What happened to all those 'unhelpful' gospels and gnostic texts ?
If you are Christian, all those books are still there, albeit not in the canon. Just because a compilation of documents fails to include other documents, is nothing new in History. Historians do that all the time, so why should the fact that the Christians decided which books gave the best account of Christ be considered a strike against them?
Credit them for not burning the other books.
What happened to all those believers who didn't believe the new party line ? Pauline or Jacobite Church ?
Monophysite or Monothelite ? Nestorian, Arian, Pelagian, et cetera et cetera....
Monophysite or Monothelite ? Nestorian, Arian, Pelagian, et cetera et cetera....
Did the church suppress their teachings, or did they allow them to be presented in an ecumenical council of the church in order to determine what ought to be the proper interpretation? Unlike all the protestants, each of these groups had their chance to convince the church of their doctrine.
More to the point- who is being worshipped, the disciples and apostles or the god ?
Unless of course you're suggesting that the early Christians were attempting to propagate the gospel to get themselves worshipped, which isn't what I suggested.
Unless of course you're suggesting that the early Christians were attempting to propagate the gospel to get themselves worshipped, which isn't what I suggested.
Oh, let's see, they were left out, burnt, destroyed, marginalized, eradicated, exiled, executed, waged war upon, et cetera, et cetera.
The Christians proved to be no better when their little sect took power than any of the persecuting pagan Romans, and a good deal less tolerant, since THEIR way was now the ONLY way.
No more toleration of Syrian or Eastern or Egyptian or Etruscan or Greek gods, no more Iranian cults, no more temples to Cybele, or Isis or Serapis.
Gosh, that does have a fine 20th Century intolerant ring to it.
Gosh, that does have a fine 20th Century intolerant ring to it.
Very much like our 20th century intolerance.
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