Did mankind tamper with the Old Testament?


"And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, That Moses commanded the Levites(Jews), which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee. For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death? Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them. For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt [yourselves], and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. (Deuteronomy 31:25-29)"

"How can you say we (the Jews) are wise and the law of the Lord is with us, when in fact the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie? (Jeremiah 8:8 (Revised Standard Version))"

"And because of their (the Jews) breaking their covenant, We have cursed them and made hard their hearts. They change words from their places and have abandoned a good part of the message that was sent to them. And you will not cease to discover deceit in them, except a few of them. But forgive them and overlook (their misdeed). Verily! Allah loves the kindly. (The Noble Quran, 5:13)"

"O Messenger!(Muhammad) Do not be grieved by those who vie with one another in the race to disbelief, of such as say with their mouths: "We believe" but their hearts believe not, and of the Jews: of them are those who listen eagerly to lies -listener to others who have not come to you. They change the words from their places; they say: If you are given this then take it, but if you are not given this then beware! He whom Allah dooms unto sin, you (by your efforts) will avail him naught against Allah. Those are they for whom the will of Allah is that He cleanse not their hearts; for them there is a disgrace in this world, and in the Hereafter a great torment. (The Noble Quran, 5:41)"

For countless ages, the only book of history available to Christians and Jews was the Old Testament. When someone wanted to know what happened in the past, they would go back and study the Old Testament to find the answer. New theories about history literally lived and died by their conformance to what the Old Testament taught. Then the discrepancies began to be noticed.

Once mankind began to study the Old Testament in detail, comparing the various passages which referred to the same topic in order to obtain as much detail as possible, they began to notice conflicting accounts of many matters as well as other problems. For instance, in the eleventh century, it was noticed that the list of Edomite kings in Genesis 36 names kings who lived long after Moses was dead Then people began to notice such statements as "to this day" something is true, which implies that the author was looking back at these matters through history and has seen that they have endured.

The different "Canons" of the Bible!

Different and conflicting variations of "gospels" and "books" that are disagreed upon by the Churches today.

After this, it was noticed that in the beginning verses of the OT manuscripts, Deuteronomy says: "These are the words that Moses spoke to the children of Israel across the Jordan...." They noticed that the words "across the Jordan" refers to people who are on the opposite side of the Jordan river to the author. But the alleged author, Moses himself, was never supposed to have been in Israel in his life.

It was also noticed that Moses speaks in detail in Deuteronomy 34:5-10 about how he died and where he was buried. Moses also calls himself the most humble man on earth in Numbers 12:3 (would the most humble man on earth call himself the most humble man on earth?). In Deuteronomy 34:10 we read "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses." This also implies that the author was looking back at Moses through history a long time after Moses's death. Now the flood gates were opened and countless other discrepancies began to show up.

In the beginning, it was claimed that Moses wrote the Pentateuch (Five "books of Moses") and anyone contesting this fact would be severely punished or worse. However, when these matters started to become well known, it became necessary to find explanations. For example, the first explanation presented for the verses referring to the death of Moses was that Moses had written his books, but that later prophets, as well as "inspired" scribes (who could also be considered prophets), had later on added on a couple of lines here and there. In this manner the text remained 100% the "inspiration" of God. This explanation, however, did not stand up to scrutiny because the style and literary characteristics of the verses are the same throughout. For instance, the verses which describe the death and burial of Moses exhibit the same literary characteristics as the verses before and after them.

After this, the trend became to explain any and all discrepancies through abstraction and elaborate interpretations, or through the introduction of additional narrative details that did not appear in the biblical text. Around this time, a startling new discovery was made. It was noticed that the stories in the five books of Moses were made up of doublets. A doublet is a case of one story being told twice. Even in the English translation of the Bible, the doublets are noticeable. These doublets have been masterfully intertwined so that they become one narrative.

For example, there are doublets of the creation of the world, the covenant between God and Abraham, the naming of Isaac, Abraham's claim that his wife Sarah was his sister, the story of Jacob's journey to Mesopotamia, Jacob's revelation at Beth-El,...etc. In many cases these doublets actually contradict one another. The apologists once again jumped up with an explanation in hand. They claimed that the doublets were complementary and not contradictory. It was claimed that they came to teach us a lesson by their "apparent" contradiction. However, this claim did not hold water for

long. The reason is that not long after, it was discovered that when the doublets were separated into two separate accounts, each account was almost always consistent about the name of the deity that it used. One would always refer to God as Yahweh/Jehovah. This document was called "J." The other always referred to Him as Elohiym(God). It was called "E." There were various other literary characteristics which were then found to be common to one group or the other. It became obvious that someone had taken two separate accounts of the ministry of Moses , cut them up, and then woven them together quite masterfully so that their actions would not be discovered until countless centuries later.

Once this startling discovery was made, the Old Testament was once again placed under the scrutiny of scholars and it was discovered that the Pentateuch was not made up of two major source documents but FOUR. It was discovered that some stories were not only doublets, but triplets. Additional literary characteristics were identified for these documents. The third source was called P (for Priestly), and the fourth D (for Deuteronomy). In the end it was concluded that the first four "books of Moses" were the result of the merging of three separate accounts which were called J, E, and P, and the book of Deuteronomy was found to be a separate account which was called D. The person (or persons) who collected and intertwined these sources was called "The Redactor."

"D (DEUTERONOMIST). The designation of one of the principle literary sources or strata of the PENTATEUCH. The Deuteronomist was the editor or compiler of this source, which is roughly coextensive with the book of Deuteronomy"

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Abingdon Press, Vol. 1, p. 756

"E (ELOHIST). One of the principle narrative sources or strata of the PENTATEUCH. The term is derived from a Hebrew word for 'God' ... the use of which is characteristic of this source"

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Abingdon Press, Vol. 2, p. 1

"J. One of the principle narrative sources or strata of the PENTATEUCH. The symbol is derived from the personal name of God, Jehovah ... the use of which is characteristic of this source. It is commonly regarded as Judahite in origin, and somewhat earlier than E (tenth-ninth centuries B.C.)"

