Let us start from the beginning. No
Biblical scholar on this earth will claim that the Bible was written by Jesus
himself. They all agree that the Bible was written after the departure of Jesus
peace be upon him by his followers. Dr. W Graham Scroggie of the Moody Bible
Institute, Chicago, a prestigious Christian evangelical mission, says:
"..Yes, the Bible is human, although some out of zeal which is not according to knowledge, have denied this. Those books have passed through the minds of men, are written in the language of men, were penned by the hands of men and bear in their style the characteristics of men...."
"It is Human, Yet Divine," W Graham Scroggie, p. 17
Another Christian scholar, Kenneth Cragg, the Anglican Bishop
of Jerusalem, says:
"...Not so the New testament...There is condensation and editing; there is choice reproduction and witness. The Gospels have come through the mind of the church behind the authors. They represent experience and history..."
"The Call of the Minaret," Kenneth Cragg, p 277
"It is well known that the primitive Christian Gospel was initially transmitted by word of mouth and that this oral tradition resulted in variant reporting of word and deed. It is equally true that when the Christian record was committed to writing it continued to be the subject of verbal variation. Involuntary and intentional, at the hands of scribes and editors"
Peake's Commentary on the Bible, p. 633
"Yet, as a matter of fact, every book of the New Testament with the exception of the four great Epistles of St. Paul is at present more or less the subject of controversy, and interpolations are asserted even in these."
Encyclopaedia Brittanica, 12th Ed. Vol. 3, p. 643
Dr. Lobegott Friedrich Konstantin Von Tischendorf,
one of the most adamant conservative Christian defenders of the Trinity was
himself driven to admit that:
"[the New Testament had] in many passages undergone such serious modification of meaning as to leave us in painful uncertainty as to what the Apostles had actually written"
Secrets of Mount Sinai, James Bentley, p. 117
After listing many examples of contradictory statements in the
Bible, Dr. Frederic Kenyon says:
"Besides the larger discrepancies, such as these, there is scarcely a verse in which there is not some variation of phrase in some copies [of the ancient manuscripts from which the Bible has been collected]. No one can say that these additions or omissions or alterations are matters of mere indifference"
Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, Dr. Frederic Kenyon,
Eyre and Spottiswoode, p. 3
Throughout this book you will find countless other similar
quotations from some of Christendom's leading scholars. Let us suffice with
these for now.
Christians are, in general, good and decent people, and the
stronger their convictions the more decent they are. This is attested to in the
noble Qur'an:
"...and nearest among them (men) in love to the believers will you find those who say 'we are Christians': because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant. And when they listen to the revelation received by the messenger (Muhammad), you will see their eyes overflowing with tears for they recognize the truth: They pray: 'Our Lord! we believe; write us down among the witnesses'."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Maidah(5):82-83.
All biblical "versions" of the Bible prior to the revised
version of 1881 were dependent upon the "Ancient Copies" (those dating between
five to six hundred years after Jesus). The revisers of the Revised Standard
Version (RSV) 1952 were the first biblical scholars to have access to the "MOST
ancient copies" which date fully three to four hundred years after Christ. It is
only logical for us to concur that the closer a document is to the source the
more authentic it is. Let us see what is the opinion of Christendom with regard
to the most revised version of the Bible (revised in 1952 and then again in
1971):
"The finest version which has been produced in the present
century" - (Church of England newspaper)
"A completely fresh translation by scholars of the highest
eminence" - (Times literary supplement)
"The well loved characteristics of the authorized version
combined with a new accuracy of translation" - (Life and Work)
"The most accurate and close rendering of the original" -
(The Times)
The publishers themselves (Collins) mention on page 10 of their notes:
"This Bible (RSV) is the product of thirty two scholars
assisted by an advisory committee representing fifty cooperating denominations"
Let us see what these thirty two
Christian scholars of the highest eminence backed by fifty cooperating
Christian denominations have to say about the Authorized Version (AV), or as it
is better known, the King James Version (KJV). In the preface of the RSV 1971 we
find the following:
"...Yet the King James Version has GRAVE DEFECTS.."
