Comments on: Growing Up

By: D.K

D.K — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:52:24 +0000

This was a good read and a great idea for Sunday school homework

By: Tony Kodsi

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 07:39:20 +0000

Abouna, I must say when I read about all this a few years ago, when I wanted to understand how the Bible came about (having read the infamous book of Dan Brown), I think it was really protective for me that I grew up to believe that the Bible was the Book of the Church. Of course I had my own personal Bible, but I knew that I need to read it in the mind of the Church (whatever that means!).

Even though I may not be as critical in my analysis, I think I share to an extent in having tough questions… Sometimes I am really afraid of voicing them- I don’t want to cause others to stumble, nor do I want others to think that I don’t have faith. It makes me a bit wary and stops me speaking things in full conviction. But I think my inquisitiveness has made me realise a few things- that faith and love are really more important and stabilising than concepts and ideas. And if you can’t pray theology, its not Theology. And Church history may not be completely accurate, but I think we can even learn from legends. we have enough contemporary witness of the gospel to know that the work of the Holy Spirit is simply awesome.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:38:28 +0000

The Bible is the Church’s gift to the world, not the other way around. And so it is the Church who has authority over the Bible, not the Bible over the Church.

After Nicea there wasn’t instant consensus on the books chosen as canonical.
It took some time before the Revelation of St John in particular became accepted by all churches, it was considered too cryptic and too unlike other books. There was also another Revelation ascribed to St Paul that was being read in some churches.
In the writings of Athanasius, Severus and Cyril which I have come across, they refer to Epistles written by Barnabas, which we know nothing of today.
The Gnostic Gospel of St Peter was widely read in Antiochian churches even after Nicea, until it came to the attention of the Bishop of that city, who then forbade it.
In the early churches, you would never have found a Bible, you would’ve found collections of different writings. ‘The Scriptures’, ‘The Pauline Epistles’, ‘The Catholic Epistles’, ‘The Praxis’ and ‘The Gospels’ were the books at the lecterns.

And lastly, I believed in Santa Claus, he always arrived on December 25. It did me no damage, I personally don’t think there is anything wrong with it.

I remember asking a little kid at church once what Santa got him for Christmas. I was shocked when he told me that Santa isn’t real and that his real name is St Nicholas. I remember feeling sorry for the kid and thinking how sad that was.

I wouldn’t want my kids to be told in Sunday School that Santa isn’t real…but that’s just me…

By: Tina

Tina — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:25:17 +0000

wow, that definitely was a great read.
I remember being shocked when a servant during a preservants class told us that the church was a lot more important than the bible. In my head I always believed that the bible – being God’s word- was THE most important thing in Christianity, and that churches came second (especially since there are so many different branches). Since then I’ve come to the realisation that the Church really is the cradle of the Bible, and that the bible as we know it only came into existence in recent times. I can’t imagine how it would have been without having so many copies of the Bible lying around everywhere you go. I think it is such a privilege that we have access to something so tremendous. We really do take it all for granted. It is interesting to ponder that if people were able to reach such great heights in their faith and were able to know the Bible so deeply without having a copy of it handy, why are we continually finding it so difficult to gain spiritual understanding and knowledge?
Thank you for sharing that little bit of biblical history with us. It really puts things into perspective =)