Thousands of alterations to today's bible
By Gordano
@Gordano (795)
United States
February 28, 2009 8:22pm CST
From BBC By Roger Bolton
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7651105.stm
For 1,500 years, the Codex Sinaiticus lay undisturbed in a Sinai monastery, until it was found - or stolen, as the monks say - in 1844 and split between Egypt, Russia, Germany and Britain.
Now these different parts are to be united online and, from next July, anyone, anywhere in the world with internet access will be able to view the complete text and read a translation.
For those who believe the Bible is the inerrant, unaltered word of God, there will be some very uncomfortable questions to answer. It shows there have been thousands of alterations to today's bible.
The Codex, probably the oldest Bible we have, also has books which are missing from the Authorized Version that most Christians are familiar with today - and it does not have crucial verses relating to the Resurrection.
Also missing is the story of the woman taken in adultery and about to be stoned - until Jesus rebuked the Pharisees (a Jewish sect), inviting anyone without sin to cast the first stone.
Nor are there words of forgiveness from the cross. Jesus does not say "Father forgive them for they know not what they do".
The Codex contains two extra books in the New Testament, One is the little-known Shepherd of Hermas, written in Rome in the 2nd Century - the other, the Epistle of Barnabas.
Many Christians have long accepted that, while the Bible is the authoritative word of God, it is not inerrant. Human hands always make mistakes.
Others may take it as more evidence that the Bible is the word of man, not God.
Christian scholars Themselves admit That There is So many things Changed in The Bible, the modern Findings support that, and The Claim That The Bible is not in Its Original and There are Thousands of alterations to today's bible is Not at all unique to Islam.
So, What do you Think ?
2 people like this
5 responses
@freethinkingagent (2501)
•
1 Mar 09
Of course it has been altered and i say So? It was altered back in 300 BCE, But doesn't mater I have read the originals that the bible was taken from, it isn't really that different.
2 people like this
@freethinkingagent (2501)
•
7 Mar 09
People make such a big deal, Oh the bible has been altered, Big deal. The texts and the meanings have not changed that much, a little studying and one can understand the original intent.
1 person likes this
@BrianDaniel (256)
• United States
2 Mar 09
There are so many issues raised in this article, it would take us a few hours of face to face debate to resolve them. The best I can say in this context is that there is nothing to fear here. There are many texts that are older than the compilation mentioned - it is significant because of its completeness in breadth, not depth. The younger a text is, the more chance of error, due to human mistake or negligence.
The older a text, the closer it is to the original one, given by God. So the task is to discover what was the original text. It is funny how people use archaeological finds to discredit the Bible, but most finds end up proving the Bible to be true.
1 person likes this
@Chiang_Mai_boy (3882)
• Thailand
1 Mar 09
This is nothing new. The same can be said of all of the sacred texts that are revered today.
In reality we do not have the original Bible or the original Qur'an so what we do have is texts altered by people to serve political ends.
1 person likes this
@HawaiiGopher (1009)
• Belgium
1 Mar 09
Quite honestly, it doesn't surprise me. It really doesn't shock me to hear that some scribes may have altered the stories to propagate their religious agenda. The only problem is, people actually believe the altered stories afterwards. 
@awapak (1275)
• Pakistan
2 Mar 09
Thanks for providing all these details about the alterations to today's bible.There is no doubt that the Bible is not in its original text and shape as the holy Quran is today...........Sir william Muir had once said about the holy Quran:
"THERE IS PROBABLY IN THE WORLD NO OTHER BOOK WHICH HAS REMAINED TWELVE CENTURIES WITH SO PURE TEXT."
You will always find one Quran,one text on papers,in hearts all over the world !!
