The Bible As Seen through Reformation Lenses

How was the Bible viewed and used before the invention of the printing press changed history?
Five billion copies of the Bible have been printed, making it the best-selling and most influential book of all time. Today the Bible is seen as the backbone of Christian practice. Christians own Bibles and often read and study the text in their own language. And for Protestants, the Bible is the “sole source” of religious authority. But this wasn’t always the case. How did Christians use and view the Bible before the invention of the printing press, when it was read primarily by clerics in languages like Latin that only the educated knew? We’ll explore how the changes of modernity and how Protestant lenses have distorted the way Christians viewed scripture in Antiquity and the Middle Ages.

Here from Brasil, State of Ceará. I am addicted to your videos and your lectures and your polite and calm and detailed way to present them. Such an wonderfull work all of them.

[@gerardoguemez1077]

Your lectures make me want to live in Toronto and join your congregation

[@xemy1010]

This is some of the best Christian content on KZbin. Unique perspective and well-presented.

[@kyliethompson73]

Got to be my most favourite lecture I've watched so far. Thank you Pastor John. Your videos have led me back to faith after years of being a non believer.

[@alangriffin8146]

The fact that Joseph Smith claimed to be consulting ancient golden plates shows just how ingrained the idea of a “true story” and literalist interpretation of scripture had become by that time. It seems to have been very important for him and those around him that these events in Mormon scripture actually happened.

[@theitineranthistorian2024]

Wow. I didn't see that coming. I left the church 50 years ago. You've given me reasons to feel like it wasn't a total disaster. I am better without religion's dogma.

[@Mr.SLovesTheSacredHeartofJesus]

Cool... tell that to God upon your death. And yeah, i'm sure you'll give me a litany in your reply. But think now, your time here on Earth grows shorter.

[@theitineranthistorian2024]

@@Mr.SLovesTheSacredHeartofJesus no litany required. death, no exceptions.

[@glenn-younger]

As always, listening to your talks, I walk away with a richer perspective of Christian history as well as a deeper love for humanity in all our frailty and well-meaning capriciousness.

[@sbwetherbe]

Awesome. If I'd heard this 50years ago I might not have left Christianity. I did manage to find my way without it eventually. :)

[@joecaner]

Well in that case, it is well that you did not hear this lecture 50 years ago. Who knows where you may have ended up if had stayed. You may not have found your way in that hypothetical situation.

[@sbwetherbe]

@@joecaner 50 years ago the way I went was hypothetical and not a sure thing either.

[@donaldhawkins9173]

I'm sorry but did you say listening to these programs would have reinforced your faith I'm confused you must have a learning disability

[@alexsveta5403]

I love your show, I always learn so many things!!

[@LanceLovett]

Enjoying the lectures. I was looking for info on how you would describe your church's theological beliefs Thank you.

[@trudojo]

You are teaching me about teaching with how you approach delicate talks that could inflame the sensibilities of just about every sect. I love listening to you. Keep it up.

[@WithGodAllThingsArePossible982]

Thanks

[@peterhook2258]

Im mainstream somewhat gnostic and mystic Christian converted to Brighamites and staying abreast of pretty much all the offshoots. This is the very best perspective on religion and how the divine works in mankind I have seen...and to boot...from a seventy with an authority line to Joseph Smith. Ya got to love Joseph Smith and his work, champion the best understanding of religion into our modern day. Great video. You are truly doing the work of the Lord. Well done. So now..as the book of Mormon says, all the tribes can come forward with their texts united to serve the Most High. Perfect. BOM said this would happen.

[@tomeubank3625]

re: Protestants accepting Christmas by pushing innebriation off onto New Year's. Currently, liquor store sales on New Years Eve are indeed the biggest of the year, with 159% of average daily sales. But Christmas Eve is a close 2nd with 151%.

[@markrossow6303]

( Lutheran and Anglican / Episcopalian bishops are in Apostolic Succession; and Methodist bishops are not quite, but they do recogize the value

[@420JRMan]

"Clock strike's three, ” is ’mid-afternoon.

[@TheKrispyfort]

God caused Pharoah's heart to be hardened OR Mention of the Hebrew God caused Pharoah's heart to be hardened because that's an immense betrayal for his adopted kin (Moses) to have broken with the teachings of the Pharoah-God that they'd been raised together with?

[@telforenyte7632]

Fancy hat.... you need a cowboy hat

[@mariojardonsantos7568]

In Mexico in recent times, Bible reading has been making its way in in Catholic practice, albeit possibly not to a great success. It is, as they explicitly say, a reaction to Protestants (of American tradition) evangelizing with a Bible in hand and with an amazing knowledge of the text, at least on a literal level. I guess that with a 20-21st century urban population who is taught to read in secular school the Catholic church can no longer respond to Protestants by restricting Bible reading to the priests.

