Here are links to the Complete Gospels
Just as most educated Moslems are aware that the biblical stories in the Quran were simply oral recitation of portions of the Gnostic Gospels, most educated Christians know the modern bible is incomplete.| The First Bible Although the first bible was commissioned by Constantine, his main focus for his new city of Constantinople was to have many beautiful churches and Christian institutions. This first bible was produced in a limited edition. It was a beautiful production and included all of the Gospels. Early Christianity Christianity was institutionalized during the process of becoming a state religion. This meant changes to both the structure and the form. In the beginning, Christians shared meals and talked about the Good News of Christ around tables in the houses in which these meals were being shared. This arrangement meant that the majority of ministers were women and that the congregations were much smaller and more diverse of opinion. The early Christians had a much greater access to a wider variety of Gospels than modern Christians. In the interest of state security and the goal of using Christianity as a cement for a decaying empire, a program of consolidation and consistency was introduced. The New Christianity would reflect the organization and culture of the state. In the beginning this meant the elimination of women from positions of power and a hierarchy with men at the top of the pyramid, but soon it was determined that certain Gospels which emphasized the equality of women and importance of Christ's most beloved disciple Mary Magdelene had to be eliminated. There was no room for pluralism in this new state religion, diverse opinions were not welcome and orthodoxy must be enforced. Previously the religion was a religion of the people, but now the religion must be re-formed and the new formation must be in accordance with state requirements. The Council of Nicea in 325ad It was not long before elements within the newly established religion began to feel that in order to force Christianity into the form that would be best for the state and best for those at the top of the hierarchy, a Synod must be convened to decide which texts would best support this new form of Christianity and which must be declared "heretical". This council was convened at Nicea and in contradiction to the implied desires of Christ, a new Orthodoxy was established which included a creed and a set of council authorized texts. Changing Christianity for the good of the state. The first job of the Council of Nicea was to select the texts for the Bible which would support the power structure of Constantine's newly reconquered Roman Empire. As previously stated, one of the most challenging things facing the men at the council was that the majority of church deacons were women. This was dealt with by excluding the Gospel of Mary Magdelene, The Gospel of Thomas, The Acts of Paul and Thecla and any other existing texts which supported the equality of women and the rights of women to minister and teach "the Way". Grafting Old Cults onto the New Religion The next job of the Council of Nicea was to recreate Christianity by grafting the Cult of the Emperor onto the existing Christian religion. This was done by locking all the members of the council into a room and not allowing them to leave the room until they all agreed to a common creed as dictated by Constantine's representatives who were from the small Roman sect which was considered one of the more heretical sects in all Christianity due to corruption through Romanization. This sect was more distant from the original Christian path due to Roman influences, yet quite powerful due to its location in the former capitol of the Roman empire. The leaders of this sect sought to use this position to place themselves at the top of the hierarchy and to promote their Romanized brand of Christianity. In the beginning this ploy failed but overtime this particular sect was able to gain progressive political power and today this small sect has gained control over the mass of Christianity. The Roman sect has various doctrines which made their brand of Christianity more useful as a state religion. Throughout the Empire, the most important and popular sect was the Cult of the Emperor. In contrast with the contemporary Christianity of that time which emphasized the Good News of Christ and following the way, the Romanized version was congruent with the Cult of the Emperor by declaring that Christ was not so much a teacher as God himself. The Strange Foundation Although originally founded by Peter, it has been usurped by the failed Rabbi Saul of Tarsus, who had made his way to Rome under the name Paul. Paul had made himself famous through a series of private correspondence that had taken on the status of religious literature after being copied again and again. Some groups of original Christians despised Paul and called him the "Liar" pointing out that Paul never knew Christ and yet acted as if he were an original disciple. During the time of his usurpation of Peter's Roman evangelical effort, Paul was generally disliked. Even Peter had berated him for his arrogance and his twistings of the teachings to his own convenience. But for Constantine, the Paulinian blaspemy was a crucial tool in his exploitation of Christianity in the quest to create a common religion that would help re-establish order throughout the now reunited Roman Empire. |
For links to the some of the important texts that were excluded by the Nicean Council click on the link below:
The Censored Texts
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Global Sacred Texts
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