The Message: Restoring Christianity

By Douglas Summers

This book was written to reestablish the true principles of Christianity according to the teaching of Jesus Christ. It will explain how and why the Holy Bible became a book. It will also explain how a Christian should view this book. It will also show you how all these pseudo-Christian organizations came about. It will give you a brief history of the first stage of Gods plan, starting with Moses. Its purpose is to inform you how to view this book called the Holy Bible.

According to the dictionary, a Christian should believe in Jesus as the Messiah and should base their religious beliefs on his teachings. A biblicist is an expert on the Bible or a person who interprets the Bible literally. The Christian community today is biblicist, not Christian, and are actively spreading their form of Christianity all over the world. The Message, restoring Christianity, is designed to narrowing Christian beliefs to the teachings of Jesus. If all churches would follow this simple rule, there would be no Jehovahs witnesses, Baptists, Mormons, or any other biblicist sect; there would only be one church following the teachings of Jesus.

If you view the Bible correctly, it cant confuse you. The Bible should be broken down into five separate sections. The first is the Old Testament; this is the Jewish Bible. The second sections are the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This is the only place you will find the teachings of Jesus. The third section is a book called Acts and it describes what happened to some of the apostles after the death of Christ. The fourth sections are letters mostly written by a man named Paul. And the last section or fifth section is a book called Revelations, which describes the end of the world. If the Bible is viewed like this, then it can misguide you religiously.

I hope you find it interesting and informative.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514435403

Douglas Summers

While growing up, I had attended many different religious organizations, all seemingly different from each other. The last organized religion I attended was the Mormon Church. Preparing to go to the temple and be married and sealed to a woman for time and eternity, I had a religious experience that altered my feelings about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I began to methodically write down every word of the New Testament and came to a conclusion that no church that I belonged to in the past reflected the teachings of Jesus Christ. So I opened up the dictionary and read the two definitions of Christian and biblicist and understood why organized religions were so different from one another. With all the literature in the Holy Bible, it’s easy to take what you want from it and create your own church with your own unique beliefs. Eventually I decided to just write down what Christ was preaching. However, I had to do a lot of research about American history to determine where all these churches came from. I discovered that our founding fathers, many of which were Masons, created a constitution that gave us freedom of religion. This protected them from the power of the Catholic Church in Europe. And because of that constitutional right, it opened the door to every group of people that wished to start their own church and religious beliefs that they obtained from the Bible. It created what historians refer to as the great evangelistic period in the 1800s. So that’s why this book was created; it finally restores the teachings of our beloved Savior Jesus the Christ that was taught two thousand years ago.

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Copyright © 2016 by Douglas Summers.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®). Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Rev. date: 02/27/2016

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Is The Bible The Word Of God

The First Book Of The Gospels

Matthew

The Book Of Mark

The Third Book Of The Gospels

The Book Of Luke

The Forth Book Of The Gospel

The Book Of John

What Makes The Holy Bible The Antichrist?

The Summary

The Manmade Theory Called The Trinity

What Is Known About The Shroud

The C-14 Dating Of The Shroud

GOD

INTRODUCTION

H AVE YOU EVER wondered where all of these so-called Christian churches of today came from? Have you considered their traditions and doctrines, and how different they all are from each other? Indeed some abstain from alcohol, and some serve alcohol with their religious ceremonies. Some churches abstain from sex while others have harems. Some handle snakes, some talk in an unknown language and some are vegetarian. When you consider the wide ranges of costumes or doctrine from one so called Christian church to another it would seem that Christianity can be anything or everything that any group of people wish it to be. It would appear to and observer, from the outside of the Christian community that these churches have absolutely nothing in common. However, this would be incorrect.

All so called Christian churches of today, no matter how different they are from each other, have two things in common. First, they all believe that a man called Jesus 2000 years ago was the promised messiah, of the Old Law, or the religion called Judaism, and was more than a man. However, they don’t agree, to what degree of a man he was. Some churches say that Jesus was the Son of God, a special servant of his father. Some state he was equal to his father, while others say that he was God himself. Although, they don’t agree with each other regarding Jesus, they all do accept Jesus as the promised messiah of the Jewish religion, and second and most important, they all accept this man made book called The Holy Bible, that was created by the Catholic Church, as guidance from God, or the word of God. This is generally accepted by all so called Christian churches of today. Unfortunately believing in the bible excludes them from being Christion. The definition of Christion is a person who believes in Jesus and basis their religious beliefs on his teachings, not the bible. If you believe in the bible, then you are a Biblicist. A Biblicist is an expert on the bible or a person who believes the bible literally.

