The Bible Under Attack Through The Ages:

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The Bible Under Attack Through The Ages:

NOW, WHY SHOULD THE BIBLE BE WORTHY OF ONE’S ATTENTION?

For one thing, it claims to contain Almighty God’s (YHWH’s) message to humanity [(2 Timothy 3:16) All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness,] Thus, if this claim is true, then you would surely be missing out by not reading it.

Another reason for paying attention to the Bible is that it is one of the oldest books in existence and is by far the most widely translated and distributed. It is the best-selling book of all times and continues to top the best-seller list every year.

The claims, age, and circulation of the Bible are even more impressive in the light of the numerous attempts that have been made throughout history to suppress it. “No book has excited so much opposition as this; but it has survived every attack which power, talent, and eloquence have ever made on it,” stated the 19 th. Century theologian Albert Barnes.

The same writer noted that people naturally take an interest in anything that has withstood repeated onslaughts. “But no army ever survived so many battles as the Bible.” Continued Barnes. “no ancient bulwark has endured so many sieges, and stood so firm amid the thunder of war and the ravages of time; and no rock has been swept by so many currents, and has still stood unmoved.”

Many ancient writings have been lost, destroyed, or just forgotten, but despite vicious attacks, the Bible has always survived. Some people have fought, at the risk of their life, to make it available to the masses. On the other hand, some have snatched it from the hands of yearning readers and have publicly burned Bibles and their owners. In fact, this practice continues to this day in some Islamic lands.

Why has this book been so loved and so hated? What battles has it survived? Who tried to destroy it? More important, why has it survived? And why is its message so important to you?


THE BIBLE ATTACKED:

The Holy Bible has been under attack by opposers of Almighty God (YHWH) for over 2,500 years including the earliest part that was written by Moses under inspiration from Almighty God (YHWH). Efforts to silence the Scriptures (all 66) have a long history dating from when individuals sought to silence the prophet Jeremiah to the present day.
Now, the prophet Jeremiah was directed by Almighty God (YHWH) to write in a scroll a message condemning the sinful inhabitants of ancient Judah and warning them that Jerusalem, their capital city was to be destroyed unless they changed their wrong ways. His secretary, Baruch, read the message in public in Jerusalem’s temple as recorded at Jeremiah 36:1-23, “1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, 2 Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. 3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. 4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Jehovah, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book. 5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of Jehovah: 6 therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of Jehovah in the ears of the people in Jehovah’s house upon the fast–day; and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities. 7 It may be they will present their supplication before Jehovah, and will return every one from his evil way; for great is the anger and the wrath that Jehovah hath pronounced against this people. 8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of Jehovah in Jehovah’s house. 9 ¶ Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before Jehovah. 10 Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan, the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of Jehovah’s house, in the ears of all the people. 11 And when Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of Jehovah, 12 he went down into the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber: and, lo, all the princes were sitting there, to wit, Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. 13 Then Micaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people. 14 Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thy hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them. 15 And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.
16 Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words. 17 And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth? 18 Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book. 19 Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye are. 20 ¶ And they went in to the king into the court; but they had laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; and they told all the words in the ears of the king. 21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll; and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes that stood beside the king. 22 Now the king was sitting in the winter–house in the ninth month: and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him. 23 And it came to pass, when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, that the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.
” [American Standard Version; ASV].

Then Almighty God (YHWH) ordered Jeremiah as recorded at Jeremiah 36:28, “Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.” [ASV] Some 17 years later, exactly as Almighty God’s (YHWH’s) word through Jeremiah had foretold, Jerusalem was destroyed, and many of its rulers were slain, and its inhabitants were taken into exile in Babylon. The message that the scroll conveyed, and the record of the circumstances surrounding the attack made upon it, have survived until our day in the Bible book of Jeremiah.



