The Truth! (let the bible speak and the truth be known!)

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Contradictions on Jesus’ (Alleged) Trials, Death and Resurrection

The Christians are fond of celebrating the death of their man-god (whom they claim to be Jesus, peace be upon him) every year, although it does boggle the mind as to why would someone accept the fact that their god can actually “die”. However as Muslims, we believe that the claim concerning Jesus (P) is false and full of conjectures. A mighty Prophet of God (as we believe Jesus certainly is) would never had to bear the agony of being crucified at the hands of his enemies.

As it stands, we would also like to note that to substantiate our claims, there are various contradictions regarding the accounts on Jesus’ trials, death and resurrection which appear throughout the New Testament. The following list of Bible contradictions concerning the trials, the crucifixion and the resurrection are listed below along with the relevant Bible references.

THE TRIALS 

1. Where was Jesus taken immediately after his arrest? 

a.] Matthew, Mark and Luke say that Jesus was taken directly to the high priest (Matthew 26:57, Mark 14:53 and Luke 22:54).

b.] John says that Jesus was taken first to Annas, the father-in-law of the high priest (John 18:13) who, after an indeterminate period of time, sent Jesus to the high priest (John 18:24).

2. When did the priests and scribes gather together to question Jesus?

a.] Matthew 26:57 says that on the night Jesus was arrested the priests and scribes were gathered together prior to Jesus being brought to the high priest.

b.] Mark 14:53 says the priests and scribes gathered together on the night of Jesus’ arrest after Jesus was brought to the high priest.

c.] Luke 22:66 says the priests and scribes assembled the day after Jesus was arrested.

d.] John mentions only the high priest — no other priests or scribes play a role in questioning Jesus.

3. Was Jesus questioned by Herod?

a.] Luke says that Pilate sent Jesus to Herod who questioned Jesus at length and then returned Jesus to Pilate (Luke 23:7-11).

b. Matthew, Mark and John make no mention of Herod. This, in itself, means nothing, but it brings about another contradiction later.

4. Who was responsible for Jesus’ death, Pilate or the Jews?

The Biblical account of Pilate’s offer to release Jesus but the Jews demanding the release of Barabbas contains both contradictions and historical inaccuracies.

a. What had Barabbas done?

1. Mark 15:7 and Luke 23:19 say that Barabbas was guilty of insurrection and murder.

2. John 18:40 says that Barabbas was a robber.

b. Pilate’s “custom” of releasing a prisoner at Passover.This is a historical inaccuracy -– the only authority given by Rome to a Roman governor in situations like this was postponement of execution until after the religious festival. Release was out of the question. It is included in the gospels for the sole purpose of further removing blame for Jesus’ death from Pilate and placing it on the Jews.

c. Pilate gives in to the mob.The gospels have Pilate giving in to an unruly mob. This is ridiculous in light of Pilate’s previous and subsequent history. Josephus tells us that Pilate’s method of crowd control was to send his soldiers into the mob and beat them (often killing them) into submission. Pilate was eventually recalled to Rome because of his brutality.

5. Who put the robe on Jesus?

a. Matthew 27:28, Mark 15:17 and John 19:2 say that after Pilate had Jesus scourged and turned over to his soldiers to be crucified, the soldiers placed a scarlet or purple robe on Jesus as well as a crown of thorns.

b. Luke 23:11, in contradiction to Matthew, Mark and John, says that the robe was placed on Jesus much earlier by Herod and his soldiers. Luke mentions no crown of thorns.

B. THE CRUCIFIXION

1. Crucified between two robbers

Matthew 27:38 and Mark 15:27 say that Jesus was crucified between two robbers (Luke just calls them criminals; John simply calls them men). It is a historical fact that the Romans did not crucify robbers. Crucifixion was reserved for insurrectionists and rebellious slaves.

2. Peter and Mary near the cross

When the gospel writers mention Jesus talking to his mother and to Peter from the cross, they run a foul of another historical fact–the Roman soldiers closely guarded the places of execution, and nobody was allowed near  (least of all friends and family who might attempt to help the condemned person).

3. The opened tombs

According to Matthew 27:51-53, at the moment Jesus died there was an earthquake that opened tombs and many people were raised from the dead. For some reason they stayed in their tombs until after Jesus was resurrected, at which time they went into Jerusalem and were seen by many people.

