LOST BOOKS OF THE BIBLE

Galatians 1:6-8
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!

1 John 4:1-3
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.


Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ put a spotlight on Jesus of Nazareth and attracted an international audience. But a new media event on the horizon will most certainly confuse people about Him. The bestselling "historical" novel The Da Vinci Code will soon be a movie directed by Ron Howard. Everybody likes a good story, but some readers are taking the book to be fact.

Sadly, author Dan Brown radically misrepresents history. Central to the plotline is the allegation that the "lost books of the Bible" have been suppressed by the church. In his book, he states that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children with her. He argues that the New Testament portrait of Jesus is only an invention of the church to consolidate its power and suppress the "divine feminine."

We do know that ancient documents were found at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945. The Secret Books of James and The Gospel of Thomas are just a few of the titles in this collection. Although not written down at the time of Christ, their claims have set off speculation about an alternative to traditional Christianity. Denying the biblical Jesus, these books promote goddess worship, self-deity, and secret knowledge.

So why were they excluded from the Bible? They didn't measure up to the criteria used in determining authentic Scripture: Was it written by an apostle? Did the book have universal acceptance by all the churches? Did the Holy Spirit speak through it? These gnostic gospels did not pass the test, but the New Testament books did.

In Unger's Bible Handbook, we read, "By AD 200 the New Testament contained essentially the same books as we have today. These were regarded with the same authority and finality by Christians then as they are now."

As friends read The Da Vinci Code and when the film version hits the theaters, we need to be ready to respond to its false claims with the truth of God's eternal Word (1 Peter 3:15). --Dennis Fisher

DESTINATION POINTS

* Which of my friends have read "The Da Vinci Code"? Why not pray for a loving spirit to bring their attention to Jesus?
* How does the book "The Da Vinci Code" exhibit a spirit of antichrist? (1 John 4:3).

LINKS
Decoding "The Da Vinci Code"Can I Really Trust The Bible

bottom line: The "lost books" were found to be untrue.

soul journey