CHAPTER: 9
THE BIBLE
The Previous Scriptures:
The scriptures revealed to the earlier prophets were meant for specific period and nation which, with the passage of time got distorted, because the Rabbis and Doctors of Law entrusted with the responsibility of their protection failed to do so. These scriptures underwent distortion, addition, and omission: "- - Some of the Jews pervert words from their meanings. The authenticity, accuracy and originality of Torah, Psalm and Gospel as revealed scriptures is doubtful, which is also evident from the long history and complex process of compilation and canonization.
The Books of Bible:
Bible is the sacred scriptures of Judaism and Christianity, derived from Greek biblos("book") can be compared with byblos ("Papyrus": The writing material of ancient times and also the plant from which it was derived). In the fifth century, name ‘Bible’ began to be given to the entire collection of sacred books, the "Library of Divine Revelation." The name Bible was adopted by Wickliffe, and came gradually into use in the English language. Interestingly the word ‘Bible’ does not exist in the scripture. The order as well as the number of books differs between the Jewish Bible, the Protestant and Roman Catholic versions of the Bible.
The four bodies of written works of Biblical literature, consists of: (1) The Old Testament writings according to the Hebrew canon; inter-testamental works, including (2) The Old Testament Apocrypha; (3) The New Testament writings; and (4) The New Testament Apocrypha. Apocryphal (secret) is referred to books not publicly read in churches, generally these books were considered less authoritative, accepted only by individual Christian writers or by minority heretical groups.
The sixty-six different books of the Bible were composed by many different writers, in three different languages, under different circumstances; writers of almost every social rank, statesmen and peasants, kings, herdsmen, fishermen, priests, tax-gatherers, tentmakers; educated and uneducated, Jews and Gentiles; most of them unknown to each other, and writing at various periods during the space of about 1600 years. It is divided into the Old Testament, containing thirty-nine books, and the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books. There is a break of 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The sixty-six books of Bible which include 39 books of Old Testaments and 27 books of New Testaments were chosen, after a bit of haggling, by the Catholic Council of Carthage in 397 C.E; almost four hundred years after the time of Jesus. English Bibles list 39 books for the Old Testament because of the practice of bisecting Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, and of counting Ezra, Nehemiah, and the 12 Minor Prophets as separate books. The complete Bible, i.e. the Old Testament and the New Testament put together, contains 73 books. However, the Protestant Bible i.e. the King James Version contains only 66 books as they consider 7 books of the Old Testament to be apocrypha, i.e. of doubtful authority. Therefore the Old Testament of the Catholics contains 46 books and that of the Protestants, 39 books. However the New Testament of both these sects contains 27 books. Hence the Bible of Protestants consists of total 66 books and the Bible of Catholic has 73 books. The 66 common books of the Bible are as listed in Appendix-III.
The division of the Bible into chapters and verses is altogether of human invention, designed to facilitate reference to it. The ancient Jews divided the Old Testament into certain sections for use in the synagogue service, and then at a later period, in the ninth century C.E, into verses. The modern system of chapters for all the books of the Bible was introduced by Cardinal Hugo (died 1263 C.E) about the middle of the thirteenth century The system of verses for the New Testament was introduced by Stephens in 1551 C.E, and generally adopted, although neither Tyndale's nor Coverdale's English translation of the Bible has verses. The division is not always wisely made, yet it is very useful.
Role of Bible in History & Culture of West:
There are over forty different major versions of Bible, suitable to the doctrine of different followers, one claiming to be batter and more accurate than other. The main versions are: The King James (Authorized) Version, The English Revised Version, The American Standard Version, The Revised Standard Version, Jewish Versions, The New English Bible and The Catholic Versions.
Bible has been translated in almost all the languages of the world. According to Encyclopedia Britannica; there is no reliable evidence of any pre-Islamic Arabic translation of Bible. Only when large Jewish and Christian communities found themselves under Muslim rule after the Arab conquests of the 7th century did the need for an Arabic vernacular Scripture arise. The first and most important was that of Sa'adia ben Joseph (892-942 C.E), made directly from Hebrew and written in Hebrew script, which became the standard version for all Jews in Muslim countries. The version also exercised its influence upon Egyptian Christians and its rendering of the Pentateuch was adapted by Abu al-Hasan to the Samaritan Torah in the 11th-12th centuries. Another Samaritan Arabic version of the Pentateuch was made by Abu Sa'id (Abu al-Barakat) in the 13th century. Among other translations from the Hebrew, that of the 10th-century Karaite Yaphith ibn 'Ali is the most noteworthy.
The Old Testament is the Bible of the Hebrews and their Jewish descendants down to the present. In its general framework, the Old Testament is the account of God's dealing with the Jews as his chosen people, customs, and ceremonies. The term Old Testament was devised by a Christian, Melito of Sardis, around 170 C.E to distinguish this part of the Bible from the New Testament. The names given to the Old Testament in the writings of the New Testament are; "The Scriptures" (Mathew;21:42), "Scripture" (2Peter;1:20), "The Holy Scriptures" (Roman;s1:2), "the Law" (John;12:34), "The Law of Moses, The Prophets, and The Psalms" (Luke;24:44), "The Law And The Prophets" (Mathew; 5:17), "The Old Covenant" (2Corinthians;3:14). Jewish Bible includes only the books known to Christians as the Old Testament.
Thirty Nine Books:
The Old Testament consists of thirty-nine books, concerned with the Hebrew God, Yahweh, and purports to be a history of the early Israelites. The arrangements of the Jewish and Christian canons differ considerably. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox versions of the Old Testament are slightly larger. The Protestant and Roman Catholic versions of the Old Testament place the books in the same sequence, but the Protestant version includes only those books found in the Bible of Judaism. The content of the Old Testament varies according to religious tradition, the Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Protestant canons all differing from each other as to which books they include.
