Vacate wrote:
quote:
Its sad really when you realize how limited your knowledge of a subject really is. ....
Equinox, Nasr Allah, and Archer Opterix have shown that I know virtually zero about the progression of the bible.
Aww..... Don't be too hard on yourself. You already know more than most people, maybe even most Christians. Take it easy and take your time.
quote:
I thank all of you for possibly ruining months of my time trying to understand how things came about. Too many topics to cover and not enough days in the week.
Again, take your time. There is no rush, no final exam next week, or such. An easy and simple start is to get the tape/CD lectures I linked to on post #103 - then you can listen when you drive, and no extra time is needed from your life. Compare various, disagreeing sources (not just what we mention). Take time to look carefully at exactly what each source you read is saying - especially watch for grand generalizations without testable, specific points. For instance, you may read:
quote:
"The Bible is the single most influential book in history, and we know it better than most ancient documents. Historians marvel at how accuratly it has been preserved, and how really reliable it is."
So what does that really say? Which historians? Just any? A few? What can you test against other information? Anything from that? How reliable is "really reliable"? How well do we know most ancient documents? Does being taller than a midget make you tall? What is meant by "marvel at", etc.
Compare points, for instance, one source may read "the differences between our manuscripts are mostly irrelevant, since they are almost all spelling or other small errors", and another may say "there are thousands of differences, leading to many verses being in question".
Those seem to suggest different things, but both are completely true. There are actually many thousands of differences and changes, so if even a few percent of them are not spelling errors, that's still hundreds of errors.
Oh, and Nicea wasn't just about picking books for the Bible - that mostly wasn't done at Nicea, but rather was mostly done by the whole Orthodox church as a whole, over centuries. A lot of Nicea was about interpreting verses, as you heard. In fact, a final NT book list wasn't proposed until 367, long after Nicea.
Overall, I wish you the best, enjoy the trip.
Edited by Equinox, : added point comparison