All churches of today are not Christian churches, they are Biblicist churches allowing them to be very different from each other. If all churches were Christion there would be no Catholics, Mormons, Baptists, Quakers, Jehovah Witness or any other churches, there would be only one church and they would be listening to Jesus and following his teachings. Churches would not be listening to Moses, Paul or anybody except Christ. He said this himself in the book of John 10:16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd. This is the way it was supposed to be, not thousands of different organizations as it is today.

How and why did this book called The Holly Bible become a book and is it the word of God or a collection of stories written by men and put together by the Catholic Church? This book called The Message (restoring Christianity) will explain how The Holy Bible became a book and what Jesus said regarding it. I guaranty it will surprise you and in the process Christ will explain how it differs from his teachings.

The purpose of this book The Message (Restoring Christianity), is to reestablish and to clarify the original concepts of true Christianity, according to the teachings of Jesus 2000 years ago. These teachings or doctrine of the Messiah, have been deliberately ignored and replaced with a form of Biblicist-ism. A Biblicist is an expert of the bible or a person who interprets the Bible literally and adheres to some principles they select out of the Holy Bible, rather than getting their religious guidance from one teacher, Jesus the Christ. This approach to Christianity has allowed each religious organization to be unique, however in the process, destroyed the true concepts of Christ’s teachings. I welcome you to this journey or education of why this book called The Holy Bible was created and how it created all of these pseudo Christion organization.

There is a progression in God’s plan for the world according to Jesus, that the Jews 2000 years ago and the so called Christian community today can’t seem to understand or deliberately ignore. First is a statement by Jesus in the book of Mathew Chapter 5 that say’s Vs 17: Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. The law or Ten Commandments were still in effect; however Jesus had to explain to the Jews and his followers how they should be used. As for the old Prophets? They had all finished their jobs, including John the Baptist, in predicting both the future of the Jews and a description of the Messiah. However the conclusion of verse 17 is—I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. The definition of fulfill is to complete and that means—to end. When Jesus arrived, it not only fulfilled and ended all promises given to the Jews by God; it also ended the first stage of his plan. Judaism or what the Jews thought Gods plan was, had been replaced with Christianity taught by only Jesus. However a good Jew who obeys the 10 commandments would be very much like a Christian. In the book of Mathew chapter 11 verses 13 Jesus explained—for all the prophets and the law, prophesied until John (the Baptist). So Jesus acknowledged the accomplishments of his predecessor, the old prophets, but in the book of Luke 16: 16 the same statement says the law and the Prophets were until John: then adds since that time the kingdom of God is preached., and this is true Christianity. Judaism, according to Jesus, did not preach the kingdom of God, nor is it the truth. Christianity does and is. Even the apostle John acknowledged this in his record in chapter 1: 17 For the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus. So Jesus and his doctrine are the truth not the Old Testament or those letters of Paul. Scriptures like these infuriate a Biblicist’s.

Jesus took every opportunity to explain to the Jews and his followers, that Christianity was the true path to God, not Judaism or the Holy Bible. In the same book Jesus states 6: 32 Verily, verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from Heaven, then adds Vs33 But my father giveth you the true bread from Heaven. He went on and explained to them that he was the true bread. He knew his place and importance in relationship to the old law and the old prophets; indeed they were nothing more than the forerunners of him. Christianity, Gods true plan, was supposed to replace Judaism and for the Jews that did accept both Jesus and his doctrine, it did. The Jews that did not accept Jesus or his doctrine are still waiting for the Messiah to arrive.

The Jews only had, the law (the 10 commandments) and the promise of the Messiah, along with the old prophets, which told them of their future and a description of the Christ. Not a physical description, but rather what signs to look for that would foretell his birth. By searching the old scriptures, this is how the three wise men found Jesus. It also said that he would be born from the lineage or house of David. That he would be called from Egypt, and that the Jews would reject him and so on, even how they would kill him. This is what he meant when he told the Jews in the book of John 5:39 Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. It was their description of the Christ that was supposed to insure that the Jews would recognize and accept Jesus as the Messiah when he arrived.