According to the Hebrew canon the Old Testament, has 24 books; the first six books narrate how the Israelites became a people and settled in the Promised Land. The following seven books continue their story in the Promised Land, describing the establishment and development of the monarchy and the messages of the prophets. The last 11 books contain poetry, theology, and some additional historical works. Throughout the Old Testament, the Jews' historical relation to God is conceived in reference to the ultimate redemption of all humanity. The Old Testament's profoundly monotheistic interpretation of human life and the universe as creations of God provides the basic structure of ideas in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
History of Writing & Compilation:
Except for a few passages in Aramaic, the Old Testament was written originally in Hebrew. The composition of the various books of The Old Testament began in about 1000 B.C. and continued for more than a thousand years. Much oral material was included. This was repeated from father to son, revised over and over again, and then put into written form by various editors in different languages, under different circumstances; writers of almost every social rank, statesmen and peasants, kings, herdsmen, fishermen, priests, tax-gatherers, tentmakers; educated and uneducated, Jews and Gentiles; most of them unknown to each other, and writing at various periods during the space of about 1600 years. There is a break of 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The writers and editors often worked in different locales and in different time periods and were usually unaware of each other. Their work was primarily intended for local use and it is unlikely that any author foresaw that his work would be included in a "Bible." No original manuscripts exist. There is probably not one book which survives in anything like its original form. There are hundreds of differences between the oldest manuscripts of any one book. These differences indicate that numerous additions and alterations were made to the originals by various copyists and editors. The Old Testament as adopted by Christianity numbers more works because: Firstly the Roman Catholic canon, derived initially from the Greek-language Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible, absorbed a number of books that Jews and Protestants later determined were not canonical; Secondly Christians divided some of the original Hebrew works into two or more parts, specifically, Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles (two parts each), Ezra-Nehemiah (two separate books), and the Minor Prophets (12 separate books).
Subdivisions of Hebrew Canon:
The recognized subdivisions of three main divisions of the Hebrew canon are: (1) The Torah; or Pentateuch, contains narratives combined with rules and instructions in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Pentateuch, together with the book of Joshua (hence the name Hexateuch) can be seen as the account of how Israel became a nation and of how it possessed the Promised Land. (2) The Nevi’im, or Prophets, continues the story of Israel in the Promised Land, describing the establishment and development of the monarchy and presenting the messages of the prophets to the people. Prophets is subdivided into the Former Prophets, with anecdotes about major Hebrew persons in the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, and stories of the Latter Prophets exhorting Israel to return to God in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets. (3) The Ketuvim, or Writings, include speculation on the place of evil and death in the scheme of things (Job and Ecclesiastes), the devotional and erotic aspects, theology and some additional historical books. The poetical works and drama to be found in Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles. In the Apocrypha of the Old Testament, various types of literature are represented; the purpose of the Apocrypha seems to have been to fill in some of the gaps left by the indisputably canonical books and to carry the history of Israel to the 2nd century B.C.
The meaning of "Torah" is often restricted to signify the first five books of the Old Testament, also called the ‘Law’ or the ‘Pentateuch’. These are the books traditionally ascribed to Prophet Moses, the recipient of the original revelation from God on Mount Sinai. Jewish, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant canons all agree on their order: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The written Torah, in the restricted sense of the Pentateuch, is preserved in all Jewish synagogues on handwritten parchment scrolls that reside inside the ark of the Law. They are removed and returned to their place with special reverence. Readings from the Torah (Pentateuch) form an important part of Jewish liturgical services. The term Torah is also used to designate the entire Hebrew Bible. Since for some Jews the laws and customs passed down through oral traditions are part and parcel of God's revelation to Moses and constitute the "Oral Torah," Torah is also understood to include both the Oral Law and the Written Law. Rabbinic commentaries on and interpretations of both Oral and Written Law have been viewed by some as extensions of sacred oral tradition, thus broadening still further the meaning of Torah to designate the entire body of Jewish laws.
Torah comprises of those commandments and instructions raveled to Moses starting with his appointment of apostleship till his death, spread over forty years. It include the Ten Commandments given by God on the stone tablets, while Moses got the remaining commandments written, twelve copies were prepared and handed over to each of the twelve tribes. One copy was given in the protective custody to the Levite, which is called Torah. This was intact in the form of Book till the first destruction of Jerusalem. The Levite’s copy of Torah along with stone tablets was kept in the box of covenant. It was so much ignored that during repairs of Temple the Hilki'ah, the chief priest found it and presented to king:” And Hilki'ah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD." And Hilki'ah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, "Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD." Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, "Hilki'ah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it before the king. And when the king heard the words of the book of the law, he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilki'ah the priest, and Ahi'kam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micai'ah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asai'ah the king's servant, saying, "Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”(2Kings;22:8-13).
It is due to this apathy that few copies of Torah lying in the Temple were lost for ever, during destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon (588 B.C). But the streets and walls of Jerusalem were again to be built, in troublous times (Daniel;9:16,19,25), after a captivity of seventy years. This restoration was begun B.C. 536, "in the first year of Cyrus" (Ezra;1:2-3,5-11). Ezra with the help of other notables arranged the entire history of Children of Israel which is now available in the form of first seventeen books of Old Testament.
