The Original Bible is a Romantic Notion

While studying theology, Mäkipelto and Huotari encountered the many versions of biblical texts for the first time. This experience drew them into the field of textual criticism. They were rewarded for their nonfiction book Sensuroitu. Raamatun muutosten vaiettu historia (Censored: The Hidden History of Changes to the Bible).

Ville Mäkipelto, you are a YouTuber, psychologist, and doctor of theology. Paavo Huotari, you are a doctoral researcher and a pastor in the Lutheran Church. Both of you are former pentecostals, and the Bible has been an inseparable part of your lives since childhood. In your book, you argue that there is no such thing as an original bible. What inspired you to write about changes to this sacred text?

Ville Mäkipelto: Paavo and I worked together in the Finnish Academy Centre of Excellence, which studied changes in sacred texts and traditions from 2014 to 2019. We became friends. Paavo asked me if we should write a popular book about changes to the Bible. For example, when it comes to the Old Testament, there is no general understanding of how its texts evolved. On the New Testament side, research is more advanced, and we have a better idea of what parts are later additions and what are earlier texts.

Paavo Huotari: It all began with the idea of disseminating knowledge. We felt that the matters addressed by the Centre of Excellence were too important to remain confined to scholars. We wanted to bring textual criticism research to the general public. In our book, we also reflect on the significance of biblical knowledge in our personal lives and in society. As the process went on, the book became more opinionated than we had initially planned.

What specific skills are required to practise biblical textual criticism?

Ville: You can’t do textual criticism without mastering ancient Greek and Hebrew. Paavo and I have both studied these languages. We don’t examine papyri ourselves; that work has already been done by others. Someone has to first go through the physical manuscripts, then researchers produce editions of them, which are compiled into collections. A huge number of research steps are involved.

Paavo: We deal with textual variants, and studying them requires engineering-like skills. Essentially, we have numerous groups of different manuscripts presented in scholarly text editions and their critical apparatus. Reading these apparatuses requires expertise. Ville and I are fortunate to be at the final stages of text research. Others have digitised the manuscripts and presented their contents. We can directly analyse the differences between textual variants.

Ville: For example, the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, or Qumran texts, were discovered in the 1950s, but their digitisation was only completed in the 2000s. Paavo and I belong to the generation of researchers who, for the first time, have all these texts digitally available. Still, we often had to revisit the entire process and verify what the manuscripts actually say. Scribes have made errors in the manuscripts, and researchers have made mistakes in their studies. In some Qumran photos, you can see archaeologists holding a scroll in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. Things weren’t as meticulous back then. The scrolls show damage caused by cigarettes.

What kinds of differences and intentional or unintentional errors by scribes or translators have been found in manuscripts from different periods?

Ville: The virgin birth of Jesus is a classic example. The first Christians probably didn’t believe in a miraculous birth; the story developed later. In the first Bible translation, the Greek Septuagint, the word parthenos was used to respectfully describe a young woman or maiden. Only later, as language evolved, did the term come to mean “virgin,” a woman untouched by man. Such changes often occur inadvertently through translations.

Paavo: I’m particularly interested in the character of King David. After the exile of the descendants of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, David was idealised as a king whose position was elevated and whose sins were concealed. For early Christians, it was important that Jesus was a descendant of David; the idea of a miraculous birth came later. In our book, we mention David’s court’s #MeToo moment—how David was infatuated with the bathing Bathsheba and slept with her. This story is found in the Books of Samuel but was later omitted from the Chronicles.

Another example concerns the four gospels. If you read them honestly and compare their differences, you realise they can’t all accurately describe Jesus, as the evangelists depict him in such varied ways. People are used to reading the Bible as if it presents a unified narrative of everything. But it’s actually separate stories that were only later compiled together.

Has your relationship with the Bible changed as a result of your book and research?

Ville: It has changed significantly. For me, the Bible no longer holds any particular spiritual meaning; I don’t regard it as special among other books. Of course, I still read it a lot. There are moving passages in the Bible, but other texts addressing spirituality can move me just as much. I used to think the Bible contained divine knowledge about God, but I no longer believe that. What resonates with me most is its humanity. The Bible contains fascinating insights into people across different eras and how they reflected on their relationships with the world.

Paavo: For me, the Bible is the book of books. As a collection of texts, it’s unparalleled in world literature. Censored has illuminated my thinking and strengthened my way of interpreting the Bible. I don’t need to explain away problematic issues that don’t fit with today’s world. Instead, I can engage in dialogue with ancient writers. There’s a thousand years of history, various depictions of gods, ethical rules, instructions, and worldviews.

It would be terribly dull to read only literature that aligns with your own views. The Bible can be read against the grain, which many find hard to accept. It is polyphonic literature created over centuries, and its interpretation and reading methods have changed over time. The idea of an original, unchanging, and truthful Bible is somewhat romantic. You can’t read it like news.

Text by: Helen Partti (translated from a Finnish original)
Photo by: Usva Torkki