With the arrival of Jesus as a minister of the true word, came a new religion called Christianity, and make no mistake, this was a complete alteration of the Jewish concept of Gods plan and the teachings of the Old Testament. So different was his teaching from Jewish concept of religion that it would result eventually in his death. Jesus commented on the differences between the two religions in the book of Mark when the Jewish elders came to Jesus and accused him and his followers of violating the Jewish rules. His response was 7 : 6 he answered and said unto them, well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written. This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching For doctrines the commandments of men. Although Jesus retained the 10 commandments, he defined their importance and removed any punishment of death that Moses and the elder of the Jewish community placed on them. An excellent example of this is found in the book of John 8 when a woman named Mary Magdalene was caught in bed with a man. This demonstrates the difference between the two religions, and how the Jews added punishment to Gods commandments. Vs 4 they say unto him (Jesus) this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Vs 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned, Moses wrote this in the book of Leviticus 20:10 this is Judaism, then they asked, but what sayest thou? Did Jesus go along with Moses and the Jewish religion? No, his reply was. He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. Jesus disagreed with Moses and the Jewish bible about many things. In the Jewish bible or old testament Moses in the book of Deuteronomy 24:1 wrote, When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. In the book of Matthew the Jews asked Jesus about this and he replied 19:8 Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. So according to Jesus this was wrong and not of God. If you study the teachings of Jesus you will discover that he disagreed with Moses and the old testament many times. In the Gospels Jesus warned his followers not to combine the Jewish bible with his teachings. Christianity is not an extension of Judaism, it superseded and changed it, with a complete reversal, from killing sinners to forgiveness and with it established a new concept of the 10 commandments. Moses ignored God’s commandment thou shalt not kill. It’s recorded though out the old testament all the reasons you should murder people.

Biblicist today try in vain to reconcile the differences between these two religions. That’s what makes the Holy Bible an Anti-Christ. Anybody that wishes to contradict what Jesus preached could go to some part of that Bible and find a way to do it. The Bible does something that Jesus warned his own followers not to do. It combines two separate religions and then it adds some letters mostly of a man named Paul and some letters of some apostles, and the book called revelations. All of these additional books allow each religious organizations to be different.

In the book of Mathew chapter 9, followers of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him why the Jews were doing things that his followers were not doing. First he tells them that their traditions or customs are based or linked to their old Prophets, which were all dead, but he was still with his followers. Then he tells them, there will be a time when he will be taken from them, and then they will have their own customs or traditions. At this point he warned his followers not to try and combine their religion (Judaism) with his (Christianity). Vs: 16: No man putteth a piece of new cloth (Christianity) unto an old garment. (Judaism) for that which is put in to fill it up, taketh from the garment and the rent is made worse. Accepting this book called the Holy Bible as the word of God is exactly the opposite of what Jesus preached 2000 years ago because it combines these two religions and allows each Christian church to be unique, in practice and in thought, taking what they wish from either the Jewish section or those letters of Paul. Such liberties would not be possible if all Christian churches would just listen to the one teacher of Christianity, Jesus. Then he puts it another way. In Vs 17 Jesus says Neither do men put new wine into old bottles, else the bottles break and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish. But they put new wine into new bottles and both are preserved. Be a Jew or be a Christian, don’t try and be both. Keeping these two religions separate was so important that not only Mathew wrote about it; it’s also recorded in the book of Mark 2:22 and in the book of Luke 5:36 which is even clearer no man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old, if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. If the Jew would just live the 10 commandments they would be very close to being a Christian. However both the prophets and the Jewish elders put some of their own thoughts into the Jewish religion and altered Gods true will.

Keep in mind John the Baptist, the greatest of all the old Prophets, according to Jesus, told of Gods plan in the book of John chapter 3 Vs 30 When the Jewish elders came to him and said that Jesus had more followers than he did. Remember John was a Jew and according to Jesus the last and greatest prophet of all and Jesus was now a Christian. John replied—He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease. Its obvious Christianity should and would and did replace the old religion. John the Baptist was clearly passing the ball to Jesus. Although this angered both Jews 2000 years ago and Biblicists today, it’s true.

