Books not included in the NT?

[SD_Catholic]

Only 27 of all of the hundreds of thousands of books in existance at the time were included in the New Testament.

I understand the 27… The part I was wondering about are the hundreds of thousands… that number is more than I would have guessed… do you have any references for that high number?

SD

 

[Ignatius]

I understand the 27… The part I was wondering about are the hundreds of thousands… that number is more than I would have guessed… do you have any references for that high number?

SD

There were many other libraries throughout the ancient world:

The library at Alexandria alone contained as many as 700,000
papyri.

The Library of Ashurbanipal, 7th century BC, in Nineveh (near modern Mosul, Iraq). While the library had been destroyed, many fragments of the ancient cuneiform tablets survived, and have been reconstructed. Large portions of the Epic of Gilgamesh , once considered to be Scripture by some, were among the many finds.

The Library of Pergamum at Pergamum (in what is now Turkey), formed the second best library after Alexandria.

In Rome there were the Libraries of the Forum, which consisted of separate libraries that contained both Greek and Latin texts, separately housed, as was the conventional practice.

Private libraries of Ancient Rome were also considerable: Roman aristocracy saw the library as a point of prestige and many of these were transferred to the monasteries of the medieval years.

The Villa of the Papyri, in Herculaneum, Italy— The only library known to have survived from classical antiquity, Buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the town in 79 AD, it was rediscovered in 1752, around 1800 carbonized scrolls were found in the villa’s top story. Using modern techniques such as multi-spectral imaging, previously illegible or invisible sections on scrolls that have been unrolled are now being deciphered. It is possible that more scrolls remain to be found in the lower, unexcavated levels of the villa.

Caesarea Maritima, a late 3rd century AD establishment located in present-day Israel, had a great early library. It had a reputation for having the most extensive ecclesiastical library of the time, containing more than 30,000 manuscripts.

The Library of Constantinople, founded in 330 AD, was largely destroyed or burned by the Fourth Crusade, and probably held the last vestige of complete texts that existed from Antiquity.

Additionally, there were many Manichean, Gnostic, Arian and Christian writings purporting to be or considered to be scripture by their adherents.

Also, writings such as the Shepard of Hermas, the writings of Barnabas, Andrew and other disciples were also widely considered to be Sacred Scripture by Christians.

Determining the 27 of these thousands of writings were the God breathed Sacred Scriptures which the Catholic Church declared to be The Authentic Holy Scriptures was an impossible task that truly required the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

The more I learn about this the more I realize that, without the Church founded by Jesus Christ, protected by The Father and guided by the Holy Spirit, we would certainly only have chaos. This is proof to me that this is the Church founded by Jesus Himself.

Your servant in Christ.

 

[SD_Catholic]

There were many other libraries throughout the ancient world:

The library at Alexandria alone contained as many as 700,000
papyri.

The Library of Ashurbanipal, 7th century BC, in Nineveh (near modern Mosul, Iraq). While the library had been destroyed, many fragments of the ancient cuneiform tablets survived, and have been reconstructed. Large portions of the Epic of Gilgamesh , once considered to be Scripture by some, were among the many finds.

The Library of Pergamum at Pergamum (in what is now Turkey), formed the second best library after Alexandria.

In Rome there were the Libraries of the Forum, which consisted of separate libraries that contained both Greek and Latin texts, separately housed, as was the conventional practice.

Private libraries of Ancient Rome were also considerable: Roman aristocracy saw the library as a point of prestige and many of these were transferred to the monasteries of the medieval years.

The Villa of the Papyri, in Herculaneum, Italy— The only library known to have survived from classical antiquity, Buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the town in 79 AD, it was rediscovered in 1752, around 1800 carbonized scrolls were found in the villa’s top story. Using modern techniques such as multi-spectral imaging, previously illegible or invisible sections on scrolls that have been unrolled are now being deciphered. It is possible that more scrolls remain to be found in the lower, unexcavated levels of the villa.

Caesarea Maritima, a late 3rd century AD establishment located in present-day Israel, had a great early library. It had a reputation for having the most extensive ecclesiastical library of the time, containing more than 30,000 manuscripts.

The Library of Constantinople, founded in 330 AD, was largely destroyed or burned by the Fourth Crusade, and probably held the last vestige of complete texts that existed from Antiquity.

Additionally, there were many Manichean, Gnostic, Arian and Christian writings purporting to be or considered to be scripture by their adherents.

Also, writings such as the Shepard of Hermas, the writings of Barnabas, Andrew and other disciples were also widely considered to be Sacred Scripture by Christians.

Determining the 27 of these thousands of writings were the God breathed Sacred Scriptures which the Catholic Church declared to be The Authentic Holy Scriptures was an impossible task that truly required the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

The more I learn about this the more I realize that, without the Church founded by Jesus Christ, protected by The Father and guided by the Holy Spirit, we would certainly only have chaos. This is proof to me that this is the Church founded by Jesus Himself.

Your servant in Christ.

Thankyou very much for this info!

SD

 

[NotWorthy]

Thankyou very much for this info!

SD

Again, of all these 1000’s of writings, by the time of the 390’s, only about 110 of them were still “in the running” for being considered canonical.

 

[jmcrae]

There were also different versions of some of the books. For example, there were three different versions of the Gospel of Mark. The Councils of Rome, Hippo, and Carthage also ensured that the correct version of the Gospel According to Mark was included in the canon, and that the other versions were not permitted.

 

[SD_Catholic]

Again, of all these 1000’s of writings, by the time of the 390’s, only about 110 of them were still “in the running” for being considered canonical.

I’m sure, but it is still amazing to think about how many had to be read and discussed to finally get it down to 27, over those 300 years…WOW!

It just makes me wonder how some people can be so hard on the CC, but yet trust their souls to the NT Scriptures… the Scriptures that the same Church they bash, worked so hard to preserve and compile… to be fair though I would imagine very few of them actually realize the steps that took place to give them that Bible.

SD

 

[NotWorthy]

I’m sure, but it is still amazing to think about how many had to be read and discussed to finally get it down to 27, over those 300 years…WOW!

It just makes me wonder how some people can be so hard on the CC, but yet trust their souls to the NT Scriptures… the Scriptures that the same Church they bash, worked so hard to preserve and compile… to be fair though I would imagine very few of them actually realize the steps that took place to give them that Bible.

SD

AMEN!!!