The New Testament: Is Anything Missing?

1. The New Testament:Is Anything Missing? DaVinci Said “Yes.”

2. “More than eighty gospels were considered for the New Testament, and yet only a few were chosen for inclusion--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John among them”(p. 231). Were There Other Gospels?

3. “In those trunks are reputed to be the Purist Documents--thousands of pages of unaltered, pre-Constantine documents, written by the early followers of Jesus, revering him as a wholly human teacher and prophet. Also rumored to be part of the treasure is the legendary ‘Q’ Document.… Allegedly, it is a book of Jesus’ teaching, possibly written in His own hand” (256). Was There a Gospel of “Q”

4. “Constantine…commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of Christ’s human traits and embellished those gospels that made him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned (234-235).” Did Constantine Make the Canon?

5. The Questions Raised by DaVinci 1. Were 80 Other Gospels Considered? 2. Were Any Other Gospels Authentic? 3. Was there an Original Gospel of “Q”? 4. Did the Earliest Gospels Teach Christ was only Human? 5. Did Constantine Form Our Bible?

6. The Questions Raised by DaVinci I. Were 80 Other Gospels Considered? No! A. There are only four from the first century (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). B. The later apocryphal gospels (2nd-3rd cent) were never considered for the New Testament. C. There were dozens of fragments but only about 15-20 apocryphal gospels of note such as: The Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of the Ebionites The Gospel of Peter The Gospel of the Egyptians The Gospel of James The Gospel of Philip The Gospel of Judas The Gospel according to Mary (Magdalene) The Gospel of Truth The Gospel of the Hebrews The Gospel of Matthias The Gospel of the Twelve The Gospel of Eve The Gospel of Perfection

7. The Questions Raised by DaVinci I. Were 80 Other Gospels Considered? No! II. Were Any Other Gospels Authentic? No! A. They hadfalse claims to be written by apostles and others who were long dead. B. They had false miracle claims about Jesus’ infancy (cf. John. 2:11). C. They had false claims about biblical events. D. They had false teachings throughout their pages.

8. 1. Heresy On God: Pantheism “The Lord called out and cried, ‘My Power, O Power, thou hast forsaken me’” (The Gospel of Peter, 5.15). “Then he spoke to me and said: ‘I am thou and thou art I, and where thou art there am I, and I am sown in all things: and whence thou wilt, thou gatherest me, but when thou gatherest me, then gatherest thou thyself’” (The Gospel of Eve in Hennecke, NTA, 241). [Jesus said] “I am the All; the All has emerged from me, and the All has attained to me. Cleave a piece of wood--I am there; lift a stone up--and you will find me there” (Gospel of Thomas, Logion 77).

9. 1. On God: Pantheism “Thus the Word of the Father proceeds forth into the All, being the fruit of His heart and a form of His will. It upholds the All, it chooses it, and also takes (upon itself) the form of the All, purifying it and causing it to return to the Father and to the Mother, Jesus of the infinite gentleness. The father reveals His breast; but His breast is the Holy Spirit” (The Gospel of Truth, 23.33-25.3).

10. 1. On God: Feminism “ I am (the Father); I am the Mother, I (am the Son). I am the eternally Existing, the Unmixed, (since there is none who) mingles himself with him” (The Apocryphon of John, Codex 8, Hennecke, 322).

11. 1. On God: Modalism “[Jesus said] he had revealed to his disciples that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one and the same person” (The Gospel of the Egyptians in Hennecke NTA, 170).

12. 2. On Creation: Emanationism “All the emanations of the Father, then, are pleromas, and all His emanations have their root in Him who caused them all to grow from himself and gave to their destiny” (The Gospel of Truth 41.4-20).

13. 3. On the Soul: Preincarnationism • Jesus said: “Blessed is he who wasbefore he came into being” (The Gospel of Thomas, Logion 19).

14. 4. On the Body: Gnosticism “Wretched is the body which depends upon a body and wretched is the soul which depends upon these two” (The Gospel of Thomas, Logion 87).

