Several posters here have made the claim that the Council of Nicea decided the books of the Bible.
e.g.
toolmaker wrote: 'Some books were discarded (Thomas, Enoch etc) because they did not fit into what religious leaders wanted, decided at thecouncil of Nicea in 326 AD.'
But,
it is NOT TRUE.
The Council of Nicea argued about Arius and the date of Easter mainly.
The Council did NOT make any pronouncements on the books of the bible.
This can easily be proved because we still have extant :
* the documents produced at the council detailing their decisions (creed, canons, letter)
* several accounts of the Council, some from contemporary writers.
You can check these documents here -
www.newadvent.org...
You can read a good article about it here -
www.tertullian.org...
Which all shows conclusively that the council made no such choice of the books of the bible.
I am rather surprised that this well known fallacy is still being repeated here.
Iasion
[edit on 5-4-2005 by John bull 1]
This ancient letter shouldn’t be confused with the gospel of Barnabas, which is a spurious 13 th century AD document that is filled with anachronisms and “prophecies” that Muhammad is the Messiah. We have two complete Greek texts of the letter, nine partial Greek texts, and one Latin translation. One of our complete Greek. The second group, led by Paul and Barnabas rejected any barrier placed in front of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They reasoned, if you make circumcision a requirement before becoming a Christian, then you are altering the very nature of the gospel. The gospel comes as a gracious gift, not from our own obedience.
The Gospel Of Barnabas Pdf
The Gospel Of Barnabas Rejected Scriptures The Lord
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. 14:10-13; Psalms 12:2; Daniel 6:7; Jude 1:16; Revelation 13:4. Whereas the “secret Bible” called the Gospel of Barnabas was written 400-1500 years after Christ, most scholars believe the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written in the first century, within one generation of his life. We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. (emphasis added) Paul and Barnabas rejected the crowd’s worship and tore their robes as a sign of grief.