It was Constantine that incorporated the OT into the "official" Christian handbook. In fact, all the documents included in the Bible, OT and NT, predate Constantine, so I don't get your point. Nonetheless, the primary purpose of the Bible is not spiritual direction, but government control. There is spiritual direction to be found in the Bible, but you have to read it with a discerning eye. Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy
There is no proof that the Council of Nicaea was when the biblical canon was decided. I don't think the gist of it is government control, either. Seeing as how when it was written, it was in several places at several different times, with no central government to use it as such. It may have been co-opted later for such purposes. It was written to explain the unexplainable. Things that science now explains were considered magical.May 20, 325 A.D.: The Ecumenical council is inaugurated by Emperor Constantine in Nicea.
"A number of erroneous views have been stated regarding the council's role in establishing the biblical canon. In fact, there is no record of any discussion of the biblical canon at the council at all."
"In 331 Constantine commissioned fifty Bibles for the Church of Constantinople, but little else is known (in fact, it is not even certain whether his request was for fifty copies of the entire Old and New Testaments, only the New Testament, or merely the Gospels), and it is doubtful that this request provided motivation for canon lists as is sometimes speculated." Originally Posted by WombRaider
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