“Handwritten Draft Of The Bible Discovered Proves Complete Work Of Fiction”

DSS Isaiah — A portion of the second-century BC Great Isaiah Scroll from Qumran
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)

Thanks to David Wills for bringing this notable item to my attention:

“Handwritten Draft of The Bible Discovered Proves Complete Work of Fiction”

I’m not quite sure what to make of it, though.

Is it a joke?

Is its author simply stupid and/or ignorant?

Unless I’m misreading the piece, it seems to presume that, to some considerable degree at least, the Bible was actually composed in English by the authors of the King James Version in the years just prior to 1611. Or something like that. (It’s not altogether clear.)

If that’s the argument, a few words will suffice to blow it utterly out of the water. In fact, the following terms are more than enough to do the job:

Tyndale

Wycliffe

Lutherbibel

Vulgate

Diatessaron

Codex Vaticanus

Codex Alexandrinus

Septuagint

Dead Sea Scrolls

Leningrad Codex

There does seem to be a real core to the story — which was then either pressed into the service of a rather poorly-done historical spoof or completely and grossly misunderstood by a zealously anti-religious ignoramus.

Posted from Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii