The Messiah IS YHWH ---> Proven

[PM Saunders]

To answer your question as to why they survived... (again going with my limited understanding, someone correct me if I am wrong) the East received the 22 and considered it "case-closed" so-to-speak. The West was more open (for better or worse) to receive other books at a later time (or perhaps they were in the right place to receive them immediately... and then debate their authenticity/canonicity over the centuries).

Another important thing to consider about the eastern tradition: it's not as if we treat all of the 22 books as equal, either. Really, in the modern Western Evangelical milieu is where we find a strong idea of "canon" and "inspiration", within the Church of the East in particular - the Gospels are the most revered of the new testament writings. Followed by the Acts of the Apostles, and then the Pauline and "Catholic" Epistles. In other words, the Gospels rank higher on our "importance" scale. In fact, in printed editions used during the liturgy ... there are different books which contain the Gospels, Acts and Epistles.

This is similar to our Jewish background. The books of Moses are far more important in the synagogue setting than say one of the minor prophets.

You said this so much better than me all though the last things you said is basically what I was hoping to get across. Yay! I feel like I actually know what I am talking about!!! <!-- s:bigups: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/bigups.gif" alt=":bigups:" title="Big Ups" /><!-- s:bigups: -->