Brief intro to Early Christian History www.dawahmemo.com

What the word “ Bible” means "Bible" comes from the Greek word "biblios" and it simply means the "book" in English. Nowhere in the Bible do we find the word "Bible”. - There was no English language until the year 1066 AD when the Normans invaded the Saxxons. - AD = Anno Domini from Medieval Latin ("In the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ") What the word “ Bible” means

What Is The Bible? Bible Bible = Collection of Writings or books Book of Christianity = Old Testament + New Testament Book of Judaism = Old Testament 400 yrs before Jesus Old Testament Books = 39 or 46 Bible New Testament Books = 27 Total=66 or 73

Bible: Not written in the Language of Jesus While the New Testament was written in the Greek language the language which Jesus spoke was probably Aramaic. _________________________ [Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary]

How Changes in the bible took place? Memorization out of question Torture and prosecution to followers Christianity by the Pagan Roman Empire. No one wrote it down. Translation effect . Copying errors . scriber’s additions “innocent modification”. Intentional modifications, “deliberate modification” Parts destroyed by wear and tear “hole-y Bible” .

Time line of Christianity 0-33 33-323 323 324 325 376 Birth and ministry of Jesus Persecution and tyranny under Pagan Romans To followers Of Jesus Constantine emperor of the WHOLE Roman Empire Christianity only legal religion in Roman empire Council of Nicaea Scope of NT Declared 27 books

Who Chose How Many Books Were Inspired? The year 367 A.D. marks, thus, the first time that the scope of the New Testament canon is declared to be exactly the twenty-seven books accepted today as canonical. But not every one in the Church was ready to follow the opinion of the bishop of Alexandria. ____________________________________ Bruce M Metzger, The Canon Of The New Testament: Its Origin, Significance & Development, 1997, Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 212

How Is/was the Bible Compiled? 5200+ new testament manuscripts in Greek. Criteria is set up to compile the bible using these manuscripts. Variation in MS = Variation in The Bible

Facts on Bible Manuscripts It has been estimated that these MSS and quotations differ among themselves between 150,000 and 250,000 times. __________________________________ The Interpreter's Dictionary Of The Bible

Why Manuscript Variations Exists? "Many thousands of the variants which are found in the MSS of the NT were put there deliberately. They are not merely the result of error or of careless handling of the text. Many were created for theological or dogmatic reasons. _________________________________________________________________ George Arthur Buttrick (Ed.), The Interpreter's Dictionary Of The Bible, Volume 4, 1962 (1996 Print), Abingdon Press, Nashville, pp. 594-595

One Bible Or Many Bibles? “ Most of the People believe that there is only ONE Bible, and ONE version of any given verse of the Bible. All Bibles in our possession today (Such as the KJV, the NRSV, the NASV, NIV,...etc.) are the result of extensive cutting and pasting from these various manuscripts with no single one being the definitive reference. _____________________________________ Bart Ehram, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, Bart Ehrman, pp. 27

Versions Within Versions Within Versions!! Example: Protestant Bible Not all Protestant Bibles are Same! King James Version(1611 CE) has 50 more Verses than Revised Standard Version (1952 CE). Revised Standard Version (1971 CE) added 24 more verses to Revised Standard Version (1952 CE).

Gospels Written in Greek, based on mostly oral and some written sources. Synoptic Gospels Mark 70s Matthew 70s-80s Luke/Acts 70s-80s John 90s

Each Sect Possess a Bible With Different Number of Books Protestants ‘The Protestant canon took shape by rejecting a number of books and parts of books that had for centuries been part of the Old Testament in the Greek Septuagint and in the Latin Vulgate, and had gained wide acceptance within the Roman Catholic church.’ 16 th century ________________________________ Bruce M Metzger & Michael D Coogan (Ed.), Oxford Companion To The Bible, 1993 , pg. 79

6 Books which are not in Protestant’s Bible but in Roman Catholic’s Roman Catholic Bible contains 73 books. 66 books of the Protestant Bible Plus: Tobit Judith Esther 1 Maccabees 2 Maccabees Wisdom of Solomon Sirach

27 - Books of the New Testament Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans 1Corinthians 2Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1Thessalonians 2Thessalonians 1Timothy 2Timothy Titus Philemon

The map Tells more

Protestant Bible Books = 66 Bible or Bibles Bible Written Protestant Bible Books = 66 Catholic Bible Books = 73 Coptic Bible Books = 75 Syraic Bible Books = 61 Greek Orthodox Books = 78 Ethiopic Bible Books = 81 KJV Bible 1611 CE RSV Bible, 1952 Mark 16:9-12 Removed GNB 1966 RSV Bible 1971 CE Mark 16:9-20 Added Back ! NRSV Bible 1989 CE More alterations KJV = King James Version RSV = Revised Standard Version NRSV = New Revised Standard Version GNB = Good News Bible NIV = New International Version NJB = New Jerusalem Bible NLT = New Living Bible NAB 1970 NIV 1973 NJB 1986 NLT 1996 Other Popular Bible Versions

Conclusion 1. Bible not written in Jesus’ lifetime. 2. Torture and prosecution to followers of Jesus. 3. No state to give safe heaven for the new belief . 4 . Anonymous & unknown authors. 5 . These anonymous authors are not eye- witnesses. 6 . Translation effect . 7 . Early Christians didn’t had a bible and the number of its books. 8 . Books not in today’s bible were once considered inspired. 9 . Many councils and scholars presented differing canons.

Conclusion …cont… 10. Each sect of Christianity has a different bible. 11. Thousands of bible manuscripts with no two alike 12. Deliberate interpolations in bible by copyists. 13. Variations manifest in theological differences. 14. Variation are inserted in the bible text through majority vote. 15. Versions within versions within versions. 16. More versions are made as new discoveries evolve . 17. Next to impossible to recover the ‘original’ bible.

(Surat Al-Bakarah , verse 79) Woe to them { فويل للذين يكتبون الكتاب بأيديهم ثم يقولون هذا من عند الله ليشتروا به ثمنا قليلا فويل لهم مما كتبت أيديهم وويل لهم مما يكسبون } Then woe to those who write the Book 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.     (Surat Al-Bakarah , verse 79)