A Lawyer Rebuts The Da Vinci Code Part IV. By Randall K Broberg, Esq.

Transcription

1 A Lawyer Rebuts The Da Vinci Code Part IV By Randall K Broberg, Esq.

2 Da Vinci Code Attacks on the Canon

3 1. Of the 80 gospels available, the church chose only four of the gospels and even these four present a distorted portrait of Christ as the Divine Son of God.

4

5 DV Code on the Gospels More than eighty gospels were considered for the New Testament and yet only a relative few were chosen for inclusion Matthew, Mark, Luke and John among them. Who chose which gospels to include? Aha! The fundamental irony of Christianity! The Bible, as we know it today, was collected by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great. (231)

6 Da Vinci Code Attack on the Canon More than eighty gospels were considered for the New Testament, and yet only a relative few were chosen for inclusion Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John among them Fortunately for historians some of the gospels that Constantine attempted to eradicate managed to survive. (p )

7 Da Vinci Code Attacks the Canon Hundreds, if not thousands of other earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned. (p. 234)

8 Da Vinci Code Attack on the Canon The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the 1950s hidden in a cave in Qumran in the Judean desert. And of course, the Coptic Scrolls in 1945 at Nag Hammadi. In addition to telling the true Grail story, these documents speak of Christ s ministry in very human terms The scrolls highlight glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications, clearly confirming that the modern Bible was complied and edited by men who possessed a political agenda to promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ and use His influence to solidify their own power base (p )

9

10 Essential Definitions Ex Cathedra literally, from the chair by virtue of or in the exercise of one's office or position De Facto literally, from the fact in reality Actually Not government approved De Jure by right As a matter of legal of right Government approved

11 How We REALLY Got Our New Testament Canon Apostolic Period AD EX CATHEDRA AUTHORITY Authority Recognized but Canon Incomplete Persecuted Church AD DE FACTO CANON Canon Complete and Recognized in Fact Imperial Church AD DE JURE CANON Canon Complete and Recognized in Law

12 THE EX CATHEDRA CANON IN THE APOSTOLIC PERIOD

13 Paul Calls His Own Letters the Lord s Commandment 1 Corinthians 14:37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord s commandment.

14 Paul Calls His Own Writings the Word of God 1 Thes. 2:13 For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.

15 Paul Calls Luke/Acts Scripture 1 Tim. 5:18 For the Scripture says, YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING [Deut 25:4], and The laborer is worthy of his wages [Luke 10:7].

16 Peter Calls Paul s Letters Scriptures 2 Pet. 3: and regard the patience of our Lord a salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

17 THE DE FACTO CANON OF THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

18 c. 95 AD, Clement Cites 93% Of The New Testament wrote a single letter to the Corinthians around AD 96 Quotes from 21/27THS Alludes to 4/27THS MORE John 7:32, 2 nd Century Papyrus

19 c. 100 AD, Polycarp Cites 74% of the New Testament Quotes from 15 of the 27 books Alludes to 5 more James Ch 1

20 c. 110 AD, Ignatius Cites 44% of the NT Quotes 9/27THS Alludes to 3/27THS Matthew 6:9-13 in Greek 2 nd Cen Papyrus

21 c. 160 AD, Justin Martyr Cites, 63% of the New Testament Quotes from 17 of the 27 books

22 c. 170 AD Irenaeus Cites 85% Of The NT Quotes from 23 of the 27 books

23 It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are [FOUR]. - Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Chapter

24 c. 190 AD Tertullian Cites 81% Of The NT quoted from 22 books of the 27. Hebrews 4:2, 2 nd Century Papyrus

25 c. 240 AD, Origen Cites, 100% Of The New Testament

26 Diocletian persecutions (c ) caused the Christians to be more attentive to establishing the definite canon. POxy rd Cen AD

27 100% NT Canon of Athanasius, c. 367 AD Writes Easter Letter in 367 A.D. Same 27 books that are in today s New Testament

28 THE DE JURE CANON OF THE IMPERIAL CHURCH

29 Final Impetus for Finalizing the Canon I have thought it expedient to instruct your Prudence to order 50 copies of the Sacred Scriptures, the provision and use of which you know to be the most needful for the instruction of the church, to be written on prepared parchment, in a legible manner, and in a commodious and portable form, by transcribers thoroughly practiced in their art. Constantine

30 Two Church Councils Make De Facto Canon De Jure Canon 393 AD, Synod of Hippo affirmed that the 27 books of our NT were the only books of apostolic origin and were to be accepted as Scripture. 397, AD, Council of Carthage affirmed our current N.T. canon. Forbid any from claiming any other writing as Scripture.

31 Council Criteria: Apostolic Authority Was it written by an apostle or one closely acquainted with an apostle? Apostolic Authorship Matthew, John, 13 Paul s epistles, 1 & 2 Peter, 1-3 John, Revelation Authority by association Luke-Acts, Mark, James, Jude Rejected Epistle of Clement For lack of claim to divine authority Didache for lack of clear authorship

32 Council Criteria: Antiquity When was it written? For a writing to be the work of an Apostle or of someone closely associated with an Apostle it must belong to the first century. Writings of later date, whatever their merit, could not be included among the canonical books. Rejected: Gnostic Gospels, etc.

33 Council Criteria: Traditional Use Was the book in use by the churches from the earliest period? If it wasn t good enough to be read next to the OT in a church service context, it cannot be part of the canon.

34 Council Criteria: Universal Use Was the book widely accepted by the Church? The writings must be accepted universally. They often began with merely local acceptance, such as epistles to the churches, but gained widespread recognition.

35 Council Criteria: Inspiration Does it have a selfauthenticating nature? There must be evidence of activity of the Holy Spirit contained within the context of the writings. Had the book evidenced power in the lives of believers?

36 Council Criteria: Non- Contradiction Did it contradict known Scripture? Consistent with OT Consistent with Paul? Rejected for Incompatibility (heretical positions) Apocryphal gospels

37 The Gnostic So-called Lost Gospels On Best Sellers Lists!!

38 Allegation of Excluded Books These are photocopies of the Nag Hammadi and Dead Sea Scrolls, the earliest Christian records. Troublingly, they do not match up with the gospels in the Bible. Da Vinci Code Nag Hammadi Library

39 The Gospel of Thomas "These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down. And he said, Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death. Jesus said, Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over all."

40 Gospel of Thomas Verse 15: Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to something and tell me what I am like." Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a just messenger.

41 Jesus said: "The kingdom of the [Father] is like a certain woman who was carrying a [jar] full of meal. While she was walking [on the] road, still some distance from home, the handle of the jar broke and the meal emptied out behind her [on] the road. She did not realize it; she had noticed no accident. When she reached her house, she set the jar down and found it empty". Gospel of Thomas

42 Verse 114: Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life." Gospel of Thomas Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven."

43 I know a certain gospel which is called the Gospel according to Thomas and a Gospel according to Matthias, and many others have we read lest we should in any way be considered ignorant because of those who imagine they possess some knowledge if they are acquainted with these. Nevertheless, among all these we have approved solely what the church has recognized, which is that only the four gospels should be accepted. - Origen, from a homily on Luke 1:1

44 DATING THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS MT, Mk & LK dates Last Date of John s Gospel Iraneaus Refutes It Origen Rejects It Date Of Thomas Manuscript 100 AD 200 AD 300 AD GREEK ORIGINAL COPTIC TRANSLATION

45 Thomas Dating Circular Logic Original Jesus Was a Man. Church made him Son of God, Later Thomas Doesn t Assert Divinity of Christ Thomas Is Very early and more trustworthy

46 Testimony of Eusebius on Heretical Books To none of these has any who belonged to the succession of ecclesiastical writers ever thought it right to refer in his writings. Moreover, the character of the style also is far removed from apostolic usage, and the thought and purport of their contents are completely out of harmony with true orthodoxy and clearly show themselves that they are the forgeries of heretics. For this reason they ought not to be reckoned among the spurious books, but are to be cast aside as altogether absurd and impious.

47 Discussion of the Books that Didn t Make the Cut 17 NT apocrypha books ~280 pseudopigrapha Edwin Yamauchi, Professor of Ancient History at Miami University (they)... are all patently secondary and legendary or obviously slanted.... The extra-canonical literature, taken as a whole, manifests a surprising poverty. The bulk of it is legendary, and bears the clear mark of forgery. Only here and there, amid a mass of worthless rubbish, do we come across a priceless jewel. Edwin Yamauchi

48 J. I. PACKER The church no more gave us the New Testament than Isaac Newton gave us gravity.