The Gospel of Judas Iscariot

Originally Posted by SuperBobby

People are realizing more and more how authentic the bible gospels are, and that the gnostics don't have anything to back their teachings up with. The Gnostic gospels are PROVEN to be written late (some as late as 290 AD).
The research is all over the internet, as well as many well respected speakers all over the world right now debating the whole Gnostic thing. Even Non Christian scholars are agreeing with the Christians on the authenticity of the 4 bible gospels.

Actually, if you believe the theologians that appear on the History Channel's "Banned From The Bible", the Apocrypha of Peter was considered more credible than the Revelation of John, and it was written not long after Revelations. It was on the canon's "maybe" list--as one theologian put it--while Revelations was considered for being discarded and this allowed for the Catholic church to go either way on its decision about whether or not it should be allowed in the canon. However, it is uncertain about why this gnostic book was not added since it seemed more credible than Revelations at the time, but the theologians theorized it was because of the "ultimate forgiveness".

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by PUG1911

So you expect us to believe that nearly all historians agree that John lived for over 100 years during a time when life expectancy was very short? What leads them to believe that this one person not only lived longer than average, but at least double the average, without question? I would love to know why this is obvious to them, when it defies any standard of common sense. That it is technically possible, though statistically improbable doesn't usually cut it from my experiences.

I agree that it was highly unlikely that it was the same John. There was a show on the National Geographic Channel that discussed Revelations. First of all, it was unlikely that he would live for that long, especially since the John that allegedly wrote Revelations was sent to exile on a 13 acre island that had a lot of rugged terrain. Secondly, the Gospel of John was written "plain and simple" while Revelations was full of "dark and metaphorical language". There's still a chance that it could be the same John, but many theologians doubt that it's the same John.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by SuperBobby

It is the same John, and I don't know what theologians you are talking about. I've never even heard that.
The bible itself makes that fact unquestionable.

Not if you look at the way the original texts of both books were written, then the format alone disproves that theory. Now, if you want to take a look at the National Geographic Channel or the History Channel and watch "Secrets From the Bible" or "Decoding the Past" then you'd probably get a chance to see the theologians from Harvard, Columbia, Duke, Cal. Tech, etc. and hear their discussions about the issue.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I can see your viewpoint with the John argument, but I'm still going to consider the theologians as well. I'm a non-denominational Christian, just for reference.

Originally Posted by SuperBobby

True bible believing Christians have the same view they had 2000 years ago...period.

Not exactly. Christians in Europe invented Christmas way after the birth of Christ in order to compete against the carnival-style celebration of Yule. Americans didn't embrace Christmas until the 1800's. Before then, they used to think that the winter holidays was for Paganistic worship, but the whole competition over Paganism and the turmoil of unemployment changed the views of the winter holidays into something worth celebrating.

http://www.historychannel.com/exhibi...mas/real4.html

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by SuperBobby

Visavi...I said "true BIBLE believing Christians."
Believe it or not, celebrating Christmas on DEC 25th really has nothing to do with being a Christian. Its an irrelevant point.

Really? I guess they do things differently in your denomination, because I know a lot of the denominations in this part of the country consider Christmas to be one of the most important milestones of Christianity (other than Baptisms/Christenings and Easter)

I was speaking idiomatically.