Added later

As I have posted in the past, there are a number of stories in our scripture that were not a part of the original Bible.

The story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8, is not in our oldest manuscripts.  It was added later.  And if you look at the story, it is unJesuslike.  [is that a word???]  He shames the guilty party which is unlike him, and he only calls out the woman, not the man.  Not illustrative of Jesus normal treatment of women.

The ending of Mark was added later.  Thank God, we don't have to handle snakes or drink deadly poison.  By the way, the reason for the addition of the expanded ending is worth reading about.  Evidently early Christians were not satisfied with how the book originally ended.  I am not going to get into it here, but there is plenty to read on the internet about why these verses were added.

There are other verses that were added for various reasons.  Usually because it supported that particular scribe's theology.

Today I want to mention the books of 1 and 2 Timothy.  Although attributed to Paul, scholars will tell you that they were not written by Paul.  They are works of later authors.  There are three reasons for this.

1. The grammar is markedly different than other books attributed to Paul.
2. The organization of the church shows a later date... deacons and elders exist in 1 and 2 Timothy. In earlier works, the church is organized by spiritual gifts.
3. Finally, the attitude toward women is generally unlike Paul. The beloved apostle who writes that there is no Jew nor Greek, no male nor female, in Timothy is quoted as saying that women should not speak in church. Yes there is a parallel passage in 1 Cor, but this attitude is not reflective of Paul's normal attitude toward women.

Why does this matter?  Well, we should stop handling snakes.  It is dumb.  And we should stop telling people to go and sin no more.  People are people and they are going to sin.  Finally, we should stop quoting scriptures that demean women.  We are better than this.  The days of controlling and silencing women are long gone.  As are the days of slavery.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.