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Abingdon Press, Vol. 2, p. 777

"P. The designation of the so-called Priestly source of the PENTATEUCH. To this source are assigned most of the liturgical, genealogical, legal, and technical materials, connected by a bare minimum of narrative. The Priestly narrative is usually dated after the captivity, in the sixth or fifth century B.C."

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Abingdon Press, Vol. 3, p. 617

"The critical analysis of the Hexateuch [the five 'books of Moses' plus the book of Joshua] is the result of more than a century of profound study of the documents by the greatest critics of the age. There has been a steady advance until the present position

of agreement has been reached, in which Jew and Christian, Roman Catholic and Protestant, Rationalistic and Evangelical scholars, Reformed and Lutheran, Presbyterian and Episcopal, Unitarian, Methodist, and Baptist all concur. The analysis of the Hexateuch into several distinct original documents is a purely literary question in which no article of faith is involved. Whoever in these times, in the discussion of the literary phenomena of the Hexateuch appeals to the ignorance or prejudice of the multitude as if they were any peril to faith in these processes of Higher Criticism, risks his reputation for scholarship by so doing. There are no Hebrew professors on the continent of Europe, so far as I know, who deny the literary analysis of the Pentateuch into the four great documents"

Who wrote the Bible, Washington Gladden, Boston: Houghton, pp. 57-58

What exactly does the author mean by the statement "Whoever in these times, in the discussion of the literary phenomena of the Hexateuch appeals to the ignorance or prejudice of the multitude as if they were any peril to faith in these processes of Higher Criticism, risks his reputation for scholarship by so doing" ? Well, he is referring to the practices of men who have a regrettable formula for selling their books which is based upon backing the reader into a corner and then giving them only one way to save their faith. For example, they would say words to the effect "Either the Bible is 100% the inspired, unchanged, and undisputed word of God or else it is the greatest hoax ever foisted upon mankind from the beginning of time." Such authors only allow their readers to accept one extreme or the other. In effect, they are telling their readers "either you accept every word and every syllable as undying inspired truth or else renounce Jesus and become a pagan."

However, the truth lies at neither extreme. Allah Almighty tells us in the Qur'an:

"O people of the book! Do not go to extremes in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but the truth. (The Noble Quran, 4:171)"

The fact that we recognize that mankind has tampered with the Bible does not mean that God, at one point in time, did not send down a revelation upon prophet Moses, or that He did not send down a revelation upon prophet Jesus (peace be upon them both). It only means that "thou shalt love the Lord thy God … with all thy mind, …" Mark 12:30. The fact that we wish to sift out the words of man from the book of God and only follow the words of God is not by any stretch of the imagination an abandonment of God or Jesus. Quite the contrary, anyone who is not willing to do their utmost in protecting the words of God from the tampering fingers of mankind has indeed forsaken the very first commandment of God.

"For almost two millennia the Pentateuch was attributed to Moses as author by both Jewish and Christian tradition. Although significant questions about his authorship were raised along the way, it was not until the eighteenth century that the question was seriously broached. Today, it is commonplace that he did not write the Pentateuch, but as we shall see the formation of these books is still shrouded in mystery."

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, p. 4

Grolier's encyclopedia, under the heading "Divisions of the Old Testament" states:

"The Pentateuch is based on four principal sources. The oldest, J, was perhaps written in Judah, the southern kingdom, about 950 BC. Between 900 and 750, another version from Israel, the northern kingdom, was woven in; this is called EPHRAIM (E). In the 7th century BC, Deuteronomy, or most of it (D), was compiled. About 550 BC, during the exile, the final edition of the Torah added a priestly source (P), some parts of which are very old."

Encarta's Encyclopedia says:

"Pentateuch (Greek penta, "five"; teuch, "book"), collectively, first five books of the Old Testament, that is, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The term was used by the Christian theologian Origen to denote what the Jews of his time called the "Five-Fifths of Torah (teaching)." Pentateuch is the translation of the Hebrew term for this concept. The Torah is the holiest and most beloved of the sacred writings of the Jews. "The Five Books of Moses," as a designation of the Pentateuch, was first used in the Western church by St. Jerome and the Christian theologian Tyrannius Rufinus. The Mosaic authorship of the work is not directly affirmed in the books themselves, but it became tacitly accepted by Christian orthodoxy. The Pentateuch includes various textual strata of writings, notably the Yahwist (J, which refers to God as Jahwe—modern Jehovah—or Yahweh) and the Elohist (E, which refers to God as Elohiym). The Hebrew priest and reformer Ezra, whose work is associated with another textual component of the Pentateuch known as the Priestly stratum (P), gave impetus to observance of the regulations of the Pentateuch."

Let us have a look at an example of these doublets from Genesis 6:5 to 8:22. The Jehovah(J) text is in regular type, the Priestly(P) is in bold:

Genesis 6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Genesis 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

Genesis 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Genesis 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Genesis 6:10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

Genesis 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

Genesis 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Genesis 6:14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

Genesis 6:15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

Genesis 6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

Genesis 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

Genesis 6:18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

Genesis 6:19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

Genesis 6:20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

Genesis 6:21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

Genesis 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Genesis 7:

Genesis 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

Genesis 7:2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

Genesis 7:3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

Genesis 7:4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

Genesis 7:5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.

