The Gospel of the Salvation of Jesus Christ is what the New Testament is all about. It’s a shame that the Roman Catholic Church has failed to educate people in the Gospel Truth for centuries. Here is how it all came about and it all has to do with control….
How The Bible Came To Be
The original Biblical Canon was written in two languages: the Old Testament in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek. Between 285–247 AD, 70 Jewish scholars translated the Torah — the first 5 books of the Old Testament — into Greek. That was called the Septuagint — for the 70 scholars.
Enter Rome
In 313 AD, Constantine declared Christianity to be legal stopping the persecution of the church. The main language of the Roman Empire was Latin (though Greek was second).
In 382, the whole Bible was translated into the Latin Vulgate by Jerome. The church spoke Latin and taught in Latin. Keep in mind, that books, before the invention of the printing press in 1440, were all hand written and copied.
Without going into a whole class on how languages in Europe came about, suffice it to say that as the Roman Empire fell and countries and kingdoms formed, so did the languages. By the end of the 7th century (600s), Latin Vulgate, could barely be distinguished and within 200 years, Latin became a dead language. Except in the church.
So we have the people speaking their regional languages and the church still speaking and preaching in Latin. Only well-educated people learned Latin. Only wealthy people could afford to be educated.
In other words, common people could not be trusted to know their faith.
Faith of Wonder
Since the common people depended on the church for direction on how to live, solve problems, follow rules, etc., the church was able to teach them whatever was necessary to keep them coming, entertained, and in wonder. Which explains the…
They used the stories of the martyrs and saints to show people how to live and do good works. They eventually took advantage of them by making them worship relics. You had to worship them for salvation.
I don’t know about you, but that sounds a lot like mind control to me.
Enter John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (1320-1384), may very well have been a precursor to the Protestant Reformation. Wycliffe was very involved in politics in England between the king and the church.
Wycliffe had come to regard the scriptures as the only reliable guide to the truth about God, and maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible rather than on the teachings of popes and clerics. He said that there was no scriptural justification for the papacy…
…In keeping with Wycliffe’s belief that scripture was the only authoritative reliable guide to the truth about God, he became involved in efforts to translate the Bible into English.
Wikipedia
In 1382, the first copies of the Gospels were translated and by 1888, the whole New Testament was available in Middle English. All of a sudden, the people now had the Gospel in their common language! This, of course, angered the pope and the church. Wycliffe was declared a heretic and even though he died of old age, his bones were dug up by the church and burned. (A little overkill don’t you think?)
His followers, the Lollards, were the first to preach the true Gospel since the church had deviated from the Bible. Later, after the start of the Reformation, Luther translated the Bible into German. Furthermore, with the invention of the printing press, the Renaissance and the humanism method of learning, more and more people were able to read the Gospel Truth.
A Church in Chaos
As you could imagine, the Catholic Church was in chaos. It wouldn’t be until the Council of Trent in 1545-6, that the Church would lay down the law. And I’ll get to that in my next post.
Read the Bible!
Paul told us…
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT
Jesus told us…
14 “And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.”
Matthew 24:14 NLT
What’s glorious is that there are Bible Translators — some following the steps of John Wycliffe — who are doing just that!
Jesus also said…
“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32 NLT
You are not Free if You are a Slave to Religion
And finally, Jesus said several times…
“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”
Revelation 3:22 NLT
Friends, the only excuse you have for NOT reading the Bible is laziness! Here are 2 free apps that make reading the Bible daily very easy!
Recommended Bible Study Apps:
The Bible App: https://bible.com
Through The Word: https://throughtheword.org
Jesus Christ is coming back soon! Are you ready? You better be!
Soli Deo Gloria — To God Alone Be the Glory!
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