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.[1]

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.”[2]

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 Constantinople, 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?”

14. “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. 

15. 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. 

16. 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. 

17. 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. 

18. 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). 

19. 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.” (Quran 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 [common people] 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.”[3]

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 sects 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 its 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.”

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” that 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 cannot 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,

1.      It was found that the verses starting from John 7:53 to 8:11 (the story of the woman taken in adultery) are not to be found in the most ancient copies of the Bible available to Christianity today, specifically, codices Sinaiticus or Vaticanus.

2.      It was also found that John 21:25 was a later insertion, and that a verse from the gospel of Luke (24:12) that speaks of Peter discovering an empty tomb of Jesus is not to be found in the ancient manuscripts.

(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.”[1]

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!”  (Quran 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.'“ (Quran 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, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, 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:

·       Matthew 17:21 is missing in Codex Sinaiticus.

·       In our modern Bibles, Mark 1:1 reads “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;” however, in this most ancient of all Christian manuscripts, this verse only reads “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ” Strangely, the very words which are most grating to the Muslim's Qur'an, “the Son of God,” are completely missing. Isn't that interesting?

·       The words of Jesus in Luke 9:55-56 are missing.

·       The original text of Matthew 8:2 as found in Codex Sinaiticus tells us that a leper asked Jesus to heal him and Jesus “angrily put forth [his] hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean.” In our modern Bibles, the word “angrily” is strangely absent.

·       Luke 22:44 in Codex Sinaiticus and our modern Bibles claim that an angel appeared before Jesus, strengthening him. In Codex Vaticanus, this angel is strangely absent. If Jesus was the “Son of God” then obviously it would be highly inappropriate for him to need an angel to strengthen him. This verse, then, must have been a scribal mistake. Right?

·       The alleged words of Jesus on the cross “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34) were originally present in the Codex Sinaiticus but was later erased from the text by another editor. Bearing in mind how the Church regarded and treated the Jews in the Middle Ages, can we think of any reason why this verse might have stood in the way of official Church policy and their “inquisitions”?

·       John 5:4 is missing from Codex Sinaiticus.

·       In Mark chapter 9, the words “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” are again missing.

·       In Matt. 5:22, the words “without cause” are missing in both the codex Vaticanus and Sinaiticus.

·       Matt. 21:7 in our modern Bibles reads “And [the disciples] brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set [Jesus] thereon.” In the original manuscripts, this verse read “and they set [Jesus] upon them,” However, the picture of Jesus being placed upon two animals at the same time and being asked to ride them at once was objectionable to some, so this verse was changed to “and they set [Jesus] upon him” (which “him”?). Soon after, the English translation completely avoided this problem by translating it as “thereon.”

·       In Mark 6:11, our modern Bibles contain the words “Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.” However, these words are not to be found in either of these two most ancient of Christian Biblical manuscripts, having been introduced into the text centuries later.

·       The words of Matthew 6:13 “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.” Are not to be found in these two most ancient manuscripts as well as many others. The parallel passages in Luke are also defective.

·       Matthew 27:35 in our modern Bibles contains the words “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, they parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.” This passage, once again, is not found according to Rev. Merrill in any Biblical uncial manuscript dating before the ninth century.

·       1 Timothy 3:16 originally read “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: which was manifest in the flesh.” This was then later (as seen previously), ever so subtly changed to “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh….” Thus, the doctrine of the “incarnation” was born.