Genesis 7:6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

Genesis 7:7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

Genesis 7:8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

Genesis 7:9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

Genesis 7:10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

Genesis 7:12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

Genesis 7:13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

Genesis 7:14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

Genesis 7:15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

Genesis 7:16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

Genesis 7:17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

Genesis 7:18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

Genesis 7:19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

Genesis 7:20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

Genesis 7:21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

Genesis 7:22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

Genesis 7:23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

Genesis 7:24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 8:

Genesis 8:1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;

Genesis 8:2 The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

Genesis 8:3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.

Genesis 8:4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

Genesis 8:5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

Genesis 8:6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

Genesis 8:7 And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

Genesis 8:8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

Genesis 8:9 But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

Genesis 8:10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

Genesis 8:11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

Genesis 8:12 And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

Genesis 8:13 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

Genesis 8:14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.

Genesis 8:15 And God spake unto Noah, saying,

Genesis 8:16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

Genesis 8:17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

Genesis 8:18 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:

Genesis 8:19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

Genesis 8:20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Genesis 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savor; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease

Richard Elliot Friedman is a professor in the University of California, San Diego. He earned his Doctorate in Hebrew Bible at Harvard University. He is one of many scholars who have attempted to critically study these "source" documents of the "five books of Moses" in order to arrive at the identity of the authors, the time period when each was written, the motives for writing each narrative, and other information. In his book "Who Wrote the Bible," Prof. Friedman presents strong evidence that each "source document" was written by a person or persons who, while on the face of it seem to narrate the same stories, in actuality had distinctly different goals they wished to achieve.

According to Mr. Friedman's research, each source emphasizes a certain branch of the Jews, their nobility, birth right, and closeness to God. Sometimes at the price of other branches of the Jews. For instance, J was written by descendants of Judah, E came from descendants of Israel, and P was written by a priest from the descendants of Aaron. According to Mr. Friedman, the P (Priestly) source seems to be particularly interested in priests, their lineage, their being the only ones who are allowed to sacrifice to God, the importance of sacrifice to God, and the surprising absence of all stories wherein anyone not of their lineage made a sacrifice that was accepted by God (for instance the sacrifice of the sons of Adam is missing from this narrative). It also contains stories of how all those who attempted to make sacrifices to God without the agency of an Aaronid priest were killed by God.

The author goes on to show how in J and E we can find similar emphasis on one tribe of the Jews over the other. For instance, on pages 64-65 he shows how both the J and E documents attempt to give the birthright of Jacob to their own forefathers. He also shows how in the E version, Joseph is saved by his brother Ruben (the firstborn of Israel), while in the J version it is Judah who saves him. The author presents countless other proofs of these claims.

The JE texts magnify prophet Moses. They depict Aaron as having fashioned the golden calf. They also describe Aaron and his sister Meriam as having criticized Moses and having been chastised by God himself for this. They regularly have God

saying "and Yahweh said unto Moses ..... " On the other hand, the P document (written

by Aaronid priests), usually states: "and Yahweh said unto Moses and unto

Aaron ...... " In this document, the staff Moses used to perform his miracles is called

"Aaron's staff." In the P document Aaron is also named as the firstborn brother of Moses. Also, as mentioned previously, in the P text no mention is made of any sacrifices to God whatsoever until the last chapter of Exodus wherein we find the story of Aaron's sacrifice when he was consecrated as high priest. After that, all sacrifices are performed by Aaron and his sons. In other words, the author of P gives no precedence for sacrifice for anyone other than an Aaronid priest. There are even a couple of places in this document which denigrate Moses . They depicts Moses as sinning and Aaron suffering for Moses' sin.

Well, what about the rest of the Old Testament? Are the remaining books of the Old Testament known to have been preserved from change since the time of their first writing and truly to be the words of the claimed authors? No! Once again, Groliers encyclopedia tells us:

" ..... Joshua tells of a thorough conquest of Canaan, but Judges contains traditions of

the Hebrew tribes in the period before the monarchy that reveal the conquest as partial. The books of Samuel are about the founding of the monarchy under Saul and David and contain a magnificent early source for the life of David, probably written about 961-22 BC. All the above books have been extensively edited by writers who shared the theology of the D source." (emphasis added).

Yale Professor Harold Bloom is the author of the book "Book Of J" His book goes to prove that the author of Pentateuch was not prophet Moses , rather, he believes that the Pentateuch, especially the oldest stories of Bible such as stories of Adam and Eve, Noah, Joseph and even Moses were the works of a woman, probably a descendant of

King David in 10th century BC. Harold Bloom says that the "second-rate plagiarists" later formed scriptures out of her scripts.

Prof. Richard Friedman has also suggested that a woman contributed the OT which was later formally shaped as part of The Holy Bible. Though other scholars believe it was the work of a group of scholars and Jewish traditions. US NEWS & WORLD REPORT, Dec 10, 1990.

The famous 19th century French scholar, Alfred Loisy says

"To explain the divinity of the sources, the Papal Commission of Biblical Studies declared, in a memorable decree, that Moses had secretaries. The secretaries of Moses! A brilliant discovery, to be sure!"