Here Matthew gets too dramatic for his own good. If many people came back to life and were seen by many people, it must have created quite a stir (even if the corpses were in pretty good shape!). Yet Matthew seems to be the only person aware of this happening – historians of that time certainly know nothing of it – neither do the other gospel writers.

Searching for contradictions death resurrection?

C. THE RESURRECTION

1. Who found the empty tomb?

a. According to Matthew 28:1, only “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.”

b. According to Mark 16:1, “Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome.”

c. According to Luke 23:55, 24:1 and 24:10, “the women who had come with him out of Galilee.” Among these women were “Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James.” Luke indicates in verse 24:10 that there were at least two others.d. According to John 20:1-4, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb alone, saw the stone removed, ran to find Peter, and returned to the tomb with Peter and another disciple.

2. Who did they find at the tomb?

a. According to Matthew 28:2-4, an angel of the Lord with an appearance like lightning was sitting on the stone that had been rolled away. Also present were the guards that Pilate had contributed. On the way back from the tomb the women meet Jesus (Matthew 28:9).

b. According to Mark 16:5, a young man in a white robe was sitting inside the tomb.

c. According to Luke 24:4, two men in dazzling apparel. It is not clear if the men were inside the tomb or outside of it.

d. According to John 20:4-14, Mary and Peter and the other disciple initially find just an empty tomb. Peter and the other disciple enter the tomb and find only the wrappings. Then Peter and the other disciple leave and Mary looks in the tomb to find two angels in white. After a short conversation with the angels, Mary turns around to find Jesus.

3. Who did the women tell about the empty tomb?

a. According to Mark 16:8, “they said nothing to anyone.”

b. According to Matthew 28:8, they “ran to report it to His disciples.”

c. According to Luke 24:9, “they reported these things to the eleven and to all the rest.”

d. According to John 20:18, Mary Magdalene announces to the disciples that she has seen the Lord.

The Sign Of Prophet Jonah

What Was The Sign Of Jonah

 By Ahmed Deedat

 “CHRIST” NOT A NAME”

Over a thousand million Christians today blindly accept that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. They produce “a thousand and one” prophecies from the Jewish Bible (the Old Testament) to prove their claim that Jesus was the Messiah promised to the Jewish. Let us hold the “thousand” prophecies in abeyance for  a moment and examine the only unequivocal claim made by Jesus in the Gospel and examine whether he fulfilled his promise to the Jews.

We must admit that the word Christ is not a name. It is a title. It is a translation of the Hebrew word Messiah, meaning “anointed.” The Greek word for “anointed” is Christos from which we get the word Christ. Priests and Kings were “anointed” when being consecrated to their office. The Holy Bible confers this title even on a heathen king  Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1)

We are reminded in the Gospel of St. Luke that “WHEN EIGHT DAYS WERE ACCOMPLISHED FOR THE CIRCUMCISING OF THE CHILD, HIS NAME WAS CALLED JESUS, WHICH WAS SO NAME OF THE ANGEL BEFORE HE WAS CONCEIVED IN THE WOMB.” (Luke 2:21). The name that was given to Mary for her yet unborn son was Jesusand Not Christ. It was only after his Baptism that he, Jesus, claimed to be the Christ. The Jews were not the ones to accept his claim on its face value. They wanted proof!

 “MIRACLE AS PROOF”

Matthew records that the learned men among the Jews – The Scribes and the Pharisees – came to Jesus and ask, “MASTER, WE WOULD SEE A SIGN FROM THEE.” (Matthew12:38). What they really wanted was some “magic trick,” some “sleight of hand” like producing a rabbit out of the hat or walking on the water or flying in the air or trodding on a burning coal. This is the type of “sign” or Miracle they were looking for. The Jews mistook him for a sorcerer, a wizard, a charlatan.

