Page 309 - History of The Quranic Text | Kalamullah.Com

THE NEW TESTAMENT: AUTHORSHIP AND CORRUPTION 289

copying from dictation, mental distractions that cause a change in the
sequence of words, and even sheer stupidity, are all invoked in solving
how these blunders came to beY
Aswith the OT, however, it is the deliberate alterations which are most
troubling. P.\Y. Comfort divides these into seven categories:
1. Material taken from oral traditions (such as the passage concerning
the adulteress inJohn 7:53-8:11).
u. Additions meant for liturgical use.
tu. Additions due to the spread of asceticism (such as the insertion of
'and fasting' after 'prayer' in Mark 9:29).
ui The tamperings of certain sects. (The Adoptionists for example, be-
lievingthatJesus became the Son of God at the moment of baptism,
changed Luke 3:22 from "this ismy beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased" to "this is my Son; this day I have begotten you".)
v. Alterations due to doctrinal prejudices, particularly as relating to
the Spirit.
VI. Harmonisation.
mi. Changes incorporated by scribes who feared that readers might
get the 'wrong' impression aboutjesus.t"
It is hardly surprising that the textual critic Origen, speaking in the 3rd
century, complains about the discrepancy between manuscripts resulting,

either through the negligence of certain copyists, or the perverseaud-
acity shown by some in correcting the text, or through the fault of
those who, playing the part of correctors, lengthen or shorten it as
they please.t?

As discussed previously'" the Orthodox Church played its own part in
creating deliberate alterations, with a view to countering the advance of
certain sects which harboured rival notions about the nature of Jesus (such
as the Adoptionism, Docetism, Separationism, and Patripassianismi." Every
group was widely suspected of changing passages to make them champion
its own theological stance." and with every new variant created they hurled
the original further and further into obscurity.

47 Metzger, pp. 186-195.
48 Comfort, p. 8. For a detailed study of intentional corruption, see: B.D. Ehrman,
The Orthodox Corruption ofScripture.
49 Comfort, p. 8.
50 Seethis work p. 277.
5\ The Orthodox Corruption ofScripture, p. xii.
52 ibid, p. 279.