"Glorfindel" > wrote in message ...
>
> Just by chance, the History Channel had a program this evening on
> books which were popular in the period from the death of Christ
> up to the time when the canon of the modern Bible was selected

Heh. (Had a long argument about that not too long ago).

> (4th century), including the Gospel of Mary, of Nicodemus, of
> Thomas, the book of Enoch, the Apocalypse of Peter, and so on.
> Some were preserved in Ethiopia and became part of the bible
> of Ethiopian Orthodox church, some became part of the Koran, some
> showed up among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and there were almost
> certainly some that vanished completely and may or may not be
> found somewhere sometime. Various scholars interviewed on the
> program gave their opinions why some text did or did not make
> the final cut, but whatever the reason, it demonstrates that
> the Bible as we have it today is a *selection* from many books
> on the life of Jesus, based on some human beings' opinion.
> I can't regard it as, by itself, the final word on anything.

Selection, and alteration.

> There's also been a lot of new interest lately in the Celtic
> tradition in Christianity and a re-thinking of the views
> of Pelagius, the early British theologian who wrote some very
> modern-sounding comments about God's self-expression in the
> natural world and in animals. I heard J. Philip Newell give
> a talk on his book about this, _Listening For The Heartbeat
> of God_. You might be interested in looking up information
> on him. He used to be Warden of Iona Abbey.

Excellent. Thank you.

> I think someone mentioned you live in Ireland? Or am I
> mistaken on that?

Yes, I do live in Ireland.

> Thanks again for the information you posted.

That's what it's there for. .

> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>