“NO “SIGN” BUT ONE”

With righteous indignation Jesus replies: “AN EVIL AND ADULTEROUS GENERATION SEEKETH AFTER A SIGN; AND THERE SHALL NO SIGN (no miracle) BE GIVEN TO IT, BUT THE SIGN (miracle) OF THE PROPHET JONAS: FOR AS JONAS WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE WHALE’S BELLY; SO SHALL THE SON OF MAN BE THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE HEART OF THE EARTH.” (Matthew 12:39-40). Jesus says, “NO SIGN.” He does not refer the Jews to blind Bartimeus whose sight he had restored. He does not speak about the “woman with issues” who was healed by merely touching him; or about the 2,000 pigs he had destroyed to heal “a man possessed;” or the 5,000 and the 3,000 people he had fed and satiated with a few pieces of fish and a few pieces of bread. “No Sign,” says Jesus, But One! – “THE SIGN OF THE PROPHET JONAS!” He is putting all his “eggs” in one basket. His claim to being the Messiah (Christ) stands or falls by the ONLY “sign” he was prepared to give. Did Jesus fulfill the only sign he gave??? Christendom answers with a unanimous Y-E-S! without heeding the Biblical advice – ‘not to take things for granted.’ – but “PROVE ALL THINGS!” (1Thessalonians 5:21)

“JONAH FLEES HIS CALL”

What was the “sign” (miracle) of Jonah??? We have to go to the “BOOK of JONAH” in the Old Testament to find out. God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn the Ninevites to repent from their “evil ways, and from the violence that is in their hands.” (Jonah 3:8) But Jonah was loath to go as a warner unto the Ninevites, so he goes to Joppa instead of Ninevah, and takes a boat to run away from the Lord’s command. While at sea, there was a terrible tempest. According to the superstition of the mariners, a person fleeing from his Master’s command creates such a turmoil at sea. They began to enquire among themselves and said, “COME, AND LET US CAST LOTS, (like the tossing of a coin, “head” or “tail”) THAT WE MAY KNOW FOR WHOSE CAUSE THIS EVILS UPON LOT FELL UPON JONAH.” (Jonah 1:7) Though there was a temporary lapse on the part of Jonah in fulfilling his mission, he manfully and most courageously volunteer: “AND HE SAID UNTO THEM TAKE ME UP, AND CAST ME FORTH INTO THE SEA; SO SHALL THE SEA BE CALM UNTO YOU: FOR I KNOW THAT FOR MY SAKE THIS GREAT TEMPEST IS UPON YOU.” (Jonah 1:12)

“DEAD OR ALIVE???”

Since Jonah was selflessly offering himself as a “vicarious” sacrifice there was no need for strangling him before throwing him into the sea, no need to spear him or break his arm or limb. In his own words: “CAST ME FORTHTAKE ME UP AND.” The question now arises, that when the shipmaster and the crew threw him overboard, was Jonah Deador Alive? Any Christian child who has attended Sunday School will give an immediate reply; “ALIVE!” The storm subsides. Was this perhaps a coincidence? A fish swallows Jonah. Was he dead or alive whenswallowed? The answer again is “ALIVE” Was he dead or alive when “JONAH PRAYED UNTO THE LORD HIS GOD OUT OF THE FISH’S BELLY?” (Jonah 2:1). Surely dead men don’t cry and don’t pray! The answer again is “ALIVE!” For three days and three nights the fish takes him around the ocean: dead or alive? “ALIVE!” is the answer. On the third day it vomits him on the seashore: dead or alive? A-L-I-V-E, of course! What had Jesus prophesied about himself? He said “AS JONAH WAS ….. SO SHALL THE SON OF MAN BE” “soos Jonah” – “njenga jonah” – LIKE JONAH. And how was Jonah? Was he Dead or Alive for three days and three nights? Alive! Alive! Alive! is the unanimous answer from the Jews, the  and the Muslim!

“UNLIKE JONAH”

If Jonah was alive for three days and three nights, then Jesus also ought to have been alive in the tomb as he himself had foretold! But Christianity hangs on the flimsy thread of the “death” of Jesus for its salvation. So it has to answer that Jesus was Dead for three days and three nights. The contradiction between his atterance and its fulfillment is obvious. Jonah ALIVE, Jesus DEAD! Very UNLIKE Jonah! Jesus had said “Like Jonah” not “Unlike Jonah.” If this is true then according to his test Jesus is not theTRUE Messiah of the Jews. If the Gospel record is genuine then how can we blame the Jews for rejecting “CHRIST”

“THREE And THREE”  [= 72 hours]

The Doctor of Divinity and the Professor of Theology replies that inMatthew 12:40 under discussion, the emphasis is on the Time factor – “as Jonah was THREE,  so shall the son of man be THREE days and THREE nights in the Heart of the Earth.”  “Please note,” says the learned Theologian, “that the word “THREE” is repeated F-O-U-R T times in this Verse to prove that Jesus was going to fulfill the prophecy as regards the length of time he was going to remain in the tomb, and Not “As Jonah was” in relation to his being alive or dead. If it is a time Factor that Jesus was stressing then let us ask whether he fulfill that aspect of his promise to the Jews as well. The Christian dogmatist answers: “OF COURSE!”