Most of that bible should be ignored. After all, the Old Testament is the Jewish bible and Jewish scholars don’t think their bible is the word of God. They believe the first 5 books called the Torah, supposedly written by Moses, is inspired but don’t declare their entire bible as the word of God. All books beyond the first 5, according to them, are historical except for Psalm and Proverbs, these two books are poetry and correctness. So this claim that the bible is the word of God is unique to the modern Christian community of today, and can easily be proven incorrect. Jesus himself declared to the Jews in the book of John 6:32 Verily, verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven.. Then adds, But my father giveth you the true bread from heaven. Which is Jesus and his teaching.

After Jesus started his ministry, he never honored either the Jews concept of religion or their supposed temple of God. He knew he would replace it all. In Mathew 12:41 Jesus reprimanded the Jews for not recognizing him as the Christ and the Son of God. The men of nin-e-veh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it. Because they repented at the preaching of Jonas—again Jesus recognizes the work of his predecessors, but then adds—and behold, a greater than Jonas is here. In the next verse he says Vs 42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the Judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it. For she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon: and then adds—and behold a greater than Solomon is here. Jesus knew he was greater than the old prophets and even greater than the Jewish temple of God, and he said it in Mathew 12:6 But I say to you, that in this place is one greater than the temple. Why did he think he was greater than the Jewish temple of God? In John 2:19 Jesus states Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. He knew with his resurrection, that his Church (Christianity) would supersede Judaism and their temple.

Jesus was very specific about who you should listen to religiously and for the following reasons. Mathew 11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father and no man knoweth the son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the son—No man knows the Father but the Son period. Not Moses or Paul or any other man, only he knew the Father. Then Jesus adds—and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. So only Jesus had the truth, and he would share it with his followers and then he added—come unto me. In John 14:6 it says I am the way the truth and the life. Not the old scriptures. Then it adds—No man commeth unto the Father but by me. How clear can the Messiah be? Conversion and salvation comes only by him and his doctrine. In John 11:25 Jesus says I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me…Throughout the Gospels Jesus told his followers to listen to only him. Somewhere along the way, he got replaces with the book called The Holy Bible. Listening to Jesus is recorded throughout the Gospels. John 14:15 If ye love me keep my commandment. Not the Old scriptures or what Paul said. John 8:51 Verily verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying he shall never see death. Where do the old Prophets and the Old Testament fit into that statement? They don’t. In John 8:31 Jesus says to some new Jewish converts If ye continue in my words, then are ye my disciples indeed. Only when you accept Jesus and his doctrine can you be considered a disciple of Christ. Biblicists or Jews are not followers of Jesus and his doctrine. Christianity is the truth according to Jesus. Verse 32 and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. If you follow Jesus it will set you free from Judaism, Masonic-ism, Mormonism and all forms of Biblicist-ism including the church that created the book called the Holy Bible the Catholics. The question Jesus asked his followers 2000 years ago is the same question that must be asked to the Biblicists and Biblicists hirelings of today—Luke 6:46 Why call ye me Lord, Lord and do not the things which I say. There are no old scriptures in that statement. Even those letters of Paul should be looked at and compared to Christ teachings. Nowhere in the Gospels is it recorded, Jesus ever instructed his followers to listen to any one but him. The problem with thinking that the Bible is the word of God is, Jesus becomes one voice of many, and can easily be drowned out. It comes down to this,—is Jesus the teacher of Christianity or is Moses and the old Jewish Prophets and Paul? If you think the Holy Bible is the word of God, then it becomes the Anti-Christ leading you away from the teachings of Jesus.

The previous scriptures of Jesus are discretely avoided in church along with other scriptures, because it completely disproves the religious theory, that the Holy Bible is the word of God, not the teachings of Jesus and is embarrassing to all organized religions. Like the Jews of 2000 years ago who had gone astray, this book called The Holy Bible has distorted the original doctrine of the Messiah and replaced his teachings with other men’s and in the process destroyed or distorted Christianity. The Holy Bible must be looked at as five separate books. The first part is the old testament, the Jewish Bible. For a Christian it’s only good for an historical book of stage one of God plan. The second part is the Gospels, which is the only part of the bible a Christian should study. The third part is the book called Acts which is a record of the apostles after Jesus died, and the fourth part are those letters mostly of Paul, and some letters of the apostles that don’t quote Christ, and finally the fifth part is the book called Revelations. If you view the Holy Bible this way it cannot miss guide you religiously. This book called The Message (restoring Christianity) should correct that. Let’s move on.

