>I don't know that most of the world thinks Bush was elected
>- but it doesn't really matter to them whether he was
>elected or not, what matters is that either way he is the
>leader of America.

I think it damn sure matters whether or not my vote counts.

Whether he was elected or not doesn't
>change that fact, just like whether or not the Pope is
>actually the vicar of Christ doesn't change the fact that to
>the world at large he is the religious leader of the
>majority of the world's Christians.

It doesn't change the fact that someone is claiming to be something they are not, just like Bush, you are correct.

>Whether you think he is a sham or that Catholics don't
>represent true Christianity is irrelevant to this fact, just
>as it is irrelevant that I think Bush is a sham and doesn't
>represent what I believe to be true American ideals; he's
>still the President regardless, and to the world at large he
>is the leader of the USA and represents America.

No, he is NOT the president.. the president has to be elected by the people's votes.. the fact is he is an impostor to whoever views him.

You and I
>might think it sucks, but it bees that way, nothing you or I
>can do about it right now.

agreed.

>The "apocryphal books placed strategically in their canon
>(not in the Bible)" were in the Septuagint, which WAS THE
>BIBLE used by the apostles and the early Christian church,
>the authors of the New Testament and, presumably, JC himself
>- the majority of Old Testament quotes cited in the NT,
>particularly the ones dealing with prophecies and allusions
>to the coming of Jesus Christ, are quoted directly from the
>Septuagint.

The hell they are!

You speak of the Septuagint as if there was only one. Which translation are you referring to? Christ didn't quote the Septuagint once in his teachings, probably because the true Septuagint was so widely debated and translated at the time. Every author of NT was a Hebrew scholar, as was Christ, so why would any Hebrew scholar feel the need to learn a document outside of the original language it is written in?

The apostles used the Torah (the original Septuagint) for strict Pharisaic study, though... After this, the entire argument for the Septuagint rests on a single document: the Letter of Aristeas. I've studied this letter, and here are some facts you might find interesing....

The author, Aristeas, claims to have been a Greek court official during the time of Philadelphus' reign. He claims to have been sent by DEMETRIUS to request the best scholars of Israel to bring a copy of the Hebrew scriptures to Alexandria to start the giant translation project.

Ok.. here's where it gets sticky:

Aristeas decided, with stupidity, to give names of Septuagint scholars, many of whom were from the Maccabean era, some 75 years too late. Interestingly enough, many of them are also names deriving from Greek origin, which would be impossible if they were, truly, Hebrew scholars. The writer is lying about his identity... the letter itself is a pseudepigrapha...lol.

Back to Demetrius, who was the supposed librarian during Philadephus' reign.. his span of 345-283 BCE included being a library under Ptolemy Soter, never under Philadelphus... another lie.

Removal of these books from the Bible is a
>complete disregard for Christianity's roots in apostolic
>Judaism.

The apostles used readings preserved from Hebrew text (some of which may have been also been in the Septuagint) why would they have needed a Greek guide? they were the guide to the Greeks!

>BTW, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church uses all the books in the
>Catholic canon, plus a few others; and out of all Christians
>they are the ones whose traditions are most rooted in
>Judaism, by far... what say you to that?

The Ethiopian Church uses a few extra books (Jude, Assumption of Moses, Book of Enoch.. all quoted in the Bible... another that probably is Scripture is the lost book of Jasher, quoted in the OT), that I consider to be divinely inspired, and aren't followed by most protestants... this is why I have more respect for the Ethiopian church, but still disregard many of their books as frauds. Ethiopians don't have extra deities or infallible men, though.