“PUBLIC HOLIDAY”

The question arises: when was Christ crucified? The whole Christian world answers: “FRIDAY!”  Is this the reason we celebrate “Good Friday” – “Gooi-Vrydag” – as a Public Holiday in the Republic of South Africa? And every Christian Nation from America to Zambia, from Abyssinia to Zairehave a Public Holiday on the “FRIDAY” at Easter. What makes “Good Friday” so good? “It is the Death of Christ on the Cross on this day to wash off sins,” says the Christians. So he was killed on the cross on a Friday, 1950 years ago? “YES” says the Christians. From the Gospel records we gather that the Jews were in a hurry to eliminate Jesus. Hence the midnight trials, and then dispatching him off to Pilate in the morning; from Pilate to Herod and then back again to Pilate. The vested interest were afraid of the general public. Jesus was their hero. He had been their benefactor. His enemies had to do away with him quickly, and succeeded in doing so. However, as much as they were in a hurry to hang him on the cross, they were in equal hurry to bring him down from the cross before sunset on Friday because of the Sabbath. The Sabbath start at about 6 p.m.on Friday and the Jews were warned in Deuteronomy 21:23 that the victim of crucifixion was an “accursed of God” and was not to be permitted to remain hanging on the Sabbath day, “That thy land be not defiled which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.” To satisfy the religious scruples of the Scribe and the Pharisees the “secret disciples” of Jesus took down the body from the cross. They gave the body the Jewish burial bath, plastered it with “one hundred pounds weight of aaloes and myrrh” (John 19:39) then placed the shrouded body into the sepulcher before night-fall.

Why “Supposed”

There are numerous differences between the various sects and denomination of Christianity, but on the above they are unanimous. Jesus is Supposed to be in the Tomb on the night of Friday. He is still the daySupposed to be in the tomb on of Saturday. He is still Supposed to be in the tomb on the night of Saturday. Christians agree whole-heartedly with this. It will be noted that I have repeated the word ‘Supposed’ three times. The reason is that the Gospel are silent as to when exactly Jesus come out of the tomb. He could have been taken away on Friday night by his “secret disciples” to a more congenial and restful place, but I have no right to assume about what the Gospel writers are silent. I have therefore, repeated the word ‘Supposed’ three times.

In the final analysis, let us see whether Jesus was Three days and Three nights in the tomb:

----------------------------------------------------------------------

            Easter Week                           In The Sepulchre

                                                             Days           Nights

                 Friday                                  -nil-         One Night

       Place in tomb just before

                 Sunset.

               Saturday                             One Day    One Night

Supposed to be in the tomb

                Sunday                                  -nil-            -nil-

Missing before sunrise

                 Total                                   One Day     Two Nights

________________________________________________

You will no doubt note that the Grand Total is One day and Two nights, and NOT Three days and Three nights. According to the Christian Scriptures Jesus had failed a  time. First he was unlike Jonah, who was Alive in the belly of the Fish, which is the exact opposite of what the Christians claim had happened to their master Jesus, who was Dead for the same period of time as Jonah was Alive. Secondly, we discover that he also failed to fulfill the TIME FACTOR as well. The greatest mathematician in Christendom will fail to obtain the desired result – THREE days and THREE nights. We must not forget that the Gospels are explicit in telling us that it was “before sunrise” on Sunday morning (the First day of the week), that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus and found it empty.

“Good” Wednesday”

That Armstrong family has debunked the whole Christian world. They seem to know their arithmetic! Mr. Robert Fahey of the “Plain Truth” magazine, delivered a lecture recently at the “Holiday Inn” Durban, where I was present. Mr. Fahey attempted to prove to his Christian audience that Jesus Christ was crucified on a Wednesday and not on Friday, as is Supposed by Orthodox Christianity for the past two thousand years. According to him if one counts backwards from Sunday morning deducting 3 Days and 3 Nights, one ought to get Wednesday as the answer.