In the broadest sense Torah (Taurat) is claimed to be the substance of divine revelation to Israel, the Jewish people: God's revealed teaching or guidance for mankind. The actual Torah revealed to Moses is scattered in the books, which can be identified to begin with the phrases, where ever the writer writes; “the God said to Moses” or” Moses said, the Lord your Lord says” and ends with other events i.e.” And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.”(Exodus;3:4); “And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.”(Exodus;4:21). Wherever the author gets in to his explanations and exegesis, it becomes difficult for normal reader to distinguish the Torah from the exegesis. However the experts of ‘revealed scriptures’ can distinguish the divine revelations with some accuracy. Qur’an considers these scattered phrases as Torah and verifies them. If these scattered phrases are compiled and compared with Qur’an, it may be found that apart from some differences in parts, there is no difference in their basic teachings. Hence it becomes evident that the original source of both the books is the same. God says: “We have sent thee inspiration as We sent it to Noah and the Messengers after him; We sent inspiration to Abraham Ishmael Isaac Jacob and the Tribes to Jesus Job Jonah Aaron and Solomon and to David We gave the Psalms.”(Qura’n;4:163).
Talmud:
Not part of Old Testament, Talmud (in Hebrew: Study, or Learning), is the scholarly interpretations and annotations on the Mishna, the first authoritative codification of Jewish Oral Laws, which was given its final form early in the 3rd century CE by Judah ha-Nasi and on other collections of oral laws, including the Tosefta. The Talmud is, first and foremost, a legal compilation, although it treats of matters from all areas of human interest. Its material is presented in a unique dialectical style in which a piece of Talmudic text is focused upon and all efforts to understand and interpret it are recorded. The religious beliefs of the Talmudic rabbis are clearly reflected in the decisions, ideas, and attitudes of the Talmud, which considers both ritual and social law to be of divine origin. Each of two groups of Jewish scholars (amoraim), one in Palestine and the other in Babylonia, independently produced a Talmud. Although the two groups addressed the same Mishna and consulted with one another, their work resulted in two separate collections of law, lore, and commentary. The amoraim of Palestine labored for about two centuries, completing their work 400 CE, approximately one century earlier than their counterparts in Babylonia.
The Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli) is consequently more extensive than the Palestinian Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi) and, for that reason, more highly esteemed. Neither of the Talmuds covers every section of the Mishna; some commentaries were never written, and, presumably, others have been lost. There is also a large body of interpretive literature on the Talmud. Because study in the ancient academies was conducted orally, it is not known when the Talmud was first written down. The Palestinian Talmud was first printed in Venice in 1523-24 and the Babylonian Talmud in Spain in 1482. The standard version, first printed in Vilna in 1886, carries on each page a portion of the Mishna and its related Talmud, commentaries, and references. The Talmud has continued to be of major importance to Orthodox Jews throughout the world. Since the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948, Conservative Jewry has increased its interest in Talmudic study, while some leaders of Reform Jewry have adopted Talmudic dialectic and the responsa form of interpretation. Modern Talmudic scholarship is centered in Israel and the United States.
Books:
New Testament is the second, later, and smaller of the two major divisions of the Christian Bible, and the portion that is canonical (authoritative) only to Christianity. The New Testament consists of twenty-seven books, the work of early Christians and reflects their beliefs about Jesus; it claims to be a history of what Jesus taught and did. Shorter in size but, through its associations with the spread of Christianity, it has wielded an influence far out of proportion to its modest size. Like the Old Testament, the New Testament is a collection of books, including a variety of early Christian literature (excluding the scriptures opposed to Trinity, like Gospel of disciple Barnabas). Christians see in the New Testament the fulfillment of the promise of the Old Testament. It relates and interprets the New Covenant, represented in the life and death (as believed by Christians) of Jesus, between God and the followers of the Christ. Like the Old Testament it contains a variety of kinds of writing.
Among its 27 books, are selected recollections of the life and acts and sayings attributed to Jesus in the four Gospels; a historical narrative of the first years of the Christian Church in Acts of the Apostles; Epistles or letters of advice, instruction, admonition, and exhortation to local groups of Christians, 14 attributed to Paul, one (Hebrews) probably in error, and seven by three other authors; and an apocalyptic description of the intervention of God in history, the Book of Revelation. The books are not arranged chronologically in the New Testament. The Epistles of Paul, for example, which address the immediate problems of local churches shortly after Christ, are considered to be the earliest texts. The books are instead arranged in a more logical narrative order, the Gospels telling the life of Jesus and his teachings; the Acts detailing the work of Christ's followers in propagating the Christian faith, it carries the story of Christianity from the Christian belief of Resurrection of Jesus to the end of the career of Paul.
Epistles:
The Letters or Epistles, relate with the teaching the meaning and implications of the faith; it carries the correspondence by various leaders of the early Christian church, chief among them Paul, applying the message of the church to the sundry needs and problems of early Christian congregations. The Book of Revelation (the Apocalypse) is prophesying future events and the culmination of the divine purpose; it is the only canonical representative of a large genre of apocalyptic literature that appeared in the early Christian movement. The setting of the New Testament within the Christian community is one factor that makes a biography of Jesus or a history of the 1st-century church difficult or impossible. A history of the New Testament is made difficult by the relatively short time span covered by its books when compared with the millennium and more of history described by the Old Testament. There is less historical information in the New Testament than in the Old, and many historical facts about the church in the 1st century therefore must be arrived at by inference from statements in one of the Gospels or Epistles.
New Testament - History of Compilation:
Oral Traditions Put into Writing:The oral traditions have been put into writing from Aramaic to Greek from 50-70 C.E. Jesus conveyed orally to the people what God had originally revealed to him. His disciples, too, propagated it among the people by the spoken words in such a manner that they presented an admixture of their Prophet's life-story and the verses revealed to Jesus. None of this material was put into writing during the lifetime of Jesus or even in the period immediately following him. It fell to the lot of the Christians whose vernacular was Greek to transform the oral traditions into writing. It must be borne in mind that Christ's native tongue was Syriac or Aramaic and his disciples, too, spoke the same language. Most Greek-speaking authors heard these traditions in the Aramaic vernacular and committed them to writing in Greek. None of these important writings are dated prior to the year 50-70 C.E.
