Don't Newly Discovered Manuscripts Prove the Bible Inerrant?

Proponent's of biblical inerrancy often imply that the Dead Sea Scrolls prove that our Bible today has changed very little, even after centuries of recopying. They usually point to the relatively infrequent differences which exist between the Isiah text and Modern Hebrew version of Isaiah. We are also led to believe that the Dead Sea Scrolls prove the accuracy of the entire Old Testament - but this is not the case. Those who try to persuade us to believe these claims ignore some significant details about the Dead Sea Scrolls and other important discoveries made this century. We will first clarify what the Dead Sea Scrolls actually reveal.

Although fragments of all Old Testament books except Esther have been found in 11 Dead Sea caves, most of the 200 Biblical manuscripts which have been identified were not scrolls but fragments of scrolls. Over 80,000 fragments representing seven to eight hundred different manuscripts were found in one cave alone. The work of assembling these fragments has gone on for more than 40 years and will probably continue another 40 years.

At the time of the initial discovery, seven major scrolls were made available to scholars. Within ten years of their discovery a translation of these scrolls was also made available. This included a translation of a compete Isaiah Scroll originally recorded on leather - the only complete Bible book found. A second partial Isaiah scroll was also among these seven scrolls. The other five scrolls contained the Habakkuk Commentary, the Manual of Discipline, the Thanksgiving Hymns, and War Scroll [also known as the War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness], and the Genesis Apocryphon [See Vernon W. Jattson Jr. , The Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Important Discoveries, pp. 13-14]. Two or more or less compete Bible Scrolls have since been added to the Isaiah scrolls: a Psalm scroll and an Aramaic Job scroll.

The remainder of the Old Testament is represented only by fragments and will never be totally complete. No New Testament books, of course, were found in any of the Dead Sea caves. Although translations of the more complete scrolls were quickly made available to all, the fragmented manuscripts have only recently been published and made available. What has been published indicates that the Qumran library contained a canon which is not identical to traditional Judaism but which instead preserved a "variety of textual traditions" [Geza Verms, Dead Sea Scrolls - Qumran in Perspective, pp. 204-06].

The two Isaiah scrolls are typical of the variety fond in the rest of the manuscripts. One scroll corresponds to the Modern Hebrew Bible while the other corresponds more closely to the Masoretic or traditional Hebrew text relied upon heavily by King James scholars. Detailed examination of the Dead Sea Scroll Isaiah texts leads up to conclude that although these two Isaiah manuscripts were undoubtedly preserved by God for the last 2000 year, they were not as well preserved by man from 700 BC to 200 BC [the time the Qumran texts were produced]. Otherwise, there would not have been two very different versions after the first 500 years.

Proponents of biblical inerrancy seldom mention that scholars have found evidence of an effort by ancient scribes to eliminate discrepancies by comparing three model texts and "choosing as official and binding the reading attest by at least two of the model scrolls. Thereafter, every text which departed from the canonized scripture was held to be an unauthorized version" [Ibid, 208-09]. This might explain how so many later texts were said to have matched, even though they consistently contained obvious contradictions and errors.

We should further note that among the writings discovered at Qumran, there were about five times more non biblical texts as there were biblical texts, and yet many of the non biblical texts appear to have been valued as highly as modern scriptures. Today many of these valued texts are classified as apocryphal and pseudepigraphal writings. While the words such as Jubilees, the Testament of Levi, the Book of Enoch and other found at Qumran have proven their antiquity and their value to understanding the inter-Testamental period, they remain largely ignored by modern Christianity.

The discoveries of Jewish writings at Qumran were quickly followed by discoveries of previous unknown Jewish and Christian writings at other Middle East locations. These included the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library in Egypt, fifteen thousand clay tablets at Ebla, gold and silver tablets at Persepolis, manuscripts at Masada, and others. Hugh Nibley noted some twenty important manuscript finds between 1844 and 1947 in his book Since Cumorah pages 52 and 53. Through these finds, the world has been provided with an unblemished and unaltered record of early Christian beliefs along with their scriptural library. Though all of these writings were discovered prior to 1975 and much of it prior to 1950, most of Christianity remains ignorant of what these discoveries have to teach us.