[@rickjag4928]

Hmm

[@jeremymettler2785]

they never walked threw door knocked on door

[@jeremymettler2785]

game over real soon

[@MarcosBetancort]

About Sola Scriptura people when speaking against it make alwaysthe same fallacy. Sola Scriptura is not a methodology of interpretation. It is only the recognition that it is the inspired word of God and therefore it is the only God’s authoritative piece of information given to us. that’s what it means. In other words, if a person puts the same or more authority on any other writing than this pertaining to godliness he is violating Sola Scriptura, this does not have anything to do with interpretations. In fact those who do not openly profess Sola Scriptura, uphold it when sees the Bible as the unique and supreme authority over every other piece of literature.

[@scottmcloughlin4371]

That's heretical babbling nonsense. Apostolic succession is more important the scripture. You can do what you like, but you are wrong. Orthodox Christians are real Christians. God looks favorably upon Orthodox Christians, while protestant heretics live without God's favor. In any case, we suffer so many English language "translations" of scripture, because equally inadequate and useless. Peace be with you.

[@MarcosBetancort]

@@scottmcloughlin4371 could you have had this supposed apostolic succession without the Bible as foundation? If yes, succession of what? since there is nothing left but mere oral transmission from fallible men to another? Where would you draw the line of what is true after so many ages of transmission?

[@scottmcloughlin4371]

​@@MarcosBetancort Of course. Not "could." Did. There were a few proto-canons, as it were. But apostolic succession predates formalization of a biblical canon. That's our history. What could you be missing? For Orthodox Christians, books of scripture are not eyewitness accounts, and that does not matter. Allegorical interpretations for lesson learning are traditional. And while tradition focused (understatement), church leaders might revise the relevance of any parts of scripture as they see fit. Protestants are heretics and fools. I study scripture in Greek and take the big Plato and Aristotle words very seriously. I have few kind words for bizarre idiots babbling about dinosaurs in Eden. Those fools make real Christians look bad. What else can we clarify? I met Bishop Tutu (an Anglican!) while working in Emerson's Harvard parish (for Unitarians!) helping him destroy South Africa's racist apartheid government. Now, when we won that battle, men and women who called themselves Christians were thrown alive screaming into fires. Thousand more committed suicides. So along with countless other Christians globally, I have meted out Christian violence upon racists, who happened to be Christians. "Be doers of the word and not just hearers, only deceiving yourselves." Now my concerns with scriptural hermeneutics, Greek philology, doctrine and Orthopraxy take back seats to making new converts and unifying Christians against material threats to Christians including extant aforementioned racist conquistador governments. Christians add 10,000's of new converts monthly in Africa alone, with large roles, if I understand correctly, played by Anglican and Pentecostal church missionaries. That's all good! Most Christians in pews won't ever access much of Christian intellectual and mystical traditions. But some is better than none, and our Body of Christ works better than the bodies with which we were born.

[@MarcosBetancort]

@@scottmcloughlin4371 ithat succession predated the forming of the canon has nothing to do with it. You cannot form a cannon or recognise it if there is nothing to canonise. End of the story. No allegorising can happen without the material given in the pages of the New Testament, all you could get with natural reason is to a philosophy.

[@scottmcloughlin4371]

@@MarcosBetancort This is useless. Has nothing to do with what? Nonsense. Without *authorities* the canon would not be canonical. Stop whining. Protestants are fakes. Some are useful fakes. But their ahistorical babbling is pure garbage. Go bother someone who cares. Go feed the hungry. "For my yoke is useful (chrestos) and my burden light." - Matthew 11:30. Go make yourself useful. Constant time tripping is a prevalent protestant avoidance behavior and not very useful. Read Furtado's "Destroyer of Gods." Getting wiser might be useful someday soon. I can't read wise books or feed the hungry for you.

[@jeremymettler2785]

when it say self proclaimed or people could proclaim and test none kill 500 years and help few and sit on billions helping few

[@mikedee6915]

is death better than slavery is death better than being a prisoner is death better than paying taxes

[@robrotron2084]

"We don't treat scripture as authoritative, see, it says so in our scriptures" Ok

[@maxsonthonax1020]

1:22:40 😅

[@MarcosBetancort]

As to the early fathers i think is an exaggeration to say most of them were wrong for the reformers.

[@jeremymettler2785]

queen to and all took anything in a Divine Providence or name

[@joeshmoe8345]

is he frying??