They go on to caution us that:
"...That these defects are SO MANY AND SO SERIOUS as to
call for revision"
The Jehovah's Witnesses in their "AWAKE" Magazine dated 8th
September 1957 published the following headline: "50,000
Errors in the Bible" wherein they say "..there are probably 50,000 errors
in the Bible...errors which have crept into the Bible text...50,000 such serious
errors..." After all of this, however, they go on to say: "...as a whole
the Bible is accurate." Let us have a look at only a very few of these
errors.
In John 3:16 - AV(KJV) we read:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.."
But as seen in section 1.2.3.10, this fabrication
"begotten" has now been unceremoniously excised by these most eminent of
Bible revisers. However, humanity did not have to wait 2000 years for this
revelation.
In Maryam(19):88-98 of the noble Qur'an we read:
"And they say 'Allah Most Compassionate has begotten a
son!'. Indeed you have put forth a thing most monstrous! The skies are ready to
burst (at such a claim), and the earth to split asunder, and the mountains to
fall down in utter ruin. That they should ascribe a son to the Most
Compassionate. But it is not befitting [the majesty of] the Most Compassionate
that He should beget a son. Not one of the beings in the heavens and the earth
but must come to the Most Compassionate as a servant. He has taken account of
all of them and has numbered them all exactly. And every one of them will come
to him singly on the day of judgment. On those who believe and work deeds of
righteousness, will Allah most gracious bestow love. Verily, We have made this
[Qur'an] easy in your tongue [O Muhammad] that you might deliver glad tidings to
those who seek refuge [in Allah] and warn with it a people who are contentious.
And how many a generation before them have we destroyed! Can you find a single
one of them or hear from them so much as a whisper?"
In 1st Epistle of John 5:7 (King James Version) we find:
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one."
As we have already seen in section 1.2.2.5, this verse is the
closest approximation to what the Church calls the holy Trinity.
However, as seen in that section, this cornerstone of the Christian faith has
also been scrapped from the RSV by the same thirty two
Christian scholars of the highest eminence backed by fifty cooperating Christian
denominations, once again all according to the "most ancient manuscripts." And
once again, we find that the noble Qur'an revealed this truth over fourteen
hundred years ago:
"O people of the book! commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a Messenger of Allah, and his Word, which he bestowed upon Mary, and a spirit preceding from him so believe in Allah and his messengers. Say not "Three" desist It will be better for you for Allah is one God Glory be to him Far exalted is he above having a son. To him belong all things in the heavens and the earth. And enough is Allah as a disposer of affairs."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Nissa(4):171
Prior to 1952 all versions of the Bible made mention of one of
the most miraculous events associated with the prophet Jesus peace be upon him,
that of his ascension into heaven:
"So then the lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God"
Mark 16:19
and once again in Luke:
"While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy."
Luke 24:51-52
In the 1952 RSV Mark 16 ends at verse 8 and the rest is
relegated in small print to a footnote (more on this later). Similarly, in the
commentary on the verses of Luke 24, we are told in the footnotes of the NRSV
Bible "Other ancient authorities lack "and was carried up into heaven'"
and "Other ancient authorities lack 'and worshipped him'". Thus,
we see that the verse of Luke in it's original form only said:
"While he blessed them, he parted from them. And they
returned to Jerusalem with great joy."
It took centuries of "inspired correction" to give us Luke
24:51-52 in their current form.
As another example, in Luke 24:1-7 we read:
"Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the
morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had
prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away
from the sepulcher. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord
Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two
men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down
their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the
dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was
yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of
sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."
Once again, in reference to verse 5, the footnotes say:
"Other ancient authorities lack 'He is not here but has risen'" Also,
please read entries 16 and 17 in the table in section 2.2.