15. 5. On Matter: Dualism “By means of knowledge each will purify himself from diversity into unity, devouring matter within him like a fire, darkness by light, death by life…. It is fitting for us to take thought above all that the house may be holy and silent for the Unity” (The Gospel of Truth (25.23-25).

16. 6. On Human Nature: Perfectionism “Your god…is within you. Let any one of you who is strong enough among human beings bring out the perfect human and stand before my face” (The Gospel of Judas).

17. 7. On Salvation: Gnosticism “What did come from the Father was knowledge [gnosis].… As soon as men come to this knowledge, ‘oblivion’ (which is ignorance of God) will no longer exist, and this is the Gospel revealed to the perfect” (The Gospel of Truth 18:17-26).

18. 7. On Salvation: Mysticism “By means of knowledge each will purify himselffrom diversity into unity, devouring matter within him like a fire, darkness by light, death by life…. It is fitting for us to take thought above all that the house may be holy and silent for the Unity” (The Gospel of Truth (25.23-25).

19. 7. On Salvation: Anti-Female “See, I shall lead her, so that I will make her male, that she too may become a living spirit, resembling you males. For every woman who makes herself male will enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (The Gospel of Thomas, Logion, 114).

20. 8. On Jesus: Arianism “The first [angel] is Seth, who is called Christ…. The fifth is Adonaios. These are five who ruled over the underworld, and first of all over chaos” (The Gospel of Judas).

21. 8. On Jesus: Arianism “Christ was not begotten of God the Father, but created as one of the archangels…that he rules over the angels and all the creatures of the Almighty…” (Gospel of the Ebionites, Fragment 6).

22. 9. On Jesus: Docetism “They brought the two malefactors and crucified the Lord in the midst between them. But he held his peace, as if he felt no pain” (The Gospel of Peter 8.35-10:42).

23. 10. On Jesus’ Sonship: Adoptionism “Jesus also came and was baptized by John; and as he came up from the water, the heavens opened…and a voice from heaven saying: ‘Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased:’ and again: ‘This day have I begotten thee [as my Son]’” (The Gospel of the Ebionites in Hennecke, NTA, 155).

24. 11. On Jesus’ Miracles: Mythologism “This little child Jesus when he was five year old was playing at the ford of a brook…. And having made soft clay, he fashioned thereof twelve sparrows…. Jesus clapped his hands together and cried out to the sparrows and said to them: Go! and the sparrows took their flight and went away chirping” (The Gospel of Thomas 2:1-4).

25. 11. On Jesus’ Miracles “And Jesus said to him: ‘If you are indeed a teacher, and if you know the letters well, tell me the meaning of the Alpha, and I will tell you the meaning of the Beta.’ And the teacher was annoyed and struck him on the head. And the child was hurt and cursed him, and he immediately fainted and fell to the ground on his face” (The Account of Thomas the Israelite Philosopher Concerning the Childhood of the Lord 14.1-3).

26. 11. On Jesus’ Miracles [At the birth of Christ] “I looked up at the vault of heaven, and saw it standing still and the birds of the heaven motionless…and those who put something to their mouth put nothing to their mouth, but all had their faces turned upwards. And behold sheep were being driven and yet they did not come forward, but stood still…. And I looked at the flow of the river, and saw the mouths of the kids over it and they did not drink. And then all at once everything went on its course again” (The Protevangelium of James 18.1).

27. 11. On Jesus’ Miracles “But the son of Annas the scribe was standing there with Joseph; and he took a branch of a willow and (with it) dispersed the water which Jesus had gathered together. When Jesus saw what he had done he was enraged and said to him: ‘You insolent, godless thunderhead, what harm did the pools and the water do to you? See now you also shall wither like a tree and shall bear neither leaves nor root nor fruit.’ And immediately that lad withered up completely” (The Account of Thomas the Israelite Philosopher 3.1-3).