"..[in the OT] too many sources, both oral and written, have joined together. And much of the tradition was added later: different hands have been at work at different periods combining and editing the various collections and books or parts of books. In many instances a later pen has glossed or interpreted the original text with his own additions, or tried to bring it up to date for his own age. Nowadays less and less attention is paid to the question of authenticity, which previously played a large part in Old Testament research. A new conception has arisen concerned with finding out what was the perpose behind these additions and with understanding the composition as such. Why did the redactor arrange the parts as we now know them - sometimes so unreconciled and so contradictory that the transitions and breaks are imediately recognizable?…"

The Old Testament, Its origins and Composition, by Kurt Kuhl, translated by C. T. M. Herriott, p. 299

Indeed, we can even find Jesus himself bearing witness in the Bible against the Jews that they had changed the commands and doctrines of God and substituted them with their own traditions. He says:

"Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees (learned Jews), which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to [his] father or [his] mother, [It is] a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, [he shall be free]. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. [Ye] hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with [their] lips; but their heart is far from me But in vain they do worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men. (Matthew 15:1-9)"

He also says: "Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, [that] observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay [them] on men's

shoulders; but they [themselves] will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments. And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, [even] Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no [man] your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, [even] Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in [yourselves], neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, [ye] blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! [Ye] fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? ... [Ye] fools and blind ... Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. [Ye] blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. [Thou] blind Pharisee, cleanse first that [which is] within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead [men's] bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. [Ye] serpents, [ye] generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? (Matthew 23:1-33)"

" (And remember) when the angels said: O Mary! Allah gives you glad tidings of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, held in high honor in the world and the Hereafter, and of those brought near (unto Allah). He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous. She said: My Lord! How shall I have a son when no mortal has touched me? He said: So (it will be). Allah creates what He will. if He decrees a thing, He says unto it only: Be! and it is. And He will teach him the Scripture and wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel. And will make him a messenger unto the children of Israel, (saying): I come unto you with a sign from your Lord, that I fashion for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, and I breathe into it and it is a bird, by Allah's leave. I heal him who was born blind, and the leper, and I raise the dead, by Allah's leave. And I announce unto you what you eat and what you store in your houses. Surely! therein is a sign for you, if you are believers. And (I come) confirming that which was before me of the Torah, and to

make lawful some of that which was forbidden unto you. I come unto you with a sign from your Lord, so guard yourselves against Allah and obey me. Truely! Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is a straight path. But when Jesus became conscious of their disbelief, he cried: Who will be my allies in the cause of Allah? The disciples said: We will be Allah's allies. We believe in Allah, and bear you witness that we have surrendered (unto Him). Our Lord! We believe in that which You have revealed and we follow him whom You have sent. So write us down among those who witness (to the truth). And they (the disbelievers) plotted, and Allah plotted (against them): and Allah is the best of plotters. When Allah said: 'O Jesus! I will take you and raise you to Myself and purify you of those who disbelieved, and I will make those who follow your above those who disbelieved till the Day of Resurrection, then unto Me is your return and I will judge between you in that in which you used to dispute. As for those who disbelieved, I shall punish them with a severe torment in this world and in the Hereafter, and they will have no champion [to save them]. And as for those who believed and did righteous deeds, Allah will pay them their reward in full. And Allah does not love the unjust. This is what We recite upon you of the verses and the Wise Reminder(the Qur'an). Verily the example of Jesus with Allah is as the example of Adam. He created him from dust then He said to him: 'Be!' and he was. This is the truth from your Lord, so be not of those who doubt. Then whosoever disputes with you after the knowledge has come unto you then say: Come, let us call our sons and your sons, and our women and your women, and ourselves and yourselves, then we will pray solemnly [to Allah]and invoke the curse of Allah upon those who lie. Verily, this is the true narrative, and there is no god but Allah. And indeed Allah is the All-Mighty the All-Wise. Then if they turn away then surely, Allah is All-Aware of the corrupters. Say O people of the Scripture, come unto a word that is just between us and you, that we worship none but Allah, and that we associate no partners with Him. And that none of us take each-other as lords besides Allah. But if they turn away then say: Bear you witness that we have submitted (We are Muslims!). (The Noble Quran, 3:45-64)"

There is much more which could be said about these matters, however, I will leave it up to the interested student to consult Prof. Friedman's book and make up their own minds. Fourteen hundred years ago, back when it was a blasphemy of the highest order punishable by death and worse to dare allege that the books of the Bible were not 100% the inspired words of God, the Qur'an was sent down upon Muhammad by God Almighty with the claim that "the people of the Book" had changed the book of God. Muhammad further affirmed that he was sent with the true religion of God which was sent down upon Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them all). The Christians responded that Muslims were ignorant savages who had concocted their own religion by copying Christianity (just as the Jews before them had claimed that the Christians had plagiarized Judaism). I invite the reader to judge for themselves where the truth lies.

Is all of this restricted to the Old Testament? No! Christian scholars today call the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the "Synoptic" (One eyed) Gospels. This is because they all seem to have had access to a common source document they were working from when they wrote their Gospels. This source document is called 'Q'. Now they are beginning to recognize that the alleged authors are not the true authors (see sections 2.1, and 2.2). Similarly, countless verses of the Gospel of John, as well

as other historical discrepancies, also go to show that John did not write the Gospel of John.

"Of the Jews are those who change words from their places and say: 'We hear (your words O Muhammad) and disobey; hear you as one who hears not' and 'give us concession' with a twist of their tongues and as a mockery of religion(Islam). But if only they had said: 'We hear and we obey' and 'Do make us understand' it would have been better for them and more upright. But Allah has cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not, except a few. (The Noble Quran, 4:46)"

"Do you covet that they will believe in you when [in fact] a party of them used to hear the Word of Allah then they would distort it knowingly after they had understood it? (The Noble Quran, 2:75)"

"Then woe to those who write the book (of Allah) with their own hands and then say: 'This is from Allah', to traffic with it for a miserable price. Woe to them for what their hands do write and for the gain they make thereby (The Noble Quran, 2:79)"

For more on this topic you may obtain any of the books mentioned above.

For More Proof on the Corruption of the Torah

You wouldnt want to forget to check out Corruption of the Torah

When is a book an 'inspired' book?

