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There is no Bible inspired by God, dear Zoe (peace to you, dear one!). The only writings inspired by God are scripture. And the Bible is not scripture. The Bible is a canonization of various writings, INCLUDING scripture, but ALSO histories, records, chronologies, and letters. "Scripture" is that which was written by men who were inspired (i.e., IN spirit) at the time, were TOLD (by God/Christ) to write, and were borne along by holy spirit when they did so write. Which means that only Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms, and the Revelation are "scripture."
Luke and John help us appreciate which writings are "scripture":
"Now that very same day, two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. And it happened that as they were talking together and discussing it, [Jesus] himself came up and walked by their side; but their eyes were prevented from recognising him. He said to them, 'What are all these things that you are discussing as you walk along?' They stopped, their faces downcast. Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, 'You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.' He asked, 'What things?' They answered, 'All about [Jesus] of Nazareth, who showed himself a prophet powerful in action and speech before God and the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole days have now gone by since it all happened; and some women from our group have astounded us: they went to the tomb in the early morning, and when they could not find the body, they came back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him they saw nothing.'
"Then he said to them, 'You foolish men! So slow to believe all that the prophets have said! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer before entering into his glory?' Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself.
"When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; but they pressed him to stay with them saying, 'It is nearly evening, and the day is almost over.' So he went in to stay with them. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, 'Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?'
"They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, who said to them, 'The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Simon.' Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread. They were still talking about all this when he himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you!' In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, 'Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts stirring in your hearts? See by my hands and my feet that it is I myself. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.'
"And as he said this he showed them his hands and his feet. Their joy was so great that they still could not believe it, as they were dumbfounded; so he said to them, 'Have you anything here to eat?' And they offered him a piece of grilled fish, which he took and ate before their eyes. Then he told them, 'This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, was destined to be fulfilled.' He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, 'So it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem." Luke 24:13-47
Luke even lets us know that HIS accounts were not inspired. How could they be unless they were conscripted by God, and received from/related by God? But Luke TELLS us how and from whom he received what he wrote... and FOR whom:
"Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts of the events that have reached their fulfilment among us, as these were handed down to us by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word, I in my turn, after carefully going over the whole story from the beginning, have decided to write an ordered account for you, Theophilus, so that your Excellency may learn how well founded the teaching is that you have received." Luke 1:1-4
Wait. What? Luke was even told to write an account by God, let alone was an eyewitness himself, but "decided" to write one himself... or perhaps was conscripted to write one... NOT for the Body of Christ... but for "Theophilus"??? And if "Theophilus" was a member of Christ's Body, why did he need an account in order to know how "well founded" the teaching he received WAS? Didn't his anointing with holy spirit (or, for those who need it stated this way, the Holy Spirit) tell him? 1 John 2:26-28
What about his accounts of the Apostles' acts? Well, he opens with:
"In my earlier work, Theophilus," Acts 1:1
Funny, when Paul, Peter, James, and Jude wrote THEIR letters, they either greeted the "congregation" (Body)... or somehow acknowledged the recipient as a member OF the Body. Luke, though, didn't do that with "Theophilus," though. Nope, he said WHY he was writing that man: to give him a record so that the man would know that the teachings he received WERE well founded. THEN, "Theophilus" could decide what to choose. But he hadn't prior to.
But let's see what Christ himself is recorded to say about the scriptures:
"You pore over the scriptures, believing that in them you can find eternal life; it is these scriptures that testify to me, and yet you refuse to come to me to receive life!" John 5:39, 40 (Jerusalem Bible)
When my Lord first showed me these verses I was FLABBERGASTED. I kept going to the Bible/scriptures to see if what HE was telling me was true! He eventually set me straight, though. He said, it is not to the scriptures I should go to check and see if what HE tells me true; it is to HIM I must go... in order to know whether what the "scriptures" say is true or not! Be HE... IS the TRUTH, not them. And... they are not necessarily to be trusted, as written. Hence, HIS condemnation of the hypocrisy (and so its results) of the scribes:
"Alas for you... scribes, hypocrites! ... You serpents, brood of vipers, how can you escape being condemned to hell? ... you will draw down on yourselves the blood of every upright person that has been shed on earth, from the blood of Abel the holy to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar." - Matthew 23:13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29, 33-35 (Jerusalem Bible)
He said this due to THEIR fulfillment of the prophecy given to Jeremiah ABOUT them:
"How can you say, 'We are wise, since we have [Yahweh's] Law?' Look how it has been falsified by the lying pen of the scribes!" Jeremiah 8:8
Whoa... wait... isn't the LAW scripture??! It certainly is. Yet, Jeremiah stated that the LAW... had been falsified by the lying pen of the scribes! But how can that BE? How can scripture BE falsified? It's God's WORD, right? HE wrote the Law Himself, yes? So, how in the world can it be tampered with??
Makes me shake my head when people say that the Bible hasn't been tampered with (goodness, the LAW has been tampered with... so SCRIPTURE has been tampered with... so OF COURSE the Bible can be tampered with! Look at all the VERSIONS of it! And from where do most, if not SOME part of every one of those version come? The Septuagint (LXX), which absolutely was tampered with (ask the Masoretes)... because it was THAT Bible version that Christ was condemning! THAT was the "bible" (compilation of scripture) of his day!
And so what dear tec (peace to you, luv!) was saying, dear Char (peace to you, as well!)... was that she GETS what Christ meant at John 5:39 40: that we can search/pore over the scriptures... or we can simply go to Christ. Like her, I choose to go to Christ. And if HE says a scripture/verse is accurate and maintains its integrity... or means what it states... or originally said what it does now... or didn't... then I trust HIM... over what I see with my eyes (in writing). Because he once said to me:
"All that tell you IS written, but not all that is written is what I will say to you."
He meant that all that he tells me is written... SOMEWHERE, but NOT necessarily in the Bible... and all that is written in the Bible is NOT necessarily what he would tell me. Because it is NOT necessarily the truth. HE, though... IS the Truth and HIS mouth speaks ONLY what is true and what is upright. There is NOTHING wicked or false in it.
The problem is that people put Paul... who said "All scripture is inspired and beneficial..." OVER CHRIST... who said... "You search/pore over the scriptures... yet you do not want to come to me..." and "Woe, to you... scribes, hypocrites!"
They do this because they don't REALLY know who they TRULY follow. Usually, it's Paul... not Christ. An error. Hopefully, they will "turn around"... and follow the Lamb... and him ALONE... wherever HE goes. They can do this if they would just turn their ear toward him and put their gaze on him. May those who truly WISH to do so, then, hear... when he, the HOLY One of Israel and Holy Spirit, JAHESHUA, the Chosen One of JAH (MischaJah)... who IS the Spirit... and his Bride... say to such one:
"Come! Take 'life's water'... which water, holy spirit, is poured out from the innermost parts of that one (John 7:37, 38)... FREE!"
I hope this helps and, again, peace to you all!
YSSFS of Christ,
Shellama, who read Judit, Tobit, the Maccabees, the Apophrycal books, alll of the uncanonized gospels, Enoch, the Didache, and more... until my Lord himself asked me why, when I had him right there... and if I wanted to know something why not ask him... duh...
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