Quote Originally Posted by cherry kool aid
just to continue an interesting discussion:

the bible did not arrive by fax from heaven, and Jesus' second coming not withstanding, there is no true way to know what gospels God wanted in the bible, as it was made and REVISED by man. so with that known, and proven throughout history, using the bible to validate itself is an effort of futility because the bible, in essence, is propaganda of the RCC. treating it as such, one cannot use the propaganda of a power to justify its cause. For example, andthis IS AN EXAMPLE AND NO WAY A RELATIVE COMPARISION, a nazi cannot use nazi party propaganda as justification of why jews would be deemed below them. a kkk member cannot use their propaganda as justificition as why the white race is superior, etc etc.
this is a very good point. validation has to come from an EXTERNAL source. this is one of the reasons why, although i think the Bible is a great book and spiritual guide, it can't be objectively accepted at face value as a 100% factual document. WAAAAAYYY too many hands have been in that pot.

There's a book out there called the Lost Books of the Bible that compiles a lot of the gospels and other books that were left out of the Bible by the various RCC councils (for numerous reasons, most of them not with the noblest intentions and self-serving). I'm pretty sure the Gospel of Judas and Thomas, as well as the Book of Adam and Eve and Enoch, are included. Any serious student of Christianity should try to get their hands on it...