BIBLE BURNINGS AND ATTACKS CONTINUE SINCE SOME DO NOT WANT THE TRUTH KNOWN:

Now, Jehoiakim was not the only person in pre-Christian times who attempted to burn Almighty God’s (YHWH’s) Word. Following the breakup of the Greek Empire, Israel came under the influence of the Seleucid dynasty. The Seleucid King Antiochus Epiphanes, who ruled from 175 to 164 B.C. wanted to unite his empire in the Hellenistic or Greek culture. To that end, he tried to force Greek ways, customs, and religion on the Jews.

About 168 B.C., Antiochus plundered Almighty God’s (YHWH’s) temple in Jerusalem. Atop the altar, he built another in honor of the Greek god Zeus. Antiochus also prohibited the observance of the Sabbath and commanded that the Jews to stop circumcising their male children, and this under penalty of death for noncompliance.

An element of that religious purge was Antiochus’ attempt to eliminate all scrolls of the Law. Although Antiochus pursued his campaign throughout Israel, he failed to destroy all copies of the Hebrew Scriptures. Some carefully-concealed scrolls escaped his attempts to destroy them. Also, copies of the Holy Scriptures were known to have been preserved by colonies of Jews living elsewhere.


BIBLE DIOCLETIAN’S WAR ON THE BIBLE:

Another prominent ruler who tried to destroy the Scriptures was Roman Emperor Diocletian.

Diocletianic Persecution
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/wiki/File:The_Christian_Martyrs_Last_Prayer.jpg/wiki/File:The_Christian_Martyrs_Last_Prayer.jpgThe Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1883)

The Diocletianic Persecution (or Great Persecution) was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman empire. In 303, Emperor Diocletian and Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding the legal rights of Christians and demanding that they comply with traditional Roman religious practices. Later edicts targeted the clergy and demanded universal sacrifice, ordering all inhabitants to sacrifice to the gods. The persecution varied in intensity across the empire—weakest in Gaul and Britain, where only the first edict was applied, and strongest in the Eastern provinces. Persecutory laws were nullified by different emperors at different times, but Constantine and Licinius's Edict of Milan (313) has traditionally marked the end of the persecution.

Christians had always been subject to local discrimination in the empire, but early emperors were reluctant to issue general laws against them. It was not until the 250s, under the reigns of Decius and Valerian, that such laws were passed. Under this legislation, Christians were compelled to sacrifice to Roman gods or face imprisonment and execution. After Gallienus's accession in 260, these laws went into abeyance. Diocletian's accession in 284 did not mark an immediate reversal of disregard to Christianity, but it did herald a gradual shift in official attitudes toward religious minorities. In the first fifteen years of his rule, Diocletian purged the army of Christians, condemned Manicheans to death, and surrounded himself with public opponents of Christianity. Diocletian's preference for activist government, combined with his self-image as a restorer of past Roman glory, presaged the most pervasive persecution in Roman history. In the winter of 302, Galerius urged Diocletian to begin a general persecution of the Christians. Diocletian was wary, and asked the oracle of Apollo for guidance. The oracle's reply was read as an endorsement of Galerius's position, and a general persecution was called on February 24, 303.

Persecutory policies varied in intensity across the empire. Where Galerius and Diocletian were avid persecutors, Constantius was unenthusiastic. Later persecutory edicts, including the calls for universal sacrifice, were not applied in his domain. His son, Constantine, on taking the imperial office in 306, restored Christians to full legal equality and returned property that had been confiscated during the persecution. In Italy in 306, the usurper Maxentius ousted Maximian's successor Severus, promising full religious toleration. Galerius ended the persecution in the East in 311, but it was resumed in Egypt, Palestine, and Asia Minor by his successor, Maximinus. Constantine and Licinius, Severus's successor, signed the "Edict of Milan" in 313, which offered a more comprehensive acceptance of Christianity than Galerius's edict had provided. Licinius ousted Maximinus in 313, bringing an end to persecution in the East.
The persecution failed to check the rise of the church. By 324, Constantine was sole ruler of the empire, and Christianity had become his favored religion. Although the persecution resulted in the deaths of—according to one modern estimate—3,000 to 3,500 Christians, and the torture, imprisonment, or dislocation of many more, most Christians avoided punishment. The persecution did, however, cause many churches to split between those who had complied with imperial authority (the traditores), and those who had remained "pure". Certain schisms, like those of the Donatists in North Africa and the Meletians in Egypt, persisted long after the persecutions. The Donatists would not be reconciled to the Catholic Church until after 411. In the centuries that followed, some Christians created a "cult of the martyrs", and exaggerated the barbarity of the persecutory era. These accounts were criticized during the Enlightenment and after, most notably by Edward Gibbon. Modern historians like G. E. M. de Ste. Croix have attempted to determine whether Christian sources exaggerated the scope of the Diocletianic persecution.
...

