What are the chances the bible has been adulterated?

Answer 1

I'd say the chances are so good that there is no question about it. There are more than 400 versions of the bible now. Do YOU think it's been adulterated?

Answer 2

Depends on what you mean. The people who claim that there have been major alterations in the New Testament simply haven't done their homework, or else they are lying to you.

We have many copies of ancient Bibles, and if there were any changes made in the intervening centuries, these changes should have been obvious. So far, no one has found any significant changes.

Consider the following:

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Manuscript Support for the Bible's Reliability
by Ron Rhodes

There are more than 24,000 partial and complete manuscript copies of the New Testament.

These manuscript copies are very ancient and they are available for inspection now.

There are also some 86,000 quotations from the early church fathers and several thousand Lectionaries (church-service books containing Scripture quotations used in the early centuries of Christianity).

Bottom line: the New Testament has an overwhelming amount of evidence supporting its reliability.

The Variants in the New Testament Manuscripts Are Minimal

In the many thousands of manuscript copies we possess of the New Testament, scholars have discovered that there are some 150,000 "variants."

This may seem like a staggering figure to the uninformed mind.

But to those who study the issue, the numbers are not so damning as it may initially appear.

Indeed, a look at the hard evidence shows that the New Testament manuscripts are amazingly accurate and trustworthy.

To begin, we must emphasize that out of these 150,000 variants, 99 percent hold virtually no significance whatsoever.

Many of these variants simply involve a missing letter in a word; some involve reversing the order of two words (such as "Christ Jesus" instead of "Jesus Christ"); some may involve the absence of one or more insignificant words.

Really, when all the facts are put on the table, only about 50 of the variants have any real significance - and even then, no doctrine of the Christian faith or any moral commandment is effected by them.

For more than ninety-nine percent of the cases the original text can be reconstructed to a practical certainty.

Even in the few cases where some perplexity remains, this does not impinge on the meaning of Scripture to the point of clouding a tenet of the faith or a mandate of life.
Thus, in the Bible as we have it (and as it is conveyed to us through faithful translations) we do have for practical purposes the very Word of God, inasmuch as the manuscripts do convey to us the complete vital truth of the originals.

By practicing the science of textual criticism - comparing all the available manuscripts with each other - we can come to an assurance regarding what the original document must have said.

Let us suppose we have five manuscript copies of an original document that no longer exists. Each of the manuscript copies are different. Our goal is to compare the manuscript copies and ascertain what the original must have said. Here are the five copies:
Manuscript #1: Jesus Christ is the Savior of the whole worl.

Manuscript #2: Christ Jesus is the Savior of the whole world.

Manuscript #3: Jesus Christ s the Savior of the whole world.

Manuscript #4: Jesus Christ is th Savior of the whle world.

Manuscript #5: Jesus Christ is the Savor of the whole wrld.

Could you, by comparing the manuscript copies, ascertain what the original document said with a high degree of certainty that you are correct? Of course you could....

Answer 3

I am uncertain.

As a Christian, the Bible being God's word I would think that He would find a way to make sure that it wasn't. There are verses in the bible about what will happen to those who choose to add or take away from the bible, and many Christians choose to not use the NIV because it does omit 2 verses from the KJV.

But as a human, and understanding human error, while I don't believe that it was intentionally altered, I do know that some things are lost in translation.

So, that said, I just don't really know. I just do the best I have with what I have to work with, and if the bible that I read has been adulterated, there's really not much I can do about it, and God knows that, so I don't feel that I will be held accountable for doing the best that I could.

Answer 4

The words in the Bible as it comes down in the original languages is remarkably consistent. The "adulteration" comes in as it is translated into the various different languages and as different words take up different meanings over time.

an example: the 1890's are sometime referred as the "Gay 90's" because for many, life was good. The 1990's have also been referred to as the "Gay 90's", but the meaning is entirely different. The confusion comes in because even after only 100 years, in the same language, a small word has taken up an entirely new meaning. Now think about what will happen to "meaning" in 2000 to 5000 years and translating into different languages.

Answer 5

"Adulterated"?

I think that the Bible's fatal flaw has nothing to do with it being revised over time. The fatal flaw is simply that it is false: the central theme revolves around a series of fairy tales about supernatural beings and magic events.

Unless the original unadulterated version was free of that kind of thing, "adulteration" would be the least of its problems.

Answer 6

The Bible is not adulterated as other camp claim. It is still intact in its entirety and has been the subject of inspection from the original manuscript.

There are many version of the Bible which does not means a variant of the original manuscript, but an interpretation according to the translator point of views.

Answer 7

Indeed, aprox 400 per-versions in 400 yrs; However:
- Science: only thing common to man: flood legend
http://www.godshew.org/ShewBread8.htm#Noah
- Gal 3's "evident" also evident from history & news
http://www.godshew.org/CurrentEvents.htm
- Shake-sphere allegory studied as ww as the Bible
http://www.godshew.org/Allegory.htm
- The End of the God Shew remains the same in all
http://www.godshew.org/NoLawNoDeadEnd.htm

The GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ with you all. Amen.

Answer 8

Very little. The translations from the oldest pieces are identical to the ones used now.

Answer 9

Translated through a dozen languages? Taken out of the context of a culture that has been dead 2000 years? Held in the hands of people and groups with vested interests in justifying their hold on real-world power and influence?

I'd say pretty darned good.

The same goes for the other "holy books" of the other faiths.

Answer 10

The chances are almost certain. It has been translated numerous times in to different versions and languages, and over hundreds of years. It would be a fallacy to say that it isn't somewhat corrupted. However, the general meaning can be obtained through careful study and ofcourse, prayer.