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 6:9 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 (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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