There is no such thing as The Bible

Hi Brian,You seem to be fairly well versed in the textual criticism and Biblical history currently accepted by most universities. However, I am puzzled by a few of your comments. Several of your statements have left me unsure of the extent of your understanding in this area.For instance, you mentioned several times that certain texts were written before certain other texts. These statements are not entirely accurate. If one were to take what you have said at face value, he would be very likely to conclude that we actually have two or more distinct, independent writings of the Bible. Such is not necessarily the case. In reality we have two or more slighty distinct and possibly independent copies of the biblical text. In such a case it is possible to have a copy which may be older than any other while yet being an inaccurate copy of the original. Therefore to make the following statement, one must demonstrate how the Textus Receptus is a less accurate copy of the original document.Secondly, in reference to the different renditions of the Lord's prayer, you stated, Again this statement is very misleading. It is obvious from the evidence which you have presented that one of these verses was translated from an erroneous text, but you have not provided enough evidence to determine which one is in error and which is correct.I am also confused about your treatment of what you have deemed the "most infamous variation." You quoted I John 5:7 from the KJV and compared it to the RV rendition of I John 5:8. You then concluded that, I agree that there is a variation between the two texts; however, that variation does not consist of a differences between two renditions of a single list. Rather, the difference between the texts is that the KJV gives two lists while the RV only gives one.

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For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (I John 5:7-8 KJV)

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Were you aware of this when you posted your statements?You also stated that, I must admit that I am very confused about what you are saying here. Are you claiming that the Textus Receptus did not exist before 1550, or are you simply stating that its first popular printing was in 1550? I doubt that you are claiming the first, but the second statement has little to no bearing on your argument. Could you please clarify this for me?I was rather surprised to see you state, Have you actually asked every scholar on the planet if he believes that Paul wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews?The heading that you chose for this topic is "There is no such thing as The Bible." I understand that you think this to be a valid statement because of the differences between the great number of books claiming to be the Bible today, but I wonder, do you think that there ever was a book which could have been called "The Bible"?I look forward to your reply.

Let me briefly touch on another topic that was mentioned in your original post. You stated However I would contend that chapter two of Genesis simply provides a recap of chapter one and a transition into chapter three.Most biblical passages are arranged in an order conducive to oral teaching. This arrangement is easily seen in such passages as Psalm 119, Proverbs 31, and Ecclesiastes 3; but it is present to some degree or another throughout every book of the Bible. Many of the narrative passages of the Bible are laid out in an arrangement very common to public speaking. For each main topic, the Bible presents an introduction followed by the major subject matter of the topic and concluded with a recap of the current subject and a transition into the next topic.An example of this can be seen in the first fifteen chapters of the book of Exodus. These chapters can be broken down into four main topics: the birth of Moses, the calling of Moses, the deliverance of Israel, and the crossing of the Red Sea. The following outline diagrams the arrangement of these topics in an order conducive to oral presentation.I. The Birth of Moses — Exodus 1:7-2:25
a. Introduction — Exodus 1:7
b. Major content — Exodus 1:8-2:22
c. Recap and transition — Exodus 2:23-25
II. The Calling of Moses — Exodus 3:1-7:7
a. Introduction — Exodus 3:1
b. Major content — Exodus 3:2-6:12
c. Recap and transition — Exodus 6:13-6:27
III. The Deliverance of Israel — Exodus 6:28-12:51
a. Introduction — Exodus 6:28-7:7
b. Major content — Exodus 7:8-12:39
c. Recap and transition — Exodus 12:40-51
IV. Crossing the Red Sea — Exodus 13:1-15:22
a. Introduction — Exodus 13:1-2
b. Major content — Exodus 13:3-14:28
c. Recap and transition — Exodus 14:29-15:22Now the book of Genesis also has a particular arrangement of content. It is not simply a conglomeration of multiple stories; it can be read as a single, seamless document in which each part is connected to the whole through a series of chronological links. In other words, each section of the book of Genesis is connected to the other sections through the generations presented at the conclusion of each portion. Thus the book can be broken down into five different generations: the generations of the heavens and the earth, the generations of Adam, the generations of Noah, the generations of Jacob, and the generations of the sons of Jacob. The following outline presents the arrangement of these generations within the book of Genesis.I. The Generations of the Heavens and the Earth — Genesis 1:1-2:25
a. Introduction — Genesis 1:1
b. Major content — Genesis 1:2-2:3
c. Recap and transition — Genesis 2:4-2:25
II. The Generations of Adam — Genesis 3:1-5:32
a. Introduction — Genesis 3:1a
b. Major content — Genesis 3:1b-4:26
c. Recap and transition — Genesis 5:1-32
III. The Generations of Noah — Genesis 6:1-10:32
a. Introduction — Genesis 6:1-4
b. Major content — Genesis 6:5-9:29
c. Recap and transition — Genesis 10:1-32
IV. The Generations of Jacob — Genesis 11:1-37:2a
a. Introduction — Genesis 11:1-2
b. Major content — Genesis 11:3-35:20
c. Recap and transition — Genesis 35:21-37:2a
V. The Generations of the Sons of Jacob
a. Introduction — Genesis 37:2b-37:4
b. Major content — Genesis 37:5-50:26
c. First recap and transition — Genesis 50:22-26
d. Second recap and transition — Exodus 1:1-7If we were to look at these passages in more detail, we would discover that they all follow the same pattern found in the first two chapters. Genesis 1:1-2:3 presents the major content of the creation account, and the remainder of chapter two presents a review of that account and a transition into the setting for chapter three.Now, there appears to be some controversy over whether chapter two is a separate and thus contradictory creation account; however, if we do a thorough study of this chapter we will find that it is indeed a conclusion to the account of chapter one.Most of the arguments for two creation accounts begin with verses 7-9. It is argued that these verses have man created before the creation of plants which of course would be a contradiction with the order given in chapter one. A closer examination, however, will reveal that this is not the case. Verse seven does speak of the creation of man, and verse eight does say that God planted a garden, and verse nine does say that God made trees, but this is not all that is said in these verses. These verses do not state that God created man before He created plants. It simply states that God after God created man, He formed a garden for the man to dwell in and caused all the trees that could be eaten from to grow in that garden. These verses are part of a transition from chapter one in which God created man to chapter three which takes place within the garden.Likewise, verses eighteen through twenty are often incorrectly interpreted as stating that man was created before any of the animals. However, simple logic will reveal that this is not a necessary interpretation. The passage does not state that God created all of the animals after He created man. Instead, it states that He formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air for the express purpose of finding a helper suitable for man. (On a side note, the word made in Genesis 1:25 and the word formed in Genesis 2:19 are translated from two different Hebrew words.) Now if God had created all of the animals on earth before creating man, and if those animals had differing habitat requirements, then it makes sense that He would have created them each within its natural habitat. Thus the animals would not have been created all in one location but would have been created all across the globe. Such a widespread creation would require days of travel for all of these animals to come before Adam in Genesis 2:19. But what if after creating man the Lord formed one of each animal within the garden of Eden and brought each of those animals before man. This would not contradict chapter one, nor does it strain in any way the text of chapter two. It does, however, focus on the creation of Eve who is one of the three central figures in chapter three. In other words, this passage of chapter two is part of a transition from chapter one in which God created both man and woman to chapter three in which the woman is a central figure.Therefore, if we view the first two chapters of Genesis as parts of a cohesive whole, we find that they fit the pattern of presentation found in other passages in which each passage begins with an introduction followed by the major subject matter of the topic and concludes with a recap of the current subject and a transition into the next topic.