[@Zevelyon]

Quite the incredible straw man to suggest that literalists miss the meaning through their focus on its actual happening. That you can’t see how irrelevant the authority of these texts would be if the events have no literal relation to history even if partial is as cringe worthy as the ark museum.

[@SubTroppo]

Your talk illustrates to me that religionists expend much of their mental effort in the narcissism of small things. The pious and powerful know that due to this human trait they can act with impunity.

[@totocaca7035]

Slightly pro domo, but interesting...

[@jeremymettler2785]

they will hand it over and I will give it away

[@peterkatow3718]

~30min Constantine did not.

[@MarcosBetancort]

It is interesting this lecturer speaks against sectarianism and yet he is part of his own sect! perhaps Sola Scriptura as a foundation is not as bad as he seem to speak of it since he himself upholds it in its leading conclusion! That people interpreted diversely does not argue that Sola Scriptura a mistaken concept, rather irrational or blind submission or elitism like in the Catholic church is by definition wrong.

[@kevinbout7649]

Dob

[@jeremymettler2785]

I am the superman Michael my God given name the Sasha the living Son of Man won't taste death

[@MarcosBetancort]

Interesting when the speaker goes on to speak of Paul about slavery he can find room to escape presentism the very thing he was speaking against he commits in the next minute. Because his present mentality about slavery cannot be different than in the apostle’s case. Yet In fact Paul teaches that the slave should obey his master and the master treat him also justly. In the mind of Paul there is no abuse when he spoke of those verses and yet this author goes against himself in a few minutes of lecture. After hearing this lecturer on some videos every time he cannot find words and get stuck is the moment when he is almost saying prejudiced and false information.

[@rogerdubarry8505]

Standard liberal take.

[@xp8969]

Cry harder Nazi, your tears taste delicious

[@jeremymettler2785]

unbelievable arrogant ego masters in deceiving even self unknown to even self became two the day you one you became two divided .5 just .5 true what will you do when you become two ? Make two into one split a piece of wood and I AM there to heal two into one . when he knocks let me in . Is no pretend to understand guess know fools figured it out pick one unbelievable ego

[@robgrabowski2572]

I have watched a lot of these lectures, and whilst they are all fascinating, I struggle to understand how anyone studying the bible, whether as a scholar or a lay person, could then see God as anything more than a human construct. I left the church a long time ago, for many reasons, but like a lot of atheists, I am both fascinated and slightly horrified by religion in equal measures. One of the take-homes from these lectures, for me anyway, is that Man created God in his own image, and if Man wants to justify any sort of dangerous/hateful/bigoted/non-sensical/utterly pointless beliefs and actions, he can point to a handy bible phrase (whilst ignoring all the contradictions) or simply make up new scripture. These aren't God's words, they are made up, by man, for men (no, not for women, you aren't included). This to me just confirms every reason I left the church in the first place, and why I think religion is harmful more often than not. The fact that any whacko can interpret scripture, or just make up completely new scripture to suit themselves, or that one man can decide on a religious dogma and half the world will sheepishly follow, is really quite horrific! I come from the Protestant tradition, and whilst I agree that books should be avail to everyone, and I encourage free thinking, the fact that the rest of the world has to simply accept whatever these people say, because Religion, and we all have to kowtow to them, is wrong. Your beliefs should have no impact on my rights, and the deference shown to religious figures is absolutely absurd! Sorry, had to get that off my chest... Anyway, that's not to say that all this isn't interesting, and John Hamer is an excellent teacher :)

[@goodson77784]

God is not a human construct. Man is a God construct.

[@impeachsocialism]

@@goodson77784 which god? There have been thousands of gods in history

[@goodson77784]

There are many little g gods, but the Lord is above all of us. @@impeachsocialism

[@Zevelyon]

Just btw… the flood DID happen. Look up the Greenland comet impact crater and the younger dryas.

[@telforenyte7632]

The mistake you made with The Exodus history the Egyptian sources are Islamic and they intentionally lie about whether the people of Abraham in Egypt as slaves. There have been archaeological finds. But they have covered them up. This is like the existence of the city of Troy, and the Phoenicians sacrificing their children. Not all archaeologists are truthful.

[@jeremymettler2785]

question none pick one you like test none don't know how to test this moment . You test them seeing if God proclaimed them first then let them tell you . No tell then decide if you like is unbelievable ego arrogant fools speaking saying nothing impressing others pretend to understand

[@jeremymettler2785]

are any of you proclaimed three times over before you born three times three times over seen self as the forth in heaven married the father as Adam did before me known to the true virgin mother creator cause and effect given amnesty from law out womb and in man born again in life in Christ born again in Christ 18.1.24 multiply once see perfect harmony in balance with all in-laws above and in law below nature's and God's see to shining sea giving amnesty from law won't taste death the living Son of Man . Jeremiah returned as Jeremy Michael two became one in ten thousand Spirit before the body found the body three returned in one whole in one whole in one many out womb and in man born the living Son of Man won't taste death the superman Michael my God given name .

