Bible Compilation, Transmission and Alteration

Bible: Compilation, Transmission & Corruption Dr. Sabeel Ahmed Islamic Circle of North America, Sabeel Ahmed

A ‘Book of God’ Could be:
Revealed by God at one time, but another revelation (book) was revealed after it.
Revealed by God, remained pure and no other books came after it.
Revealed by God, but changes made to it by humans.
Written by humans and label it as ‘word of God
Islamic Circle of North America, Sabeel Ahmed

What Is The Bible?
Bible = Collection of Writings or books
Sacred book of Christianity =
Old Testament + New Testament
Sacred book of Judaism = Old Testament
Islamic Circle of North America, Sabeel Ahmed Old Testament Books = 39 New Testament Books = 27 Bible

Islamic Circle of North America, Sabeel Ahmed Transmission of the Bible Jesus’ Ministry Bible Written Protestant Bible Books = 66 Catholic Bible Books = 73 Coptic Bible Books = 75 Syraic Bible Books = 61 Greek Orthodox Books = 78 Ethiopic Bible Books = 81 KJV Bible 1611 CE RSV Bible, 1952 Mark 16:9-12 Removed GNB 1966 RSV Bible 1971 CE Mark 16:9-20 Added Back ! NRSV Bible 1989 CE More alterations KJV = King James Version RSV = Revised Standard Version NRSV = New Revised Standard Version GNB = Good News Bible NIV = New International Version NJB = New Jerusalem Bible NLT = New Living Bible NAB 1970 NIV 1973 NJB 1986 NLT 1996 Other Popular Bible Versions

Bible Not Written in Jesus’ Lifetime
Matthew’s gospel in its present form was written in a Jewish milieu, probably after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D .
____________________________.
The new American bible , introduction: the Gospel of Matthew, 1970
Mark is first of the Gospels to be written, possibly when Christians were beginning to suffer persecution under Emperor Nero. It would therefore be date about A.D. 65 .
_____________________________
New Revised Standard Version , introduction to the Gospel of Mark, 1989.

Bible Not Written in Jesus’ Lifetime
The gospel (of Luke ) appears to have been written during the last third of the first century , although the precise date is unknown.
____________________________
The new oxford annotated bible with apocrypha , introduction of the gospel according to Luke, 1977.
The final editions of the gospel (of John) and arrangement in its present form probably dates between A.D. 90 and 100.
___________________________
The New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition , Introduction to the Gospel of John, 1970.

Unknown Authors of the Bible
Early tradition ascribed this Gospel to Matthew , but scholars nowadays almost all reject this view.
________________
J.B.Phillips, The New Testament in Modern Translation , 1960
Though the author of Mark is probably unknown, authority is traditionally derived from a supposed connection with the Apostle Peter.
___________________
Encyclopedia Britannica , Biblical Literature and Its Critical Interpretation

Unknown Authors of the Bible
It has been shown that it is impossible to regard Luke with any certainty as the writer even of the ‘we’ sections of Acts, not to speak of the whole book of Acts, or of the Third Gospel .
______________________________
Encyclopedia Biblica , ii, 1893, 2831
The origin of this (John’s) Gospel is veiled in obscurity.“
________________
Peakes Commentary on the Bible , C. K. Barrett, "John", Nelson 1967

Bible: Not written in the Language of Jesus
While the New Testament was written in the Greek language, the language which Jesus spoke was probably Aramaic .
_________________________
[Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary]
Before the Christian era, Aramaic had become the language of the Jews in Palestine. Jesus preached in Aramaic .
____________________________
Microsoft® Encarta® 98 Encyclopedia

These Unknown Authors Were Not Eye-witnesses to Jesus’ Preaching
The Apostolic authorship of the gospel remains impossible, and that not merely from the consideration that it cannot be the son of Zebedee who has introduced himself as writer in so remarkable a fashion, but also from the consideration that it cannot be an eye-witness of the facts of the life of Jesus
_________________________
Encyclopedia Biblica , ii, 2550, 2553
His (Matthew) dependence upon Mark indicates that he was not an eyewitness of the ministry of Jesus."
___________________________
Raymond Brown, The Birth of the Messiah , pg. 45

What Was Scripture to Early Christians?
"For early Jewish Christians the Bible consisted of the Old Testament and some Jewish apocryphal literature . Along with this written authority went traditions, chiefly oral, of sayings attributed to Jesus. On the other hand, authors who belonged to the 'Hellenistic Wing' of the Church refer more frequently to writings that later came to be included in the New Testament. At the same time, however, they very rarely regarded such documents as 'Scripture'.
_________________________________________________________________________
[Bruce Metzger, The Canon Of The New Testament: Its Origin, Significance & Development pp. 72-73.]