Authority & Chain of Transmission not Cited:
There is not a single instance in these works where the author has cited an authority for an event or maxim attributed to Jesus in order that one could construct a chain of transmission. Furthermore, even their works have not survived. For the period of a century and more the only "Scriptures" used by the first Jewish followers of Jesus were the Greek Septuagint translations (commonly designated LXX) of the Hebrew Old Testament, "the Law and the Prophets", supplemented by various Jewish apocrypha and the Sibylline Oracles (150 BC to C.E 180); these were the only "authorities" appealed to by the early "Church Fathers" when preaching their new faith. The Gospel of Barnabas was popularly taught by the end of 5th century. Nowhere do they quote the books which we know today as the "New Testament." "With the exception of Papias, who speaks of a narrative by Mark, and a collection of sayings of Jesus, no Christian writer of the first half of the second century (i.e., up to 150 C.E.) quotes the Gospels or their reputed authors."
New Teachings Added in Teachings of Jesus:
The apostles and many other people writing "gospels" would travel to other lands and be followed by a number of people who would adopt this man's gospel as his "Bible" as named later. Now, even the unscrupulous began to write "gospels" and to claim they were from a given apostle or that they themselves were receiving divine inspiration. Many new and innovative teachings began to be introduced into the religion of Jesus .
Evolution of Divergent Beliefs:
Enmity, hatred and war began to break out between these groups. Each person claimed that they alone held the "true" Gospel of Jesus and no one else. Their beliefs now ran the gamut between various groups:
1). Those believed Jesus to be a mortal messenger of God and nothing more (Arianians).
2). People claiming partial divinity for Jesus.
3). People claiming Jesus to be a true god, but independent of God himself.
4). Who called for a concept which later became to be called “Trinity”.
5). Who claimed that Mary too was a god;
6). Who believed in two gods, one good and the other evil. This is when the war of the gospels began.
Sectarian Violence:
Each group cursed and damned other groups. Christian sects butchered one-another right and left. There were numerous great debates and councils, one can think of. However, none of these groups had sufficient might to totally dominate and silence the others for good. They needed an undefeatable ally, so they began to look to the Roman Empire for support.
Support of Roman Empire:
The Roman Empire was a pagan empire; however, it was the dominant "superpower" of the time. Anyone who could enlist it's aid would have an unconquerable ally at their side and would themselves be undefeatable. [Similarity with Jewish ascendancy over USA in present times is striking.] On the Roman side, Emperor Constantine (Emperor of Rome from 306 to 337 C.E) was greatly troubled by the swelling ranks of his Christian subjects and the great division among their ranks which did not bode well for the continued stability of his empire. Most of these fringe sects now began to fade into insignificance and the matter was now left between those who believed in the Unity of God and those who believed in a concept later called "Trinity." The Roman Empire’s support fluctuated between these two groups for a long time until the Trinitarian's finally gained the upper hand and all but wiped the Unitarians off the face of the earth. They selected and collected the "truly inspired" gospels (supporting admix of pagan, polytheist doctrines as against Unitarianism, preached by Jesus Christ and his genuine disciples like Barnabas and followers like Arian of Alexandria) into one volume which later became the "New Testament." They burned all other gospels. Many sweeping campaigns of "Inquisition" were launched. Everyone found possessing any of these "false" Gospels was put to death and his Gospel burned.
Atrocities and Bloodshed:
This state of affairs continued for many centuries and many people were convicted of heresy and burned to death at the stake for a great variety of reasons. Yet others had their land and property confiscated and were imprisoned. Physical torture was casually used in order to extract a confession of guilt which would then be used to justify a verdict of death by burning. Some of the methods used to extract a confession of guilt were the stretching of limbs on the rack, burning with live coals, and the strappado (a vertical rack). Denial of the charges without counterproof or refusal to confess resulted in the most severe punishments. Examples of these people include the philosopher Giordano Bruno, Galileo, Joan of Arc, and the religious order of knights called the Templars among countless hundreds of thousands of others. Even their bodies were exhumed after death and burnt.
Church Inquisition:
Ultimately, over twelve million people were put to death by the Church inquisition. The inquisitions reached their height around the middle of the fifteenth century in a massive and vicious persecution campaign the major targets of which were the Marranos (converts from Judaism) and Moriscos (converts from Islam), many of whom were suspected of secretly adhering to their original faiths. Whenever a scholar of Christianity would stumble upon the truth and begin to write about it his works would invariably be destroyed (e.g. Sir Isaac Newton, the 16th century Spaniard Michael Servetus, etc.). John Biddle (1615-62 C.E), an English theologian was involved in English translation of Bible from Greek. His knowledge of the Greek text of the New Testament convinced him that the doctrine of the Trinity was not of scriptural origin, he published his Unitarian convictions in Twelve Arguments Drawn out of Scripture (1647 C.E). He was repeatedly imprisoned and persecuted. Even the Popes themselves would sometimes recognize the falsehood of the "Trinity" and the fact that it was a later fabrication. One of these popes, Honorius I (Pope from 625 to 638 C.E), was officially cursed forty eight years after his death by the Synod which was held in Istanbul in 680 C.E.
Translation, Retranslations and Distortions:
The translations also had their toll on the originally of script. In the 4th century C.E, the Pope commissioned a review of the Latin translation. In the sixteenth century, this was discarded and a fresh translation from Greek into Latin was prepared. The four Bibles were more probably rendered into Syriac language from Greek in 200 C.E nevertheless, the oldest Syriac manuscript extant was written in the 4th century. A hand-written copy dating back to the 5th century C.E, contains in most parts a different version. Among the Arabic translations made from Syriac none is known to have been prepared before the 8th century C.E. It is a strange fact that about seventy different versions of the Bible were prepared, four of which were approved by the leaders of the Christian religion, while the rest were rejected by them. However, credibility of this material with authenticity to any extent as regards the character and message (Gospel) of Jesus is doubtful. Presently there are over forty different major versions of Bible, suitable to the doctrine of different followers, one claiming to be batter and more accurate than other. The main categories are: The King James (Authorized) Version, The English Revised Version, The American Standard Version, The Revised Standard Version, Jewish Versions, The New English Bible and The Catholic Versions.
