Who wrote the Bible? - Channel 4 Christmas Day 20:30

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ClubMan

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Since it's relevant to some discussions here on AAM recently and over the past year, some people might be interested in the Channel 4 programme titled Who Wrote the Bible? to be broadcast on Christmas Day:
20:30 &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Who Wrote the Bible? [subtitles]

Theologian Robert Beckford grew up believing that The Bible was the literal truth. But, 20 years on from his Baptist upbringing, Beckford is no longer so sure that the good book is the pure, unadulterated word of God untouched by human hand.
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That might be interesting. I was at a carol service in the Methodist church on Leeson St yesterday and started reading the introduction to the bible which was on the seat. It was very interesting reading the detail of who was involved in translating that edition and why they changed certain things (moving away from thy, thine etc). Haven't had a chance to look through the Christmas tv guide yet but I think this might be worth a look-see. Thanks.
 
The history of the collation of the Bible (e.g. the different collations of [broken link removed] most likely passed down through oral retelling into Gospels or proto-Gospels, the eventual selection of certain writings and translations as authoritative etc.) is very interesting. I've read a bit about it on the web and in http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140144994/qid=1103556128/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/104-0536832-5785558 (this book) in particular and am looking forward to the C4 programme. There was also an interesting programm on TV yesterday (not sure which channel) about the historical figure of Herod (The Great) which corrected/rebutted some of the Biblical statements about him.
 
The Bible was written by Constantinople in the 3rd century! He took bits of all religons at the time to help make his life easier! He was a sun-worshipper himself but was also a politican so did what he thought wouold keep everyone happy. There were a lot more than four versions of the bible as we like to believe!
He changed the sabbath from Saturday to Sunday to appease his sun-worshipping fans! Hiram Key, Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons! All along the Bible has been changed to suit the upper echelons!
 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantinople
Constantinople (Roman name: Constantinopolis; Greek: Konstantinoupolis or Êùíóôáíôéíïýðïëç) is the former name of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Its original name was Byzantium (Greek: Byzantion or Âõæáíôéïí, pronounced roughly Booz-dan-tee-on). The name is a reference to the Roman emperor Constantine I who made it the capital of the Roman Empire on May 11, 330 AD. Constantine named the city Nova Roma (New Rome), but that name never came into common use.

Constantinople was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantine times the Greeks called Constantinople i Poli ("the City") , since it was the centre of the Greek world and for most of the Byzantine period the largest city in Europe. It was captured and sacked by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and then re-captured by Nicaean forces under the command of Michael VIII Palaeologus in 1261.

Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire finally fell to the Ottoman Empire on May 29, 1453 (See the Fall of Constantinople). The Ottoman Turks called the city Stamboul or Istanbul, from the original Greek "eis tin Poli" (to the city.) When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the capital was moved from Istanbul to Ankara.
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Con...man_Empire
[broken link removed]

Flavius Valerius Constantinus (272–May 22, 337), commonly known as Constantine I or Constantine the Great, was proclaimed Augustus by his troops on July 25, 306 and ruled an ever-growing portion of the Roman Empire to his death. Constantine is famed for his refounding of Byzantium as "New Rome," which was always called "Constantine's City"— Constantinople. With the "Edict of Milan" in 313, Constantine and his co-Emperor removed all onus from Christianity. By taking the personal step of convoking the Council of Nicaea (325) Constantine began the Roman Empire's unofficial sponsoring of Christianity, which was a major factor in that religion's spread. His reputation as the "first Christian Emperor" was promulgated by Lactantius and Eusebius and gained ground in the succeeding generations.
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The Bible was written by Constantinople in the 3rd century!

It's not as straightforward as that as far as I know. He may have performed further collation and selection but he was not the primary source of most of the material in the Bible as far as I know since most of the Gospels and (now apocryphal) proto-Gospels and St. Paul's letters were written (or collated/arranged) well before the 3rd century. This Wikipedia article might be of interest in relation to key dates in the history of the New Testament.
 
Yes they were supposedly written by many before the 3rd century but only what Constantinople saw fit went into 'The Bible'!
 