Diocletian, acclaimed emperor on November 20, 284, was a religious conservative, faithful to the traditional Roman cult. Unlike Aurelian (r. 270–75), Diocletian did not foster any new cult of his own. He preferred older gods, Olympian gods. Nonetheless, Diocletian did wish to inspire a general religious revival. As the panegyrist to Maximian declared: "You have heaped the gods with altars and statues, temples and offerings, which you dedicated with your own name and your own image, whose sanctity is increased by the example you set, of veneration for the gods. Surely, men will now understand what power resides in the gods, when you worship them so fervently." As part of his plans for revival, Diocletian invested in religious construction. One quarter of all inscriptions referring to temple repairs in North Africa between 276 and 395 date to Diocletian's reign. Diocletian associated himself with the head of the Roman pantheon, Jupiter; his co-emperor, Maximian, associated himself with Hercules. This connection between god and emperor helped to legitimize the emperors' claims to power and tied imperial government closer to the traditional cult.
Diocletian did not favor Jupiter and Hercules alone, which would have been a drastic change in the pagan tradition. For example, Elagabalus had tried fostering his own god and no others, and had failed dramatically. He built temples for Isis and Sarapis at Rome and a temple to Sol in Italy. Diocletian, though, favored gods who provided for the safety of the whole empire, instead of the local deities of the provinces. In Africa, Diocletian's revival focused on Jupiter, Hercules, Mercury, Apollo and the Imperial Cult. The cult of Saturn, the Romanized Baal-Hammon, was neglected. In imperial iconography, too, Jupiter and Hercules were pervasive. The same pattern of favoritism affected Egypt as well. Native Egyptian deities saw no revival, nor was the sacred hieroglyphic script used. Unity in worship was central to Diocletian's religious policies.

Diocletian, like Augustus and Trajan before him, styled himself a "restorer". He urged the public to see his reign and his governing system, the Tetrarchy (rule by four emperors), as a renewal of traditional Roman values and, after the anarchic third century, a return to the "Golden Age of Rome". As such, he reinforced the long-standing Roman preference for ancient customs and Imperial opposition to independent societies. The Diocletianic regime's activist stance, however, and Diocletian's belief in the power of central government to effect major change in morals and society made him unusual. Most earlier emperors tended to be quite cautious in their administrative policies, preferring to work within existing structures rather than overhauling them. Diocletian, by contrast, was willing to reform every aspect of public life to satisfy his goals. Under his rule, coinage, taxation, architecture, law and history were all radically reconstructed to reflect his authoritarian and traditionalist ideology. The reformation of the empire's "moral fabric"—and the elimination of religious minorities—was simply one step in that process.
The unique position of the Christians and Jews of the empire became increasingly apparent. The Jews had earned imperial toleration on account of the great antiquity of their faith. They had been exempted from Decius's persecution and continued to enjoy freedom from persecution under Tetrarchic government. Because their faith was new and unfamiliar and not typically identified with Judaism by this time, Christians had no such excuse. Moreover, Christians had been distancing themselves from their Jewish heritage for their entire history.
Persecution was not the only outlet of the Tetrarchy's moral fervor. In 295, either Diocletian or his Caesar (subordinate emperor), Galerius, issued an edict from Damascus proscribing incestuous marriages and affirming the supremacy of Roman law over local law. Its preamble insists that it is every emperor's duty to enforce the sacred precepts of Roman law, for "the immortal gods themselves will favour and be at peace with the Roman name...if we have seen to it that all subject to our rule entirely lead a pious, religious, peaceable and chaste life in every respect".

