DOLLARS or

2. THOU HAST WON 10 MILLION DOLLARS or

3. Y’ALL HAVE WON $10,000,000

        Of 27 letters in line 2, only 7 are the same in line 3 (c. 26 % ), yet the message is 100 % identical!

        Even Bart Ehrman admits: “In fact, most of the changes found in early Christian manuscripts have nothing to do with theology or ideology. Far and away the most changes are the result of mistakes pure and simple—slips of the pen, accidental omissions, inadvertent additions, misspelled words, blunders of one sort of another.” 

Even IF there were minor errors or differences like:

Manuscript #1:   Jesus Chris died for our sins

Manuscript #2:   Jsus Christ died for or sins

Manuscript #3:   Jesus Christ died our sins

Manuscript #4:   Jesus Christ died for sins

100% of the message comes through!

“All I am in private life is a literary critic and historian, that’s my job.  And I am prepared to say on that basis if anyone thinks the Gospels are either legend or novels, then that person is simply showing his incompetence as a literary critic.  I’ve read a great many novels and I know a fair amount about the legends that grew up among early people, and I know perfectly well the Gospels are not that kind of stuff.”

~ C. S. Lewis, Christian Reflections, 209

If someone chooses to be naïve and uninformed, that is their option. However, this is such an important area to take the time to look into because it does deal with ideas of eternal significance not to mention the quality and meaning of these few years spent visiting this planet. But remember, "Knowledge puffs up, but LOVE builds up …." I Cor. 8:1a

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