I congratulated Mr. Fahey for his ingenuity. I ask him, how was it possible for the past two thousand years the whole Christian world Celebrated GOOD FRIDAY instead of GOOD WEDNESDAY. Thus the 1,200,000,000 Christians of the world today are ignorant of the correct day of the so called crucifixion! It means that even the Roman Catholic Church – which claims an unbroken chain of Popes from Peter to this day – according to Mr. Fahey are mislead.

The question arises, who deceived the millions of Christians for the past Two Thousand Years. God or the Devil? Mr. Fahey categorically answered: “THE DEVIL”

“If the Devil,” I said, “can succeed in confusing the Christians in the most elementary things of their Faith, whether to celebrate a Good Friday or Good Wednesday, then how much easier for him (the devil) to mislead Christians in other things concerning God?” Mr. Fahey blushed and walked away. If this is the belief of the trend-setters of the Christian Faith in the world today, may we not then ask: is this not the mightiest hoax in the history?

Joseph, Mary's husband, was "90 years old" when he married 12 to 14-year old Mary!Was he too a pedophile?

What about Mary, Jesus' Mother peace be upon both of them? How old was she when she got pregnant?

Not only was it a custom in the Arab society to Engage/Marry a young girl it was also common in the Jewish society. The case of Mary the mother of Jesus comes to mind, in non biblical sources she was between 11-14 years old when she conceived Jesus. Mary had already been "BETROTHED" to Joseph before conceiving Jesus. Joseph was a much older man. therefore Mary was younger 11-14 years of age when she was "BETHROED" to Joseph. We Muslims would never call Joseph a Child Molester, nor would we refer to the "Holy Ghost" of the Bible, that "Impregnated" Mary as a "Rapist" or "Adulterer".

"....it is possible that Mary gave birth to her Son when she was about thirteen or fourteen years of age...."

Also, this paragraph was sent to me by brother, who embraced Islam recently; may Allah Almighty always be pleased with him: According to the Priest of Saint Mary's Catholic Church: "Mary was approximately 14 years old when she got pregnant with Jesus. Joseph, Mary's Husband is believed to be around 86-90. Mary was only 13 when she married Joseph. When she first was arranged with Joseph she was between 7 to 9 years old."

So if I want to be as silly and ridiculous as many of the Christians, I would respond to them by saying that Mary was psychologically and emotionally devastated for getting pregnant at a very young age. And speaking of "child molesting", since most Christians believe that Jesus is the Creator of this universe, then why did GOD allow himself to enter life through a 12-year old young girl's vagina? Please note that we Muslims love and respect Allah Almighty, Mary, Jesus and Allah's Message to the People of the Book (The Jews and Christians). In other words, we Muslims would never make fun of Christianity through such childish topic like this one as many ridiculous Christians do make fun of Islam through our Prophet's (peace be upon him) marriage.

Joseph, Mary's husband, was "90 years old" when he married 12 to 14-year old Mary! Was he too a pedophile?

_________________________________________

- What about the Bible's Prophets' marriages?

When we read the Bible, we learn about some Prophets marrying many wives, even hundreds of wives in some cases. Let us look at some of the verses from the Old Testament:

In Exodus 21:10, a man can marry an infinite amount of women without any limits to how many he can marry.

In 2 Samuel 5:13; 1 Chronicles 3:1-9, 14:3, King David had six wives and numerous concubines.

In 1 Kings 11:3, King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines.

In 2 Chronicles 11:21, King Solomon's son Rehoboam had 18 wives and 60 concubines.

And knowing that the Bible's Old Testament allowed before for men to have sex with girls who were at the age of 3, then it wouldn't surprise me that those Prophets who had 700 wives for instance, had many very young "teenage" girls before as their wives.

It wouldn't surprise me if they too had wives that were younger than Mary when she got pregnant, and younger than Aisha when she got married.

Since there are so many wives that those Prophets married (hundreds of wives), then how would anyone know that they didn't marry young women as our beloved Prophet peace be upon him did with his marriage to Aisha peace be upon her?

http://www.turntoislam.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37462

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08504a.htm

Sunday, October 28, 2012

What Didn't Make It Into The Bible?

For a complete picture of what the earliest Christians "knew" about Jesus, the books of the New Testament are not enough. One also needs to read the books that did not make it into Scripture.

