History and Evolution of Early Christian Hymnals

  When one examines the rise of Christianity and literary development from scattered early text, from the period of its inception through the disciples-turned-apostle after the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth one can see a growth form the original followers to a number in the millions as Gentiles became the prime converts over the Jewish population.
In that respect examining what is available in Greek and Latin text, one wonders about the origin of hymns that developed along with Christianity, especially as organized Christianity became more complex after the Edict of Milan in 313 and First Council of Nicaea in 325; where doctrine was prescribed and text was filtered for its authenticity and incorporation into Canon that became the Holy Bible divided between Old and New Testaments.

A Treatise Concerning Christians and the 21st Century

  I, like Thomas Jefferson, value logical philosophy; especially when discussing theology and politics. Those are two subjects where people turn off the logical portion of their brain and let emotion cloud their judgment and belief. Tradition can be a good thing, but only if it is supported by logic and facts, not superstition and blind faith. Thomas Jefferson created his own reference Bible, concerning the New Testament where he gleaned the myth from Jesus of Nazareth's parables and wise statements. He was more concerned with the spiritual world rather than the physical one. The Jefferson Bible has been reprinted several times and still available today. Indeed, the subtitle of the book is: “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth”. Using his original name description instead of “Christ”.

What prompted me to write about this is people sharing the myriad commentary and memes on my FaceBook board. They seem to ignore the fact that religion, in a universal sense, is the product of humans, not the Creator/God of the Old/New Testaments. Christianity was not founded by Jesus of Nazareth (aka Jesus of Galilee - Jesus Christ), but by his disciples who became apostles after his death.

BOOK REVIEW - The Jefferson Bible

 

In 1804, Thomas Jefferson decided to make a concise book crafted by using a razor and scissors to cut out squares of text from several versions of the Bible. He created the red leather hand-bound book for his own quick reference and contemplation of its content. The was pasted selections in ancient and modern languages that reflected his knowledge of the Bible into neat columns. Jefferson had created his own New Testament that focused only on the historical figure of Jesus with mysticism excluded. 

  Jefferson’s Bible of 84 pages did not include major references of the resurrection, the ascension to heaven or the several miracles. Jefferson focused upon Jesus as a teacher of morals who expressed truths. The book was for his private use and had the idea that it might be published to share with Native Americans (North American Indians) who had no western education. Jefferson thought that the conciseness of his book would be suited for keeping the attention to the principles of Jesus and his teachings by Native Americans. For decades no one knew about his book, discovered in his personal library. Originally his book was titled - “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth”. Notice that Jefferson used Jesus’ original descriptive name instead of what later would become “Jesus Christ” as described by the Apostles.