"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 4:2)"

Adi ibn Hatim al-Tai'i was a Christian who embraced Islam during the time of Muhammad . One day, the verse of the Qur'an, Al-Tawba(9):30-31 was recited before him: "And the Jews said: Ezra is the son of Allah, and the Christians said: The Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their saying with their [own] mouths. They imitate the saying of those who disbelieved of old. Allah's curse be upon them. How deluded are they! They took their rabbis and their monks as lords besides Allah, and the Messiah son of Mary, but they were not commanded but to worship One God. There is no God but Him. Be He Glorified from all that they associate with Him! (The Noble Quran, 9:30-31)" When Adi heard this verse, he commented: "O messenger of Allah, we did not worship them." The prophet Muhammad replied: "Did they not make matters lawful and unlawful for you?" (He was referring to the power the monks and Rabbis gave themselves because of their claimed divine inspiration to change laws and regulations). Adi replied "Yes, they did!" Muhammad said: "That, then, is the worshipping of them in association with Allah."

If we were to ask a Christian layman: "Where did the Bible in your hands come from?," they would more than likely tell us "from God!"

If you were now to ask him: "How do you know it is from God? He will reply, "He inspired it to many people who then wrote it down and preserved it for us."

If we now ask: "Are all of these inspired people prophets?" He will answer: "No, they include both prophets and other faultless 'saints', etc.."

"So these prophets and 'saints' signed their names to these documents?" we would ask. They would respond "No. But the Church knows who wrote them, and when they were written, and has irrefutable proof regarding this matter."

If we were to now ask: "would it be possible for any unscrupulous person who had access to the Bible in the past to modify its books?" They would reply: "Of course not! The church has told us that even the much older Old Testament was preserved with such diligent guardianship that they even counted and recorded every single word and every single letter in it. Thus, the church has justly reassured us that these words never have, and never could be, changed by mankind, even by scribal error or by accident."

"Let us now ask a different question" we would continue. "Are the 'New and Old Testaments' in your hands today the same "New and Old Testaments" available to the apostles of Jesus till the present day?" They would answer "Of course! There has always been only one Bible!"

This is the general gist of any such conversation that is held between a Muslim and a Christian layman regarding their Bible, its composition and preservation. However, if we were to ask their scholars the same set of questions we would be amazed to find a tremendous chasm in the responses supplied by the Christian laypeople as compared to their own Christian scholars. If we were to go to a Western library and look up the history of the Bible as recorded by their own eminent Christian scholars throughout the ages, we would find that they tell us that the books of the "New Testament" in our possession today were not officially approved into the New Testament "canon" of "inspired" books until many centuries after the departure of Jesus. Tens of generations of Christians literally lived and died after the departure of Jesus never having known nor seen such a "New Testament" or "Bible" as the one in our possession today.

After the departure of Jesus , some apostles and many other people began to write "gospels." Each one of these authors would travel to other lands and be followed by a number of people who would adopt this man's gospel as his "Bible." Even the unscrupulous would write or modify "gospels" and to claim they were from a given apostle or that they themselves were receiving divine inspiration. Many new and innovative teachings began now to be introduced into the religion of Jesus . 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, from those who believed Jesus to be a mortal messenger of God and nothing more, to those who claimed partial divinity for Jesus , to those who claimed Jesus to be a true god, but independent of God himself, to those who called for a "Trinity," to those who claimed that Mary too was a god, to those who believed in two gods, one good and the other evil, and even those who believed in more that three hundred Gods. This is when the war of the gospels began.

Everyone now cursed and damned everyone else. Christian sects were at one-another's throats. There would be over the next few centuries more great debates and councils between them than you could shake a stick at. However, at the present time,

none of these groups had sufficient might to totally dominate and silence the others for good. They needed an undefeatable ally, a mighty champion for their cause, someone who could force the other 'lying' sects to recognize their errors and conform to 'correct' beliefs, so they began to look to the Roman empire for support.

"Christianity in the second and third centuries was in a remarkable state of flux. To be sure, at no point in its history has the religion constituted a monolith. But the diverse manifestations of its first three hundred years - whether in terms of social structures, religious practices, or ideologies - have never been replicated. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in the realm of theology. In the second and third centuries there were, of course, Christians who believed in only one God; others, however, claimed that there were two Gods; yet others subscribed to 30, or 365, or more. Some Christians accepted the Hebrew Scriptures as a revelation of the one true God, the sacred possession of all believers; others claimed that the scriptures had been inspired by an evil deity. Some Christians believed that God had created the world and was soon going to redeem it; others said that God neither had created the world nor had ever had any dealings with it. Some Christians believed that Christ was somehow both a man and God; others said that he was a man, but not God; others claimed that he was God but not a man; others insisted that he was a man who had been temporarily inhabited by God. Some Christians believed that Christ's death had brought about the salvation of the world; others claimed that his death had no bearing on salvation; yet others alleged that he had never even died. Few of these variant theologies went uncontested, and the controversies that ensued impacted the surviving literature on virtually every level. … The New Testament manuscripts were not produced impersonally by machines capable of flawless reproduction. They were copied by hand, by living, breathing human beings who were deeply rooted in the conditions and controversies of their day. Did the scribes' polemical contexts influence the way they transcribed their sacred Scriptures? The burden of the present study is that they did, that theological disputes, specifically disputes over Christology, prompted Christian scribes to alter the words of Scripture in order to make them more serviceable for the polemical task. Scribes modified their manuscripts to make them more patently 'orthodox' and less susceptible to 'abuse' by the opponents of orthodoxy"

The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, Bart Ehrman, pp. 3-4

The Roman empire was a pagan empire, however, it was the dominant "superpower" of the time. Anyone who could enlist its aid would have an unconquerable ally at their side and would themselves be undefeatable. On the Roman side, Emperor Constantine 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 "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. Over the next centuries they slowly selected and collected the "truly inspired" gospels into one volume which later became the "New Testament." They burned all other gospels. Many sweeping campaigns if "Inquisition"

were launched. Everyone found possessing any of these "false" Gospels was put to death and his Gospel burned.

