Hey Scoot,
I don't get involved in these discussions very often but I like Swampy and consider Dee a friend and I can see where this is going. Besides, this is kinda off topic for this thread. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and this matter has been discussed many times before in forums that no longer exist. Let it go, we're not apologists for the Church and nothing good can come of it... Only God and you know what is in your heart.
Just my opinion...
I have no Issue with Dee or Swampman's opinion of the catholic church . And I do not intend to take anything personal. I just have done a lot of Bible study (not biblical study ) I wanted to understand what Bible is probably closest to the original texts . What I found was quite interesting - Pope Damasus the 1st assembled the first list of books of the Bible at the Council of Rome in
AD 382. He commissioned Saint Jerome to produce a reliable and consistent text by translating the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin. This translation became known as the Latin Vulgate Bible.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is a translation of the Latin Vulgate into English in 1582.
The Authorized King James Version is another English translation of the Christian Holy Bible (from what original source text I am now researching). This work began in 1604 by the Church of England. The Authorized Version has undergone numerous revisions, and so we end up with the KJV which went through multiple revisions beginning in 1611 and the Douay-Rheims (catholic) Bible translated directly from the 4th century Latin Vulgate.
This is not intended a religious argument , I just find it fascinating the Douay-Rheims Bible in all appearances seems closest to original script in my research at present. It's also interesting to note the Douay-Rheims Bible has 73 books. The King James Bible has 66 books.
King James authorized the removal of 7 books.
A king authorized the removal of Gods word. It's also interesting to note the translators of the KJV make specific reference to the Douay version in their translators’ preface. It is commonly acknowledged that, in preparing the KJV, the translators made use of the Rheims New Testament and adopted many of its readings in preference to those of other English editions.
As far as someones personal opinion regarding their stance on the Catholic Church - I take zero offense. To each his own.
But to state Catholics don't follow the Bible or Christs teachings is not just a misnomer or a miss-statement it's flat out wrong.
Apologize to all for the side track -- we return you now to the original intent of this thread