Books of Bible– Doubtful Authenticity:
Conference of Nicea: In 325 C.E in the Conference of Nicea (Iznik-Turkey), four Gospels were selected out of a minimum of three hundred available and the rest, including the Gospel of Barnabas (most authentic), were ordered utterly destroyed. All Gospels written in Hebrew were also ordered to be destroyed.
Councils of Laodicea & Carthage: In 364 C.E, another council in Laodicea confirmed decisions of Nicea and added six books as believable. In 397 C.E another conference was held at Carthage, with 126 learned participants. They confirmed the decisions of the two previous Councils and also added six more Books.
Conferences at Trullo, Florence and Trent: Three more conferences were held after this in Trullo, Florence and Trent (1545-63 C.E). They confirmed the decision of the Council of Carthage and included nearly all the previously doubtful books in the list of acknowledged books. The status of these books remained unchanged until the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.
Protestants Repudiation: During 16th Century, the Protestants repudiated the decisions of the councils and declared that there are only 66 truly "inspired" books of God, and not 73 as claimed by the Catholics. If it is blasphemy to take even a title from the Bible, who is blaspheming? Those who added these seven books from the very beginning, or those who expunged them.
The Main Author of New Testament- St. Paul:
St. Paul all but totally obliterated the religion of Jesus based upon the authority of his alleged "visions". His teachings were based more upon his personal philosophy and beliefs than any attempt to cite words or actions of Jesus himself (e.g. Galatians;2). His followers slaughtered all Christians who would not forsake the teachings of the apostles for his teachings and he was later made the "majority author" of the Bible and countless authentic gospels were burned and labeled apocrypha by his followers. "St. Paul" is claimed to be the author of 14 books of New Testament. It can be seen that the current religion of "Christianity" is based more on the doctrines and writings of Paul than anything else. The Gospels which are popularly believed to have been written first were in actuality written long after the writings of Paul.
Real Authors of Gospels and Books Unknown:
The Christian scholars, with extensive research are uncovering extensive evidence that these Gospels were not even written by their claimed authors. Richard Francis Weymouth in his ‘Weymouth’s New Testament In Modern Speech’ writes at the beginning of Gospels of ‘Matthew’: “There are ample reasons for accepting the uniform tradition which from earliest times has ascribed this Gospel to Levi the son of Alphaeus, who seems to have changed his name to ‘Matthew’ on becoming a disciple of Jesus. Our information as to his subsequent life is very scanty. After the feast which he made for his old friends (Luke 5:29) his name only appears in the New Testament in the list of the twelve Apostles. Early Christian writers add little to our knowledge of him, but his life seems to have been quiet and somewhat ascetic. He is also generally represented as having died a natural death. Where his Gospel was written, or where he himself labored, we cannot say- - - - The date of the Gospel, as we know it, is somewhat uncertain, but the best critical estimates are included between 70 and 90, C.E. Perhaps, with Harnack, we may adopt 75, C.E.The book was evidently intended for Jewish converts, and exhibits Jesus as the God-appointed Messiah and King, the fulfiller of the Law and of the highest expectations of the Jewish nation.”
The more Christian scholars study the Bible, the more it becomes painfully apparent that what is popularly referred to today as "Christianity" should more appropriately be named "Paulanity." Even when a book is claimed to be truly "inspired" it is still found that the Church cannot say with 100% assuredness who wrote this "inspired" book.
The authors of the ‘Revised Standard Version’ of Bible by Collins say that the author of "Kings" is "Unknown," 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 so on so far.
Persecution of True Followers of Jesus Christ:
Ever since the period of Jesus, there have been people like Branbas (one of original disciples of Jesus and apostle) who tried to follow the message preached by Jesus i.e. To worship one God, adhere to the teachings of Moses and follow the Law (Torah). They considered him to be a human, a Messenger of God not God. These groups survived in good numbers up to 4th Century, after Jesus till the other group which followed the teachings of self declared apostle Paul (Trinitarians) got upper hand by influencing Emperor Constantine of Roman Empire in early 4th century C.E. The Council of Nicea in 325 C.E declared these groups illegal. They were crushed after worst persecution. Emperor Constantine changed his mind and was baptized by Arian bishop. Later after decades Trinitarians again regained ascendancy. However besides worst persecution of centuries those Christians, who rejected Trinity, have survived in different forms till to date. Besides many unknown groups the well-known are; Arianians, Socinian, Unitarian, Universal Christianity, and Jehovah's Witness- Millennialist Sect.
Scientific, Historical, Descriptive and Other Errors:
Apart form the authenticity of the script, Bible is full of scientific, historical, descriptive and other errors, Dr.Maurice Bucaille in his book has highlighted some of them under the headings of; ‘The Old Testament and Science-Findings’; ‘The creation of the world’; ‘The date of the world's creation and the date of man's appearance on earth’; the Flood, General Genealogies of Jesus, variations in the manuscripts in Old Testament and in relation to the Old Testament and Contradictions and improbabilities in the descriptions. Dr.Gary Miller and many renowned scholars have also highlighted these aspects in their books and lectures. The reliance on Bible as a source of religious guidance is seriously shattered when the internal and external evidence of the biblical literature is examined.
