
Originally Posted by
Silence
God does come out ahead, but very few Christians believe it. When Jerome got the church to add 2 Peter and the book of Jude to the cannon, succeeded in getting the church to accept a latin translation of the bible based on the Masoretic text, along with sloppy translation of a few key words and passages, he gave the Roman converts to Christianity just what they wanted. A vindictive, wrathful judge to replace the Father image that was prevalent in the eastern churches. The Roman church used these tools to "grind lenses" for Christians to wear when they read or heard the scriptures, and these lenses blinded people to the fact that the bible, properly translated and interpreted, teaches that God will save each and every person who has ever lived, either in this age or one to come. Tertullian, Jerome, and Augustine were all highly intelligent people, but they were blinded in some ways by the arrogant spirit that pervaded the Roman culture. In Jerome's case, this cultural self-conceit may have provided him with enough justification to allow him to lie more than once. Maybe he thought these were "medicinal lies" that he could convince himself would lead to a good end for others. If that wasn't the case, they were self-serving and malignant. (I've often wondered if Jerome's name isn't based on the Hebrew letter yod combined with the word אֲרָם giving it the meaning of "he exalts" i.e. he exalts himself. Something Jerome had no problem demonstrating) It is ironic that the Catholic Encyclopedia states that the church's light never shone brighter than in the days of the Cappadocian church fathers, but they ignore the fact that unlike their hero Augustine, most of those Cappadocian church fathers were open universalists.
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