katiemygirl
CHRISTIAN
I like your post. I think you have expressed the way many people feel. I appreciate your honesty. Even though the early church fathers were not inspired writers, we can still look to them to get a clearer picture of what the early church was like. We just need to be careful to not go beyond what is written when it comes to doctrine.For me it is the assurance that the Bible is true. One example, How do I know that Paul's words are true and not some uninspired words of a natural man? The Gospels never mention him. If the (at least 3) Gospels were written after him, those Gospel writers must have surely known him. Why did they never mention him ? Sure, Paul is written about in other places...like Acts. But Acts was not written by an Apostle. How do I assure any of those people are who they claim to be, without turning to other sources, that will back up that belief ?
Also, there are other Codices out there that contain NT writings and include letters such as the Epistle of Barnabus (note: Not the same as the Gospel of Barnabus). Why isn't that Epistle in our NT? How do I know that that isn't the true Bible? but the winds of war let the one I have in my lap be the one that won out, just as you said.
To say the Bible is true because it is true, is to have blind faith in the men who claim to be writing for God. And my faith does not have to be that blind, when I can merely examine history to see how the Bible was formed.
I will admit though, there is a little blindness that does go on because I am not a Bible Scholar. I was just a history buff whose study of history reverted her back to being a Catholic Christian. You could say, that is how the Holy Spirit talked to me. We all take different journeys.
(edit to correct spelling...I am not an english major lol)
You said none of the gospels mention Paul. This is true. However, Luke, who wrote Acts, also wrote the gospel of Luke, and he was not an apostle. Jesus' life, His death and resurrection, His miracles and teachings are the focus of the gospels. Paul did not enter the picture until a long while later when he meets Jesus on the road to Damascus. There would have been no need for the gospel writers to include Paul when the subject of the gospels was Jesus.
I personally have found that reading the Bible truly does build faith. I don't consider what I have to be blind faith. I think of it more as a deep, trusting and abiding faith. If I had to reccommend what books of the Bible for someone to read, they would be the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. Slap a headset on, and listen to these books being read aloud on Biblegateway or some other such program. It's awesome. And it goes very quickly. You can get through both books in a few days. What's amazing is that each time you read or listen, you hear something you didn't pick up on before.
As for the early church fathers, I like the Didache, and the very very early writings.