CON CREATING “GOD’S WORD”
At the time of the formation of Christianity there were about thirty Gospels, and over 200 other books which were considered. The writings chosen by the Catholics at the Council of Nicea (May 325 AD) were, according to Christian scholars, allegedly written 40 to 70 years after the death of Jesus. Secular scholars say much later, around 200 years after the alleged death of Jesus. All eye witnesses would have been dead by the time of any writings.
The first writing of the story surrounding the life of Jesus was the Book of Mark. Mark does not claim to be an eyewitness of the events nor a disciple of Jesus, Mark was allegedly a disciple of Peter.
Matthew copied about 90% of the Book of Mark (600 verses out of 660). If he was an eye witness he would not have copied the whole Book of Mark.
Luke also copied the Book of Mark, about 50% of the Book. Luke does not claim to be eye witnesses nor to be a disciple of Jesus. Luke was allegedly a disciple of Paul.
The Christian “Word of God” is mostly copied…
and then what is written is by people who were not disciples of Jesus…
and then these writings the very earliest possible time period (according to the Christian scholars) were written 40 to 70 years after the death of Jesus.
ALTERED
Many scholars believe that the Gospels were originally independent works written in Greek by unknown authors. And they were repeatedly altered over time.
Christians altered the original text three or four times, or even more, with the intention of thus being able to destroy the arguments of their critics.
Celsus, last half of 2nd century
It is an obvious fact today that there is much diversity among the [Gospel] manuscripts, due either to the carelessness of the scribes, or the perverse audacity of some people in correcting the text, or again to the fact that there are those who add or delete as they please, setting themselves up as correctors.
Christian Theologian Origen, 3rd century
Not long after [Jesus] ascension into heaven several histories of his life and doctrines, full of pious frauds and fabulous wonders, were composed by persons whose intentions perhaps were not bad, but whose writings discovered the greatest superstition and ignorance. Nor was this all; productions appeared which were imposed upon the world by fraudulent men, as the writings of the holy apostles.
Ecclesiastical History, Von Mosheim 1810
It is certain that the New Testament was not written by [Jesus] himself, nor by his apostles, but a long while after them, by some unknown persons, who lest they should not be credited when they wrote of affairs they were little acquainted with, affixed to their works the name of the apostles, or of such as were supposed to have been their companions, asserting that what they had written themselves was written according to these persons to whom they ascribed it.
The Digenesis, Robert Taylor 1873
Although he was dealing with fewer manuscripts [New Testament] than we have today, Philip Shaff in Comparison to the Greek Testament and the English Version concluded that only 400 or the 150,000 variant readings [New Testament] caused doubt about the textual meaning, and only 50 of these were of great significance.
Josh McDowel, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, 1979
What? 50 variants with major doubts as to the material meanings of the verses?
How about the 400 manuscripts that caused doubt as to their meanings?
And didn’t he say 150,000 Variant readings of the New Testament?
And this is offered as evidence to the authenticity of these manuscripts being the “word of God?”
MAKE 50 COPIES
Constantine controlled the copying and distribution of the New Testament Bible. He commissioned the writing of fifty Bibles (331 C.E. overseen by Eusebius of Caesarea). They all were the Catholic’s chosen “New Testament” books. There were no Old Testament books copied and included. This was a large undertaking in those days. These copies were master copies from which all other New Testament Bibles were to be copied from.
As late as 450 CE, Theodore of Cyrrhus said that there were at least 200 different gospels circulating in his own diocese. Even the Catholic Encylopedia now admits that the “idea of a complete and clear-cut canon of the New Testament existing from the beginning … has no foundation in history.” The Roman philosopher Celsus, witness to the falsification of Christian writings already in the second century, said the same of the revisionists,
Some of them, as it were in a drunken state producing self-induced visions, remodel their Gospel from its first written form, and reform it so that they may be able to refute the objections brought against it. …. Celsus
The Catholic Encylcopedia concedes that;
“In all the departments forgery and interpolation as well as ignorance had wrought mischief on a grand scale.””
MULTIPLE COPYING RE MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE
Matthew copied about 90% of the Book of Mark (600 verses out of 660).
Luke copied about 50% of the Book of Mark.