Where did this book called the Holy Bible come from? Is it the word of God or just a collection of stories by men and put together by men? Let’s discuss the bible itself, for this is the very foundation of all so called Christian churches of today. If this book is the word of God, then it must be perfect, as God is. However, if this book called the Holy Bible is not the word of God, then the foundation of all these so called Christian Churches of today would be incorrect, because they would be basing their religious or spiritual beliefs, in a historical book, rather than being guided by one spiritual leader or teacher. As Mohammad is the authority of Muslims, and Buda is the authority of Buddhism, shouldn’t Jesus be the authority of Christianity?—But he’s not. The Christian churches of today have, by using this man made book called the Holy Bible, combined Jesus teachings, with other men’s ideas, and by doing that, you can make a church anything you want it to be, as the thousands of all of these pseudo Christian churches are ample proof of.

Before discussing where all of these so called Christian churches came from, it is important to find out, how this book called the Holy Bible, was created. Contrary to what most people think, the Holy Bible wasn’t always a book. They were individual books written by many unknown writers, over almost a 3500 year period. In order to understand how the Old Testament became a book it is important to understand a little Jewish history.

How the Old Testament came about is a story of a chosen people who failed God repeatedly over a 1500 year period. Somehow it would seem logical that God would introduce his plan to a man like Moses and men would follow it. However that’s not the way it turned out. According to the stories in the Torah, Moses was born in a family that were slave of the Egyptian Empire. His mother not wanting him to be raised as a slave, placed her baby in a basket and sent him down the Nile river, hopefully to be rescued by a non- slave family. Ironically Moses was rescued by the royal family and raised as an Egyptian. As a young man he discovered his true identity and went to the slave community and found his real family. Outraged by the horrible condition that his true family was enduring he joined them voluntarily. However while he was there he witnessed an Egyptian beating a slave and he lost his temper and killed him. Knowing his fate he escaped into the wilderness where he hid for years. It was there he was called by God to return to Egypt and to free the slaves and to deliver them to a promises land. The Old Testament says that after much persuasion with the help from God, Moses got permission from the pharaoh to leave Egypt with the slaves. It was in the wilderness that Moses went to Mount Sinai to Get the Ten Commandments, or the Law and when he returned the Jewish people had built a golden idle to give to Egypt as a peace offering because they wanted to go back to Egypt. So the transition to Gods guidance was not a smooth thing and there was much more turmoil ahead. After roaming the desert for forty years, the story says that when Moses arrived at the promise land but God wouldn’t allow him to enter into it. So the chosen people entered into the promise land without Moses and began to carve their empire out of this new land.