The examples are far too numerous to list here, however, you
are encouraged to obtain a copy of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
for yourself and scan through the four gospels. You shall be hard pressed to
find even two consecutive pages that do not contain the words "Other ancient
authorities lack..." or "Other ancient authorities add..." etc. in
the footnotes..
Let us now talk about the alleged authors of the New
Testament. We will note that every Gospel begins with the introduction
"According to....." such as "The Gospel according to Saint Matthew," "The Gospel
according to Saint Luke," "The Gospel according to Saint Mark," "The Gospel
according to Saint John." The obvious conclusion for the average man on the
street is that these people are known to be the authors of the books attributed
to them. This, however is not the case. Why? Because not one of the vaunted four
thousand copies existent carries it's author's signature. It has just been
assumed that they were the authors. Recent discoveries, however, refute this
belief. Even the internal evidence proves that, for instance, Matthew did not
write the Gospel attributed to him:
"...And as Jesus passed forth thence, HE (Jesus) saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and HE (Jesus) saith unto HIM (Matthew), follow ME (Jesus) and HE (Matthew) arose, and followed HIM (Jesus)."
Matthew 9:9
It does not take a rocket scientist to see that neither Jesus
nor Matthew wrote this verse of "Matthew." Such evidence can be found in many
places throughout the New Testament. Although many people have hypothesized that
it is possible that an author sometimes may write in the third person, still, in
light of the rest of the evidence that we shall see throughout this book, there
is simply too much evidence against this hypothesis.
This observation is by no means limited to the New Testament.
There is even proof that at least parts of Deuteronomy were neither written by
God nor by Moses. This can be seen in Deuteronomy 34:5-10 where we
read
"So Moses....DIED... and he (God Almighty) BURIED HIM
(Moses)... He was 120 years old WHEN HE DIED... and there arose not a prophet
SINCE in Israel like unto Moses...."
Did Moses write his own obituary? Joshua
also speaks in detail about his own death in Joshua
24:29-33. The evidence overwhelmingly supports the current recognition that most
of the books of the Bible were not written by their supposed authors.
The authors of the RSV by Collins say that the author of
"Kings" is "Unknown." If they knew it to be the word of God they would have
undoubtedly attributed it to him. Rather, they have chosen to honestly say
"Author....Unknown." But if the author is unknown then why attribute it to God?
How can it then be claimed to have been "inspired"? Continuing, we read that the
book of Isaiah is "Mainly credited to Isaiah. Parts may have been written by
others." Ecclesiastics: "Author. Doubtful, but commonly assigned to Solomon."
Ruth: "Author. Not definitely known, perhaps Samuel." and on and on.
Let us have a slightly more detailed look at only one book of
the New Testament:
"The author of the Book of Hebrews is unknown. Martin Luther suggested that Apollos was the author...Tertullian said that Hebrews was a letter of Barnabas...Adolf Harnack and J. Rendel Harris speculated that it was written by Priscilla (or Prisca). William Ramsey suggested that it was done by Philip. However, the traditional position is that the Apostle Paul wrote Hebrews...Eusebius believed that Paul wrote it, but Origen was not positive of Pauline authorship."
From the introduction to the King James Bible, New revised and
updated sixth edition, the Hebrew/Greek Key Study, Red Letter Edition
Is this how we define "inspired by God"?
As seen in chapter one, St. Paul and his church after him,
were responsible of making wholesale changes to the religion of Jesus (pbuh)
after his departure and were further responsible for mounting a massive campaign
of death and torture of all Christians who refused to renounce the teachings of
the apostles in favor of the Pauline doctrines. All but the Gospels acceptable
to the Pauline faith were then systematically destroyed or re-written. Rev.
Charles Anderson Scott has the following to say:
"It is highly probable that not one of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) was in existence in the form which we have it, prior to the death of Paul. And were the documents to be taken in strict order of chronology, the Pauline Epistles would come before the synoptic Gospels."
History of Christianity in the Light of Modern Knowledge, Rev.
