![]() ![]() They challenged genuine Christians about who had the true teachings and writings of Jesus and his disciples. and claimed secret divine knowledge, or gnosis. ![]() The mystical Gnostics flourished during the first two centuries C.E. Jehovah’s Witnesses find none of this evidence in Gnostic writings. ◻ Conformity with the divine “pattern of healthful words” and harmony with the teachings of Jesus Christ.- 2 Timothy 1:13. ◻ A message that turns people to the worship of Jehovah and stimulates deep respect for his work and purpose. ◻ Total unity with the rest of the Bible. ◻ Counsel against superstitions, demonism, and creature worship. ◻ Contents that give evidence of inspiration by God’s holy spirit. Human listings are not the main reason that Jehovah’s Witnesses accept a book as being canonical. a But more evidence than this is needed to satisfy Jehovah’s Witnesses. Hence, Jehovah’s Witnesses look upon the Christian Greek Scriptures as being complete. No other ancient document is so well supported. Additionally, manuscripts of this part of the Bible in the original language (Greek) total more than 5,200. to the Third Council of Carthage of 397 C.E. There are at least 16 outstanding early catalogs of the Christian Greek Scriptures, from the Muratorian Fragment of 170 C.E. And by the end of the second century, there was no question that the canon of the Christian Greek Scriptures had been closed. But what about the so-called New Testament, or the Christian Greek Scriptures?Įvidence for an authorized listing of writings for the Christian Greek Scriptures began piling up as early as 90-100 C.E. Therefore, Jehovah’s Witnesses follow this same pattern for the Hebrew Scriptures. ![]() Jesus Christ and his apostles used only books from this catalog when quoting Scripture. The official listing for the Hebrew Scriptures (often called the Old Testament) was fixed by the end of the fifth century B.C.E. The Bible canon came to mean the set of books accepted as genuine, inspired of God and worthy of being used as a straightedge for measuring faith, doctrine, and conduct. ( 2 Timothy 3:16) Originally, the word “canon” referred to a reed used as a measuring rod. Why can Jehovah’s Witnesses be sure that no vital book is missing from the Bible? Because the inspired writings that are “beneficial for teaching” have a set catalog, often called a canon. It tells them why we are here and where we are going. This is how the man who is dedicated to God becomes fully equipped and ready for any good work.” -The Jerusalem Bible.Įxperience has taught the Witnesses that the Bible has no gaps in stating God’s purpose or in providing needed counsel for day-to-day living. There we read: “All scripture is inspired by God and can profitably be used for teaching, for refuting error, for guiding people’s lives and teaching them to be holy. The apostle Paul’s second letter to 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 16 and 17, well states their conviction. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Bible is complete. But does it? Is some secret wisdom that is important to your faith missing from the Bible? Or is the Bible complete? Faced with these questions, how would you answer? Commenting on this, Helmut Koester of Harvard Divinity School said that the gospel of Thomas would provide important new material for discerning the teachings of Jesus. “These are the secret words which the Living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas wrote.” So begins The Gospel According to Thomas, one of 48 different Gnostic religious documents found on that Egyptian hillside. And it still makes waves among Bible readers because it is claimed by some that the discovered volumes contain the secret sayings of Jesus. But not until 1955 did this archaeological discovery begin making big headlines. Inside he found 13 leather-bound volumes dating back to the second century C.E. An Arab peasant was digging for crop-fertilizing soil. IT WAS winter in Upper Egypt 40 years ago. ![]()
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