These principles, if given their full extension, would logically require Roman emperors to enforce conformity in religion. [source - retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletianic_Persecution on 11/30/2011]

INTENT OF ATTACKS ON THE BIBLE BY MANY:

All the attackers, on the Bible, from Jehoiakim, to Diocletian was to wipe out God’s Word. However the Bible survived all attempts to destroy it. Rulers of Rome after Diocletian realized that it was impossible to destroy the Bible, and for political expediency began to embrace a false form of Christianity.

The rulers and the church leaders claimed that Bible burnings were not attempts to destroy the Bible; but rather, these men were simply trying to keep the Bible out of the hands of the common people. This was open hypocrisy done to ensure their power base and keep the common people suppressed. In fact, the early false Christian churches, counterfeit Christians, went to great lengths to keep the common people ignorant of the truth or reality.

BACKGROUND AND THE START OF TRANSLATIONS AND THE MODERN ATTACKS:

As time passed, translation of the Bible into many languages was started. In about 300 B.C., the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek. That group of translations is known as the Greek Septuagint. About 700 years later, Jerome produced a famous translation known as the Vulgate. This was a rendering of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures into Latin, which was the international language of the day in the Roman Empire.

When Latin started to stop being the international language of the day, translations started to be made in other languages. However, the Catholic Church resisted efforts to translate the Bible into other languages. Catholic religious leaders argued that Hebrew, Greek, and Latin were the only suitable Biblical languages. This wrong idea seems to have come from the writings of the Spanish bishop Isidore of Seville (560-636 A.D.), who argued, “There are three sacred languages, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and said they were supreme throughout the world. For it was in these three languages that the charge against the Lord [Jesus (Yeshua) Christ] was written above the cross by Pilate.” Of course the decision to post the charge in these three languages was made by the pagan Romans, and not by Almighty God (YHWH).


BIBLE TRANSLATIONS AND OPPOSITION BY CATHOLIC CHURCH TO THEM:

In the ninth century A.D., Methodius and Cyrial, Thessalonian missionaries working on behalf of the Eastern Church in Byzantium promoted the use of Slavic as a church language. Their objective was to enable the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe, who understood neither Greek or Latin, to learn about Almighty God (YHWH) in their own language.

These translators, however, met with fierce opposition from German priest, who sought to impose Latin as a defense against the expanding influence of Byzantine Christianity. Clearly, politics were more important to them than people’s religious education. After this, tensions increased between the Western and Eastern branches of so called Christendom which eventually led to the division between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy in 1054.



CATHOLIC CHURCH’S FIGHT AGAINST BIBLE TRANSLATIONS;

The Catholic Church eventually came to view Latin as a holy language. Therefore, in response to the request made in 1079 A.D. by Vratislaus, duke of Bohemia, seeking permission uo use Slavonic in local church services was denied by Pope Gregory VII.

Pope Gregory VII said in reply to this request, “It is evident to those who consider the matter carefully … that it has pleased God to make Holy Scripture obscure in certain places lest, if it were perfectly clear to all, it might be vulgarized and subjected to disrespect or be so misunderstood by people of limited intelligence as to lead them into error.” Thus, the common people were severely limited with respect access to the Bible, and it had to stay that way per the Catholic Church. Why? This position afforded the clergy power over the masses. They did not want the common people dabbling in areas they considered to be their own domain.

In 1199, Pope Innocent III wrote concerning ‘heretics’ who had translated the Bible into French and even dared to discuss it among themselves. To them, Innocent applies Jesus’ words at Matthew 7:6, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet, and turn and rend you.” [ASV]. What was his reasoning in this matter? Simple, all who resisted Pope Innocent III order were often delivered to the inquisitors who tortured them into making confessions; and burned alive those who refused to recant.