Feigned Parts in Biblical Literature
This leaves one wondering whether such a scripture is authentic enough to entrust one’s worldly life and eternal destiny to it. Since there are over 40 different main versions of the Bible, one finds contradictions in one Bible but, may not find the same contradictions in another version of the Bible, but many more, the Scholars continue to develop some consensus. The Christian and Jewish scholars changed the world of God in contravention to the commandment of God, in the same Bible: "Ye shall not add unto the word which I (God) command you, neither shall ye diminish [ought] from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." (Deuteronomy; 4:2). This is how the true Message of guidance of God for the humanity revealed through His Messengers (Abraham- Moses though Jesus) got corrupted. Hence it is well established that; the Biblical scriptures, both New and Old Testaments, are unreliable sources and cannot, therefore, be used as an authentic means of knowing the truth about the previous messengers and their messages (Judaism and Christianity). However, a close examination of these scriptures in the light of later scripture will reveal some of the truths about previous messengers and their messages, especially of Abraham, Moses and Jesus that have survived in the Bible in some form.
The Four Canonical Gospels:
The Gospel is any of four biblical narratives covering the life, the person, departure and the teachings of Jesus, as he was remembered by the Christian community. According to traditions their authorship (though disputed) is attributed, respectively to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (the four evangelists), they are placed at the beginning of the New Testament and make up about half the total text. The word ‘gospel’ is derived from the Anglo-Saxon term ‘god-spell’, meaning ‘good story’, a rendering of the Latin evangelium and the Greek euangelion , meaning ‘good news’ or "good telling". Since the late 18th century the first three gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke) have been called the Synoptic Gospels, because the texts, set side by side, show a similar treatment of the life and end of Jesus Christ.
The four New Testament Gospels compiled as a single narrative by Tatian about C.E 150 is called Diatessaron. It was the standard Gospel text in the Syrian Middle East until about C.E 400, when it was replaced by the four separated Gospels. Quotations from the Diatessaron appear in ancient Syriac literature, but no ancient Syriac manuscript now exists. A 3rd-century Greek papyrus fragment was discovered in 1933 at Doura-Europus, northwest of Baghdad, Iraq. Whether the original writing was done in Greek or Syriac is unknown. There are also manuscripts in Arabian and Persian and translations into European languages made during the middle Ages. The ‘Gospel of Jesus’, written by a Barnabas, a disciple of Jesus, was discovered from a cave in Oloderay, a village of Turkey as well as a copy was obtained by Fra Marino from the Vatican’s library of Pope Sixtus (1585-90). It has been repeatedly prohibited by the church, since 325 C.E because it is against the doctrine of Paulian Christianity in contradiction to the teachings of Jesus and the prophecies also mentioned in this Gospel regarding the advent of Prophet Muhammad.
In true perspective, the Gospel is the name given to those revealed discourses and sayings of Jesus during the last two and half or three years as prophet of God. There is no authentic information available about their recording and compilation before his accession. May be some people had noted them down or some devotees memorized them, however when after some time while his life and history was written, his sayings and discourses conveyed through written and verbal memoir were also written along with historic account of his life.
The Gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John are not actually Gospels but Gospel is the sayings and discourses of Jesus recorded in these books. The only method to distinguish them from other narratives, comments and exegesis is that wherever the author writes, “Jesus said…” or “Jesus taught..” may be considered as part of Gospel i.e. “Jesus said unto him, Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”(Matthew;22:37); “Think not that I (Jesus) have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. . . . Whoever thenrelaxes one of the least of these Commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven;” (Gospel-Mathew;5:17-20). If some one compiles these scattered parts and compares them. Whatever the apparent differences are noticed, they can be resolved through unbiased analysis and thought process.
Gospel According to Matthew:
Matthew is the first in order of the four canonical Gospels and is often called the "ecclesiastical" Gospel, both because it was much used for selections for periscopes for the church year and because it deals to a great extent with the life and conduct of the church and its members. Although there is a Matthew named among the various lists of Jesus' disciples, more telling is the fact that the name of Levi, the tax collector who in Mark became a follower of Jesus, in Matthew is changed to Matthew. It would appear from this that Matthew was claiming apostolic authority for his Gospel through this device but that the writer of Matthew is probably anonymous. Matthew gave the frame, the basic shape and colour, to the early church's picture of Jesus. Matthew used almost all of Mark, upon which it is to a large extent structured, some material peculiar only to Matthew, and independent sayings as they serve the needs of the church. This Gospel expands and enhances the stark description of Jesus from Mark. The fall of Jerusalem (70 C.E) had occurred, and this dates Matthew later than Mark, 70-80 C.E. The Gospel grew out of a "school" led by a man with considerable knowledge of Jewish ways of teaching and interpretation. This is suggested by the many ways in which Matthew is related to Judaism. It is in some ways the most "Jewish" Gospel. Striking are 11 "formula quotations" ("This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet . . .") claiming the fulfillment of Old Testament messianic prophecies.
The Outstanding Feature of Matthew is its division into five discourses, or sermons, following narrative sections with episodes and vignettes that precede and feed into them:
(1) Chapters 5-7: The Sermon on the Mount; a sharpened ethic for the Kingdom and a higher righteousness than that of the Pharisees.
(2) Chapter 10: A discourse on mission, witness, and martyrological potential for disciples with an eschatological context (including material from Mark 13).
(3) Chapter 13: Parables about the coming of the Kingdom.
(4) Chapter 18: On church discipline, harshness toward leaders who lead their flock astray and more gentleness toward sinning members.
(5) Chapters 23-25: Concerned with the end time (the Parousia) and watchful waiting for it, and firmness in faith in God and his Holy Spirit.