How Changes in the bible took place?
No one memorized it
No one wrote it down
Copying errors
Intentional modifications
Parts destroyed by wear and tear

Books Not in Today’s Bible Were Once Considered Inspired
The Shepherd of Hermas was used as Scripture by Irenaeus, Tertullian (before his conversion to Montanism), Clement of Alexandria, and Origen .
Epistle of Clement (Codex Sinaiticus – 4 th Century)
Epistle of Barnabas (Codex Alexandrinus – 5 th Century)
_____________________________________________________
Bruce Metzger, The Canon Of The New Testament: Its Origin, Significance & Development ,pg. 187,188

Who Chose How Many Books Were Inspired?
The Muratorian Canon
The Canon Of Origen (A.D. c. 185 - 254)
The Canon Of Eusebius Of Caesarea (A.D. 265 - 340)
A Canon Of Uncertain Date And Provenance Inserted in Codex Claromontanus
The Canon Of Cyril Of Jerusalem (c. A.D. 350)
The Cheltenham Canon (c. A.D. 360)
The Canon Approved By The Synod Of Laodicea (c. A.D. 363)
The Canon Of Athanasius (A.D. 367) *******
The Canon Approved By The 'Apostolic Canons' (c. A.D. 380)
The Canon Of Gregory Of Nazianzus (A.D. 329 - 89)
The Canon Of Amphilochius Of Iconium (d. 394)
The Canon Approved By The Third Synod Of Carthage (A.D. 397)
_________________________________________________________________
Bruce Metzger's The Canon Of The New Testament: Its Origin, Significance & Development , pg. 305-315

Who Chose How Many Books Were Inspired?
The year 367 A.D. marks, thus, the first time that the scope of the New Testament canon is declared to be exactly the twenty-seven books accepted today as canonical. But not every one in the Church was ready to follow the opinion of the bishop of Alexandria.
____________________________________
Bruce M Metzger, The Canon Of The New Testament: Its Origin, Significance & Development , 1997, Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 212

Each Sect Possess a Bible With Different Number of Books Protestants
‘ The Protestant canon took shape by rejecting a number of books and parts of books that had for centuries been part of the Old Testament in the Greek Septuagint and in the Latin Vulgate, and had gained wide acceptance within the Roman Catholic church.’ ________________________________
Bruce M Metzger & Michael D Coogan (Ed.), Oxford Companion To The Bible , 1993 , pg. 79

Each Sect Possess a Bible With Different Number of Books Roman Catholics
Roman Catholic Bible contains 73 books .
Sixty six books of the Protestant Bible Plus:
Tobit
Judith
Esther
1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
Wisdom of Solomon
Sirach

One Bible Or Many Bibles?
"People today generally believe that there is only ONE Bible, and ONE version of any given verse of the Bible. As we have begun to see, this is far from true. All Bibles in our possession today (Such as the KJV, the NRSV, the NASV, NIV,...etc.) are the result of extensive cutting and pasting from these various manuscripts with no single one being the definitive reference .
_____________________________________
Bart Ehram, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture , Bart Ehrman, pp. 27

How Is/was the Bible Compiled?
As much as there is a variation in the canons of the bible as well as in its 'inspiration', it is reflected in the bible manuscripts too.
5200+ new testament manuscripts in Greek.
Criteria is set up to compile the bible using these manuscripts. As much as there is a variation is the canons of the bible as well as in its 'inspiration', it is reflected in the manuscripts too

Facts on Bible Manuscripts
The NT is now known, whole or in part, in nearly five thousand Greek MSS alone. Every one of these handwritten copies differ from every other one.
It is safe to say that there is not one sentence in the NT in which the MS tradition is wholly uniform.
It has been estimated that these MSS and quotations differ among themselves between 150,000 and 250,000 times.
__________________________________
The Interpreter's Dictionary Of The Bible

Why Manuscript Variations Exists?
"Many thousands of the variants which are found in the MSS of the NT were put there deliberately . They are not merely the result of error or of careless handling of the text. Many were created for theological or dogmatic reasons.
_________________________________________________________________
George Arthur Buttrick (Ed.), The Interpreter's Dictionary Of The Bible , Volume 4, 1962 (1996 Print), Abingdon Press, Nashville, pp. 594-595