During the long battle fought over possession of the Bible and the reading of it, Pope Innocent III’s letter was often appealed to for support in forbidding use of the Bible and its translation into other languages. Soon after his decree, the burning of Bibles in the vernacular began, as did the burning of some of their owners. In the centuries that followed, the bishops and rulers of Catholic Europe used all possible means to ensure that the ban imposed by Pope Innocent III was observed.

Of course, the Catholic hierarchy certainly knew that many of its teachings were based, not on the Bible, but on church tradition and creeds. This probably is the main reason for their reluctance to allow their faithful to have access to the Bible. For if people read it, they would become aware of the incompatibility between their church doctrines and creeds and what the Bible taught.


THE REFORMATION WITH RESPECT BIBLE TRANSLATION AND DISTRIBUTION:

With the arrival of Protestantism Europe’s religious landscape changed significantly. One priest, Martin Luther attempted to reform the Catholic Church, but could not. He eventually broke with the Catholic Church in 1521 and formed the Lutheran Church.

He was a gifted translator and translated the Bible into German. This Bible received wide distribution, and this got the attention of the Catholic Church. Two German Bibles quickly followed, and one was deemed temporarily acceptable to the Catholic Church.

But then in 1546, less than 25 years later, the Roman Catholic Council of Trent, in effect, placed any printing of religious literature, including the translation of the Bible, under the control of the church.

This council decreed, “that hence forth sacred Scripture… be printed in the most correct manner possible; and that it shall not be lawful for any one to print, or cause to be printed, any books whatever on sacred matters without the name of the author; or in future to sell them, or even to possess them, unless they shall have been first examined and approved by the [local bishop].”

And, in 1559, Pope Paul IV published the first index of books prohibited by the Roman Catholic Church. It forbade possession of any Bible translation in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, as well as some in Latin. Any who wanted to read the Bible were told to obtain written permission from bishops or inquisitors, definitely not an appealing prospect for those who wanted to remain above suspicion of heresy.

In fact, individuals who dared to possess or distribute Bibles in the common languages had to contend with the ire of the Catholic Church. This resulted in many arrest and the ‘guilty’ (of doing a good thing) were often burned at the stake, roasted on spits, sentenced to life in prison, or sent to the galleys. Confiscated Bibles were burned just like many in Islam do today. Reality, Catholic priest continued to confiscate and burn Bibles well into the 20 th. Century.

Likewise Protestantism has not been a real friend and defender of the Bible. In the 18 th. And 29 th. Centuries, some Protestant theologians championed techniques of study that came to be known as higher criticism. In time, many people accepted teachings influenced by Darwinian theories that life was not created, but somehow appeared by chance and evolved without a Creator.

Apostate theologians, and even many clergymen of the so called Christians, taught that the Bible is largely based on legend and myth. As a result, it is not uncommon today to hear Protestant clergymen, as well as many of their parishioners, disavow the Bible, saying it is unhistorical.

WHY WITH RESPECT THE BIBLE SURVIVED:

The Bible did NOT survive due to strictly the love of it exercised by genuine true followers of Almighty God (YHWH) or his Son, Jesus (Yeshua) Christ, but because all that all who contributed to its writing over 1,600 years wrote under divine inspiration of Almighty God (YHWH). This is shown by Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever.” [ASV], and 1 Peter 1:25, “But the word of the Lord abideth for ever. And this is the word of good tidings which was preached unto you.” [ASV], and many other scriptures.

Yes, reading and applying what the Bible teaches will enable us to improve our lives, health, and family life. Almighty God (YHWH) wants the Bible to survive and to be translated into as many languages as possible to permit all to have the opportunity to learn to love, and serve him, and to eventually enjoy his eternal blessings. This is what all humans should want.

Jesus (Yeshua) in prayer to his heavenly Father, Almighty God (YHWH), said at John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth.” [ASV]. In fact the Bible that Jesus (Yeshua) read and taught from is Almighty God’s (YHWH’s) means of providing answers to the questions that all sincere people ask.

Let’s all be encouraged to learn more about Almighty God’s (YHWH’s) message to mankind. In fact all should read, “What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today!