According to Matthew, the "professionally" pious were blind and unhearing, and these traits led to their replacement by those who are called in Matthew the "little ones"; in Final Judgment the King-Messiah will judge according to their response to him who is himself represented as one of "the least of these." The depiction of Jesus as Lord, King, Judge, Saviour, Messiah, Son of man, and Son of God (all messianic titles) is made in a highly pitched eschatological tone. The Lord's Prayer is presented in this context, and, for example, the "temptation" (trial, test) of "Lead us not into temptation" is no ordinary sin but the ordeal before the end time, the coming of the Kingdom for which the Matthean church prays. Martyrdom, though not to be pursued, can be endured through the help of the Spirit and the example of Jesus.
The Passion narrative is forceful and direct. Pilate's part in sentencing Jesus to be crucified is somewhat modified, and the guilt of the Jews increased in comparison with the Marcan account. In Matthew the Resurrection is properly witnessed by more than one male witness so that there can be no ambiguity as to the meaning of the empty tomb. Jesus directs his disciples to go to Galilee, and the Gospel According to Matthew ends with a glorious epiphany there and with Jesus' commission to the disciples, the church, to go to the Gentiles.
Gospel According to Mark:
The Gospel According to Mark is the second in canonical order of the Gospels and is both the earliest gospel that survived and the shortest. Though the author of Mark is probably unknown, authority is traditionally derived from a supposed connection with the Apostle Peter, who had transmitted the traditions before his martyr death under Nero's persecution (64-65 C.E). Mark is written in rather crude and plain Greek, with great realism. Mark has a unique structure, the organization and schematizing of Mark reveals its special thrust. It may be roughly divided into three parts:
1). The Galilean ministry; an account of mighty deeds (an aretalogy) [1:1-8:26].
2). Discussions with his disciples centered on suffering[8:27-10:52].
3). Controversies, passion, death, the empty tomb, and the expected Parousia in Galilee. [11:1-16:8].
The Passion narrative comprises 40 percent of Mark, and, from chapter 8, verse 27, onward, there is heavy reference forward to the Passion. The setting is a Gentile church. There is no special interest in problems with Jews and little precision in stating Jewish views, arguments, or terminology. Full validity is given the worship of the Gentiles. In further support of a Gentile setting and Roman provenance is the argument that Mark uses a high percentage of so-called Latinisms--i.e., Latin loanwords in Greek for military officers, money, and other such terms.
The Cross is both the high point of the Gospel and its lowest level of abject humiliation and suffering. A cry of dereliction and agony and the cosmic sign of the rending of the Temple veil bring from a Gentile centurion acknowledgment of Jesus as Son of God. The disciples reacted to the scandal of the Cross with discouragement, although already the scene is set for a meeting in Galilee. There are no visions of the risen Lord, however, in the best manuscripts (chapter verses 9-20 are commonly held to be later additions), and Mark thus remains an open-ended Gospel.
The Resurrection is neither described nor interpreted. Not exultation but rather involvement in the battle with Satan is the inheritance until the victorious coming in glory of the Lord; a continual process with the empty tomb pointing to hope of the final victory and glory, the Parousia in Galilee. The Gospel ends on the note of expectation. The mood from the last words of Jesus to the disciples remains: “What I say to you, I say to all”.
Gospel According to Luke:
Luke is the third in order of the canonical gospels, which, together with ‘Acts’, its continuation, is dedicated by ‘Luke’ to the same patron, "most excellent" Theophilus. Theophilus may have been a Roman called by a title of high degree because he is an official or out of respect; or he may have been an exemplification of the Gentile Christian addressees of the Lucan Gospel. The author has been identified with Luke, "the beloved physician," Paul's companion on his journeys, presumably a Gentile (Colossians;4:14 and 11; II Timothy;4:11, Philem:24). There is no Papias fragment concerning Luke, and only late-2nd-century traditions claim (somewhat ambiguously) that Paul was the guarantor of Luke's Gospel traditions. Of more import is the fact that in the writings of Luke specifically Pauline ideas are significantly missing; while Paul speaks of the death of Christ, Luke speaks rather of the suffering, and there are other differing and discrepant ideas on Law and eschatology. In short, the author of this gospel remains unknown. Luke can be dated round 80 C.E. There is no conjecture about its place of writing, except that it probably was outside of Palestine because the writer had no accurate idea of its geography.
Though on the whole Matthew is the Gospel most used for the lectionaries, the Christmas story comes from Luke. All the material about John the Baptist, however, is deliberately placed prior to that of Jesus. The account in ‘Luke-Acts’ is for the purpose of instruction and for establishing reliability by going back to the apostolic age. The very style of this preface follows the pattern of Greek historiography, and thus Luke is called the "historical" Gospel.
Historically reliable information cannot be expected, however, because Luke's sources were not historical; they rather were embedded in tradition and proclamation. The sources of the Gospel are arranged in the service of its theological thrust with definite periodization of the narrative. Luke divides history into three periods:
1). The end of the prophetic era of Israel as a preparation for revelation, with John the Baptist as the end of the old dispensation;
2). The revelation of Jesus' ministry as the centre of time; with Satan having departed after the temptation and, until he once again appears, entering into Judas to betray Jesus;
3). The beginning of the period of the church after Jesus' Passion and Resurrection.
Approximately one third of Gospel of Luke is from Gospel of Mark (about 60 percent of Mark). Of more import is the fact that in the writings of Luke specifically Pauline ideas are significantly missing; while Paul speaks of the death of Christ, Luke speaks rather of the suffering, and there are other differing and discrepant ideas on Law and eschatology. In short, the author of this gospel remains unknown. Luke "civilizes" the more stark eschatological emphasis of Mark (and Matthew), leading the way, perhaps, to a lessening of eschatological hopes in a time in which the imminent Parousia was not expected but pushed into the distant future. Luke's account of the Crucifixion heightens the guilt of the Jews, adding a trial and mockery by Herod Antipas. The Crucifixion in Luke is interpreted as an anticipatory event: that the Christ must suffer by means of death before entering into glory. Jesus' death, therefore, is not interpreted in terms of an expiatory redemptive act. The centurion who saw the event praised God and called Jesus a righteous man, thus describing his fate as that of a martyr, but with no special meaning for salvation. The link between past salvation history and the period of the church is through the Spirit; salvation history continues in Acts.