[@jeremymettler2785]

always not you tell me how you test this moment . how the hell would you know unknown to even self became two .5 just .5 true make two into one three returned in one whole in one perfect known self reborn . two became one six three returned in one whole in one whole in one known to the ALL seen self as the forth in heaven and five stand as one sure as hell none of you best stop playing it pope to everyone

[@Zevelyon]

“A literalistic view of the Bible as some kind of historical witness to the supernatural which is a misunderstanding of history..” your axiomatic suppositions lead you to conclude there. That is hardly objective. Insane arrogance.

[@joecaner]

If only the Protestants had the courage to knock over that final pillar, the Bible. I suppose it was the only thing left for them to hold onto, BUT When one considers that The New Testament was a creation of the Roman Catholic Church, AND If one does not trust the Church of Rome, what would possess them to trust anything the Church produced?

[@bigturtle3352]

That's a pretty reductive view of the compilation of the New Testament. It was not a "creation" of the Catholic church as the Catholic church compiled the original Greek and Hebrew testaments, then translating them only into Latin for them to only be interpreted by church authorities. The original translation of the King James Bible for instance had scholars translating from the original Greek and Hebrew form, rather than the Latin translations of the Catholic church. Do you think that all of the scriptures held by the Orthodox and Coptic Churches are Latin creations too?

[@joecaner]

​@@bigturtle3352 It is not a reductive view. On the contrary, editing is reductive. An editor decides what is to be included and what is to be omitted. The people who made the decisions about what books were to be included in the New Testament had very definite ideas regarding what kind of story they wanted to tell. Many works were discarded because they did not corespond to their theological sensibilities. These people needn’t have fabricated anything, although, scriptural critics have found textual evidence of creative enhancements to the biblical tradition. One need not lie to tell a vastly different story from someone else. All one need do is to choose different bits to tell the story. Anyone bouncing from CNN, FOX and MSNBC should be familiar with the phenomenon, although, why anyone would waste their time with that rubbish is beyond me. So YES! The Roman Catholic Church did create the New Testament because editing IS a creative process. It doesn’t matter that translators of the KJB used the best Greek source materials they could find to create their magnum opus. They did not try to incorporate the Thomas Gospel did they? NO! That’s because it was suppressed and lost to antiquity until it was resurrected when it was rediscovered with the other Nag Hammadi codices. Who knows how many other scraps of paper with valid alternative theological perspectives were lost to fire, insects, rot and time. Those KJB translators followed the Catholic tradition because the Catholic church has informed us all regarding what constitues the word of God and, perhaps more importantly, what does not. Protestants are nothing more than Catholics who have replaced the Pope with the Pope’s Bible. To ignore this dynamic is to either have mythologized that process or wantonly deluded one’s self.

[@bigturtle3352]

@@joecaner You didn't answer my question as to the origin of the Coptic and Orthodox texts which have been kept completely separate especially in the case of the Coptic texts from the Catholic church, yet they are remarkably exactly the same. The gospel of Thomas is irrelevant in this conversation as the Catholic church and Protestants have disregarded it. If the holy scripture is a "creative process" as you say, then why should it be considered in theological discussions at all? If it is a "creative process" then that means it is created and inspired by the Catholic church, rather than Christ. Along with that, the Catholic church has a long history of admitted outside political influence and corruption, so if they are the sole arbiters of the formation of scripture how are we to know that it wasn't influenced by the powers that dominated the papacy at the time? Also, given the Catholic's church internal shift towards certain appetites, do you think its likely that the Papacy might "find" new scripture or make one of their "creative adjustments" to allow for Priests to have relationships with young men?

[@joecaner]

​@@bigturtle3352 You don't seem to be looking for answers. It appears that you already have them. I wasn't put on God's green earth to answer your questions sir. Answer your own questions.

[@bigturtle3352]

@@joecanerYou obviously can't answer how Coptic and Orthodox scriptures survived in their entirety outside of the Catholic church because it contradicts everything you said.

[@of9490]

My issue with Presentism is that these words were supposedly delivered from god, so god could not picture a world without slavery? I get this view when thinking about a guy named Paul who was writing from within and not a divine source. The more i watch your videos that i absolutely love, the more i realize that the bible is the worst story ever told.