Although they were successful in their military objectives they declined as a people of God and within a few hundred years, again for the second time, reverted back to idle worshiping. This abandonment of their covenant with God, continued for a thousand years, until a young man named David became king in 1020 B.C. twenty years later his son Solomon became king and the Jewish people continued to embrace the law. Solomon reined until 922 B.C and had 2 sons, one named Jeroboam and the other named Rehoboam. Both campaigned to succeed their father and Solomon chose his first born Jeroboam. This would ultimately lead to the end of the Jewish nation as it existed up to then. Angered by Solomon’s choice, all tribes went north and created their own kingdom named Israel, and proceeded to convert again back the Paganism. This Idle worshipping nation would survive until 722 B.C. when it was conquered by the Assyrians, dispersing all the tribes of Israel and they were never heard of again. These people are referred to as the lost tribes of Israel. Judah also reverted back to Paganism as well, however there was a bright moment in their history. When all seemed lost there was a king named Amon who had a son named Josiah and when King Alma was murdered as 8 of the 19 kings of the Jews were, the young boy of 8 years, took the throne. He questioned his father’s faith in Paganism and longed for the religion of the past. He methodically destroyed the Idols of paganism and when he was 25 years old King Josiah ordered the people to clean up the old temples, and while doing this, lo and behold they discovered scriptures of the Old Testament. This was literally restoring a completely forgotten religion. Unfortunately the reestablished religion of the Hebrews would die once more when 6 years later King Josiah was killed in battle and the army of Judah was forced to surrender into captivity to the Babylonians. The chosen people are scattered forever or enslaved and the Promised Land is no longer occupied by the chosen people and in ruins. Everything God attempted to do, apparently erased from the face of the earth. To compound the problem, after losing their country, their freedom and their religion and any contact with God while in captivity, the Hebrew people began to lose the ability to speak or read their own language. They only spoke Greek, the language of their captures. It would seem that it would take nothing less than a miracle to salvage Judaism from being lost forever. But as they say God works in mysterious ways Seventy years after the destruction of the Jewish kingdom, Sirius the Great conquered the Babylonians and freed the chosen people of God from slavery for the second time in 1300 years. They were given the opportunity to return to their own country and have any religion they wished. A man named Ezra was part of a pilgrimage back to their home land and he was in a unique position to give God’s word to the Hebrews again because he could not only read the Hebrew writings, he spoke Greek. He was the bridge that connected the old language to the language spoken by the Hebrews of that time. Assembling the Hebrews together Ezra read the stories and when he finished the people chose to except the old writings of God and to this day 2500 years later never returned to idle worship again. Ezra would be the Prophet that would declare, that God is no longer speaking, which they and King James bible accepted but not the Catholic’s because they added seven other books to the Old Testament. The seven additional books of the old Testament that the Catholics added to their doctrine were the books called Judith, two books called the Macabees, a book called Tobit, one called Sarach one called Ester and finally the book of Daniel. However this isn’t quite the end of the story of how these books became a Bible. After accepting this religion there were two things that had to be accomplished. First, the books or stories had to be translated into a common language—Greek. This not only gave the Hebrews back their religion but it opened up the Jewish religion to everyone that spoke Greek and indirectly introduced it to the rest of the world. To accomplish the translation of the scriptures, seventy two scholars were selected and separated into twelve groups representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Six scholars in each group. They had seventy two days to come up with identical translations of the Hebrew stories. The rules of accepting a book into the Jewish bible were, the books had to be written in either Hebrew or Aramaic and they had to be written in Palestine. Furthermore they had to conform to the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament written by Moses). What they came up with was a group of books known as the Septuagint. This was three hundred years before the birth of Jesus. Then they had to decide of all the available writings at that time, what should be accepted into their bible or the old testament. This was not an overnight decision. Translating the books into Greek and deciding what books to accept into their bible took over 300 years and between the two events a baby was born in a community called Bethlehem that would bring into question their very concept of their sacred bible.

The stories in the Old Testament, took about two thousand years, to become a Jewish bible, and consist of thirty nine books from Genesis to Malachi and are separated into three categories. The first is The Law or Torah or the Pentateuch. They describe how God created everything and a chronological account of what happened from creation, to the history of the Jewish people including what the Jews did from the time of Moses to the time of the prophet Ezra,

The second set of writings are historic, written by Prophets and in these stories they tell what the history of the Jews were from Moses to Ezra and included a description of the promised Messiah.

The third category of the Old Testament is classified as poetry and correctness, Psalm and Proverbs. This then is the Hebrew bible, that was taken from a collection of stories called the Septuagint and finalized about the time of Christ death. A final note regarding the Old Testament. It’s important to know that the books are not in the order that they were written in, but were arranged in that order, by the men who put the old testament together. There is much more to the old testament but as a Christian I am more interested in the Gospels than I am in the other parts of the bible. If you need or want to know more, may I suggest the King James version, it’s less bias.

For the previous information I would like to thank the history Channel and the many scholars that have given their time to make this information available. Aron Tendler associate Rabbi at the Yeshiva University, Lawrence Schiffman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic studies New York University, Michael Wise assistant Professor of the Aromaic University of Chicago, Richard Elliot Friedman Professor of Hebrew and comparative literature at the university of Judaism, Joseph Kinsopp Professor of Biblical Studies, at the University of Notre Dame, and Walter Zanger author of Jerusalem and Israel, and others. These are the shoulders of the giants that I was able to stand on. Thank you

Three hundred years after the Jews finished their bible, which took almost 2000 years to complete. it was now the Christians turn to determine what their bible should consist of. So how did the Christian bible come about? When and how did these books become a Bible? And who wrote them?