Charles Anderson Scott, p.338
This statement is further confirmed by Prof. Brandon:
"The earliest Christian writings that have been preserved for us are the letters of the apostle Paul"
"Religions in Ancient History," S.G.F. Brandon, p. 228.
In the latter part of the second century, Dionysius, Bishop of
Corinth says:
"As the brethren desired me to write epistles(letters), I
did so, and these the apostles of the devil have filled with tares (undesirable
elements), exchanging some things and adding others, for whom there is a woe
reserved. It is not therefore, a matter of wonder if some have also attempted to
adulterate the sacred writings of the Lord, since they have attempted the same
in other works that are not to be compared with these."
The Qur'an confirms this with the words:
"Then woe to those who write the book (of Allah/God) with their own hands and then say: 'This is from Allah', to traffic with it for a miserable price. Woe to them for what their hands do write and for the gain they make thereby"
The noble Qur'an Al-Bakarah(2):79
Victor Tununensis, a sixth century African Bishop related in
his Chronicle (566 AD) that when Messala was consul at Costantinople (506 AD),
he "censored and corrected" the Gentile Gospels written by persons considered
illiterate by the Emperor Anastasius. The implication was that they were altered
to conform to sixth century Christianity which differed from the Christianity of
previous centuries (The Dead Sea Scrolls, the Gospel of Barnabas,
and the New Testament, by M. A. Yusseff, p. 81)
These "corrections" were by no means confined to the first centuries after Christ. Sir Higgins says:
"It is impossible to deny that the Bendictine Monks of St. Maur, as far as Latin and Greek language went, were very learned and talented, as well as numerous body of men. In Cleland's 'Life of Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury', is the following passage: 'Lanfranc, a Benedictine Monk, Archbishop of Canterbury, having found the Scriptures much corrupted by copyists, applied himself to correct them, as also the writings of the fathers, agreeably to the orthodox faith, secundum fidem orthodoxam."
History of Christianity in the light of Modern knowledge,
Higgins p.318
In other words, the Christian scriptures were re-written in
order to conform to the doctrines of the eleventh and twelfth centuries and even
the writings of the early church fathers were "corrected" so that the changes
would not be discovered. Sir Higgins goes on to say:
"The same Protestant divine has this remarkable passage:
'Impartiality exacts from me the confession, that the orthodox have in some
places altered the Gospels."
The author then goes on to demonstrate how a massive effort
was undertaken in Costantinople, Rome, Canterbury, and the Christian world in
general in order to "correct" the Gospels and destroy all manuscripts before
this period.
Theodore Zahan, illustrated the bitter conflicts within the
established churches in Articles of the Apostolic Creed. He points out
that the Roman Catholics accuse the Greek Orthodox Church of remodeling the text
of the holy scriptures by additions and omissions with both good as well as evil
intentions. The Greek Orthodox, on the other hand, accuse the Roman Catholics of
straying in many places very far away from the original text. In spite of their
differences, they both join forces to condemn the non-conformist Christians of
deviating from "the true way" and condemn them as heretics. The heretics in turn
condemn the Catholics for having "recoined the truth like forgers." The
author concludes "Do not facts support these accusations?"
"And from those who said: "We are Christians," We took their Covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message which was sent to them. Therefore We have stirred up enmity and hatred among them till the Day of Resurrection, and Allah will inform them of what they used to do. O people of the Scripture! Now has Our messenger (Muhammad) come to you, explaining to you much of that which you used to hide in the Scripture, and forgiving much. Indeed, there has come to you a light from Allah and a plain Scripture. Wherewith Allah guides him who seeks His good pleasure unto paths of peace. He brings them out of darkness by His will into light, and guides them to a straight path. They indeed have disbelieved who say: Lo! Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary. Say: Who then has the least power against Allah, if He had willed to destroy the Messiah son of Mary, and his mother and everyone on earth? And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. He creates what He will. And Allah is Able to do all things. The Jews and Christians say: We are sons of Allah and His loved ones. Say; Why then does He punish you for your sins? No, you are but mortals of His creating. He forgives whom He will, and punishes whom He will. And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and unto Him is the return (of all). O people of the Scripture! Now has Our messenger (Muhammad) come unto you to make things plain after a break in (the series of) the messengers, lest you should say: There came not unto us a messenger of cheer nor any Warner. Now has a messenger of cheer and a Warner come unto you. And Allah is Able to do all things."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Maidah(5):14-19
St. Augustine himself, a man
acknowledged and looked up to by both Protestants and Catholics alike, professed
that there were secret doctrines in the Christian religion and that
"there were many things true in the Christian religion
which it was not convenient for the vulgar to know, and that some things were
false, but convenient for the vulgar to believe in them."