Is the Bible Complete? - Portions are Missing Nephi Said So

In 1 Nephi 13:24-26 we have a claim by Nephi that portions of the gospel were lost.
Many scriptures mentioned in the modern Bible either no longer exist or have been altered to the point they are no longer accepted as authoritative. These include:

1. The book of the covenant - Ex 24:4, 7*
2. The book of the wars of the Lord - Num 21:14
3. The manner of the kingdom recorded by Samuel - 1 Sam 10:25*
4. The book of Jasher - Josh 10:13; 2 Sam 1:18
5. A book of statutes - 1 Sam 10:25
6. The book of the acts of Solomon - 1 Kings 11:41
7. The book of Samuel the seer - 1 Chron 29:29
8. The book of Nathan the Prophet - 1 Chron 29:29; 2 Chron 9:29
9. The book of Gad the seer - 1 Chron 29:29
10. The prophecy of Ahijah 2 Chron 9:29
11. The visions of Iddo the seer - 2 Chron 9:29; 12:15; 13:22
12. The book of Shemaiah the prophet - 2 Chron 12:15
13. The book of Jehu - 2 Cron 20:34
14. The acts of Uzziah recorded by Isaiah - 2 Chron 26:22*
15. The sayings of the seers - 2 Chron 33:19
16. An epistle of Paul to the Corinthians - 1 Cor 5:9
17. An epistle to Paul to the Ephesians- Eph 3:3
18. An epistle to Paul to the Laodiceans - Col 4:16
19. An additional epistle to Jude - Jude 1:3
20. The prophecies of Enoch - Jude 1:14

Note: Listings with the "*" may be included in other books of the Bible but are not readily identifiable.

Some have objected to the above list, saying that those writing not included in the Bible must not have been truly inspired. We might then ask, why would we exclude the books of Samuel and Gad the seers, the prophecies of Ahijah and Enoch, the visions of Iddo the seer, the book of Shemaiah the Prophet, the three missing epistles of Paul, and a missing epistle of Jude? It is hard to believe that the writings of prophets , seers, and apostles would be considered uninspired, especially when they are mentioned in the scriptures as worthy of further study.

To the above list we can add missing prophecies which include: Mathew's references to a prophecy that Christ would be a Nazarene [Matt 2:23; see LDS Bible Dictionary, p. 726], a prophecy that Elias "shall first come, and restore all things" [Matt 17:10-13], and a prophecy by Jeremiah concerning teh 30 pieces of silver [Matt 27:9]. None of these prophecies is found in our modern Old Testaments. We might also add to the above prophecies reference that do not match Old Testament scripture, such as Matthew's quote from Jesus referring to Zecharias, son of Barachias, being slain between the temple and the alter [Mat 23:35; see also Jesus the Christ, p. 567, note 9], Johns reference to a scripture about envy [James 4:5], and John's reference to wicked deeds of Balaam not specifically mentioned in the Old Testament [Rev 2:14].

Stephen E. Robinson makes an interesting point regarding the Bible "canon" which deserves mention:

The real Achilles heal of canonical exclusion . . . lies in the idea that there is one single Christian Canon or one single Christian Bible, for historically there has not been one Christian canon or one Christian Bible, but many. For example, just before 200 AD someone in the Christian Church at Rome wrote a list of books that were accepted as canonical by the Roman church at that time. A copy of this canon list was discovered in 1740 by Lodovico Muratori in the Ambrosian Library in Milan, and for this reason it is called the Muratorian Canon. According to it, the Roman church at the end of the second century did not consider Hebrews James, 1 Peter, or 1 Peter to be scripture, and they accepted only two of the letters of John, although we cannot be sure which two. They did accept as canonical, however , two works now considered to be outside the New Testament, the Apocalypse of Peter and the Wisdom of Solomon. Clearly their canon of scripture was different from that of modern Christians, but does that mean that the second and third century Roman Church was not Christian? Remember that they were the same people who were dying in the arenas for the sake of Christ. Can anyone seriously argue that they weren't Christians just because their canon was different?

The famous church historian Eusebius of Caesarea, writing about the 300AD, proposed another canon [Eusebius, History of the Church, 3.25.1-7]. He listed only twenty one books as "recognized", and listed Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and Revelation as questionable or spurious . . . Metzger summarizes, "The Eastern Church as reported by Eusebius about 325AD, was in considerable doubt concerning the authority of most of the Catholic Epistles as well as the Apocalypse" [The Canon of the New Testament, p. 209].

