9. Many versions of this Bible. Not only are there many Bibles in the world, there are many versions of the Christian Bible. The believers in a divine revelation have not been agreed as to what books belong to this revelation. The ancient Jews, who are said to have sustained more intimate relations with God than any other race, were not agreed in regard to this. The accepted Hebrew version contains 39 books (22 as divided by the Jews), the Samaritan version contains but 6 books (some copies 5); while the Septuagint version contains 50. The early Christians were not agreed. The Syriac version of the New Testament contains 22 books; the Italic 24 (some copies 25); the Egyptian 26; the Vulgate 27. The Sinaitic and Alexandrian MSS. each contains 29 books, but they are not all the same. The Gothic version omitted four books in the Old Testament. The Ethiopic omitted books in both the Old and New Testaments which are now accepted, and included books in both which are now rejected. The Bibles of the Roman Catholic, of the Greek Catholic, and of the Protestant churches do not contain the same books. This disagreement regarding the books of the Bible is proof of their human origin.
10. Incompetency of those who determined the canon. If the Bible were the word of God it would not have required the deliberations of a church council to determine the fact. And yet the Christian canon was determined in this manner; and it took centuries of time and many councils to make a collection of books that was acceptable to the church. Not until the close of the fourth century were all the books of the Bible adopted.
It is commonly supposed that the members of these councils were men of great learning and still greater honesty. On the contrary, they were mostly men of little learning and less honesty. They were ignorant, fanatical, and immoral. Their deliberations were characterized by trickery, lying, mob violence, and even murder. Many of them, so far from being able to read and critically examine the books of the Bible, could not read their own names. Even the molders of their opinions concerning the canon—Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Jerome, and Augustine—were they living now, would be considered very ordinary clay. The historical facts in regard to the formation of the Bible, if generally known, would be sufficient to dispel all illusions respecting its divinity.
11. Books belonging to this so-called revelation lost or destroyed. There were many other Jewish and Christian writings for which divinity was claimed and which Bible writers themselves declare to be of as much importance and authority as those which still exist. The transitory and perishable nature of these books proves their human origin, and shows that while those that remain are more enduring they are not immortal and imperishable, and hence not divine.
12. Different versions of the same book do not agree. There are a hundred versions and translations of the books of the Bible. No two versions of any book agree. The translators and copyists have altered nearly every paragraph. The earlier versions alone contain more than 100,000 different readings. The original text no longer exists and cannot be restored. Every version, it is admitted, abounds with corruptions. Now, to assert that a book is at the same time divine and corrupt is a contradiction of terms. God, it is affirmed, is all-wise, all-powerful, and all-just. If he is all-wise he knew when his work was being corrupted; if he is all-powerful he could have prevented it; if he is all-just he would have prevented it. This God, it is declared, is everywhere and sees everything. He watches the sparrows when they fall, and numbers the hairs of our heads. He knows the secrets of every heart. If he made a revelation to his children, upon the acceptance and observance of which depends their eternal happiness, and then knowingly and wilfully allowed this revelation to be perverted and misunderstood, he is not a just God, but an unjust devil.
13. The mutability of its contents. The alterations made by transcribers and translators demonstrate the mutability of its contents, and this disproves its divine character. To admit that man can alter the work of God is to admit that human power transcends divine power. If the thoughts composing the Bible were divine man could not alter them.
14. The anonymous character of its books. If the Bible is to be accepted even as a reliable human record its authors ought, at least, to be persons of acknowledged intelligence and veracity. And yet almost nothing is known of its authors. The authorship of fully fifty books of the Bible is absolutely unknown. Its books are nearly all either anonymous or self-evident forgeries. This is true of the most important books. The Pentateuch we know was not written by Moses, nor the Four Gospels by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Aside from the anonymous character of the writings of the Bible, with a few exceptions, they evince neither a superior degree of intelligence nor a high regard for the truth.
15. Its numerous contradictions. If the Bible were divine there would be perfect harmony in all its statements. One contradiction is fatal to the claim of inerrancy and divinity. Now the Bible contains not merely one, but hundreds of contradictions. Nearly every book contains statements that are contradicted by the writers of other books. This is especially true of the Four Gospels. The writers of these agree that a being called Jesus Christ lived and died; but regarding nearly every event connected with his life and death they disagree. Human discord, and not divine harmony, dwells in its pages.
16. Its historical errors. If the Bible were divine its history would be infallible. But it is not. It presents as historical facts the most palpable fictions, and denies or misstates the best authenticated truths of history. Referring to Bible writers, the eminent Dutch divines, Drs. Kuenen, Oort, and Hooykaas, in their preface to “The Bible for Learners,” say: “As a rule, they concern themselves very little with the question whether what they narrated really happened so or not.” Its history is fallible and human.
17. Its scientific errors. God, the alleged author of this book, it is claimed, created the universe. He ought, then, to be familiar with his own works. The writers of the Bible, on the contrary, display a lamentable ignorance of the universe and its phenomena. The Rev. Dr. Lindsay Alexander, orthodox Calvinist, in his “Biblical Theology,” referring to these writers, says: “We find in their writings statements which no ingenuity can reconcile with what modern research has shown to be scientific truth.” The demonstrated truths of modern science were unknown to them. They give us the crude ideas of primitive man and not the infallible knowledge of an omniscient God.