That doesn't seem to tally with what's stated here. In fact Wikipedia makes no mention at all of Constantine at all in relation to the canonisation of the New Testament.
 
i think redbhoy recently finished the Da Vinci Code, was blown away by the conspiracy theory and now accepts Dan Brown's theories as fact.
 
Perhaps. It's worth pointing out that The Da Vinci Code is actually a work of fiction in spite of what some people may think or the fact that it appeared on one non-fiction best seller list regardless!
 
I finished the Da Viinci code a while back but it was the book i read before that on the history of Freemasonry that opened my eyes to the farce that is Christianity. The Hiram Key!
Most of the information in the Da Vinci is fact! Just a story made up from all the facts! A bit like Christianity!
 
In fairness - there's a lot of "fact" in the DaVinci Code which is far from that. I've read that it's highly unlikely for instance that This post will be deleted if not edited immediately would have married Mary. It was (if you believe it) far more likely that it was her sister that he married. But I have no documentation to back that up and I'm too lazy today to google. If you Google I'm quite sure you'll find sites that refute a lot of the DaVinci Code's main points concerning Christianity.

There are also those who believe that John (Mary) in the painting of the last Supper was in fact Da Vinci himself (despite the obvious breasts). He was known for his sense of humour. But I'm only speculating on what I've read subsequent to the DaVinci Code.

I'd take that book with the same large pinch of salt that you take with the story and life of This post will be deleted if not edited immediately according to The Bible.
 
I've read that it's highly unlikely for instance that This post will be deleted if not edited immediately would have married Mary.

I presume you mean Joseph? :eek

opened my eyes to the farce that is Christianity.

Please note, in case of any confusion, that I personally am not dismissing Christianity as a "farce", even if I don't believe in it or the divinity of Christ (or any other being for that matter), and consider it a bit rude/insensitive for somebody to dismiss the beliefs of others in this brusque manner. However I am very interested in the verifiable and supportable historical facts about This post will be deleted if not edited immediately, the birth of Christianity, other linked figures and events and how Biblical content relates to these. This is the main reason that I posted the original information about the C4 programme in case anybody else was similarly interested in this subject.
 
I presume you mean Joseph?

No...I mean that This post will be deleted if not edited immediately would have married Mary Magdalene. That's the DaVinci Code story anyway. I've read that it's more likely that he married her sister. I'm not saying I believe it - just that it's another (plausible?) storyline.
 
I see - I thought you had This post will be deleted if not edited immediately doing an Oedipus for a moment there!
 
Another interesting book is This post will be deleted if not edited immediately by A.N.Wilson, published some years ago. The author describes it as a biography of This post will be deleted if not edited immediately the man rather than the deity, and he attempts to distill the facts about the life of This post will be deleted if not edited immediately from what is written in the gospels and the letters of St. Paul. Along the way it provides interesting insights to the origins of the books of the New Testament.
 
I must get http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0449908070/qid=1103808760/sr=2-3/ref=pd_ka_b_2_3/103-3380437-4683856 (that one) at some stage. I have been re-reading http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140144994/qid=1103808683/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/103-3380437-4683856 (The Historical Figure of This post will be deleted if not edited immediately by E.P. Sanders) recently as it happens.
 
That program was a sprawling mishmash of information. One thing that I did take away from it was that not even christian theologians take the bible (in its entireity) as literal fact. Which might dissapoint Clubman.

I look forward to the next program...Who Wrote The Koran?
 
That program was a sprawling mishmash of information.

I agree that it was somewhat bitty although admittedly it was trying to cram a lot into just two hours. The presenter's incessant hand waving and nodding were very distracting too. :\

One thing that I did take away from it was that not even christian theologians take the bible (in its entireity) as literal fact.

Yes - although there were quite a few people interviewed who did believe in it as literal truth.

Which might dissapoint Clubman.

Not at all - why would you assume that? I'm all for skepticism, historical accuracy and scientific objectivity.

I look forward to the next program...Who Wrote The Koran?

For what it's worth [broken link removed] mentions the programme and also deals with some other religions too.
 
I thought you recently had a debate going about innacuracies in the bible? This 'not literal truth' angle dodges the contradictions issue neatly.

I don't see any news of a program on the Koran being produced. They wouldn't dare!
 
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