Sir Higgins admits:
"It is not unfair to suppose that in these withheld truths we
have part of the modern Christian mysteries, and I think it will hardly
be denied that the church, whose highest authorities held such doctrines, would
not scruple to retouch the sacred writings" (The Dead Sea Scrolls, the Gospel of
Barnabas, and the New Testament, M. A. Yusseff, p.83)
Even the epistles attributed to Paul were not written by him.
After years of research, Catholics and Protestants alike agree that of the
thirteen epistles attributed to Paul only seven are genuinely his. They are:
Romans, 1, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philipians, Philemon, and 1 Thessalonians.
Christian sect are not even agreed on the definition of what
exactly is an "inspired" book of God. The Protestants are taught that there are
66 truly "inspired" books in the Bible, while the Catholics have been taught
that there are 73 truly "inspired" books, not to mention the many other sects
and their "newer" books, such as the Mormons, etc. As we shall see shortly, the
very first Christians, for many generations, did not follow either the 66 books
of the Protestants, nor the 73 books of the Catholics.
Quite the opposite, they believed in books that were, many generations later,
"recognized" to be fabrications and apocrypha by a more enlightened age than
that of the apostles.
Well, where do all of these Bibles come from and why the
difficulty in defining what is a truly "inspired" word of God? They come from
the "ancient manuscripts" (also known as MSS). The Christian world today boasts
of an excess of 24,000 "ancient manuscripts" of the Bible dating all the way
back to the fourth century after Christ (But not back to Christ or the apostles
themselves). In other words, we have with us gospels which date back to the
century when the Trinitarians took over the Christian Church. All manuscripts
from before this period have strangely perished. All Bibles in existence today
are compiled from these "ancient manuscripts." Any scholar of the Bible will
tell us that no two ancient manuscripts are exactly identical.
People today generally believe that there is only ONE Bible,
and ONE version of any given verse of the Bible. This is far from true. All
Bibles in our possession today (Such as the KJV, the NRSV, the NAB, NIV,...etc.)
are the result of extensive cutting and pasting from these various manuscripts
with no single one being the definitive reference. There are countless
cases where a paragraph shows up in one "ancient manuscript" but is totally
missing from many others. For instance, Mark 16:8-20 (twelve whole verses) is
completely missing from the most ancient manuscripts available today (such as
the Sinaitic Manuscript, the Vatican #1209 and the Armenian version) but shows
up in more recent "ancient manuscripts." There are also many documented
cases where even geographical locations are completely different from one
ancient manuscript to the next. For instance, in the "Samaritan Pentateuch
manuscript," Deuteronomy 27:4 speaks of "mount Gerizim," while in the "Hebrew
manuscript" the exact same verse speaks of "mount Ebal."
From Deuteronomy 27:12-13 we can see that these are two distinctly different
locations. Similarly, Luke 4:44 in some "ancient manuscripts" mentions
"Synagogues of Judea," others mention "Synagogues of Galilee." This is only a
sampling, a comprehensive listing would require a book of it's own.