Sometimes important religious discoveries are literally unearthed, giving us previously unavailable artifacts and texts -- such as the discovery of the so-called Gnostic Gospels in 1945 or the discovery of the Gospel of Judas more recently. At other times modern readers re-discover texts that have long been available, documents, for example, known all along to scholars, but not in wide circulation. The Apocryphal Gospels -- over forty texts in all -- include both kinds of discoveries. These early Christian writings comprise accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus that did not make it into the New Testament, that along with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John provided ancient Christians with their information about Jesus -- some of it authentic but most of it, well, apocryphal. A good number of these non-canonical Gospels were once accepted by various early Christian groups as sacred Scripture; many of them contain stories that are bizarre indeed. For anyone interested in knowing what the earliest Christians thought about Christ, and God, and many other things, these books are indispensable. On top of that, they can be terrific reading. Consider the following tidbits drawn from a handful of these apocryphal texts.

Mary's postpartum inspection, The famous Proto-Gospel of James, allegedly written by Jesus' half-brother (Joseph's son from a previous marriage) tells a tale of the midwife who attended Mary after she had given birth to the Son of God. She, the midwife, does not believe that Mary has given birth and remained a virgin, and so she gives her a vaginal inspection, only to find that her hymen is still intact. God punishes the midwife for her doubt -- making the offending hand burn -- but the infant Jesus heals her, the first of his many great miracles.
Joseph and Mary: The Generation Gap, Joseph is always portrayed as an old man in the medieval paintings of Jesus' nativity (this supposedly explains why he never had sex with Mary). But just how old was he? According to a relatively unknown Gospel called The History of Joseph the Carpenter, Joseph was fully 89 years old when Jesus was born, whereas Mary was all of 15. The account goes on to describe the death of Joseph some twenty-one years later, told in the first-person by his most famous "son," the Son of God himself.
Jesus the mischievous Wunderkind. Jesus may have been a miracle-working Son of God as an adult, but what was he like as a kid? That is the question answered by the amusingInfancy Gospel of Thomas, which regales readers with tales of Jesus' miraculous activities between the ages of five and twelve. As it turns out, Jesus was a mischievous young fellow and had a bit of a temper. Whenever someone irritates him -- a rough playmate or a strict teacher -- he uses his supernatural power to wither him on the spot. Eventually he gets his mood, and his power, under control, and becomes a remarkable young man to have around the carpenter shop and home.
Jesus and sacred sex. In modern novels (The Da Vinci Code!) Jesus is said to have had a sexual relation with Mary Magdalene. Even stranger tales of Jesus, Mary, and sex were told in ancient Gospels; by all counts the strangest was The Greater Questions of Mary, now lost but quoted once by an early Church Father. According to this tale, Jesus took Mary alone up onto a mountain, and as she watched, he pulled a woman from his side and began to have sex with her. What happens next is even stranger, as it involves a case of divine coitus interruptus and the consumption of semen. Mary, not surprisingly, faints on the spot.
The Giant Jesus and the Walking-Talking Cross. Remarkably, the Gospels of the New Testament do not tell the story of Jesus emerging from the tomb on Easter morning. But the Gospel of Peter does. In this text, discovered near the end of the nineteenth century, Jesus comes out of the tomb as tall as a mountain, supported by two angels, nearly as tall themselves. And behind them, from the tomb, there emerges the cross, which has a conversation with God in heaven, assuring him that the message of salvation has now gone to those in the underworld. How a Gospel like this was ever lost is anyone's guess.
Pontius Pilate the Christian Convert. Pilate is usually portrayed as one of the real bad guys of the Gospel and, in fact, of all Christian history. But in a number of books, often called "Pilate Gospels," he is exonerated for having Jesus executed, and in some traditions he not only repents of what he did, but actually converts to become a believer in Jesus. In parts of the church, Pilate came to be canonized as a Christian saint. A saint? Yes, and the reason is clear. The more innocent Pilate is, the more guilty the other enemies are -- the Jews. These are Christian Gospels written in the context of rising anti-Jewish sentiment, a nefarious underside to many of these otherwise interesting and entertaining accounts.

For a complete picture of what the earliest Christians "knew" about Jesus, the books of the New Testament are not enough. One also needs to read the books that did not make it into Scripture, books written by and for Christians to convey what, in the authors' opinions, were the true views of the Christian faith. Some of these books contain ideas and perspectives that Christians today may regard as strange, or even heretical. Other readers will find them historically valuable and even scintillating. However they are judged today, at one time they were considered by some of Jesus' followers to be sacred Scripture.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/

Who Wrote The Bible and Why It Matters

Apart from the most rabid fundamentalists among us, nearly everyone admits that the Bible might contain errors -- a faulty creation story here, a historical mistake there, a contradiction or two in some other place. But is it possible that the problem is worse than that -- that the Bible actually contains lies?