Variations = Theological Differences?
Yes.
Examples:
Islamic Circle of North America, Sabeel Ahmed King James Version Bible Ancient Manuscripts Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the father, the word and the holy ghost and these three are one. Verse not present

Bible Manuscripts
Oldest New Testament Manuscript
Name : Papyrus 52, P 52
Contents : Recto, John 18:31-33 . Verso, John 18:37 and 38.
Date : About 125 - 150 CE.
Size: 21 cm. x 20 cm.
Location : John Rylands Library, Manchester, United Kingdom

Bible Manuscripts
Name : Papyrus 66, P 66
Date : 2nd Century CE.
Size
About 14.2 cm. x 16.2 cm. Contents
John 1:1-6:11; 6:35-14:26, 29-30; 15:2-26; 16:2-4, 6-7; 16:10-20:20, 22-23; 20:25-21:9, 12, 17.
The manuscript does not include the pericope of the adulteress (7:53 - 8:11), making it the earliest witness not to include this spurious passage.
_________________________
P. W. Comfort & David P. Barrett, The Complete Text Of The Earliest New Testament Manuscripts , 1999,

Bible Manuscripts
Name : Codex Sinaiticus
Date : 4th Century CE.
Contents : It has both the Old and New Testaments. Contains: The Epistle of Barnabas and Shepherd of Hermas.
Matthew 16:2 f. is omitted , Mark ends at 16:8, Luke 22:43 f. was marked as spurious by the first corrector, but these signs were canceled by the third corrector. John 5:4 and the Pericope de adultera are omitted.
Location: British Museum, London

Some Criteria Used to Sort Through These Manuscripts
The reading that explains the origin of other variants is prefered
The shorter reading is prefereable
The more difficult reading is more likely to be the original one.
Readings that are not harmonized or assimilated to similar passages are preferred.
If all else fails, the textual critic resort to conjectural emendation
____________________________________
Philip W. Comfort Ph.D., Essential Guide To Bible Versions, 2000, pg. 41,42

Bible: Inspired Word of God or Best Judgment by fallible Humans
In the introduction of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible by Oxford press we read the following admission of NT corruption:
"Occasionally it is evident that the text has suffered in the transmission and that none of the versions provides a satisfactory restoration. Here we can only follow the best judgment of competent scholars as to the most probable reconstruction of the original text."

If All Else Fail Take A Majority Vote!
This [ Novum Testamentum Graece, The Greek New Testament ] text was agreed by a committee . When they disagreed on the best reading to print, they voted . Evidently, they agreed either by a majority or unanimously that their text was the best available.
___________________________________________
D C Parker, The Living Text Of The Gospels , 1997, Cambridge University Press, p. 3.

More Examples of Majority Decisions Islamic Circle of North America, Sabeel Ahmed Mark 3:32 John 8:16

Can We Ever Recover The Original Bible?
Bruce Metzger: Only a fraction of this great mass of material has been fully collated and carefully studied. Until this task is completed, the uncertainty regarding the text of the NT will remain .
‘ Some Scholars think it is impossible to recover the original text of the Greek New Testament because they have not been able to reconstruct the early history of textual transmission’
___________________________________________
Philip W. Comfort Ph.D., Essential Guide To Bible Versions, 2000, pg. 92,93

Versions Within Versions Within Versions!!
Example: Protestant Bible
Not all Protestant Bibles are Same!
King James Version(1611 CE) has
50 more Verses than Revised Standard Version (1952 CE).
Revised Standard Version (1971 CE) added 24 more verses to Revised Standard Version (1952 CE).

Conclusion Bible Compilation & Transmission
Bible not written in Jesus’ lifetime
Anonymous & unknown authors
These anonymous authors are not eye-witnesses
Not written in the language of Jesus
Early Christians didn’t had a bible and the number of its books.
Books not in today’s bible were once considered inspired.
Many councils and scholars presented differing canons
Each sect of Christianity has a different bible
Thousands of bible manuscripts with no two alike
Deliberate interpolations in bible by copyists.
Variations manifest in theological differences
Variation are inserted in the bible text through majority vote
Versions within versions within versions
More versions are made as new discoveries are unearth
Next to impossible to recover the ‘original’ bible
I rest my case!

For More Information on Islam and Muslims
Islamic Circle of North America
Dr. Sabeel Ahmed
[email_address]

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Bible Compilation, Transmission and Alteration

by Sabeel Ahmed on Nov 23, 2007

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