There are countless examples in the Bible where verses of a
questionable nature are included in the text without any disclaimer telling the
reader that many scholars and translators have serious reservations as to their
authenticity. The King James Version of the Bible (Also known as the "Authorized
Version"), the one in the hands of the majority of Christendom today, is one of
the most notorious in this regard. It gives the reader absolutely no clue as to
the questionable nature of such verses. However, more recent translations of the
Bible are now beginning to be a little more honest and forthcoming in this
regard. For example, the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, by Oxford
Press, has adopted an extremely subtle system of bracketing the most glaring
examples of such questionable verses with double square brackets ([[ ]]). It is
highly unlikely that the casual reader will realize the true function these
brackets serve. They are there to tell the informed reader that the enclosed
verses are of a highly questionable nature. Examples of this are the story of
the "woman taken in adultery" in John 8:1-11, as well as Mark 16:9-20 (Jesus'
resurrection and return), and Luke 23:34 (which, interestingly enough, is there
to confirm the prophesy of Isaiah 53:12).....and so forth.
For example, with regard to John 8:1-11, the commentators of
this Bible say in very small print at the bottom of the page:
"The most ancient authorities lack 7.53-8.11; other
authorities add the passage here or after 7.36 or after 21.25 or after Luke
21.38 with variations of text; some mark the text as doubtful."
(emphasis added).
With regard to Mark 16:9-20, we are, strangely enough, given a
choice of how we would like the Gospel of Mark to end. The commentators
have supplied both a "short ending" and a "long ending." Thus, we are given a
choice of what we would prefer to be the "inspired word of God". Once again,
at the end of this Gospel in very small text, the commentators say:
"Some of the most ancient authorities bring the book
to a close at the end of verse 8. One authority concludes the book with the
shorter ending; others include the shorter ending and then continue with verses
9-20. In most authorities, verses 9-20 follow immediately after verse 8, though
in some of these authorities the passage is marked as being doubtful."
Peake's Commentary on the Bible records;
"It is now generally agreed that 9-20 are not an original
part of Mk. They are not found in the oldest MSS, and indeed were apparently not
in the copies used by Mt. and Lk. A 10th-cent. Armenian MS ascribes the passage
to Aristion, the presbyter mentioned by Papias (ap.Eus.HE III, xxxix, 15)."
"Indeed an Armenian translation of St. Mark has quite recently been discovered, in which the last twelve verses of St. Mark are ascribed to Ariston, who is otherwise known as one of the earliest of the Christian Fathers; and it is quite possible that this tradition is correct"
Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, F. Kenyon, Eyre and
Spottiswoode, pp. 7-8
Even at that, these verses are noted as having been narrated
differently in different "authorities." For example, verse 14 is claimed by the
commentators to have the following words added on to them in some "ancient
authorities":
"and they excused themselves saying 'This age of
lawlessness and unbelief is under Satan, who does not allow the truth and power
of God to prevail over the unclean things of the spirits. Therefore, reveal your
righteousness now' - thus they spoke to Christ and Christ replied to them 'The
term of years of Satan's power has been fulfilled, but other terrible things
draw near. And for those who have sinned I was handed over to death, that they
may return to the truth and sin no more, that they may inherit the spiritual and
imperishable glory of the righteousness that is in heaven'.".
Dr. Lobegott Friedrich Konstantin Von Tischendorf
was one of the most eminent conservative
biblical scholars of the nineteenth century. He was also one of the staunchest
most adamant defenders of the "Trinity" history has known. One of his greatest
lifelong achievements was the discovery of the oldest known Biblical manuscript
know to mankind, the "Codex Sinaiticus,"
from Saint Catherine's Monastery in Mount
Sinai. One of the most devastating discoveries made from the study of this
fourth century manuscript was that the gospel of Mark originally ended at verses
16:8 and not at verse 16:20 as it does today. In other words, the last 12 verses
(Mark 16:9 through Mark 16:20) were "injected" by the church into the Bible
sometime after the 4th century. Clement of Alexandria and Origen never quoted
these verses. Later on, it was also discovered that the said 12 verses, wherein
lies the account of "the resurrection of Jesus," do not appear in codices
Syriacus, Vaticanus and Bobiensis. Originally, the "Gospel of Mark" contained
no mention of the "resurrection of Jesus" (Mark 16:9-20). At least four
hundred years (if not more) after the departure of Jesus, the Church received
divine "inspiration" to add the story of the resurrection to the end of this
Gospel.
