Do any of you mix Christianity with other beliefs?

[Chris_]

Do you realized that a scribe was allowed to make no more than one error on a page and no more than three errors in an entire work? A a single ink dot in the wrong place counted as an error. Not a lot of room for improper translation.

---I am sure there were standards to which translations and writings were held, but the bottom line is, it was done by "human hands". Humans are not perfect, and I can not be convinced that there were absolutely NO errors, EVER.

The canonical Bible was established in 397 AD. The Roman Catholic Church did not officially canonize the Apocrypha until the Council of Trent (1546 AD). This was in part because the Apocrypha contained material which supported certain Catholic doctrines, such as purgatory, praying for the dead, and the treasury of merit.

--This is confusing to me, the way you worded this. It sounds contradictory.

Actually no. The King James was a translation to common English of the canonical Bible (397 AD), which does not contain the books of the apacypha, and the canonical Bible was the widly accepted version among Christians of the day.

-- This is what I found on a website: http://www.apuritansmind.com/ChristianWalk/BibleTimeline.htm

And it says:
--1609 AD: The first printing of the King James Bible; originally with All 80 Books.
--1611 AD: The King James Bible revised and printed; all 80 Books. The Apocrypha was Officially Removed in 1885 Leaving Only 66 Books.

I believe you are way off base here. The Dead Sea scrolls that have been examined confirm that our current translations of the Bible are accurate. The word Christian is defined in the Bible. Christians were first called Christians at Antioch. At that time, the word disciple meant any follower not just the original 12, after all Saul (Paul) was not one of the original 12 and Judas was dead.

--The Dead Sea Scrolls are not the same as the books included in the Nag Hummadi library, where books like the Gospel of Thomas exist.

I am not saying that Catholics are not Christians. Some certainly are; some are not. That is the same with all people that go to Christian churchs. Some of them are real believers and some just go because (insert any number of reasons except to worship God).

--Yes, I agree, that Christians were first called "Christians" at Antioch, but I was more referring to how the word "Christian" is used today. For example, I know people who do not believe Catholics to be "Christian", and have heard various reasons. Everything from "they worship Mary" to "they drink alcohol" and "they are cannibals" (referring to the transubstantiation during the Eucharist). The commonly understood term "Christian", today, seems to embody so much more than "Follower of Christ". For example, my uncle and aunt, who I love dearly, will both tell you that someone who drinks any type of alcoholic beverage is "not a real Christian". It's this sort of thing that drives me crazy.

 

[2ndAmendment]

Did you miss this from the very site you linked?

500 BC: Roughly the time of completion of All Original Hebrew Manuscripts which make up the 39 Books of the Old Testament.

200 BC: Completion of the Septuagint Greek Manuscripts which contain The 39 Old Testament Books and the 14 Apocrypha Books.

100 AD: Completion of All Original Greek Manuscripts which make up the 27 Books of the New Testament.

390 AD: Jerome's Latin Vulgate Manuscripts Produced which contain All 80 Books (39 Old Test. + 14 Apocrypha + 27 New Test; though the Apocrypha was a cut and paste effort upon pressure by the church, and not by Jerome’s choice (he did not believe the apocryphal books were canonical.).

397 AD: Athanasius heads a council to canonize the Bible as Protestants have it today. 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books without the Apocryphal books.

The Apocryphal books existed by 200 BC but were only in the Greek not the original Hebrew/Aramaic. They had been added but they were not official doctrine (canonized). Also the Apocryphal books are considered Old Testament since they were written before the birth of Jesus. In 390 AD, Latin Vulgate Manuscripts were produced by Jerome. They contained the Apocryphal books but only at the insistence of the church. Jerome did not believe them. There was a council held in 397 AD to decide on the canonical Bible. The Apocryphal books were not retained since the Old Testament was to be as recieved from the Jews or the Hebrew version which was complete in 500 BC before Greek influence. The first canonical Bible used by the Church only had 66 books, 39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament. Since the Church had not split into denominations this version of the Bible was used by what became the Catholic church. The Catholic church chose to add the Apocryphal books after 397 AD, because some reinforced some ideas that only Catholics believe like purgatory. The Apocryphal books that are currently in the Catholic Bible were not canonized (made official) until 1546 AD. Got the time line now? The Apocyphal books were not considered part of the Catholic Bible until 1149 years after the Bible had been canonized with the 66 books, 39 original Hebrew/Aramaic Old Testament and 27 New Testament.

The validity of the translations is absolute. Three errors in an entire work. I am not talking about large errors. An error was as small as a dot of ink that was not supposed to be there. If there was a spelling error or a word left out, the entire page was discarded. The original scroll that was being copied was compared word for word and line for line against the copy by at least one senior scribe after the copy was complete. Like I said, there was very little room for mistranslation. Believe as you will, but the scribes were the Xerox machines of the day.

Tell your aunt that the wine Jesus made from water at Cana was not non-alcoholic.

John 2:1-11
1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

4“Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied, “My time has not yet come.”

5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.[a]

7Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

8Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, 9and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

11This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

And Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine because it is good for you. Scientists finally figured this out a few years ago.

I Timothy 5:23
23Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.

All she or anyone has to do is read the scripture to know the Truth.