Saint Gregory of Nazianzus rejected the book of Revelation in the fourth century cannon list, which was ratified three centuries later in 692 by the Trullan Synod,. . .

Before the fifth century the Syrian Christian cannon included 3 Corinthians and Tatian's Diatessaron, but excluded the four Gospels, Philemon, and seven general Epistles, and the book of Revelation. Syrian Christians from the fifth century on accepted the Syriac Peshitta version of the Bible which included the four Gospels in place of the Diatessaron and excluded 3 Corinthians, but recognized only twenty two books in all as canonical: the four Gospels, the book of Acts, the fourteen letters of Paul, James, 1 Peter, and 1 John. To this day both the Syrian Orthodox church and the Chaldean Syrian church recognize only these twenty-two books, rejecting 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude and the book of Revelation. It is also interesting to note that the Greek Orthodox Church has never included the book of Revelation in its official lectionary. . . .

The Abyssinian Orthodox church has in its canon the twenty-seven books of the modern New Testament, but adds the Synodos and Qalementos [both attributed to Clement of Rome], the Book of the Covenant [which includes a post resurrection discourse of the Savior], and the Ethiopic Didascaleia. To the Old Testament the Abyssinian canon adds the book of Enoch [cited as prophetic by the canonical book of Jude] and the Ascension of Isaiah. . . .

Among Protestants, Martin Luther suggested that the new Testament books were of varying worth and divided them up into three separate ranks. In the prefaces of his early editions of the New Testament, Luther denied that the lowest rank [Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation] belonged among "the true and noblest books of the New Testament" and went so far as to call the Epistle of James "a letter of straw." He complained that Hebrews contradicted Paul by teaching justification by works; and that Jude merely copied from second Peter and from apocryphal books; and that Revelation dealt with material inappropriate for an Apostle, it didn't teach enough about Christ, and its author had too high an opinion of himself [W.G. Kummel, Concordia Theological Monthly, #37 [1966], "The Continuing Significance of Luther's Prefaces to the New Testament" pp. 573-78]. As a direct result of Luther's judgement, some subsequent Lutheran editions of the Bible separated Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation from the rest of the New Testament, and even went so far as to label them "apocryphal" and "non canonical." As Bruce Metzger points out: "Thus we have a threefold division of the New Testament: 'Gospels and Acts', 'Epistles and Holy Apostles' and 'Apocryphal New Testament' - an arrangement that persisted for nearly a century in half a dozen printings". . .

Finally, it should be understood that there is still no single Christian canon or Bible, for Protestants and Catholics disagree on whether the "Deuteroncanonical books" [what Protestants call the Apocrypha] are scripture. At the Council of Trent in 156, Roman Catholics officially adopted a canon of scripture that included the Apocrypha as fully inspired and fully the word of God. Consequently these twelve books are found in modern Catholic editions of the Bible. The collection of books includes Tobit, Judith, the Wisdom of Solomon, Eccesiastics or Ben Siriach, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, additions to Daniel [comprised of prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men, Susanna and the Elders, and Bel and the Dragon].

These books were part of the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint which was used in Egypt as early as the second century BC. The Septuagint was also the version of the Old Testament used by the early Christian church, and so had passed into the Latin Vulgate of the Roman church, and is still the version used by the Greek Orthodox. The conciliar decree De Canonicis Scripturis, issued on April 8 1546, declared that all who did not accept these deuterocanonical books [the Apocrypha] as Christian scripture were anahema [accused]. . . .

On the other hand, most protestants broke with centuries-old tradition of accepting the Septuagint and all its contents, and preferred the version of the Old Testament which had been preserved in Hebrew by the Jews. These medieval copies of the Hebrew Old Testament did not have the Apocrypha in them as the Greek Septuagint translation did, and consequently the books of the Apocrypha are not generally accepted as scripture by Protestants. . . . in the interests of Christian unity Protestants and Catholics have "agreed to disagree" among themselves on the issue of canon [Stephen E. Robinson, Are Mormons Christians? pp.51-55; see also Hugh Nibley; Since Cumorah, pp. 32-51].