28. 11. On Jesus’ Resurrection “In the night in which the Lord’s day dawned, when the soldiers, two by two in every watch, were keeping guard, there rang out a loud voice in heaven, and they saw the heavens opened and two men come down from there in a great brightness and draw nigh to the sepulchre. That stone which had been laid against the entrance to the sepulchre startedof itself to roll and give way to the side. And whilst they were relating what they has seen, they saw again three men come out from the sepulchre and two of them

29. sustaining the other, and a cross following them, and the heads of the two reaching to heaven, but that of him who was led of them by the hand overpassing the heavens. And they heard a voice out the heavens crying, ‘Thou has preached to them that sleep,’ and from the cross there was heard the answer, ‘Yea’” (Gospel of Peter 9.35-10.42).

30. 12. Jesus’ Disciples Blaspheme Him “When he approached his disciples, gathered together and seated and offering a prayer of thanksgiving over the bread, he laughed…. When his disciples heard this, they started getting angry and infuriated and began blaspheming against him in their hearts” (The Gospel of Judas).

31. 12.On Jesus’ Disciples: Mysticism “Step away from the others and I shall tell you [Judas] the mysteries of the kingdom. For it is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal” “Look you have been told everything. Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star” (Gospel of Judas). Note: Jesus said “I spoke openly to the world…and in secret I have said nothing” (John 18:20).

32. 12. On Jesus’ Disciples: Mysticism “So wonderful was the teaching given that the disciples believed that everything had been revealed to them, not realizing that this was but the lowest of a series of mysteries still more sublime. The supreme mystery, of which the disciples as yet are entirely ignorant, is to be revealed to them in the course of the twelfth and last year of the Saviour’s sojourn among His followers between the resurrection and the final Ascension…” (Pistis Sophia, in Hennecke, 253).

33. 12. Jesus’ Love Mary Magdalene “But if the Saviour hath made her [Mary M.] worthy, who then art thou, that thou rejects her? Certainly the Saviour knows her surely enough. Therefore did he love her more than us” (The Gospel of Mary [Magdalene], in Hennecke, 343).

34. 13. On Interpretation: Allegorism “And Jesus said to him: ‘If you are indeed a teacher, and if you know the letters well, tell me the meaning of the Alpha, and I will tell you the meaning of the Beta” (The Account of Thomas the Israelite Philosopher Concerning the Childhood of the Lord 14.1-3).

35. 14. On Morality: Asceticism “And how could a charge not be rightly brought against the Saviour, if he has transformed us and freed us from error, and delivered us from sexual [relations]?” (The Gospel of the Egyptians, Fragment (f)).

36. New Testament vs. Apocrypha Irenaeus (2nd cent.): “Indeed, they have arrived at sucha pitch of audacity, as to entitle their comparatively recent writing, ‘the Gospel of Truth,’ though it agrees in nothing with the Gospels of the Apostles, so that they have really no Gospel, which is not full of blasphemy…. But that these Gospels [of the Apostles] alone are true and reliable, and admit neither an increase nor diminuition of the aforesaid number [four], I have proved by so many and such arguments” (AH, 3.11.9).

37. Eusebius(early church historian): He called the apocphal books “totally impious and absurd” (Ecclesiatical History). J. Donaldson (editor of Ante-Nicene Fathers wrote): “The predominant impression which they leave on our minds is a profound sense of the immeasurable superiority, the unapproachable simplicity and majesty, of the Canonical Writings”(cited by Yamauchi, ibid.).

38. Edwin Yamauchi: “The apocryphal gospels, even the earliest and soberest among them, can hardly compare with the canonical gospels. The former are all patently secondary and legendary or obviously slanted….The extra-canonical literature, taken as a whole, manifests a surprising poverty. The bulk of it is legendary, and bears the clear mark of forgery” (Yamauchi, “The Word from Nag Hammadi,” 22 (Christianity Today, 13 Jan,, 1978).

39. The Questions Raised by DaVinci I. Were 80 Other Gospels Considered? No! II. Were Any Other Gospels Authentic? No! III. Was there an Original Gospel of “Q”? No!