Ironically, just like the authors of the Old Testament, some of the New Testament writers are unknown as well. In the book of Luke, the writer or writers declares he or they were writing for Luke. Vs 1:1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us. Vs 2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word. Then the author of Luke makes this statement—Vs: 3. It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent The-oph-I-lus. Who the man was or men were, that wrote Luke, will remain unknown, as well as many of the authors of the old scriptures. Furthermore, who The-oph-I-lus is, also is unknown. It should be noted the book of Acts, was also written for this man as well. However it is believed his name was Luke, but not an apostle. Luke wasn’t even a Jew.

When Jesus died, the Christian community split up into numerous camps, for obvious reasons. The mother and brother of Jesus had a following, as well as Mathew, Mark, Luke and John and the book of Act’s talks of Peter’s followers. Also, it’s reported, that even Mary Magdalene had a following as well. However, they were preaching word of mouth, because the books or Gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John, were not written, until decades after the death of Jesus.

According to scholars, Mark wrote his account first, around the year 65, and the books of Mathew and Luke were written around the year 75 or 80. John was the last to write his account, around the year 90, and is subject to some criticism because of his old age and his faulty memory.

You must keep in mind, that John was a very old man when he produced his record. At least 70 years of age or more. However, his record clarifies some things that the other Gospels don’t. Also at the end of his record, he reveals a secret, about himself. It’s also important to keep in mind that the Gospels were written decades after Paul wrote his letters, and none of the writers of the Gospels found those letters important or worthy enough to mention them. Furthermore he never quoted Christ for obvious reasons, he never heard Jesus teach.

After the death of Jesus, Christianity flourished but not in Jerusalem. At the time of the death of Jesus, there was much persecution of the early Christian followers. So what happened to all of the Christian followers in Jerusalem? God only knows.

Surprisingly Christianity gained most of its followers throughout the Roman Empire that stretched from Europe to Africa. The majority of the 2nd century Christian followers were scattered throughout, what is now called Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa. The followers of the Gospel of Mark was centered or concentrated in the community of Rome, while the Gospel of Mathew was preached in Antioch in the east, and Luke’s Gospel was centered in Athens Greece while the Gospel of John was preached in Ephesus Turkey.

How could this new doctrine explode across Europe so quickly? The credit for this Christian popularity throughout the Roman Empire must be given to a man that never had the opportunity to meet Jesus personally. And if he had met him,—he would have gladly had Jesus killed. His name was Saul, and he took it upon himself, after the crucifixion of Jesus, to become the persecutor of the followers of Jesus. What he took upon himself to do was to go throughout Israel, and capture as many Christian followers as he could, in order to take them back to the arenas, of the Roman Empire. This strange story of how Jesus changed this man, from an enemy, to a loyal supporter is in the book of Acts, chapter 9:1 through 6. Vs 1. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest. Vs 2. And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. Obviously this was the dropping off spot, to their ultimate destination—the arenas in the Roman Empire. Vs 3. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: Vs 4. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Vs 5. And he (Paul) said, Who art thou Lord? And the Lord said I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Vs 6. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. The story goes on to say, that Saul was blinded by this miracle for three days. Then Jesus contacted one of his followers and told him to go to Saul and to put his hands on him and heal him. The man (An-a-ni-as), tried to reason with Jesus, explaining that Saul was an enemy of his followers. However Jesus said—Vs 15. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: This man Saul, who was a follower of the Jewish law, would regain his sight, be baptized a Christian, change his name to Paul and charge into the Roman Empire, to spread the word of Jesus. However when you read his letters he doesn’t mention or quote Jesus at all. He might have delivered the teachings of Jesus but in his letters he gave his own opinion, and in some cases wrote things not of Christ.

Unfortunately, he would pay dearly for his effort. Although he wasn’t a Roman he had equal rights as a Roman citizen. He knew he couldn’t be killed for what he was about to do, however he could be punished, and he was.

Paul began to preach, that as Christians, they no longer had to respect the old traditions of the Jewish law, such as circumcision and other Jewish customs. This eventually would get back to the apostles and the confrontation was on.

