So, you investigated which books were being read consistantly throughout all the Church at their Liturgy (i.e., the Catholic Mass) to determine their canonicity?
That’s the way you’d interpret what I said, so sure, from your perspective.
Nope. Re-read the quote carefully.
2Pe 3:16 speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.
He’s talking about St. Paul’s letters, but explicitely NOT exclusively.
Sorry, meant to be clearer; this was during a time of Paul’s scriptures circulating, and they were twisting his writings as they twisted the OT writings. We all also believe that there were those twisting those as well; yes? And the fact that Peter says they are twisting them shows he expected them not too. He didn’t excuse them.
Maybe, but that’s not what the text says.
But let’s go with your interpolation. Didn’t he still need “someone to guide” him?
Acts 8: 27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, 28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot
read Esaias the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32
The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Again, we don’t deny the gospel needs preached, and that is going to be verbally much of the time. The point is that he was studying the OT writings and needed the fact of Jesus to understand it. As others have said, and I concur, there was no “Bible” at this point and it was necessary for someone to verbally tell him about Jesus. No problem there.
Remember, I have no problem with the idea that it takes a telling and teaching of Christ and Him Crucified to make the OT come alive; that is a huge component of the gospel message. (Again, to the thread in general, we *all *recognize that the gospel was also proclaimed verbally, and people probably heard it before reading about it)
