Sabbath or Sunday worship: Part 8B Series
Religion and the Sabbath/Sunday worship: Part 8B- Religion
Various religions, Christian sects, and denominations have made their version of the Bible. They all claimed the infallibility of their Bible. How reliable and dependable is the Bible with each own version? How would we know that their version is still the breath of the Almighty? “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, and that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” Did the Spirit of God give authority to edit His written word by a human’s hand? Did God use them to correct what has been manipulated by ancient sinners? How could we avoid being deceived by the new versions? Responsibilities are ours to accept if we make an error in our judgment. We cling to hope to establish our faith in making those judgments.
We live in a perverse world of sinners, and this is to be expected—our passion for God or obsession to always make a profit. Many people, both Christians, and non-Christians, accused the perverse version of the Bible as an evil work, and to claim it as their own is a direct admittance they know what they are doing; thus, to make money out of it could be the purpose of ignoring the warning in the Bible: “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”—Revelation 22:18–19.
Deuteronomy 4:2—Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you. New International Version
Deuteronomy 12:32— “See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.”
“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Therefore, do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar—Proverbs.
We must know by heart that this is not only in Deuteronomy and Revelation but throughout the written word. Any distortion of the written word should not be given respectful treatment. God gave this timeless warning, but they already submitted their souls to hell because it involves money. God advised us not to be divided. Why God allows it to happen is no longer beyond us.
Matthew 28:9–20, Mark 16:9–20, Luke 24:1–53, John 20:1 – 21;25, and Acts 1:1–11 were all added by the new religion established by the early followers of Paul’s doctrine. The given verses were all about the resurrection of Jesus. The authenticity of Pauline’s letters had been settled to just 7, and others were falsely attributed to Paul’s works. The Book of the Hebrews has been questioned since the 3rd century; by Christian fathers such as Origen, Tertullian, and Hippolytus, among others, about Paul’s authorship.
Most scholars agree that Paul wrote seven of the epistles; Galatians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Romans, Philemon, Philippians, and 1 Thessalonians, but the three pastoral epistles; First Timothy, Second Timothy, and Titus, are not his. The other three epistles, Second Thessalonians, Ephesians, and Colossians, are questionable authorship.
There is more to explore on these issues, but let us treat them respectfully and follow what our conscience says when he speaks to us. As long as the truth is in the open, let God reveal to us the word of truth that he inspired with His breath those writers on His behalf. Many believe Paul’s doctrines were adopted by many churches worldwide, including the Catholics, the Orthodox, and the Protestants.
If religion causes us to diminish our faith in God, then we are not mature enough to listen to the new teachings from the accused perverted version of the Bible. It could be the correction made by ancient sages practicing cults to manipulate the mind of the early believers. We need to be cautious to quickly accept or reject until we learn more lessons from the new versions. There are new versions that may enlighten a group of people; versions they claim to be updated, enhancing our knowledge and belief that the Bible is a living organism that grows and adapts as we progress but becomes very confusing to our human brain.
The only thing that is good with the perverted version (as we call it now until we know the truth that will make it acceptable) is the reality that man can do anything; that man can tell the truth or unintentionally harm the growing faith of the less matured believers, especially the young converts. The more we see the light in our hearts, the more we are enlightened, and the brighter it glows, the more we get closer to the truth and eventually closer to God, the Almighty.
God is all in all.