Category: Criticism

Interpolations (meaning “the insertion of something of a different nature into something else”) play a major part in redaction (meaning edit, censor or obscure) of the inspired word of God. Other forms of redaction include translation into languages other than the original Hebrew and Greek, mistranslation of key words and phrases, and improper chapter division.  Identifying redaction requires a firm understanding of the message of all Bible text in the original Hebrew and Greek, and a comparison to highlight that which has a different message.

A prime example of the opposing messages found in the Bible is in the difference between the traditional teaching about Adam and Eve and Paul’s teaching.  As Jerome Murphy-O’Connor said in his article Interpolations in 1 Corinthians, it was Paul’s opinion that “Adam was the transgressor par excellence (Rom 5: 12-21, 1 Cor 15:21-22, 45-49); and Eve was the prototype of the entire Corinthian community and not merely of the feminine element (2 Cor 11:3)”.  This truth is obscured by interpolations in 1 Cor 14: 34-35 and the Pastoral Epistles in their entirety, tradition which continues to teach that Eve was the cause of the fall, and redaction of the Genesis creation account, all working in concert to support this lie.

This example reveals the intricacy with which tradition changed the word of God into a lie Jeremiah 8:8.    Traditionalists would have us hold their words in the same esteem as the words of God, but in many cases they contradict them, polluting God’s words with theirs, making it impossible to distinguish between their lies and the truth without a comprehensive analysis.  This leads many to question their faith in God or put their faith in the church and its traditions hoping to find salvation which is only found through the Messiah Gal 2:16.

If I had to guess, I’d estimate that at least half the text of the Bible is not inspired by God.  The problem is so pervasive, we need to divide the Bible in sections to test one at a time.  Testing includes researching source and text criticism.  From the example above we see that not all sources are inspired, and some that are have sections added to deceive us.  When we find text we believe is inspired, and that which is closest to the original, we need to test its translation.

With this in mind, let’s begin testing Genesis.

One of the most important and most difficult decisions we must make is whether or not we believe “all scripture is inspired” as stated in 2 Tim 3:16.  As I stated in my article on Katharine Bushnell, there are two opposing schools of thought on this.  Some, like Katharine Bushnell, believe that “all scripture is inspired” and some, like Ray Munson, believe there are interpolations that need to be weeded out. 

According to Dr. Felix Just, 80% of scholars believe  the Pastoral Epistles and Ephesians  were not authored by Paul and “most likely written late in the first century by some member(s) of the ‘Pauline School’ who wanted to adapt his teachings to changing circumstances”.  Although he admits these writings are pseudepigraphic which means “false attribution of authorship”, works composed “as if it were written by a person from the past (the ‘attributed author), while the actual author was someone else (usually anonymous)”, he states that “these writings should not be called false writings”.  In his opinion, “judging a particular letter to be pseudepigraphic does not mean that it is any less valuable than the other letters, but only that it was written later by someone other than Paul” http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Paul-Disputed.htm .   

Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, a leading authority on Paul and Professor of the New Testament, in an article titled Interpolations in 1 Corinthians, states “apart from the manifest contradictions, the principal reason for denying Pauline authorship of 14:34-35 is the invocation of the authority of the Law, as Paul never appeals to the Law in this manner”.  He points out that “vv34-35 are parallel to 1 Tim 2:11-15, not only in content but vocabulary” and opinions that 1 Tim 2:14 “is definitely un-Pauline in its attitude toward Adam and Eve: Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became the transgressor (v14).  For Paul, on the contrary, Adam was the transgressor par excellence (Rom 5:12-21, 1 Cor 15: 21-22, 45-49); and Eve was the prototype of the entire Corinthian community and not merely a feminine element (2 Cor 11:3).  The possibility that 1 Tim 2:11-15 is a return to a position once repudiated by Paul is discounted by what has been said concerning v36.”  In other words, he sees the contradictions as justification for disregarding their message.

I highly recommend going through the four part analysis on Cognitive Discopants titled Did Paul Write The Pastoral Epistles?  The author, Mason Slater, does a comprehensive analysis of the late attestation & mixed reception,  vocabulary & style, and lack of congruence with Paul’s journeys from other Pauline letters, all evidencing the likelihood that Paul was not the author.  He identifies that the Church tradition, teaching against Gnosticism, and Church structure all point to the “post-Pauline era”.  He identifies doctrinal differences between the Pastoral Epistles and Pauline writings, a different meaning for “keeping the faith” from referring to trust in God to trust in Church teachings, and “a more restrictive role for women”.  The alternate message is of great concern because it would leaven Paul’s teachings on vital issues.

The danger of these interpolations, is that they mix Paul’s teachings with a “different gospel” which is exactly what Paul warned against in Galatians 1:6.  The leaven in these verses replace faith in God with faith in Church tradition, subordinate women to men, and men to Church authorities, makes it appear that Paul considers the Law to hold authority over the congregation, and makes it appear that Eve was the transgressor not Adam, all of which are patently false.   Paul warned that those who distort the gospel of the Messiah are accursed in Gal 1:7 – 9. 

This evidences how challenging it is to find the truth.  Not only do we need to study scripture in its original languages, but we need to “test all things” 1 Thes 5:21, “weigh carefully what is said” 1 Cor 14:29, “test the spirits to see whether they are from God for many false prophets have gone out into the world” 1 John 4:1. We need to separate the truth from lies, because the truth sets us free John 8:32 from sin, sanctifies us John 17:17, leads us to holiness, and the outcome, eternal life Romans 6: 18 – 22, but lies are the works of Satan and his children 1 John 3:7 – 10 which keep us enslaved to sin, and the worthless elemental things in the world Gal 4:9. 

In my next article I will present a list of chapters and verses which are suspected interpolations.