Religious scholars say Glenn Beck is ignorant

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

It wasn't "Paul's church," it was and is Christ's church. As for a Roman emperor "commissioning" the Bible, are you thinking of Constantine? Because, that is not, in fact how we got the Bible.

Regarding "social justice," that is a very politically-charged term, and requires clarification to be useful. What precisely is meant by social justice? What are its aims? How are those aims to be acheived? Jesus definitely taught concern for the poor and downtrodden, and spoke of caring for them through individual acts of charity. He did not, however, tell us we should be "compassionate" by taking the wealth or property of others against their will and giving them to those we consider more deserving. As for churches doing this or advocating it, Liberation Theology is an example. It was properly criticized by the Roman Catholic Church for its use of Marxist ideology.

Liberation Theology is an uncomfortable subject for the Roman See. What was interesting, at least in the Philippines, is to see how the Gospel is preached there, with one ear to Rome, and the other to the needs of the Filipinos.

The Bibles of Constantine

There is another piece of evidence that bears on the subject of the canon - even though we may not know how to interpret it. About the year 322 CE, the emperor Constantine, wishing to promote and organize Christian worship in the growing number of churches in Constantinople, directed Eusebius to have 50 copies of the sacred Scriptures made by practiced scribes and written legibly on prepared parchment. At the same time the emperor informed him, in a letter still preserved to us, that everything necessary for doing this was placed at his command, among other things two public carriages for conveying the completed manuscripts to the emperor for his personal inspection. According to Eusebius:

Such were the emperor's commands, which were followed by the immediate execution of the work itself, which we sent him in magnificent and elaborately bound volumes of a threefold and fourfold form. (Vita Const. 4.36.37)

The exact meaning of the concluding words has been taken in a half dozen different senses. Two of the most popular are, that the pages had 'three or four columns of script', or that as the copies were completed, they were sent off for the emperor's inspection 'three or four at a time'. The astonishing thing is that Eusebius, who took care to tell us at some length about the fluctuations of opinion in regard to certain books, has not one word to say regarding the choice he made on this important occasion. Of course, 50 magnificent copies, all uniform, could not but exercise a great influence on great influence on future copies, at least within the bounds of the patriarchate of Constantinople, and would help forward the process of arriving at a commonly accepted New Testament in the East.

http://www.ntcanon.org/Bibles_of_Constantine.shtml

[chri'stina 190]

It wasn't "Paul's church," it was and is Christ's church. As for a Roman emperor "commissioning" the Bible, are you thinking of Constantine? Because, that is not, in fact how we got the Bible.

Regarding "social justice," that is a very politically-charged term, and requires clarification to be useful. What precisely is meant by social justice? What are its aims? How are those aims to be acheived? Jesus definitely taught concern for the poor and downtrodden, and spoke of caring for them through individual acts of charity. He did not, however, tell us we should be "compassionate" by taking the wealth or property of others against their will and giving them to those we consider more deserving. As for churches doing this or advocating it, Liberation Theology is an example. It was properly criticized by the Roman Catholic Church for its use of Marxist ideology.

True He instructed people to give of themselves, not to forcefully take from others for the purpose of giving.

As for anyone actually thinking communism is a good idea, has that idea ever been implemented with good results?? It seems it's not possible due to human corruption, power hunger, and greed. I will take capitalism.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Glenn Beck is a tard!

And, I'm surprised so many people twisted what social justice is about. Honestly, who knows what the definition is. And, you can't discredit someone and turn them into a socialist when one think that such idea is socialism. I find it is ridiculous!

[Danno 1,228]

Matthew 22:17-22

Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?"

Knowing their malice, Jesus said, "Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?

Show me the coin that pays the census tax." Then they handed him the Roman coin.

He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?"

They replied, "Caesar's." At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

When they heard this they were amazed, and leaving him they went away.

....

This is where the Religious Right make an about face because on one hand, they wish to have a government that supports the Christian values they espouse, but many on the Right don't extend that to the social justice Jesus preached in the Gospels. The Religious Left tend to focus on public policies which support Christian values as a society, while the Religious Right tend to focus on public policies that support individual Christian values within society. When we're talking about public policy, you can't separate the social implications.