40. The Questions Raised by DaVinci I. Were 80 Other Gospels Considered? No! II. Were Any Other Gospels Authentic? No! III. Was there an Original Gospel of “Q”? No! A. There are no manuscripts of “Q”--none!

41. The Questions Raised by DaVinci I. Were 80 Other Gospels Considered? No! II. Were Any Other Gospels Authentic? No! III. Was there an Original Gospel of “Q”? No! A. There are no manuscripts of “Q”--none! B. There are no citations from “Q”--none!

42. The Questions Raised by DaVinci I. Were 80 Other Gospels Considered? No! II. Were Any Other Gospels Authentic? No! III. Was there an Original Gospel of “Q”? No! A. There are no manuscripts of “Q”--none! B. There are no citations from “Q”--none! C. It is a purely hypothetical source.

43. The Questions Raised by DaVinci I. Were 80 Other Gospels Considered? No! II. Were Any Other Gospels Authentic? No! III. Was there an Original Gospel of “Q”? No! A. There are no manuscripts of “Q”--none! B. There are no citations from “Q”--none! C. It is a purely hypothetical source. D. The grounds for positing it are unproven.

44. D. The grounds for positing Q are unproven The “Q” hypothesis supposed that: 1. Mark wrote first (But the Fathers said Matthew did). 2. Matthew and Luke copied from Mark (but Matthew was an eye- witness and Luke is based on eyewitnesses--1:1-4). 3. What Matthew and Luke agreed on and was not in Mark came from “Q.” Not so. Luke came from eyewitness testimony (Lk. 1:1-4); Matthew was an eyewitness. So was John (19:35;21:24). 4. Jesus never claimed deity (Yes He did. See below). 5. Miracles are not credible (If God exists, miracles are possible). 6. Jesus’ body did not rise from thedead (Yes it did. See the end of every Gospel plus 1 Cor. 15).

45. Converted “Q” Scholar 1. She was a student of the famous critic R. Bultmann. 2. She taught negative criticism in the German university system. • When converted to Christ, she trashed her books and went to the mission field. 4. She has since written several books defending the NT.

46. The Questions Raised by DaVinci I. Were 80 Other Gospels Considered? No! II. Were Any Other Gospels Authentic? No! II. Was there an Original Gospel of “Q”? No! III. Did the Earliest Gospels Teach Christ was only Human? No! A. Jesus Claimed that He was God B. Jesus’ Disciples Claimed He was God

47. A. Jesus Claimed to be God Mark 2:5, 7: Jesus said, “‘Son, your sins are forgiven you.’ The Scribes replied, ‘Why does this man blaspheme like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone.’” Mark 14:61-61: The High Priest asked: “‘Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ And Jesus said, ‘I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.’” Matthew 16:16-17: Peter said, “‘You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.’ Jesus answered, ‘Blessed are you Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.’” John 8:58: Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ‘Before Abraham was, I AM’” cf. Ex. 3:14). John 10:30-31: Jesus said, “‘I and the Father are one.’ Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.”

48. B. Jesus’ Disciples Claimed He was God Matt. 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” John 20:28: “Thomas said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” Romans 9:5:“Christ who is over all,the eternally blessed God.” Colossians 1: 16: “For by Him were all things created: things in heaven and things on earth.” Colossians 2:9:“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Titus 2:13:“Looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Heb 1:6: “When God brings His firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.” Heb 1:8:“But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne O God, is forever and ever.’”

49. The Questions Raised by DaVinci 1. Were 80 Other Gospels Considered? No. 2. Were Any Other Gospels Authentic? No. 3. Was there an Original Gospel of “Q”? No. 4. Did the Earliest Gospels Teach Christ was only Human? No. 5. Did Constantine Form Our Bible? No.

50. “Constantine…commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of Christ’s human traits and embellished those gospels that made him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned” (DaVinci, 234-235). Did Constantine Choose Them?