First off, let me state that this is not meant to elicit any drama at all, but merely a genuine query about history. I'm not a Christian, but I would like to know about how the Bible was compiled.
First of all, how did someone go about adding to the bible? If a prophet believed they had a serious message to give to Christians, how did they convince the church that they were genuine? How did the church know how to separate the "true" prophets from the mad or attention seeking?
Secondly, do Christians consider the Bible 'complete'? Will it ever be added to again? If not, why not? After all, what if God decided he had more to add? If yes, then by who? Would they not face extreme difficulty changing such a widely held document in today's society?
A little bit more of a theological question. I think even the most devout Christians will admit that the church has been wrong about the odd thing in the past. How can you be confident that some of the prophet's words are truly the word of God, and not pure fantasy, included, by mistake, by the church? Do you believe that God would not have allowed fraud in the bible?
Forgive me if any of the assumptions I've made here are wrong. I am not an expert, only a curious mind
Also, there's a lot of questions here, I don't expect people to answer them all. Even just one would be nice ^^
Also, obviously this question is directed at those who believe the bible and, preferably, the church too.
Atheists that come in screaming "The whole thing is fake!" have obviously missed the point of my question =)
First of all, how did someone go about adding to the bible? If a prophet believed they had a serious message to give to Christians, how did they convince the church that they were genuine? How did the church know how to separate the "true" prophets from the mad or attention seeking?
Secondly, do Christians consider the Bible 'complete'? Will it ever be added to again? If not, why not? After all, what if God decided he had more to add? If yes, then by who? Would they not face extreme difficulty changing such a widely held document in today's society?
A little bit more of a theological question. I think even the most devout Christians will admit that the church has been wrong about the odd thing in the past. How can you be confident that some of the prophet's words are truly the word of God, and not pure fantasy, included, by mistake, by the church? Do you believe that God would not have allowed fraud in the bible?
Forgive me if any of the assumptions I've made here are wrong. I am not an expert, only a curious mind
Also, there's a lot of questions here, I don't expect people to answer them all. Even just one would be nice ^^Also, obviously this question is directed at those who believe the bible and, preferably, the church too.
Atheists that come in screaming "The whole thing is fake!" have obviously missed the point of my question =)