The author of "Codex Sinaiticus"
had no doubt that the Gospel of Mark came to an end at Mark 16:8, to emphasize
this point we find that immediately following this verse he brings the text to a
close with a fine artistic squiggle and the words "The Gospel according to
Mark." Tischendorf was a
staunch conservative Christian and as such he managed to casually brush this
discrepancy aside since in his estimation the fact that Mark was not an apostle
nor an eye witness to the ministry of Jesus made his account secondary to those
of the apostles such as Matthew and John. However, as seen elsewhere in this
book, the majority of Christian scholars today recognize the writings of Paul to
be the oldest of the writings of the Bible. These are closely followed by the
"Gospel of Mark" and the "Gospels of Matthew and Luke" are almost universally
recognized to have been based upon the "Gospel of Mark." This discovery was the
result of centuries of detailed and painstaking studies by these Christian
scholars and the details can not be repeated here. Suffice it to say that most
reputable Christian scholars today recognize this as a basic indisputable fact.
Today, the translators and publishers of our modern Bibles are
beginning to be a little more forthright and honest with their readers. Although
they may not simply openly admit that these twelve verses were forgeries of the
Church and not the word of God, still, at least they are beginning to draw the
reader's attention to the fact that there are two "versions" of the "Gospel of
Mark" and then leave the reader to decide what to make of these two "versions."
Now the question becomes "if the Church has tampered with the
Gospel of Mark, then did they stop there or is there more to this story?. As it
happens, Tischendorf also
discovered that the "Gospel of John" has been heavily reworked by the Church
over the ages. For example,
(For more on this topic please read 'Secrets of Mount Sinai'
by James Bentley, Doubleday, NY, 1985).
Much of the discoveries of Dr. Tischendorf
regarding the continuous and unrelenting tampering with the text of the Bible
over the ages has been verified by twentieth century science. For example, a
study of the Codex Sinaiticus under
ultraviolet light has revealed that the "Gospel of John" originally ended at
verse 21:24 and was followed by a small tail piece and then the words "The
Gospel according to John." However, some time later, a completely different
"inspired" individual took pen in hand, erased the text following verse 24, and
then added in the "inspired" text of John 21:25 which we find in our Bibles
today.
The evidence of tampering goes on and on. For example, in the
Codex Sinaiticus the "lord's prayer"
of Luke 11:2-4 differs substantially from the version which has reached us
through the agency of centuries of "inspired" correction. Luke 11:2-4 in this
most ancient of all Christian manuscripts reads:
"Father, Hallowed by thy name, Thy kingdom come. Thy will
be done, as in heaven, so upon earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And
forgive us our sins, as we ourselves also forgive everyone that is indebted to
us. And bring us not into temptation."
Further, the "Codex Vaticanus," is
another ancient manuscript held by the scholars of Christianity in the same
reverent standing as the Codex Sinaiticus.
These two fourth century codices are together considered the most ancient copies
of the Bible available today. In the codex Vaticanus we can find a version of
Luke 11:2-4 even shorter than that of Codex Sinaiticus. In this version even the
words "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so upon earth." are not to be
found.
Well, what has been the official Church position regarding
these "discrepancies"? How did the Church decide to handle this situation? Did
they call upon all of the foremost scholars of Christian literature to come
together in a mass conference in order to jointly study the most ancient
Christian manuscripts available to the Church and come to a common agreement as
to what was the true original word of God? No!
Well then, did they immediately expend every effort to make
mass copies of the original manuscripts and send them out to the Christian world
so that they could make their own decisions as to what truly was the original
unchanged word of God? Once again, No!
So what did they do? Let us ask Rev. Dr. George L. Robertson.
