How does the Christian confront proof that the Bible is not the word of God but the word of man? [Spirituality & Religion]
How would it affect your view of the Bible as the inerrant word of god to know that one of its most beloved passages was added in later for effect?
The Pericope Adulterae. You've all heard of it even if you don't know it by that name: John 7:53—8:11, the story of the adulteress where Jesus outwits the Pharisees and challenges the man without sin to throw the first stone.
Well it's not actually part of the bible. It's a later addition and most of the early manuscripts don't have it. And this isn't even a point of significant dispute but is agreed upon by most biblical scholars.
Is it difficult to believe that the Bible is god's word when men can change it like this?
So if that is the case does that change the fact that Jesus did not do the miracles, died for humanities sins, rose from the grave, and answers my prayers?
@Pikachu Well for me if someone changed something in the Bible it does not change the fact that the Bible is inspired by God and Jesus saves. Because the Bible has proven itself beyond my imagination. But I am curious what do you think?
Changes nothing for me. I've always thought the bible was written by men, for men with no influence of anything divine or supernatural. The New Testament in particular is very clearly a progression of a legend where Jesus becomes more and more holy and powerful and mistakes are corrected for. Eg> In order to be the Messiah, Jesus needed to be from Bethlehem...but he wasn't, he was from Galilee and they have to invent a non-sensical story about Joseph returning to his ancestor's homeland for a census so that Jesus could be born where he was supposed to be for the prophecy.
So the fact that we get stories added to make Jesus look wiser, more educated, more holy and (importantly) better than the Jews is entirely in keeping with my understanding of the source and purposes of the bible.
