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Good morning father Angelo,

I often hear believers, and especially non-believers, talk about interpolations in the Bible. Non-believers in particular emphasize the existence of such interpolations to persuade us that the Bible is a big scam. My question concerns the reasons for and the amount of such interpolations or additions in the Bible, especially in the Gospel. Are they really consistent or are they few? Moreover, I read in a review that the Bible by abbey Ricciotti edited in 1943 contains no interpolations. Is that true? This interpolation issue makes me doubt about the veracity of the text and particularly of what Jesus Christ actually said. As you know. if doubts are not convincingly rebutted, there’s a risk to lose the faith. I send you my best regards and I thank you for the precious help you give us with your answers to the various questions you are asked.

Liborio 

Priest’s answer

Dear Liborio,

1.I wouldn’t really talk about interpolation or manipulation. At most, there can be a few words which are more or less apposite in the copies made by the amanuensis.

2.But since the beginning the Holy Scripture has been considered a holy text. No one would have dared to manipulate it. Saint Justin, in the II century, compares the right to manipulate the scriptures to the act of idolatry committed by the Israelites when they replaced the God of the sky with the golden calf. One of the most serious accusations to the heretics was to contravene the word of God by altering its meaning, even though they did not intend to manipulate the text at all.

3.Assuming that there had been any manipulation, considering that somewhere else a different text was used, how is it even possible that nobody had said a word about it? If someone had altered or omitted something important, the other churches would have protested and would have condemned it. But nothing like that happened.

4.The same is true for the Old Testament. The Jews would protest and accuse us of manipulation if our Old Testament were different from the one they use. But they never did so because the texts of the Old Testament that we regard as inspired are substantially identical to their ones.

5.Besides these considerations, there are others that cannot be forgotten. The oldest texts of the Holy Scripture in our possession are called “codes.” 53 codes contain the whole New Testament. No manipulation appears from their comparison. This is for everyone to see. The inevitable variations due either to a text that in some words has not been perfectly conserved, or to the mistakes made by the amanuensis, are all recorded. If you read the Greek text edited by Nestle or Merk, you can find all of them properly noted. There are no substantial variations.

6.Before the codes, we can trace plenty of portions of the New Testament in the teachings and preaching of the Holy Fathers. The oldest Fathers almost always quoted texts by heart and sometimes by inference, as it happens to us as well. These quotations are so numerous that, by putting them together, we could recreate the whole New Testament in Greek. And this can also prove the fidelity and honesty of the Holy Fathers in reporting the word of God.

7.Finally, I think that, because of the various versions and transcriptions, no text has been scientifically examined as the Holy Scripture. By comparing them, it is possible to detect if a word has been added or deleted, if a word has been written instead of another. But always and inevitably nothing can be found that substantially alters the content of the Holy Revelation and the understanding of the Holy Scripture.

8.What I have just said concerns the text received by the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, today there are a lot of versions, for example the one used by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which are intentionally manipulated because they translate a word for another. This is why, to be sure about the authenticity of the text, it is always necessary to check if there is the imprimatur of the Catholic Church.

I thank you for your question, I wish you the best, bless you and remember you in the prayer.

Father Angelo