I am referring of course to the countless number of blogs, articles, books and documentaries that have been spawned; some resurrected, by the success of Dan Brown’s book. I heard that there is even a Da Vinci diet – unbelievable!
Take the documentary The Last Supper for instant. I watched it over Channel News Asia last Saturday afternoon. Interestingly, there was a simultaneous telecast of another Da-Vinci-Code-spawned documentary called the Knights of the Templar (or something like that) on the National Geographic channel. These people spend so much time and energy going over every detail of the painting; who was sitting where, the position of his hands, which direction he was facing etc. etc. Why do they waste their time over such worthless trivia, contrived in the mind of a man who lived more that 1,400 years after the event? Why don’t they go and study the biblical account of the event instead and get the real message of the gospel? What a tragedy. It's like hearing the Tsunami warning, and instead to running for safety, they pause and marvel at the technical design of the warning system.“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, ….., neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” – John 3: 19, 20.
Now, lets turn to another example, the Gospel According to Judas, a documentary released recently by National Geographic; to capitalize on the publicity of the Da Vinci Code no doubt. This book was written by a bunch of Gnostics at least 200 to 300 years after Christ, I repeat 200 to 300 years! Do you know how long that is? It’s like asking you to write about events before the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles. Suddenly, so many 21st Century Singaporeans, who lapped up this rubbish, have become knowledgeable about events recorded in this book and yet know nothing about what is written in the true Word of God. Would you be surprised that the Bible actually contains warnings about this sort of writing? Let me cite just few relevant verses.
First, from the epistle of Paul to the Galatians, Chapter 1:
“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
Second, from the last book in the Bible. In Chapter 22 of the book of Revelation, God spoke through the Apostle John;
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 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.”
Talking about the book of Revelation, we have yet another distraction, the movie Omen, now showing in the cinemas. Anyway, no need to be surprised. These are all signs of the times. Go and read my other blog for details.
And talking about Channel News Asia documentaries, week after week, they have been showing documentaries based on evolutionary and long ages theories. Finally, they are going to show one that at least affords the opposing theory a hearing. I am referring to the War of Science, which will be shown tomorrow evening. I hope they don’t treat the issue the way Hollywood treated the Scopes Trial in the movie, Inherit The Wind (1960). More on that later.
2 comments:
Your argument about the bible being the true word of god and dismissing the non-canonical Gospels (one of which being Gospel according to Judas), is cyclical and therefore holds no water.
The 2 citations you drew do not explicitly state so but come across as simply xenophobic: ruling out other gospels with the usual divine punishments.
It's like someone compiling a story book and then deciding to add a final passage or testimony that this is a real story.
Without a cross-reference, it's hard to buy your argument.
Besides, did you know that most of the Canonical Gospels have been written 100+ years after Christ? And that the bible went through a compilation process approved by a Gentile, who subsequently became a x'tian at his deathbed.
This is not a Britannica or an Oxford that has gone through rigorous validation. It is, if you can put away your pre-conditioning, just a compilation of gospels written 100+ years after Christ.
Dear Anonymous. Thank you for your comments.
“Pre-conditioning” – I think not fair of you to presume that. Yes I am a bit of a simpleton. I believe there is an almighty God who wants to reveal Himself to us through His word. So surely, He is able to put together one that is reliable and inerrant even if He chooses to use unregenerate men to play a part in it. And surely, He is able to preserve it despite attempts by kings and popes and philosophers etc to destroy it. Which makes it different from your man-made dictionary and encyclopaedia. I doubt very much the Oxford or Britannica can survive 1 or maybe 2 centuries. The Bible has been around for millennia.
In fact, I was not born into a Christian family. I was once an unbeliever and a sceptic. But, gradually, over the past 20 years, as I studied the bible and marvel at its accuracy and reliability and consistency, I became convinced.
As for the canonicity, meaning which books are included and which are left out, there are many books written by learned and talented scholars - and certainly no simpletons - to defend it. So no need for me to go into that. And one of those scholars, H. L. Willmington wrote on pg 803 of his Guide to the Bible, that Luke was written in AD59, Matthew and Mark in AD63, and John in AD 90-95. But you say, they are written more than 100 years after Christ. Sorry, I think I have more faith in him
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