YOU are the image of God!

originally posted by: RoScoLaz4
he wishes...

I hope you see the duality of this situation.

originally posted by: Blue Shift

originally posted by: chr0naut
It was written over vast swathes of history, by multiple writers and yet retains an internal consistency that a single author would find hard to attain.

Well, it certainly helps to cherry pick the documents you want to put in it from the hundreds if not thousands of available documents, then have some of the smartest scholars you have available to you go through and edit it heavily to make the pieces fit. It also helps to have people through the ages willing to twist themselves in semantic knots to smooth out the remaining rough edges.

Of course, you are correct but I do have a few questions.

When were these groups assembled and the editing done? I mean, there would be historical evidence (like unedited copies of these extremely popular works against which we can compare). Where are they?

No groundless speculation, actual sources please (this does not mean that I am asking you to link to someone's opinion piece, I really mean sources).

a reply to: chr0naut

Vatican library possibly? Obviously the Vatican has something to hide otherwise their library wouldn't be off-limits to pretty much everyone. Also, if those in power were rewriting history, why would they leave a paper trail out in the open for everyone to see?

The winner writes history, Christianity has been on the winning side ever since its inception by Constantine. The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of writings in Jesus that contradict the bible accounts, they weren't found until fairly recently. But I guess since they aren't a part of the official canon, you deny their content as genuine? Obviously they were hidden for a reason, what could that reason be? Because Rome would have either confiscated them or burned them. Rome wasn't fond of people who contradicted the "official story", which is why they persecuted those who refused to convert.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

The light is hidden, it is concealed by the physical body.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

That is the entire problem with the Bible, one passage is used to prove another one and so on. It's called circular argumentation and is consider a fallacy in logic.

Trying to prove "God" or anything else metaphysical, to other people is a difficult task, in this world.

If you believe in what you say in your OP, then let it work for yourself, because unfortunately human beings want and need to prove things to themselves, or sell themselves on ideals.

The image was corrupted with the fall. So we are not the image of God.
a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

originally posted by: Realtruth
a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

That is the entire problem with the Bible, one passage is used to prove another one and so on. It's called circular argumentation and is consider a fallacy in logic.

Trying to prove "God" or anything else metaphysical, to other people is a difficult task, in this world.

If you believe in what you say in your OP, then let it work for yourself, because unfortunately human beings want and need to prove things to themselves, or sell themselves on ideals.

That is the entire problem with the science textbooks, one passage is used to prove another one and so on. It's called circular argumentation and is consider a fallacy in logic.

Trying to prove "true randomness" or infinities, to other people is a difficult task, in this world.

If you believe in what you say in your OP, then let it work for yourself, because unfortunately human beings want and need to prove things to themselves, or sell themselves on ideals.

originally posted by: 3NL1GHT3N3D1
a reply to: chr0naut

Vatican library possibly? Obviously the Vatican has something to hide otherwise their library wouldn't be off-limits to pretty much everyone. Also, if those in power were rewriting history, why would they leave a paper trail out in the open for everyone to see?

The winner writes history, Christianity has been on the winning side ever since its inception by Constantine. The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of writings in Jesus that contradict the bible accounts, they weren't found until fairly recently. But I guess since they aren't a part of the official canon, you deny their content as genuine? Obviously they were hidden for a reason, what could that reason be? Because Rome would have either confiscated them or burned them. Rome wasn't fond of people who contradicted the "official story", which is why they persecuted those who refused to convert.

The Vatican Library is not off-limits to pretty much everyone, that's a Dan Brown type fiction. Here's a link to the Vatican Library online. Most of its manuscripts and books are very valuable and very old. It makes sense to limit people accessing the library to those who will treat the documents with the extreme care required to ensure no damage comes to them. Please note the "Admission criteria" section of the website.

The Nag Hammadi "library" consisted of a single earthenware jar that contained 13 papyrus codices and that were buried in a single grave. Two of the codices were were damaged and are, essentially, lost. The earliest of the texts is dated 200 years after Christ and all codices were from a Gnostic source (antagonistic to Christianity) and written in Coptic.

To expect the texts from Nag Hammadi to document Christ truthfully is to ignore their provenance.