Many scholars have observed that several other books not included in the King James Bible were routinely quoted by early Christians. These include:

1. The Testament of Levi [3:1-4 quoted by the Savior in the Sermon on the Mount [Eugene Seaich, Mormonism, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Nag Hammadi Texts, p. 48]
2. The Testament of the 12 Patriachs
3. The Shepard of Hermes - widely quoted in the church from the Second to Fouth Century AD [Mormonism, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Nag Hammadi Texts, p. 48]
4. 2 Baruch - considered as legitimate Christian scripture by the early church
5. 4 Ezera - considered as scripture by the early Church
6. Odes of Solomon - considered as scripture by the early Christians
7. The Assumption of Moses - quoted in Jude 1:9
8. Wisdom - quoted in 1 Clement [ca 95 AD] and Barnabas [70-132AD] and by Irenaeus [ca 190AD], [J.N.D.Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, pp 52-60]
9. Ecclesiasticus - quoted in Barnabas
10. Tobit - quoted by Polycarp [ca 136AD]
11. Didache - quoted by Polycarp [ca 136AD]
12. Hisotry of Susannah - quoted by Irenaeus
13. Bel and the Dragon - quoted by Irenaeus

Justin Martyr gave two examples of writings in the Second Century AD that had been removed from Meremiah [Dialogue with Trypho as quoted in Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1:234-35]. Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth [168-177AD], complained of falsification of the gospels and his own letters [Joseph Fielding McConkie, Sons and Daughters of God pp. 60-65].

To these we could add other Apocryphal books [such as the Maccabees, Judith ect.] quoted or listed as inspired by Tertullian [ca 200 AD], Hippolytus [ca 200 AD], Clement of Alexandria [ca 200 AD], Origen [ca 240 AD], and Cyprian [246 AD]

Modern scriptures also attest to the fact that large portions of scripture have been lost [1 Nephi 19:10-16; 2 Nephi 3; Jacob 5; 6:1; Words of Mormon 1:1-11; Alma 33:3-17; 34:7; Helaman 8:19-20; 15:11; 3 Nephi 10:16; Ether 1:1-5; 4:1-4; D&C 84:7-13; 107:56-57; Moses 6:5 and others; see also History of the Church, 1:363 and other texts to many to mention. All the foregone omissions attest to the fact that our present Bible does not contain all the words that the Lord revealed to his people in former times. We can only conclude that our modern Bible is incomplete since so many important prophecies, sacred books, and epistles now appear to be missing from our modern Bible text [see Michael T. Griffith, Signs of the True Church of Christ, pp. 86-87] and Peterson and Ricks, Offenders for a Word pp. 117-28 for additional references on the subject].

What Are Some of the Errors in the Bible?

For centuries Bible scholars have written volumes documenting the errors, omissions and contradictions found in the Bible after the "plain and precious" parts were removed [1 Nephi 13:26-40]; yet today some are still unaware that errors have crept into the modern biblical texts. These errors may have been introduced inadvertently because of imperfect sight, inattentiveness and copyists, human frailties, or they may have been introduced intentionally where contradictions, variations, inconsistencies, or alleged errors were detected during copying, translation, or revision. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, there are still many "fundamentalists" today that insist that "the Bible" [presumably some unspecified Protestant version] is inerrant and infallible.

I will attempt to name some but not all of the errors in the Bible here in this article.

• Jeremiah's false prophecy concerning Zedekiah - Jer 34:4-5; 52:10-11
• The three varying accounts of Paul's vision - Acts 9:3-8; 22:6-11; 26:13-18
• Contradictions regarding marriage, women's rold, and drinking wine - [To be Avoided - Lev 10:8-9; Prov 20:1; 23:29-35; Jer 35-13-14; Hos 3:1; 4:11; Rom 14:21; Eph 5:18; 1 Tim 3:3; Titus 1:7 Allowed Gen 14:18; 27:28; Deut 14:26; Ps 104:15; Prov 9:5; 31:6; Isa 25:6; Luke 5:39; John 2:1-11; 1 Tim 3:8; 5:23
• God's need to repent - [NO: Num 23:19; 1 Sam 15:29; Ps 110:4; Jer 4:28; Ezek 24:14; Zech 8:14 YES: Gen 6:6-7; Ex 32:14; Deut 32:36; Jud 2:18; 1 Sam 15:11, 35; 2 Sam 24:16; 1 Chron 21:15; Ps 90:13; 106:45; 135:14; Jer 18:8; 26:3, 13, 19; 42:10; Joel 2:13; Amos 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:10]

Hebrew and Greek manuscripts in our possession today contain these same errors and offer little help in explaining the above contradictions. Other errors and contradictions may be added to the above list. Following sampling of some of the more obvious problem scriptures gives an idea of the abundance of errors found in our modern King James Bibles:

