“I have heard that there are many differences when we read the Greek manuscripts of The New Testament, that many of the monks making copies changed things to promote their own theology or to harmonize one passage with a parallel account. If it is true that certain passages are in some manuscripts and not others, how do we know for sure what truly belongs in The Bible?”
It is true that certain passages are not in the oldest texts, but keep in mind that even our oldest texts are not the originals. For this reason, some scholars are more intrigued by what made it into the majority of the manuscripts. Bottom line: These verses are few. If we kept them in or left them out, no material doctrine or teaching or truth from the Bible would be changed.
As to why these differences occurred in the first place, let me illustrate by talking about a very familiar passage known as The Pericope or The Floating Passage. The verses are John 7:53-8:11, the beloved and popular account where Jesus rescues the woman caught in adultery from being stoned to death. The passage is found in only one Unical (capital letters) manuscript. Six omit it completely. Two leave a blank space where it should have been found. As for late Greek and medieval, manuscripts, even then, it is often marked to show that its genuineness is doubted by some. The passage is not included in early Syriac, Coptic or Egyptian versions and it is left out of some of the early Latin versions. To make matters worse, none of the early Apostolic Fathers seem to know anything about it The very first Greek commentator to say anything about it is Euthimius Zigabenus and his date is very late (AD1118).
On the other hand, this passage is found in one relatively early uncial document called the Codex Bezea (D) which dates sometime between the fifth and sixth centuries AD.
Jerome also knew of this account in the fourth century and included it in the famous Latin Vulgate. Augustine and Ambrose knew it also, and both men comment on it. The passage is in all the later manuscripts, but its order differs from place to place. In some manuscripts, it is found at the end of John In other places it follows Luke 21:38. You can see how it obtained the nickname, “Floating Passage.”
The Floating Passage is quoted in a third century book entitled The Apostolic Constitutions where it is given as a warning to Bishops who are too strict.
Eusebius, the early church historian says that Papias (who lived not long after AD100) tells a story of “a woman who was accused of many sins before the Lord)”.
Finally, although none of the early Greek Fathers refer to the passage, several early Latin Fathers do.
How then do we explain this unusual passage? I believe Augustine provides the biggest clue. He says this was removed from the gospel because “some were of slight faith” and “to avoid a scandal.”
You see, early in church history the Monastic Movement spread like wildfire. Influenced by the Greek idea that anything pleasurable was a sin, monks were now taking vows of chastity and vows of poverty. These same monks were partly responsible for the transmission of the New Testament text. Even though forgiveness is a strong Christian virtue, there was a time when sexual purity was emphasized to the point where people could no longer see the forest for the trees. Some overenthusiastic monk may have removed this text because it seemed in his mind to be permissive of adultery. (In his mind only, as the text clearly shows Jesus telling the woman, “Go and sin no more.”)
Fortunately, emotional, overly enthusiastic monks were countered by the objective monks who had no agenda other then to transmit faithfully what the text really said. And so, in time, this interesting passage got put back in but by that time people probably had no certainty as to where it should be placed.
Conclusion:
Because of its floating order the passage may not actually belong to John. It does not seem to be written in John’s style. But wherever it belongs, I am convinced that this story represents a genuine account of Jesus and does belong in our Bible.
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