THE DECEIT MAKES NO SENSE

" Christian scholars have known the truth for centuries, but nearly all have been afraid—afraid to reveal that the modern Bible isn’t what their churches say it is. For me, it’s the opposite. Why wouldn’t we want to know more about the real Jesus, about what he said and did? He’d still be our Lord, but there’d be more lessons and stories, and they’d be true. The deceit makes no sense, and I doubt Jesus would approve, but I shall honor my vows and remain silent.” --Sister Maria Teresa Frasco, p. 128

The good sister reveals a centuries-old secret: that from ancient to modern times, church hierarchies of all denominations have hidden and suppressed knowledge about the nature and history of Christian scripture. For varioius reasons, in myriad ways, and often in plain sight, they've concealed what's discovered by their scholars and historians about Jesus' first followers and their literature. Especially kept in the shadows are the many changes made to the original gospels, epistles, and other elements of the Christian record by scribes, translators, and editors which resulted in omissions, additions, forgeries, and fictional insertions to those first holy texts.

Dozens of Christian sects competed for worshippers during the first decades and centuries after the man from Nazareth was crucified, each with their own interpretations, theologies, and literature about Jesus' message and ministry.. What remains in modern Bibles is a small fraction of that literature: selected, picked apart, rearranged, and often distorted by men with less than honest motives and means.

The cast of characters who altered sacred scripture is long and varied. From early church historians like Eusebius to today's televangelists, Jesus has become who they say he is, his story and message a smudged copy of the original and far from where it started. Many of these counterfeiters who altered, omitted, and added to the New Testament did so with noble intentions, but they changed it nonetheless. From Saint Augustine to King James, Church canon has evolved into scripture the first Christians would not recognize.

What? The New Testament is only a small part of what the first Christians recorded? Men changed Jesus' story and message to suit themselves and for their own benefit? If that's so, why haven't our priests, ministers, and preachers told us about it?