1. Number of Israelites killed by a plague - Num 25:1, 9; 1 Cor 10:8
2. Sisera's death - Judges 4:21-22; 5:25-27
3. Jepthah's burnt offering - Judges 11:30-40; see Ex 20:13
4. Evil spirits from the Lord - 1 Sam 16:14-16, 23; 19:9
5. Saul's death, a suicide or murder? - 1 Sam 31:4-5; 2 Sam 1:10; 21:12
6. Number slain of David - 2 Sam 10:18; 1 Chron 19:18
7. God or Satan provoked David - 2 Sam 24:1; 1 Chron 21:1
8. Dead arose - 2 Kings 19:35; Isa 37:36
9. God creates evil - Isa 45:7
10. Lord makes us err and hardens our hearts - Isa 63:16-17
11. Differences in the genealogies of Christ - Matt 1:6-16 Luke 3:23-38
12. The Lord leads us into temptation - Matt 6:13; James 1:13
13. Mean or men with an unclean spirit - Mat 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-18; Luke 8:26-39
14. The sign of Jonas [2 or 3 nights] - Matt 12:40; 28:1; Mark 15:42; 16:1-2
15. Christ baptized followers - John 3:22; 4:2
16. Blind man or men healed at Jericho - Matt 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43
17. Mother or apostles request - Matt 20:20-28; Mark 10:35-45
18. Death of Judas - Matt 27:5; Acts 1:18
19. Masturbation - Matt 27:9-10; Zech 11:13
20. Crucifixion inscriptions - Matt 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19
21. Christ's last words - Luke 23:46; John 19:30
22. Angels at the tomb - Matt 28:2; Mark 16:5; Luke 24:4; John 20:12
23. Mistranslations of Hebrew words: Book - [Gen 5:1; Ex 17:14; ect.] - Scroll or tablet / Brass - [Gen 4:22; Ex 25:3 ect. ] - possibly copper / Oak [Isa 1:29; Ezek 27:6; ect.] - possibly elm / Whale [Gen 1:21; Job 7:12; ect.] - large fish
24. Mistranslations of Greek words: <Virtue [Mark 5:30; Luke 6:19; 8:46] - Should be power / Parable [John 10:6 - should be allegory / Easter [Acts 12:4] - should be Passover / Charity [1 Cor 13:1-4, 8 ; ect.] - Should be Love

To there can be added errors of grammar, punctuation, and numerous misquotations of Scripture, but these flaws are admittedly more trivial. What is important is that we realize that our modern Bible translations do contain some errors and therefore cannot be read without discernment. The fact that we find most of the above contradictions and errors in all available manuscripts leads us to one of two conclusions: either the originals , as written by inspired writers, contained the same errors, or the copying errors were made in the very earliest manuscripts and continued to be propagated in subsequent copies of copies. Neither of these conclusions is acceptable to those who hold the Bible to be inerrant and infallible. When confronted with these problems, some avoid the issue, stating that these differences are compelling evidence of the historicity of the events and the lac of conclusion on the part of the writers. Although this statement is certainly true, it nevertheless fails to explain the contradictions in these various accounts and demonstrates that either the writers, scribes or translators have introduced errors at some point.

The inconsistencies and errors listed above do not shake the faith of Latter-day Saints for several reasons: first modern scriptures and Joseph Smith's inspired revision of the Bible restore many plain and precious portions of the gospel that were lost [see 1 Nephi 13:24:26]; second, we have the additional witness of modern prophets and apostles to help us; third, we have an assurance that the Holy Ghost will guide us in understanding not only the scriptures but "all truth" [John 14:26; 16:13; Moroni 10:4-5; D&C 121:26]. Many other Christians today have no such assurance because they rely solely on their interpretations of the Bible for all truth. They have also chosen to ignore all of God's word revealed in these later days and have denied the need for a restoration of God's priesthood power through with the gift of the Holy Ghost is given [4th and 5th Articles of Faith]. As Paul taught, no man knoweth the things of God except the Holy Ghost reveal it unto him [1 Cor 2:10-13. Though member of various Catholic and Protestant denominations may gain and understanding of many Gospel truths by the inspiration of the Spirit, they will not be guided to "all truth" without receipt of the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on the hands from those authorized to bestow it.