Ahh Steve every time we have this conversation you go into default mode and project the odd stance that people on the right are against 1. all government and B. all taxes, neither is true.

While the Government is the best capable to hand out monies it is the least capable to get it in the right hands. Which is why after all these trillions, the poor class is as big as it has ever been.

I am still waiting for your many scriptures you spoke of which command us to use the Government to bring about the work of Christ.

[Scott & Lai 12]

QUOTE

The Bibles of Constantine

There is another piece of evidence that bears on the subject of the canon - even though we may not know how to interpret it. About the year 322 CE, the emperor Constantine, wishing to promote and organize Christian worship in the growing number of churches in Constantinople, directed Eusebius to have 50 copies of the sacred Scriptures made by practiced scribes and written legibly on prepared parchment. At the same time the emperor informed him, in a letter still preserved to us, that everything necessary for doing this was placed at his command, among other things two public carriages for conveying the completed manuscripts to the emperor for his personal inspection. According to Eusebius:

Such were the emperor's commands, which were followed by the immediate execution of the work itself, which we sent him in magnificent and elaborately bound volumes of a threefold and fourfold form. (Vita Const. 4.36.37)

The exact meaning of the concluding words has been taken in a half dozen different senses. Two of the most popular are, that the pages had 'three or four columns of script', or that as the copies were completed, they were sent off for the emperor's inspection 'three or four at a time'. The astonishing thing is that Eusebius, who took care to tell us at some length about the fluctuations of opinion in regard to certain books, has not one word to say regarding the choice he made on this important occasion. Of course, 50 magnificent copies, all uniform, could not but exercise a great influence on great influence on future copies, at least within the bounds of the patriarchate of Constantinople, and would help forward the process of arriving at a commonly accepted New Testament in the East.

http://www.ntcanon.org/Bibles_of_Constantine.shtml

That was not a commissioning of the Bible in the sense of creating it, but rather a commissioning of copies of already existing Scripture. They didn't have bookstores as we know them, since they had no printing presses. When you wanted copies of a book, you didn't go to your local Barnes & Noble, you went to a scribe and commissioned him to make the copies by hand.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

That was not a commissioning of the Bible in the sense of creating it, but rather a commissioning of copies of already existing Scripture. They didn't have bookstores as we know them, since they had no printing presses. When you wanted copies of a book, you didn't go to your local Barnes & Noble, you went to a scribe and commissioned him to make the copies by hand.

True. But, with the production of these 50 copies, the process of codifying a canon began in earnest, especially in the literate east. Later versions of the bible would refer back to these works. Remember with the Barbarian invasions in the west, the only vestiges of culture left were in the east, and with a few Irish scribes in the west.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Glenn hates poor people

"Last week the conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck called on Christians to leave their churches if they hear preaching about social or economic justice, saying they are code words for communism and Naziism."

"This week the remarks prompted outrage from several Christian bloggers."

"In attacking churches that espouse social justice," the Times writes, "Mr. Beck is taking on most mainline protestant, Roman Catholic, black and Hispanic congregations in the country."

"Mr. Beck said on his radio show March 2nd, I beg you look for the word social justice or economic justice on your church website. If you can find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice are code words."

"The concept is that Christians should not merely give to the poor but also work to correct unjust conditions that keep people poor."

"Many Christians consider it a reoccurring theme in scripture. Mr. Beck himself is a convert to Mormonism, a faith that identifies itself as part of the Christian family but nevertheless rejected by many Christians. Philip Barlow, Arrington professor of Mormon history and culture at Utah State University said one way to read the book of Mormon is a fast track on social justice.

"A lot of latter day saints would think that Beck was asking them to leave their own church. Just this year the church's highest authority, the quorum of the twelve apostles, issued a new handbook of instructions. Which they revise the church three fold mission and added a fourth mission statement: Care for the poor."

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/37852/