Gospel According to John:
Irenaeus, the leading Christian theologian of the 2nd century calls John as the beloved disciple who wrote the Gospel in Ephesus. Papias mentions John the son of Zebedee, the disciple, as well as another John, the presbyter, who might have been at Ephesus. From internal evidence, the Gospel was written by a beloved disciple whose name is unknown. Because both external and internal evidence are doubtful, a working hypothesis is that John and the Johannine letters were written and edited somewhere in the East (perhaps Ephesus) as the product of a "school," or Johannine circle, at the end of the 1st century. The addressees were Gentile Christians, but there is accurate knowledge and much reference to Palestine, which might be a reflection of early Gospel tradition. The Jews are equated with the opponents of Jesus, and the separation of church and synagogue is complete. Gospel of John is a significant source of Jesus' life and ministry, and it does not stand as a "foreign body" among the Gospels.
John is the last Gospel and, in many ways, different from the Synoptic Gospels. The question in the Synoptic Gospels concerns the extent to which the divine reality broke into history in Jesus' coming, and the answers are given in terms of the closeness of the new age. John, from the very beginning, presents Jesus in terms of glory: the Christ, the exalted ‘Lord’, mighty from the beginning and throughout his ministry, pointing to the Cross as his glorification and a revelation of the glory of the Father. The Resurrection, together with Jesus' promise to send the Paraclete (the Holy Spirit) as witness, spokesman, and helper for the church, is a continuation of the glorious revelation and manifestation (Greek epiphaneia). The Jews are equated with the opponents of Jesus, and the separation of church and synagogue is complete, John is a significant source of Jesus' life and ministry, and it does not stand as a "foreign body" among the Gospels. Various backgrounds for John have been suggested: Greek philosophy (especially the Stoic concept of the logos, or "word," as immanent reason); the works of Philo of Alexandria, in which there is an impersonal logos concept that can not be the object of faith and love; The Logos (Word) took on new meaning in Christ. The Creator of the world entered anew with creative power. But history and interpretation are always so inextricably bound together that one cannot be separated from the other.
John depended on a distinct source for his seven miracles (the sign [Semeia] source):
(1) Turning water to wine at the marriage at Cana (John;2:3-11).
(2) The healing of an official's son;
(3) The healing of a paralytic at the pool at Bethzatha.
(4) The feeding of the multitude;
(5) Jesus walking on water;
(6) The cure of one blind from birth; and
(7) The raising of Lazarus from the dead.
In chapter 20, verse 30, the purpose of the signs is stated: "Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name."
A major part of John is in the form of self-revelatory discourses by Jesus. In John, Christ is depicted as belonging to a higher world, and his kingship is not of this world. He is said to have come into this world to his own people, and they rejected him, but this is but another example of the church's mission having passed both historically and theologically to the Gentile milieu.
The Christology in John Heightened: Though the Synoptics have Jesus speaking about the Kingdom, in John, Jesus speaks about himself. This heightened Christology can be seen in many of the "I am" sayings of Jesus. These sayings are self-revelatory pronouncements: (1) bread of life, (2) light of the world, (3) door of the sheepfold, (4) good shepherd, (5) resurrection and life, (6) way, truth, and life, and (7) true vine. Such theophanic (visible manifestation of a deity) expressions are heightened (metaphorically) in other sayings: "I and the Father are one"; "Before Abraham was, I am"; "He who has seen me has seen the Father"; and Thomas' cry after the Resurrection "My Lord and my God !."
The contrast between Paul and John is even more striking if one accepts the most plausible theory that John as we have it includes passages (added later) by which the realized eschatology has been corrected so as to fit better into the more futuristic eschatology that was stressed in defense against the Gnostics. John;5:25-28 is such a striking correction. Each of the four Gospels presents a different facet of the picture, a different theology. Although in all the Gospels there is warning about persecution and the danger of discipleship, each has [been perverted] the retrospective comfort of having knowledge of the risen ‘Lord’ who will send the Spirit [comforter]. In John, however, there is a triumphant, glorious confidence: "In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
‘Gospel of Jesus’ According to Barnabas:
Some scholars consider Barnabas as the author of Epistle to Hebrews, Epistle of Barnabas; His Acts and His Gospel. All the Gospels except four were ordered to be destroyed in 325. The ‘Gospel of Jesus’ according to Barnabas has been again prohibited by the Pope in 496 C.E, because it is against the doctrine of Paulian Christianity in contradiction to the teachings of Jesus. The main reasons of immense opposition to the ‘Gospel of Barnabas’ and rejection by the Church are:
1. In this Gospel Jesus is more unambiguously presented as a human and prophet of God.(though other Gospels also mention the same).
2. Jesus was not crucified but ascended to heaven.
3. It is mentioned that Abraham offered Ishmael to sacrifice.
4. The clear prophesy of advent of Prophet Mohammad is also mentioned more obviously. [More details about this gospel have been explained in the next chapter]
Gospel According to Thomas:
The Gospel of Thomas surfaced in the archaeological discovery at the Nag Hammadi Library around 1945. Unlike the Gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke, John, and Barnabas, it does not narrate Jesus’ life but is solely a collection of one hundreds and fourteen of his sayings. Many echo the canonical Gospels, but some don not. Some sayings have mystical flavor.
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