Prior to the Book of Matthew

The Apocrypha is a different story.  All but one book was written during the “silent years”.  The latest book was written in 90AD.  This book was heavily used by all Christendom until the Reformation.  At this point the Protestants decided not to use these books.  The fathers of the church and the Apostles of Jesus had used these books just like they used the OT.  As a result, I will have to include them in this experiment.  I wonder how difficult it will be to find a good translation.  Here the editors/translators of the NIV show their true colors:

     There is nothing of theological value in the Apocryphal books that cannot be duplicated in canonical scripture, and they contain much that runs counter to its teachings. Zondervan NIV Study Bible: Fully Revised, Zondervan Press, 2002, p1457.

This is a direct quote from the Bible.  What it tells a gay Atheist is that the Protestants covered up anything that ran counter to their beliefs.  This has since become a Tradition of Man to leave these Scriptures out of the Word of God.  When I find a good translation of these writings I will add them to the experiment.

“The third writings from the “silent years” are the “Dead Sea Scrolls.” These writing have collaborated much of the OT and the Apocryphal.  These writings have also included material central to the Essenes.  Due to the fragmented condition of the Scrolls and that the Essenes were a short lived branch of Judaism; these writings have been tightly controlled.  There is only one original copy that has taken years to translate, with much of it in tatters.  Since it was a small group of people, it is assumed, by the Traditions of Man that these books are not the Word of God.  From an Atheist interpretation, all of Judaism and Christendom may be wrong!  The reason that both religions might be wrong is specifically for ignoring this sect’s writings.  This Saturday (Jan 24, 2009) I will be writing a special post on Pascal’s wager.  On Saturday I will also tackle the Synoptic Problem.  After that I will start the reading of Matthew.