2.3 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 Qur'an, Al-Maidah(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 Qur'an, Al-Maidah(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.
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 (pbuh) 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 (pbuh),
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 Qur'an, Al-Nissah(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
buted 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 6:9These 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 6:11The earth also was corrupt
before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
Genesis 6:12And God looked upon the earth,
and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way
upon the earth.
Genesis 6:13And 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 6:14Make thee an ark of gopher
wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it
within and without with pitch.
Genesis 6:15And 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 6:16A 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 6:17And, 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 6:18But 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 6:20Of 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 6:21And 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 7:6And 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 7:8Of clean beasts, and of beasts
that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that
creepeth upon the earth,
Genesis 7:9There 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 7:11In 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 7:13In 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 7:14They, 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 7:15And they went in unto Noah
into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of
life.
Genesis 7:16And 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 7:21And 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 7:24And the waters prevailed upon
the earth an hundred and fifty days.
Genesis 8:
Genesis 8:1And 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 8:2The 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 8:4And the ark rested in the
seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the
mountains of Ararat.
Genesis 8:5And 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 8:7And 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 8:14And in the second month, on
the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.
Genesis 8:15And God spake unto Noah,
saying,
Genesis 8:16Go forth of the ark, thou, and
thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.
Genesis 8:17Bring 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 8:18And Noah went forth, and his
sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:
Genesis 8:19Every 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 (pbuh). They
depicts Moses (pbuh) 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 (pbuh),
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!"
Indeed, we can even find Jesus (pbuh) 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 doctrines. 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
There is much more which could be said about
these matters, however, we 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 (pbuh) by
God Almighty with the claim that "the people of the Book" had
changed the book of God. Muhammad (pbuh) 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 Qur'an, Al-Nissa(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
(the Torah) then they would distort it knowingly after they had
understood it?"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Bakarah(2):75
"Then woe to those who write the book (of
God) 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 Qur'an Al-Bakarah(2):79
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