..........
11) AFTERWORD

The merits of this pamphlet can easily be obscured by the
Christian exclusivity. Dogmatic denial of non-Christian
religions seems to be a tenet of popular Christianity. Such
prejudice is largely based on the following verse from the New
Testament:

ego eimi ha hodos kai ha alatheia kai ha zoa; oudeis
erketia pros ton patera ei ma di emou

"I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to
the Father except through me." )Matt. 14:6)

However, this is a rather slender peg on which to hang
one's religious intolerance. Especially since the original
Greek renders the verse a bit differently than cited above--
although the above translation is the one you would probably
find in your Bible.

The Greek work erketai is extremely present tense. So,
rather than "comes" as the word is rendered above, it would
more accurately be "can presently come." This, of course,
changes the whole meaning. Jesus is actually saying, "I am the
way, the truth, and the life; no one can presently come to the
father except through me." Thus, Christian exclusivity becomes
absurd. Unlike the interpretations pushed upon us by the Bible-
thumpers--who say that surrender to Jesus is the only way, for
all time--Jesus simply said that eh was the way presently, at
that time, in Palestine-- 2,000 years ago. Says Dr. Boyd
Daniels of The American Bible Society, "Oh, yes. The word
erketai is definitely the present tense form of the verb. Jesus
was speaking to his contemporaries." (From a personal
conversation with the author.)
________________________________________________

The Codex Sinaiticus, our earliest existing Greek
m****cript of the New Testament, can presently be found in the
British Museum. Interestingly, this m****cript was written in
the year 331 A.D. - Just six years after the Council of Nicaea.
We have no New Testament m****cripts from before this council.

Why is this interesting? Because history reveals that
everything was rearranged at the council--and at the many
councils that followed. No one knows what Christianity may
have been like before this first ecumenical synod. And no one
is ever likely to find out--for the Christian tradition has not
been preserved. Rather, it has been subject to change and
decay


This pamphlet was keyed by Skosch Penrose.