The Bible's Been Changed WAY More Than You Realize!

Since the Books of the Bible were first written, just how much has the Bible been changed? After the New Testament was compiled, how much was it edited, tweaked, and altered to fit the agendas of scribes, copyist, and early Church fathers. Were there other versions of the Bible? Did significant copying mistakes and translations errors find their way into our modern copies of the Bible?

If the Bible is the word of God and was divinely inspired, shouldn't it also have been divinely preserved? But has it been?

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Thank you so much for your ongoing support. Science is greater than Dogma. Dare to be curious, but don't Drink the Koolaid!

[for_fox_aches]

Been missing you lately. Glad to see you're still at it.

[gatorboymike]

"This dinner has passed through the hands of 100 chefs before it reached your table, and I can guarantee that the last 85 of them didn't poison it."

[timmygibsonkc]

As a former Evangelical Christian Pastor your videos have been helpful in my deconstruction from the ridiculous beliefs I once held! It’s nice to be free from mythical beliefs!

[hardyharhar]

Constantine did not make Christianity the official religion, he legalized Christianity. It was his grandson Theodosious the Great who made it the official religion.

[greententacle]

All of these Christian churches, especially the evangelical churches, that claim the Bible is inerrant and without error either have no idea what they're talking about, are purposefully misleading people, or both.

[ThaStonedGardner]

I grew up in catholic school starting in preschool. By 2nd grade I was questioning my faith. By 5th grade there were no more questions. It was quite clear that what I was being taught was not true. I argued tooth and nail during religious class all through middle school. My teachers hated me.

[onenote]

I would correct this to say: 'The bible has been changed way more than your average christian realises, but your average atheist is entirely aware'.

[teamsteed]

Thank you for posting the video. Your videos always me think.

[animefurry]

I'm reading Bart Ehrman's "Misquoting Jesus" for the first time, and it is amazingly engaging and profound, Highly recommend!

[VitoDRF]

"Often with no firsthand witnesses present..."

Or, EVER with firsthand witnesses

[nicked_fenyx]

This video is *so* important. As an ex-missionary (of the Pentecostal variety), learning the true history of the Bible was what initially caused me to begin questioning my faith. The biggest hit for me was learning about the addition/extension of the book of Mark (the earliest written gospel and one of the primary sources for the other gospels). Considering how different Christianity might be today if it had been based on the original text was mind blowing to me.

I mean, if you rely on the oldest available version of Mark, it essentially ends with three mourning women taking the word of a random young man that the reason Jesus' tomb was empty was because he rose from the dead. Rather than questioning this man further or considering a more likely reason for a dead body's disappearance (like someone stealing/moving the body.... perhaps even the man they encountered there?), the women left the tomb and *told no one* what they saw. The end.

If Jesus had actually been raised from the dead and seen alive by loads of people after being so publicly executed, that would be a rather odd thing for the author of Mark to leave out of a book whose entire purpose was to catalogue the major events of Jesus' life, right? But you never hear pastors share this info with their congregations, and very few Christians ever learn about or think this through, despite several versions of the Bible (including the NIV) including a footnote that literally explains that the earliest versions of Mark end after verse 8 of chapter 16 (after the phrase "Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.").

This - along with other aspects of the Bible's history that nearly all Christian scholars agree upon - changed everything for me. I had been taught that the Bible was the inerrant, unchanging word of God. I had been taught that you couldn't even have a stable sense of right vs wrong without an unchanging foundation like the Bible to base it on. I had been told repeatedly that the fact that the Bible existed for so long without changing was one of the major proofs of the truth / divine inspiration of what it contained. Realizing that the Bible had undergone hundreds of thousands of changes, some of which were *incredibly* significant, was the first and most important card which, when removed along with many others, caused the whole house to fall.

As noted in this video, changing one's entire worldview isn't easy. I underwent a years long process of ruthlessly chasing down every bit of evidence-based knowledge I could find - a process which continues to this day. I've realized that the whole premise of having an "unchanging foundation" upon which to base one's morals is incredibly dangerous specifically because it does not allow for adjustments based on new evidence, no matter how strong. I struggled the first few years with readjusting my view on life, but I'm much happier now. I no longer have to shut down my natural curiosity. I've given myself permission to look up answers to random questions, and learned *so many* cool things as a result. And I welcome evidence that may conflict with my current beliefs, because - rather than fear it - I view it as another opportunity to learn.

Life is better when you're open to new information. Hopefully this video can help start others down a similar path. It may be hard, but man is it worth it!

[tomellis]

The bible needs a red pen, and a big bottle of ink.

[jacklabloom]

The vast majority of people claiming to be Christian have not done this much research.

[timblosser]

Many of these comments remind me of my sales training days - heavy on prepared responses, and thin on actual substance.

It’s more evidence that being faced with data that conflicts with your closely held beliefs (whatever you’re selling) doesn’t change your mind - it just demands you add more magic, mystery, and a dash of passive aggressive ad hominem to prop it up.

[Joseph-ogjh]

When I was getting my degree at a Jesuit University I had to take three semesters of Theology. That is when I had a professor explain that the bible was written by those to reflect their period. Things were taken out or added to meet a certain narrative they wanted.

[richardmcmurry]

This is the info I’ve been looking for for years. We’ll done mr. Koolaid!

[rightpa]

Just bought Debunked. Can't wait to check it out.

[xavierbreath]

Best argument against the Bible is just to read it. Doesn’t matter which version from what era, it’s all bunk.

[sativaburns]

It's crazy how they found the US constitution on a dead sea scroll and then added it to the front of the Trumpible.

[KeithCooper-Albuquerque]

Excellent video! I hope you make more on this subject!