In his book "Where did we get our Bible? he writes:
"Of the MSS. of Holy Scripture in Greek still existing there are said to be several thousand of varying worth ... Three or four in particular of these old, faded out, and unattractive documents constitute the most ancient and the most precious treasures of the Christian Church, and are therefore of special interest." First in Rev. Richardson's list is the "Codex Vaticanus" of which he says: "This is probably the most ancient of all Greek MSS. now known to exist. It is designated as Codex 'B.' In 1448, Pope Nicholas V brought it to Rome where it has lain practically ever since, being guarded assiduously by papal officials in the Vatican Library. It's history is brief: Erasmus in 1533 knew of its existence, but neither he nor any of his successors were permitted to study it... becoming quite inaccessible to scholars, till Tischendorf in 1843, after months of delay, was finally allowed to see it for six hours. Another specialist, named de Muralt in 1844 was likewise given an aggravating glimpse of it for nine hours. The story of how Dr. Tregelles in 1845 was allowed by the authorities (all unconscious to themselves) to secure it page by page through memorizing the text, is a fascinating one. Dr. Tregelles did it. He was permitted to study the MS. continuously for a long time, but not to touch it or to take notes. Indeed, every day as he entered the room where the precious document was guarded, his pockets were searched and pen, paper and ink were taken from him, if he carried such accessories with him. The permission to enter, however, was repeated, until he finally had carried away with him and annotated in his room most of the principle variant readings of this most ancient text. Often, however, in the process, if the papal authorities observed he was becoming too much absorbed in any one section, they would snatch the MS. away from him and direct his attention to another leaf. Eventually they discovered that Tregelles had practically stolen the text, and that the Biblical world knew the secrets of their historic MS. Accordingly, Pope Pius IX ordered that it should be photographed and published; and it was, in five volumes which appeared in 1857. But the work was very unsatisfactorily done. About that time Tischendorf made a third attempt to gain access to and examine it. He succeeded, and later issued the text of the first twenty pages. Finally in 1889-90, with papal permission, the entire text was photographed and issued in facsimile, and published so that a copy of the expensive quartos was obtainable by, and is now in the possession of all the principle libraries in the biblical world."
"Where did we get our Bible?", Rev. Dr. George L. Robertson.
Harper and Brothers Publishers, pp.110-112
What were all of the Popes afraid of? What was the Vatican as
a whole afraid of? Why was the concept of releasing the text of their most
ancient copy of the Bible to the general public so terrifying to them? Why did
they feel it necessary to bury the most ancient copies of the inspired word of
God in a dark corner of the Vatican never to be seen by outside eyes? Why? What
about all of the thousands upon thousands of other manuscripts which to this day
remain buried in the darkest depths of the Vatican vaults never to be seen or
studied by the general masses of Christendom?
"[And remember] When God took a Covenant from those who were given the Scripture: You shall make it known and clear to mankind, and you shall not to hide it; but they flung it behind their backs, and purchased with it a miserable gain! How evil was that which they purchased!"
The noble Qur'an, A'al-Umran(3):187
"Say: 'O people of the Book! exceed not in your religion the bounds [of what is proper], trespassing beyond the truth, nor follow the vain desires of people who went astray in times gone by, who misled many, and strayed [themselves] from the straight path.'"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Maida(5):77
Returning to our study of some of the "discrepancies" to be
found between our modern Bibles and between the most ancient copies of the Bible
available to the chosen few, we find that the verse of Luke 24:51 contains
Luke's alleged account of the final parting of Jesus (pbuh) and how he was
"raised up into heaven." However, as seen in previous pages, in the Codex
Sinaiticus and other ancient manuscripts
the words "and was carried up into heaven" are completely missing. The
verse only says:
"And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted
from them."
C.S.C. Williams observed, if this omission were correct,
"there is no reference at all to the Ascension in the original text of the
Gospel."
Some other "inspired" modification of the Church to Codex Sinaiticus and our modern Bibles: