3 in 1: My answer to questions about the Bible's compilation and being changed over time

This post is an answer to a few similar questions that I am frequently asked:

1. "How can I believe in the Bible when it has been changed over time?"
2. "How do you know what Jesus actually taught when (insert name of King here) chose what he thought should be in the Bible and what should be scrapped?"
3. "Aren't there bits of the Bible missing because some king put different writings together to make the Bible, leaving some out?"

For anyone who is asking these questions, or similar questions, here's your answer. Firstly, I find it's Catholics (or those raised Catholic) that ask me the 2nd and 3rd questions in the above list the most. I have never attended Mass, nor have I been to Catholic school, but the fact that so many Catholic friends of mine have this strange belief, leads me to think that perhaps Catholics are taught that some man/king/Pope or whoever compiled the Bible. Or perhaps Catholics are not taught this, but it's a conspiracy among the less observant/strict believers.

The first question I get asked a lot by Muslims. Many of them think the Bible has been changed in terms of things being added, things being removed and things being re-written, in terms of the language used, to say something different.

I'm answering these 3 questions at once because they all link in together. (Except for the semantic issue of the language used in the Bible when translated, which will be a separate post). The fact is the Bible was actually compiled by the writers of the Bible themselves, who were divinely called to write the scriptures. They knew their calling, wrote the scriptures and those scriptures were then brought together to form the Bible as a whole. (For a more in-depth look at who put the Bible together, click here). Thus, it was not a person putting things in and taking things out to suit their needs. Nor has anything been added since, left out or removed.

We know that everything in the Bible now has always been part of the Bible, as God intended. It is not missing anything. God was the one in charge of putting the Bible together. It is the sceptics and unbelievers who try to portray this message of the Bible being incorrect in one of these ways. Speaking about the apostle Paul, Peter says:

2 Peter 3:16 - He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.


There's also a great, short video from WretchedRadio touching on this topic:

Thought of the Day: Bad Churches

I recently spoke to a couple of friends about what initially drew me to attending Quaker meeting. The simple reason is, I had been to many different types of churches including Methodist, Evangelical and Anglican and I found many examples of very un-Christian behaviour. To give credit where credit is due, I did not find this in the Methodist church I attended and the Anglican church I attended I have heard has improved since.

Some people don't understand what I mean by this. In the Bible we are warned of those in Church authority who are not actually Godly: "And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people" - Romans 16:17-18 (NLT)

In my situation, I heard one pastor speak who said "all Christians need to turn away from sin. This means, they stop sinning for good". Well, that would make us perfect and no human (besides Jesus) is, was or will ever be perfect. Hence our need for salvation. Maybe he didn't realise the implications of his words, but if I can pick up on that and I'm not theologically trained, I think he needs to go back to Bible college before his whole congregation get the wrong idea. Another church told me that I had to be baptised in order to receive salvation and holy communion. Um, that isn't taught in the Bible either my friend.

In another church, I saw youth being denied access to the childrens and teens youth group and Bible study classes unless they could pay £2. The leader of these groups was stood in the doorway of the church bouncer-style, accepting the money and moving aside for those who paid and turning away those who couldn't. Since when did church become an elite group for those who can pay their way? I was shocked. Later on this youth leader left the church and his wife and 2 sons, for a younger female from the congregation, whom he confessed to having an affair with for circa 2 years. And this man leads Christian youth?

The Bible did warn us that in some cases these incidents would happen. God is perfect, his followers are not. More recently I have heard of churches lean more towards cult-like teachings. Make no mistake, the Quaker meeting I attend is very Godly, with almost all its members still staying true to the Christian faith. Talking to them, they are there for the same reasons as me. They also have had bad church experiences in places that don't teach the Gospel correctly.

On a side note: these Christian Quaker meetings are sometimes going by the name of 'Friends Church' now to show the reunion between Quakerism and Christianity. This is like Quakerism was back in the days of its foundation, as opposed to more recent times when some Quakers have missed the mark in trying to be accepting and pacifistic, forfeiting somewhat on their Christianity.

So if you have had a bad church experience also, I'm not telling you to run to the nearest Quaker meeting! If they're more post-modern and liberal then that will not help either. I'm encouraging you instead to check out this article by Focus on the Family about how to overcome your bad church experience. I certainly found it very useful. Good luck in finding your new Christian church home!

My Issues with Organised Religion

I find that once religion becomes organised on a large scale, has its own building, own staff, official recognition, etc, it can often stray from its original purpose. I would like to say that not all forms of organised religion (e.g. churches, mosques, synagogues, etc) stray drastically from their truth, but from my experience most have to some degree. Even if they don't, religious establishments surely should be a place that people come to willingly and continue to be involved with WILLINGLY. These establishments should not be unnecessarily guilt tripping people or trying to force people into things. If these things happen, I feel it's extremely dangerous.

I'm going to expand on what I mean by that. In the Torah, which I think I have mentioned before that I have read multiple times in the original Hebrew and in English because I have my own copy, says that converts are welcome to the religion. People can be converted. The Jews were chosen because they were the first to accept the Torah, but so can others at any time. Jews should accept converts and Rabbis can convert gentiles to become as Jewish as if they were born Jewish. However, I am aware of some synagogues that won't convert people. They think for some reason no one can change to be Jewish because it's an ethnicity. If you're not born African you can't become African no matter what you do. The same goes for Judaism. Well, read your Torah folks because THAT'S WRONG. But but a Rabbi up on the bimah and get him saying that and before you know it, a whole congregation is holding incorrect views because the head honcho says so. In my opinion that's extremely dangerous. What if he decides all blond people should be excluded from services, are you gonna go along with that too cause he said so? Even though you know better?

You might think that's a bit trivial, but that's just one example of how something so plain and clear in the Torah can be changed by those in authority via organised religion. (If you want the specifics of where to find that info, please leave a comment). Another more serious thing in Judaism is that women ARE allowed to read from the Torah in public. However the Orthodox don't think so, so women are kinda pushed to the side in my opinion by being denied this honour.

In Christianity, eugh, where do I start. Like I said in my last post, I am a Christian. But there are many ways in which I've seen this religion improperly practiced. From my own experience, I was almost forced into baptism when I was about 16. Why? Because the church connected to my youth group (that's right, I never attended this church, just went to a youth group run by the church) seemed to have a hang up on how many new converts and members they could brag about. They didn't care about parental permission, or how long I'd been a Christian, or that I wasn't an adult by UK law, they just wanted me baptised after 1 class about it. From people that are supposed to be loving, caring and genuine, I was shocked at the guil-tripping and force tactics they used.

I also heard a preacher say in a service that "if you're a true Christian, you never sin anymore. If you're still sinning you have not turned from your old life". Again, the congregation go along with it because the minister says so. Well, if you read your Bible, you'll realise that if you NEVER sin then you are perfect. No one is or was perfect except Jesus himself. So now this minister's got  a whole congregation scared that they don't have salvation because he's the one in charge, so he must be right, when in fact he is clearly wrong. The most shocking thing I have heard recently of churches straying from the truth, was when a boy with cerebral palsy was escorted out of church for making "distracting noises". Did Jesus ever shun anyone with a disability? NO. I'm sure people who are there to listen to the Word were listening to the Word. I think people were probably more distracted by an innocent child being removed and excluded than by anything else. Appauling, that is not Christian behaviour.

But even if your church isn't doing things like that, tell me, is your church practising infant baptism? Because most seem to and that is completely unbiblical. Jesus and his disciples never baptised babies. The Bible says 'believe and be baptised' (Mark 16:16), a baby can't do that. You BELIEVE first and then you baptise. Does your church teach that you're not saved if you're not baptised? If so then they're wrong. They're trying to flaunt their members because if you recall, Jesus said to the prisoner beside him on the cross "I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). Was he baptised? No.

These are the common teachings in churches that are taught wrong, that people accept without question because of who the person teaching this stuff is. Many clever theologians, pastors, ministers, deserve respect for their knowledge but they are not always right. Some are misguided but some are deliberately doing wrong. We must be wary of this within organised religion. I don't think I even need to mention the many ways in which religion has been hijacked and used as a tool for political and other dangerous motives.

To try and summarise, people in organised religion can become power hungry and twist the religion for their own personal gain. Maybe to put their individual views across and get followers, maybe to get money through certain 'charitable causes', maybe to get a merry band of obedient followers, the reasons vary. So don't let them prey on your obedience if you're trying to do good.

My answer is, stick to people you know are believing what you believe, read your holy book so you go direct to the source. Don't take instruction and guidance from any one individual. Question everything. If those around you have nothing to hide they will gladly accept your questions and help you answer them. If they try to distract you or cover up the truth then you know you have hit a dead end, that they are after something else from you than your truth faith.