The Bible has stood the test of time. No other book contains such all-encompassing information and knowledge about life, written beyond the skill level of any human or group of humans. If they were authored by all these different men from different generations and centuries, how is it they speak of a single religion, yet coordinate without contradiction. Many did not know of the other books being written during the same time period, and even though they are writing of the most difficult of subjects, somehow they fit together like a puzzle. What kind of author writes of their foibles and how unworthy they are, and the actual evil crimes they committed? Undeniable truth spills from its pages. They were unwilling to lower themselves by discussing details about bodily functions beyond the occasional pertinent mentioning, yet told the horrible truth about hanus acts of killing children and women, and gangs of men knocking on your door, wanting to have the visiting man/men to join in their sexcapade.
Add to that the number of people willing to die for this compilation of books and the many attempts to destroy its existence. What other book could that be said of? The Quran? Sorry, that is one author, and many are willing to kill for it as opposed to the near 0% of its religious leaders who were killed without showing or committing violence.
Yes, books which were not inspired by God needed to be weeded out when the scrolls were finally put into a codex. Again, measure and prove all things. The different editions and translations are needed because man's language is imperfect. Man changes the meaning of words all the time based on the context used. Add to that the cultural quirks of the time period each was written. Such as 1 Samuel 25:22, KJV uses "pisseth against the wall" to denote males in general. The Hebrew is literally make water on the wall, so you see changes over time need to be made, and the fallibility of any language can cause problems with literal translations. What would you translate that to for someone who does not know what a wall is? So I think the more translations there are, the better one is able to glean what the concept or meaning is.
On rituals and such, Matthew 6 and Matthew 23 shows what Jesus thought of those who were the most ritualistic and how they did things just for the show of it, to make men think highly of them. So I tend to stay away from the forms of extravagance and pageantry. I see no sense in reading scriptures in Latin or other foreign language on purpose when the vast majority of those listening can't understand it. That seems to me as a show and hollow in meaning. Paul was inspired to show how foreign words needed to be interpreted.
See, those who taught me "who claim to speak on God's authority" did so by using a standard which did not change when the next teacher came along. That is the reason for the Bible, to check on what you are being taught, because humans are skewed by their emotions and mental evaluations, of which I used here influenced by the teachings of the Bible. What else can you trust to help you have an "attitude based on God"? Someday basic tenants of the Catholic church will be changed, such as contraception, abortion, gay marriage and the like. All it takes is enough pressure from the parishioners and political irrelevancy. Look through history, many traditions and teachings were changed, and they will continue. Without the Bible as a standard, then all things are negotiable. Even God gave in when the Israelites cried out for a king. And then they paid the price.