"The classical understanding of the relationship of orthodoxy and heresy met a devastating challenge in 1934 with the publication of Walter Bauer's Rechtgl*ubigkeit und Ketzerei im *ltesten Christentum, possibly the most significant book on early Christianity written in modern times. Bauer argued that the early Christian church in fact did not comprise a single orthodoxy from which emerged a variety of competing heretical minorities. Instead, early Christianity embodied a number of divergent forms, no one of which represented the clear and powerful majority of believers against all others. In some regions, what was later to be termed 'heresy' was in fact the original and only form of Christianity. In other regions, views later deemed heretical coexisted with views that would come to be embraced by the church as a whole, with most believers not drawing hard and fast lines in demarcation between the competing views. To this extent, 'orthodoxy,' in the sense of a unified group advocating an apostolic doctrine accepted by the majority of Christians everywhere, did not exist in the second and third centuries. Nor was 'heresy' secondarily derived from an original teaching through an infusion of Jewish ideas or pagan philosophy. Beliefs that were, at later times, embraced as orthodoxy and condemned as heresy were in fact competing interpretations of Christianity, one of which eventually (but not initially) acquired domination because of singular historical and social forces. Only when one social group had exerted itself sufficiently over the rest of Christendom did a 'majority' opinion emerge; only then did the 'right belief' represent the view of the Christian church at large."

The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, Bart Ehrman, p. 7

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 such as life imprisonment or execution and total confiscation of property. The number of those who fell victim to these inquisitions are far to numerous to list here. 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. If the Trinitarians did not have the power to burn these people at the stake during their lifetime, then they would exhume their bodies after their death and burn them after their death (e.g. John Wycliffe). In the end, over twelve million people were put to death by the Church inquisitions (Apology for Muhammad and the Qur'an, John Davenport).

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. When things began to quiet down a little, the victor's historians and philosophers wrote their history

books explaining how they managed to overcome the wicked, to defeat the blasphemers, and to burn the devils, sorcerers, and witches at the stake. These are the books which have had the greatest influence on the Western history books we have in our hands today.

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.). In all cases, it was recognized that there was no need to disprove the author's evidence or refute it, rather, it was sufficient to muzzle the opposition, burn their books, extract a confession from them under duress, and expel them from society or kill them.

Even the Popes themselves would sometimes recognize the falsehood of the "Trinity" and the fact that it was a later fabrication of mankind. One of these popes, Honorius, summoned the courage to declare the truth and was subsequently officially cursed forty eight years after his death by the Synod which was held in Istanbul in 680 C.E.

Sometimes it is an individual's own silence which proves to be the most deafening proclamation. 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 AD 180); these were the only "authorities" appealed to by the early "Church Fathers" when preaching their new faith. Nowhere do they quote the books which we know today as the "New Testament."

Naturally, if the "history" of the Trinitarian Church regarding their chosen Gospels and what are claimed to be the inspired writings of Jesus' first Apostles were true, and these writings had indeed been accepted as authoritative at that time, then they would have been the most precious and potent documents of preaching for their doctrine. Undoubtedly, they would have spoken of nothing else, but would have quoted them and appealed to their authority at every turn as they have been doing through the centuries since. But, for some 150 years, little or nothing besides the Old Testament and these Oracles were known or quoted. As said by the great critic, Solomon Reinach,

"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."

Orpheus a General History of Religions, Solomon Reinach, p. 218

But let us back up a little and study how and when the "inspired" books of the Bible were incorporated into the Christian "canon" of the Bible. We have already given a brief introduction in section 1.2.5 onwards of how the current Gospels of the Bible were introduced as "authentic." Let us now have a very brief look at some of the details. The following was obtained from the book "Izhar ul Haqq" among other references:

In the city of Nicea (modern: Iznik, Turkey), in the year 325 AD, a great conference of Christian theologians and religious scholars was convened under the order of the Emperor Constantine to examine and define the status of these countless Christian Gospels. After a thorough investigation it was decided that the Epistle of Jude was genuine and believable. The rest of our current books of the Bible were declared doubtful. This was explicitly mentioned by Saint Jerome in the introduction to his book. St. Jerome, of course, was a Christian scholar and a great philosopher. He was born in 340 AD He translated the Bible into Latin. He was a famous bibliographer and wrote many books on the Bible. Before the year 325 C.E., it is known that the Gospel of Barnabas was accepted as canonical in the churches of Alexandria. It is known to have been circulated in the first two centuries after Christ from the writings of Irenaeus ("Jesus Prophet of Islam"). After this council, four Gospels were selected out of a minimum of three hundred available and the rest, including the Gospel of Barnabas, were ordered utterly destroyed. All Gospels written in Hebrew were also ordered destroyed.

In the year 364 AD, another council was held in Laodicea for the same purpose. This conference of Christian scholars and theologians not only confirmed the decision of the council of Nicea regarding the authenticity of the Epistle of Jude but also declared that the following six books must also be added to the list of genuine and believable books: The Book of Esther, The Epistle Of James, The Second Epistle of Peter, The Second and Third Epistles of John, The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews. This conference pronounced their decision to the public. The book of Revelations, however, remained out of the list of the acknowledged books in both the councils.

In 397 another great conference was held called the Council of Carthage. Augustine, the celebrated Christian scholar, was among the one hundred and twenty six learned participants. The members of this council confirmed the decisions of the two previous Councils and also added the following books to the list of the divine books: The Book of the Songs of Solomon, The Book of Tobit, The Book of Baruch, Ecclesiasticus, and The First and Second Books of Maccabees.

At the same time the members of this council decided that the book of Baruch was a part of the book of Jeremiah because Baruch was the deputy of Jeremiah. Therefore they did not include the name of this book separately in the list.

