Deception IV: The "Lost" Books of the Bible pt 2

"The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great . . . More than eighty gospels were considered for the new Testament, and yet only a relative few were chosen for inclusion - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John among them. (Dan Brown The DaVinci Code p. 231) This line was spoken by Sir Leigh Teabing a fictional art symbologist and historian in the book/movie The DaVinci Code. The purpose was to promote a false history of the bible, and separate fiction from the truth.
First, Constantine had nothing to do with the Bible. The First Council of Nicaea was called by Constantine and they had about 20 directives to solve. None of which had anything to do with the Bible. It was the Synod of Hippo Regius in North Africa in 393 AD that accepted the Bible as it is now. Later it was confirmed at the Third Synod of Carthage in 397 AD. They didn't pick and choose what books best described their sense of theology. They merely confirmed what had already been affirmed for more than 300 years.
When setting up the standards for canonization, the synod primarily used 3 statements for canonization: 1 apostolicity, 2 orthodoxy, 3 catholicity.
Apostolicity was defined as; 1 was it written by an apostle, or 2 was it written by an associate of an apostle. Therefore, it had to been written by an apostle or someone who had a personal relationship with an apostle. Being a friend of a friend didn't work.
Orthodoxy was defines as; did it conform with other known writings and teachings. If it taught something that was completely different from what was written or taught, it was disregarded.
Catholicity was defined as; generally accepted by most of the churches. Were the early churches and priests already using these books.
The second statement that more than eighty gospels were considered but a few were chosen is a huge stretch of the truth. When looking at some early attempts at making a lasting Bible, there were roughly 50 to 60 books that were used. When the standards were applied, those books got narrowed down in a hurry. To roughly the 27 books we have in the New Testament today.
The reference may have been to the more than 50 Gnostic "gospels". The Gnostic writings were never recognized by the early church fathers, (catholicity)(see previous post). It taught completely different ideas about Jesus, and women among other things (orthodoxy). The earliest known writing (and this is a very conservative date) appears around 150 AD. That's roughly 110 years after the death of Jesus, and 50 years after the death of John. Therefore, they couldn't have been written by an apostle or even an acquaintance of an apostle (apostolicity)
What about Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene? There is a gospel that shows they kissed on the lips and were married. That's a nice question, one that has led many people towards deception. The "gospels" that has been the source of the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene are "The Gospel of Phillip" and "The Gospel of Mary Magdalene". Both gospels were written between 250 AD and 300 AD. Knowing that they could not have been written by either person, tends to remove credibility. The second aspect of that is the standards used at the Synod of Hippo also shows they weren't even considered for canonization.
The biggest misconception is that the "Gospel of Phillip" has an exchange were Jesus approached Mary Magdalene and kissed her on the lips. The problem with that is in the narrative, the words lips aren't there. The parchment was torn and the word was missing. In other words, it says, "and Jesus approached Mary and kissed her on the [blank]. Gnostics and antiChristian people have been inserting lips to show a sexual relationship between Jesus and Mary. Yet, it could easily have said [hand], [cheek], [forehead], all signs of greetings.
I have talked to an attorney and asked him about the evidence that Jesus and Mary were married. He did some studying (he is an affirmed Gnostic) and after an extended time said this to me, "If the case of Mary Magdalene and Jesus being married were to be taken to court, it would be dismissed for lack of evidence. There is no proof that they were ever married, nor did they even have a sexual relationship. There is more proof that shows they were never married, ."
For further research check out these websites:
http://www.ntcanon.org/
http://www.anabaptists.org/history/howwegot.html
http://go.family.org/davinci/content/A000000092.cfm
http://go.family.org/davinci/content/A000000049.cfm

"6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-- 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ." (Gal 1:6,7 NIV)

Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg