(ReligionHistory) "Banned from the Bible" examines the forbidden stories in ancient gospels, how they were rediscovered, and what they might mean to the world today.
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| The new Republican Jesus |
When Jesus was a boy, did he kill another child? Was Mary Magdalene a "prostitute" -- or an apostle? Did Cain commit incest? Will there be an apocalypse, or is this the JudeoChristian God's trick to scare us?
The answers to these questions aren't found in the Bible as we know it, but they exist in scriptures banned when powerful leaders deemed them unacceptable for reasons more political than religious. "Banned From the Bible" reveals some of these alternative tales and examines why they were "too hot for Christianity."
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| Married rabbi with wife Mary |
The Life of Adam and Eve, The Book of Enoch, The Book of Jubilees, The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Mary, The Apocalypse of Peter... these are just a few of the books that were intentionally left out of the official Christian Bible.
The reasons for their exclusion provide astonishing insight into the concerns of Church leaders and scholars responsible for spreading the Christian faith (and the hegemony of Greco-Roman "Western" empires) around the world. It is an illuminating look at early Christian religious history.
(BBC) The truth is stranger than fiction. Inconvenient facts make
sense to solve a great mystery. Was Jesus once a Buddhist monk?
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| When Jesus was African/Middle Easterner (W) |
One hundred and fifty years after the birth of St. Issa (Jesus), a man named Marcion (of Sinope) decided that a Greek or Christian Bible was needed to replace the Jewish or Hebrew Bible. Church leaders opposed Marcion's banning of the Hebrew books, but they did agree that Christianity would benefit from having a "Bible" of its own, a New Testament.
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| Jewish rebel deified as Greek god, son of Zeus |
After Emperor Constantine the Great converted to Christianity in the 4th century, a serious effort was made to compile a Christian Bible, one that included both the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament) and emerging Christian manuscripts (New Testament). It took another 40 years before a final list of New Testament books was officially canonized by the church. Many of the most popular were excluded. Upon examination today, many of these writings attempt to resolve inconsistencies and questions raised from reading the Bible.
American Hegemony and Power
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| Growing by invasion and force |
The Monroe Doctrine is a policy of the United States introduced in1823 that stated that further efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with states in North or South America would be viewed as acts of aggression, requiring U.S. intervention. At the same time, the doctrine noted that the USA would neither interfere with existing European colonies nor meddle in the internal concerns of European countries. The doctrine was issued at a time when nearly all Latin American colonies of Spain and Portugal had achieved or were at the point of gaining independence from the Portuguese Empire and Spanish Empire. Peru consolidated their independence in 1824, and Bolivia would become independent in 1825, leaving only Cuba and Puerto Rico [now under de facto American control with Guantanamo and semi-statehood] under Spanish rule. The US, working in agreement with Britain, wanted to guarantee that no European power would move in. It was the USA's time to colonize the world (beginning, it seems, with Mexico and the Philippines).
(The Onion) Satirical look at things that should make the mainstream news
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| Occupy Movements live on (occupytogether.org) |
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