📜 Early New Testament History: Who Controlled It? 📜
Many people assume that the Roman Catholic Church created the Bible —
but that’s not true.
The New Testament existed long before Rome controlled Christianity.
Between 33 AD and 120 AD, the followers of Jesus (Yeshua) took His teachings far beyond the Roman Empire into non-Greek-speaking lands.
Many of these early believers already had a canon of 22 books of the New Testament long before the Roman Church played any role.
🌍 Where Did the Disciples Go? 🌍
Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) disciples and their followers traveled to places where Greek was not the main language:
Peter & Thomas → Babylon, Parthia (Persia/Iran), India (Aramaic, Persian, Tamil)
Thaddeus & Bartholomew → Armenia, Edessa, Mesopotamia (Aramaic, Old Armenian)
James (Jesus' Brother) → Jerusalem & Judea (Hebrew, Aramaic)
Matthew → Ethiopia, Arabia (Ge'ez, Aramaic, Arabic)
Simon the Zealot → North Africa, Persia (Berber, Persian)
Philip → Phrygia (Central Turkey) (Phrygian, Aramaic)
Andrew → Scythia (Ukraine, Georgia, Russia) (Scythian, Thracian)
Jude (Thaddeus) → Syria, Mesopotamia (Syriac-Aramaic)
📘 The 22-Book New Testament Canon
Before the Roman Church standardized the 27-book canon, early Aramaic-speaking Christians had a 22-book version.
📖 The Aramaic Peshitta Bible (used by the Eastern Church) did not include:
2 Peter
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation
❌ Reasons for Exclusion:
🔹 Doubt About Apostolic Authorship
These five books had uncertain origins or were linked to lesser-known figures.
🔹 Concerns Over Theology
Revelation = symbolic, apocalyptic, hard to interpret.
Jude references Book of Enoch, not accepted by all.
2 & 3 John = very short, limited theological content.
📜 Gradual Acceptance:
5th–6th centuries: some churches began using the excluded books.
Late Middle Ages: Revelation added in some Syriac Bibles.
Even today, some Eastern churches do not accept Revelation.
🏛️ The Importance of Constantine & the Year 313 AD
Before 313 AD: Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire.
313 AD: Emperor Constantine issues Edict of Milan, legalizing Christianity.
This marks the moment when Rome began influencing Christian doctrine, scriptures, and church structure.
✋ Before this, Rome had no control over Christian writings.
Eastern believers (Syria, Persia, India, Armenia) already had their own canon.
🔥 Did the Roman Church Destroy the Aramaic Bible?
After 313 AD, Rome promoted Greek and Latin over Aramaic and Hebrew texts.
Later, the Catholic Church banned laypeople from reading the Bible and discouraged non-Latin versions.
Evidence suggests some Aramaic manuscripts were lost or destroyed to suppress Jewish-Christian traditions.
📌 Why This Matters
✅ The New Testament was first compiled in the East, not Rome.
✅ Roman influence came later and possibly altered the canon.
✅ The Aramaic Peshitta Bible still exists today, preserving the oldest form of the New Testament.
🔍 Click here to explore Emperor Constantine’s impact on the church.
🔁 Share this if you believe the truth about early Christianity needs to be heard.
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