The apostles of Jesus wanted to hold on to some of the old customs of the Jews. Eventually Paul compromised, and his ministry was tolerated. In his 35 years of service, of spreading the word that Jesus was the Christ, he would travel more than 13000 miles.

Initially Paul didn’t get very far. He was arrested, illegally for being a troublemaker, and spent years in prison, and became a martyr. The bizarre story of how he got out of prison says an earthquake occurred and literally opened the door to his cell. He immediately went to the authorities and proved he was by law, an equal citizen of Rome and they were forced to free him. Later he would be imprisoned again, and to keep his ministry alive, he began to write to Christian followers in different communities.

These are those letters accepted by the Catholic Church, hundreds of years later, when they created Their Holy Bible. Although Paul’s ultimate demise is not recorded in the bible, other literature suggests he died a horrible death.

Today there are very few Jewish convert, compared to 2 billion or more gentiles professing to be Christians, throughout the world. This certainly is proof that the apostles were much less effective than Paul. What happened to all of the Christian leadership in Jerusalem, God only knows.

No matter what happened to each group, by the year 300 A.D. the center of the Church had moved from Jerusalem to Rome, and was well organized into positions of authority. They had created Bishops Priests Cardinals and a Pope. Although the Catholic Church today claims, that Peter was their first Pope, there is no mention of it in the Gospels. Nor do the words Trinity or Catholic or even the word Pope appear in the Gospels, these positions were all man made positions.

In the second century A.D. the Christian Church or community had so much literature available, due to the fact that not only the apostles wrote, but the apostles to the apostles wrote as well. Because of this, the Catholic Church, like the Christian churches of today, became diversified in thought and in practice. The available literature or documentation allowed each parish to teach many things not accepted or taught in Christian churches of today. Because of the additional literature that the Catholic church allowed originally, when a person would go from one parish to another, it was like going from the 7th day Adventist church to the Mormons. They, like the Jews before them, had a decision to make. Shouldn’t Christians have a bible also? More importantly, what should be accepted in it and what should be left out? This debate would go on for over 1000 years

One of the first proposals suggested, was to exclude the Old Testament entirely and those letters of Paul’s as well. This debate went on for over 150 years, until a group of officials near Africa, in 393 A.D. called the Council of Hippo selected most of these stories that the Catholics are reading today. These books were put together for political reasons, by voting them into existence—in order to bring consistency to the teachings of The Church. Ironically it is also written,—in that book called The Holy Bible, the anti-Christ will be born of politics. Coincidence?

Although this was a small part of the Catholic Church, 4 years later in 397 A.D., another part of the Church, the fourth Council of Carthage endorsed these books also. The fifth Council of Carthage in 419 A.D. endorsed these writings as well. However almost all of the Catholic Church accept these books by the year 787 A.D. It was then, that the Ecumenical Council, which represents all of the bishops of the Church, finally ratified this book. However it would take almost another 800 years to finalize the authorization of Catholic Bible.

So now the Catholic Church finally had an official book of documentation. Between this book and a strong central control, it was hoped, that this would bring order and consistency to the Church but it was under attack immediately. The seven additional books that they added to the old testament and the phrase of In the name of the father the son and the holy ghost that the church placed at the end of many scriptures, that were not part of the original scriptures bothered some people. A Catholic priest named Martin Luther demanded an audience with the Vatican to discuss these problems to no avail and he separated from the Church and started the Lutheran church. However one hundred years later, in 1611 King James published his version of the Holy Bible eliminating the problems that many people found wrong with the Catholic bible. It’s important to remember that both of these bibles are reasonably identical, as all other versions that followed them are. The Jehovah Witness version of their bible just changed the word God to Jehovah. All versions of the bible are telling the same stories, but with minor changes.

The books of the New Testament were not written in the order that they appear. Although the Gospels are the first four books in the New Testament, they were written decades after the death of Jesus, and decades after Paul wrote all of his letters, which precede the Gospels, and the book of Act’s. The apostles themselves apparently saw so little value in those letters of Paul’s; they never mentioned them in their own accounts.

Many of Paul’s writing had nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus. They were moral correctness mainly and certainly limited to the time of Paul’s ministry. It’s in these letters that many ideas that were never taught by Jesus were written. Ideas like the man should be the head of the family as Jesus is the head of the Church. This appears in those letters of Paul’s, in