Hidden Things

I've been attending a bible study at my church unlike anything I've experienced before.
Currently we are looking at the non-canonical scriptures and taking a deeper look at questioning the authority of the bible as we know it.

As you dive deeper into the complication of the bible there is some amazing inspiration but there have also been a lot of human influence. A lot of cutting and pasting and a lot of accommodations. The truth is that as human's we desire to have things make sense. This essentially aided in the scriptures cut and past technique as a method of construing sense out of historical pieces that may not entirely mesh perfectly together. So over time, pieces were omitted, pieces were overlooked, edited. The truth is that if we look at the scriptures as they are compiled today, though I believe the essence of Christian historical accounts is richly entrenched in the scriptures I do believe that Christians over time have been given a severely watered down view of God, Christianity and Jewish culture/history.

To truly believe in a faith that is relevant and historical it then requires intense study and research beyond what authority consistently promotes. If I move beyond and look at questioning the authority of the bible and looking at other historical texts that are also considered Christian scripture but were omitted overtime, than I believe I will be given a broader view. If I want a faith that is purely mind, genuine and personal than I have to look beyond what is right in front of me because I feel God is more.

I am excited at looking deeper at the Apocrypha and looking in to the aspects of these "secret" scriptures that were chosen not to be a part of our canonical texts and look at the controversy that lies within each "extra" book to see what messages were considered unacceptable. I believe this with everything and I blame it on my passion for sociology. In looking at my faith I do it in the same way I look at society. We need to look beyond what the masses consider "the norm" to really challenge ourselves and really challenge change. I believe in looking beyond in a respectful yet scholarly way we evoke change in ourselves and quite possibly in those around us.

For a more indepth read of Apocrypha Texts click here.

I look forward to sharing more throughout the study!