Most people wouldn't put it that way, since the Bible is, after all, sacred Scripture for millions on our planet. But good Christian scholars of the Bible, including the top Protestant and Catholic scholars of America, will tell you that the Bible is full of lies, even if they refuse to use the term. And here is the truth: Many of the books of the New Testament were written by people who lied about their identity, claiming to be a famous apostle -- Peter, Paul or James -- knowing full well they were someone else. In modern parlance, that is a lie, and a book written by someone who lies about his identity is a forgery.

Most modern scholars of the Bible shy away from these terms, and for understandable reasons, some having to do with their clientele. Teaching in Christian seminaries, or to largely Christian undergraduate populations, who wants to denigrate the cherished texts of Scripture by calling them forgeries built on lies? And so scholars use a different term for this phenomenon and call such books "pseudepigrapha."

You will find this antiseptic term throughout the writings of modern scholars of the Bible. It's the term used in university classes on the New Testament, and in seminary courses, and in Ph.D. seminars. What the people who use the term do not tell you is that it literally means "writing that is inscribed with a lie."

And that's what such writings are. Whoever wrote the New Testament book of 2 Peter claimed to be Peter. But scholars everywhere -- except for our friends among the fundamentalists -- will tell you that there is no way on God's green earth that Peter wrote the book. Someone else wrote it claiming to be Peter. Scholars may also tell you that it was an acceptable practice in the ancient world for someone to write a book in the name of someone else. But that is where they are wrong. If you look at what ancient people actually said about the practice, you'll see that they invariably called it lying and condemned it as a deceitful practice, even in Christian circles. 2 Peter was finally accepted into the New Testament because the church fathers, centuries later, were convinced that Peter wrote it. But he didn't. Someone else did. And that someone else lied about his identity.

The same is true of many of the letters allegedly written by Paul. Most scholars will tell you that whereas seven of the 13 letters that go under Paul's name are his, the other six are not. Their authors merely claimed to be Paul. In the ancient world, books like that were labeled as pseudoi -- lies.

This may all seem like a bit of antiquarian curiosity, especially for people whose lives don't depend on the Bible or even people of faith for whom biblical matters are a peripheral interest at best. But in fact, it matters sometimes. Whoever wrote the book of 1 Timothy claimed to be Paul. But he was lying about that -- he was someone else living after Paul had died. In his book, the author of 1 Timothy used Paul's name and authority to address a problem that he saw in the church. Women were speaking out, exercising authority and teaching men. That had to stop. The author told women to be silent and submissive, and reminded his readers about what happened the first time a woman was allowed to exercise authority over a man, in that little incident in the garden of Eden. No, the author argued, if women wanted to be saved, they were to have babies (1 Tim. 2:11-15).

Largely on the basis of this passage, the apostle Paul has been branded, by more liberation minded people of recent generations, as one of history's great misogynists. The problem, of course, is that Paul never said any such thing. And why does it matter? Because the passage is still used by church leaders today to oppress and silence women. Why are there no women priests in the Catholic Church? Why are women not allowed to preach in conservative evangelical churches? Why are there churches today that do not allow women even to speak? In no small measure it is because Paul allegedly taught that women had to be silent, submissive and pregnant. Except that the person who taught this was not Paul, but someone lying about his identity so that his readers would think he was Paul.

It may be one of the greatest ironies of the Christian scriptures that some of them insist on truth, while telling a lie. For no author is truth more important than for the "Paul" of Ephesians. He refers to the gospel as "the word of truth" (1:13); he indicates that the "truth is in Jesus"; he tells his readers to "speak the truth" to their neighbors (4:24-25); and he instructs his readers to "fasten the belt of truth around your waist" (6:14). And yet he himself lied about who he was. He was not really Paul.

It appears that some of the New Testament writers, such as the authors of 2 Peter, 1 Timothy and Ephesians, felt they were perfectly justified to lie in order to tell the truth. But we today can at least evaluate their claims and realize just how human, and fallible, they were. They were creatures of their time and place. And so too were their teachings, lies and all.