Catholics and the Bible

[His own]

I have been searching long enough to feel confident of the inerrancy of the Bible, and I've heard and read a few whoppers, but my daughter's atheist boyfriend threw me a new curve. According to him, the passages in the NT re Satan were added by the Catholic church to change our concept of him. Previously, he was not considered evil but more as he is portrayed in the story of Job. I'd never heard this, and I would've dismissed it, but my college-educated husband agreed with him, so this is obviously something taught in university. I don't know where to start to research this! Any clues?

[National Intelligence Director Phoenix]

I have been searching long enough to feel confident of the inerrancy of the Bible, and I've heard and read a few whoppers, but my daughter's atheist boyfriend threw me a new curve. According to him, the passages in the NT re Satan were added by the Catholic church to change our concept of him. Previously, he was not considered evil but more as he is portrayed in the story of Job. I'd never heard this, and I would've dismissed it, but my college-educated husband agreed with him, so this is obviously something taught in university. I don't know where to start to research this! Any clues?

Hiya Hisown! Thanks for the question!

This time, he's making the claim! Make sure he can back it! You don't have to research. All you do at this point is ask questions. He is not making an issue of interpretation but of what the texts say. Ask for these texts. Then you should also ask for texts that don't have the addition so you can know that they were added.

I'll go on and tell you the claim is nonsense, but it's not your burden to prove. It's his.

If you want to familiarize yourself, go out and get a copy of a work by Bruce Metzger on textual criticism. I'd also suggest F.F. Bruce's "The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?"

Hope this helps!
ApologiaPhoenix

[His own]

Thank you. I am familiar with these two authors and, while I haven't read those particular books, I have read books that referenced them quite extensively. I've done my own personal searching and I certainly have no trouble taking the Bible as the Word of God. It just concerns me that these things are thrown around so casually as facts, as the "given" in a discussion, and swallowed whole by these so-called students.

My husband agreed with him and said he had seen the TV documentaries where two verses were put side by side and references to Satan were consistently missing from one. I haven't seen it, and I don't know what the actual claim was, though I've seen similar shows and the verbage is often misleading. He also points out that bible scholars such as Bruce and Metzger have as much of a vested interest in their point of view as the other side.

I seem to be surrounded by these Episopalian, college-educated, liberal relativists, many of whom claim to be Christian but with so many caveats as to make the term meaningless. I guess I just have to remember that this is not my burden but my joy to show Christ to them.

I suppose I am lamenting the days when Billy Graham would hold the Bible in his hand and speak from it as from God's word. It seemed to be a settled matter, but no one seems to believe even that anymore.