Three more conferences were held after this in Trullo, Florence and Trent (1545-63). The members of these meetings confirmed the decision of the Council of Carthage. The last two councils, however, wrote the name of the book of Baruch separately.

After these councils nearly all the books which had previously been doubtful among Christians were now included in the list of acknowledged books.

The status of these books remained unchanged until the Protestant Reformation in the 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. The following books were to be rejected: The Book of Baruch, The Book of Tobit, The Letter of Jude, The Songs of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, and The First and Second Books of Maccabees. They excluded these books from the list of acknowledged books.

The Protestants also rejected the decision of their forbears regarding some chapters of the book of Esther. This book consists of 16 chapters. They decided that the first nine chapters and three verses from chapter ten were to be rejected. They based their decision on the following six reasons:

1 These works were considered to be false even in the original Hebrew and Chaldaean languages which were no longer available.

2 The Jews did not acknowledge them as revealed books.

3 All the Christians have not acknowledged them as believable.

4 Jerome said that these books were not reliable and were insufficient to prove and support the doctrines of the faith.

5 Klaus has openly said that these books were recited but not in every place.

6 Eusebius specifically said in section 22 of his fourth book that these books have been tampered with, and changed. In particular the Second Book of Maccabees.

It now becomes apparent that books which had been lost in the original and which only existed in translation were erroneously acknowledged by thousands of theologians as divine revelation. This state of affairs leads a non-Christian reader to distrust the unanimous decisions of Christian scholars of both the Catholic and the Protestant persuasions. The followers of Catholic faith still believe in these books in blind pursuance of their forebears.

It is a prerequisite of believing in a certain book as divinely revealed that it is proved through infallible arguments that the book in question was revealed through a prophet and that it has been conveyed to us precisely in the same order without any change through an uninterrupted chain of narrators. It is not at all sufficient to attribute a book to a certain prophet on the basis of suppositions and conjectures. Unsupported assertions made by one or a few sects of people should not be, and cannot be, accepted in this connection.

We have already seen how Catholic and Protestant scholars differ on the question of the authenticity of some of these books. There are yet more books of the Bible which have been rejected by Christians. They include the Book of Revelation, the Book of Genesis, the Book of Ascension, the Book of Mysteries, the Book of Testament and the Book of Confession which are all ascribed to the Prophet Moses. Similarly a fourth Book of Ezra is claimed to be from the Prophet Ezra and a book concerning Isaiah's ascension and revelation are ascribed to him. In addition to the known book of Jeremiah, there is another book attributed to him. There are numerous sayings which are claimed to be from the Prophet Habakkuk. There are many songs which are said to be from the Prophet Solomon. There are more than 70 books, other than the present ones, of the new Testament, which are ascribed to Jesus, Mary, the apostles, and their disciples. In this day and age, some Christian scholars are even making the case for the authenticity of the Gospel of Thomas as the "fifth" Gospel (see "The Five Gospels," written over six years by 24 Christian scholars from some of the USA and Canada's most prestigious universities)

The Christians of this age have claimed that these books are false and forgeries. The Greek Church, Catholic church and the Protestant Church are unanimous on this point. Similarly the Greek Church claims that the third book of Ezra is a part of the Old Testament and believes it to have been written by the Prophet Ezra while the Protestant and Catholic Churches have declared it false and fabricated.

Groliers encyclopedia says under the heading "New Testament, canon":

"The process by which the canon of the New Testament was formed began in the 2d century, probably with a collection of ten letters of Paul. Toward the end of that century, Irenaeus argued for the unique authority of the portion of the Canon called the Gospels. Acceptance of the other books came gradually. The church in Egypt used more than the present 27 books, and the Syriac-speaking churches fewer. The question of an official canon became urgent during the 4th century. It was mainly through the influence of Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, and because Jerome included the 27 books in his Latin version of the Bible called the Vulgate, that the present canon came to be accepted.."

Notice, how the writings of Paul were the first to be accepted by the Trinitarian church. All other gospels were then either accepted or destroyed based upon their conformance to the teachings of Paul.

As mentioned previously, Lobegott Friedrich Konstantin Von Tischendorf was one of the most eminent conservative Biblical scholars of the nineteenth century. One of his greatest lifelong achievements was his discovery of one of the oldest known Biblical manuscripts know to mankind, the "Codex Sinaiticus," with the monks of Saint Catherine's Monastery in Mount Sinai. In this oldest known copy of the Bible known to humanity we find contained two gospels which would later be discarded by a more enlightened generation. They are "The Epistle of Barnabas" (not to be confused with the Gospel of Barnabas), and "The Shepherd of Hermas." Today, of course, neither of these two books is to be found in our modern Bibles. As also seen in section 1.2, many later "insertions" of the church were exposed through the study of this manuscript. However, following in the tradition of true conservative Christian scholars before him, Tischendorf managed to apply 12,000 "corrections" to this manuscript's 110,000 lines before he was through "transcribing" it (see "secrets of Mount Sinai", James Bentley, Doubleday, NY, 1986, p. 95)

"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. Remember, "St. Paul" is claimed to be the author of Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Phillippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews.

"All the evidence indicates that the words of Jesus were authoritative in the Church from the first, and this makes it the more remarkable that such scanty attention is paid to the words or works of Jesus in the earliest Christian writings, Paul's letters, the later

Epistles, Hebrews, Revelation, and even Acts have little to report about them... Papias (ca. AD 130), the first person to actually name a written gospel, illustrates the point. Even though he defends Mark's gospel (Euseb. Hist. III.xxxix.15-16), and had himself appended a collection of Jesus tradition to his 'Interpretation of the Oracles of the Lord' (Euseb. Hist. III.xxxix.2-3), his own clear preference was for the oral tradition concerning Jesus, and the glimpses that Eusebius provides of Papias' Jesus tradition give no hint of his dependence on Mark. Neither do the more frequent citations of Jesus in the APOSTOLIC FATHERS, largely 'synoptic' in character show much dependence on our written gospels"

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Supplementary Volume, p. 137

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible contains much more revealing information in this regard, far too much to reproduce here. The reader is strongly encouraged to locate a copy in their local library and read the details.

The popularly accepted dates for the authorship of the current books of the Bible are approximately as follows:

Approx. AD Event / Document

30 Crucifixion (Ascension) of Jesus

50 First Epistle of Paul

62 Last Epistle of Paul

65-70 Mark's Gospel

70 Epistle to Hebrews

80 Luke's Gospel

85-90 Matthew's Gospel

90 Acts

90-100 John's Gospel and First Epistle

95-100 Revelation

100 I & II Timothy and Titus

Uncertainty about James I & II, Peter, John and Jude does not allow historians to estimate their origin dates. (See "The Early Church And The New Testament," Irene Allen, 1953). We begin to see the degree to which our current religion of "Christianity" is based more on the teachings 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. Now Christian scholars are even beginning to uncover extensive evidence that these Gospels were not even written by their claimed

authors. 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."

As mentioned in section 2.1, even when a book is claimed to be truly "inspired" we still find that the Church cannot say with 100% assuredness who wrote this "inspired" book. As mentioned there, the authors of the RSV 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 on and on. Is this how a truly unbiased mind defines "inspired by God"? You be the judge.

"Verily, those who conceal that which Allah has sent down of the Book and purchase a small gain therewith, they eat into their bellies nothing but fire. Allah will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them, and theirs will be a painful torment. Those are they who purchase error at the price of guidance, and torment at the price of pardon. What boldness (they show) for the Fire! (The Noble Quran, 2:174-175)"

Conclusion:

Christians must follow the laws of the Old Testament that had not been modified or replaced by newer ones in the New Testament. Otherwise, if we were to follow the NT alone, then we would have no life laws or directions to follow. This means as I mentioned above, a son can marry his father's former wife, or a brother can marry his sister, or an uncle can marry his niece, etc... since the NT never talked about these issues.

It is quite clear and beyond question that the Bible contains many abrogations. There Christians' bogus claim about Islam being false because Allah Almighty substituted some of His Holy and Divine Laws in the Noble Quran with Others is soundly debunked in this article! All Praise due to Allah Almighty.

Also, it is important to know that the reason why the christian societies today are blasphemous ones (they worship porn, sex and money) is because they live in total darkness and confusion. As we've seen above from the small samples that I provided, it is very easy for a christian to get confused and lost and end up in sin while thinking it is ok. This is what you get out of satan's religions on earth!

Islam is the only solution and salvation! Even the Jesus of the bible prayed to GOD Almighty as we Muslims do by prostrating his face down to the ground before GOD Almighty. The difference between the Jesus of the bible and the Muslims, however, is that we Muslims Glorify and Honor GOD Almighty through prostrating to Him at least in 5-daily sets of Prayers everyday. The Jesus of the corrupt bible on the other hand was a hypocrite who only bowed down to GOD Almighty once during his most desperate times. Jesus' previous teachings of "prayers" to his followers obviously did not Glorify and Honor GOD Almighty to the fullest, nor did they mean much to

Jesus when he desperately needed GOD Almighty. They were the first to be compromised by him. Quite ludicrous indeed!

the Jesus of the corrupt bible is not the Jesus of Islam. Christ ianit y today is the real cause of the corruption and blasphemy that the christian world is living in today. Therefore, embrace Islam, the one and only true Monotheistic Religion today and the only Divine Religion that teaches real discipline in life, and you will be saved.

Paul's words in the verses above have been proven to be illogical and full of utter nonsense and personal self-contradicting opinions. I personally don't care what Paul says or believes, but when YOU tell me that his words are all GOD Almighty's Holy Revelations and Inspirations, then the matter becomes different.

Through simple examination of Paul's words, it is clear that they don't have any Divine Wisdom in them what so ever. They also proved to be self-contradicting and full of stupidity!

Once again, the lie and myth about Paul's words being Divine Revelations from GOD Almighty had been soundly debunked in this article! Embrace Islam and you will be saved. All Praise due to Allah Almighty.

The current Bible is not all the True Word of GOD Almighty. It is full of doubts and man made corruption as was proven above. How can we believe in a doubtful book as the Perfect Book of GOD Almighty? Allah Almighty said in the Noble Quran regarding those who try to corrupt His Holy Words: "Know they not Allah Knoweth what they conceal and what they reveal? And there are among them illiterates, who know not the Book [the Bible], but (see therein their own) desires, and they do nothing but conjecture. Then woe to those who write the Book [the Bible] with their own hands, and then say: 'This is from Allah,' To traffic with it for a miserable price! Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby. (The Noble Quran, 2:77-79)"

I really don't see any point in even trying to argue with anybody about any verse from the Bible at this point after reading this article, because most of the books of the bible are not valid enough to be even worth looking at. So to try to prove Trinity from a book that is for the most part a big hoax would indeed be a blasphemy.

To say the least in our case here: The Bible without a doubt is NOT a perfect book! In fact, it's even far beyond from being anywhere close to perfect! Therefore, it can't be the perfect book of the Perfect GOD Almighty.

So did you answer the questions that I asked in the beginning of this article?

1- Is all of the Bible GOD's Divine Revelations?

2- Did the Prophets of GOD really write the Bible of today?

3- Is the Bible perfect?

4- Did man indeed corrupt the Bible?

5- Is the Bible of today reliable?

if your answer is no to most of or all of the above questions except for #4, then allow me to say that your faith has serious problems!

Again, you be the Judge: After all of the evidence provided in the article, should I as a non-Christian take the Bible as the word of GOD Almighty?