# An example of interpolation in the New Testament **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 7, 2015, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228 "2015-08-07T11:14:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/21 "2015-08-07T16:27:50Z")
> [@SeniorCitizen007](#): > > I’m following a line of thought that Paul was a playwright and that Jesus, King of the Jews, was a character concocted by him. Paul wrote Mark, as a play. Later the text was altered and Catholicism was born. It makes the line about casting the first stone have a totally different meaning. ---
**Author:** ![SeniorCitizen007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@SeniorCitizen007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeniorCitizen007)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/22 "2015-08-07T16:36:04Z")
I used to be an atheist with no interest in religion. One day a woman insisted that, if I wanted more sex from her, I had to read the Bible. So I did … I read the NT from beginning to end in one sitting. My pattern-recognition autistic savant mind now won’t leave me in peace. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/23 "2015-08-07T16:51:11Z")
> [@SeniorCitizen007](#): > > I used to be an atheist with no interest in religion. One day a woman insisted that, if I wanted more sex from her, I had to read the Bible. So I did … I read the NT from beginning to end in one sitting. My pattern-recognition autistic savant mind now won’t leave me in peace. Never did get the sex, amiright? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/24 "2015-08-07T17:03:27Z")
> [@SeniorCitizen007](#): > > Statistically the odds against this happening by chance are considerable. Statistically, the odds of finding random patterns in any large text are nearly 1. Why is this sequence any more meaningful than any other sequence? The answer is that it isn’t. It’s just a product the human’s ability to look for patterns. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/25 "2015-08-07T19:58:01Z")
> [@SeniorCitizen007](#): > > I used to be an atheist with no interest in religion. One day a woman insisted that, if I wanted more sex from her, I had to read the Bible. So I did … I read the NT from beginning to end in one sitting. My pattern-recognition autistic savant mind now won’t leave me in peace. Percival Lowell was also into pattern recognition, and we got decades of the canals of Mars as a result. Sometimes them old patterns are only in your mind. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/26 "2015-08-07T20:43:43Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I think he feels that he must witness. Which is exactly his right in Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/27 "2015-08-07T20:48:17Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Which is exactly his right in Great Debates. Of course. I was just explaining (I thought) why there was no debate. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/28 "2015-08-07T21:22:29Z")
> [@SeniorCitizen007](#): > > I’m following a line of thought that Paul was a playwright and that Jesus, King of the Jews, was a character concocted by him. Paul wrote Mark, as a play. A strong case has been made for the Earl of Oxford as the author of that play. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/29 "2015-08-07T22:25:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There was no name change. Saul and Paul are the same name. It’s like John and Juan. Saul is the Hebrew version and Paul is the Latin version. I do not believe this is correct. Where do you get the idea? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/30 "2015-08-07T22:56:20Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I do not believe this is correct. Where do you get the idea? It’s not correct. The name “Paulus”, in Latin means “little”. Saul, in Hebrew, means either “I asked for” or alternately, “Given over [to God]”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/31 "2015-08-07T23:24:26Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I do not believe this is correct. Where do you get the idea? I don’t recall where I first heard this because it was decades ago. But if you’re asking for a cite: [http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/why-did-god-change-sauls-name-to-paul](http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/why-did-god-change-sauls-name-to-paul) > [http://graceandknowledge.faithweb.com/saul2paul.html](http://graceandknowledge.faithweb.com/saul2paul.html) [http://bibleq.net/answer/1923/](http://bibleq.net/answer/1923/) > **[Did Saul Change His Name to Paul? - Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary](https://dbts.edu/2012/06/10/did-saul-change-his-name-to-paul/)** > > As you may remember, up until chapter 13 Paul is known in Acts by his other name, Saul. Acts 13 records the start of Paul’s first missionary journey. Barnabas and Saul have... Read More ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/32 "2015-08-08T00:35:18Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Statistically the odds against anything happening are immense. But things happen all the time. If only there weren’t so many things! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/33 "2015-08-08T00:51:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I don’t recall where I first heard this because it was decades ago. > > But if you’re asking for a cite: > > [http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/why-did-god-change-sauls-name-to-paul](http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/why-did-god-change-sauls-name-to-paul) > [How was Saul changed to Paul? - Christianity Stack Exchange](http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/14788/how-was-saul-changed-to-paul) > [Why Luke Shifts from "Saul" to "Paul" in Acts 13](http://graceandknowledge.faithweb.com/saul2paul.html) > [Why did Paul change his name from Saul to Paul? – Bible Q](http://bibleq.net/answer/1923/) > [Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary Did Saul Change His Name to Paul? - Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary](http://dbts.edu/blog/did-saul-change-his-name-to-paul/) None of those actually say that Saul is the Hebrew version of the Latin name Paul, though. They point out that Paul, being a Roman citizen, had a Roman name along with his actual, Hebrew, name. And that’s what would happen. When a non-Roman got Roman citizenship, they’d take a Roman name, usually the name of the person who gave them citizenship. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/34 "2015-08-08T01:49:29Z")
> [@](#): > > I agree, it becomes a truly headbanging mess when one tries to figure out how Christianity evolved from whatever the events were that started things. Tip: Whenever your explanation requires a truly headbanging mess to figure out, and there’s a different, widespread explanation that requires no headbanging at all, that’s a sign that you should favor the other explanation. ---
**Author:** ![SeniorCitizen007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@SeniorCitizen007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeniorCitizen007)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/35 "2015-08-08T08:23:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Tip: Whenever your explanation requires a truly headbanging mess to figure out, and there’s a different, widespread explanation that requires no headbanging at all, that’s a sign that you should favor the other explanation. Ok - Christianity began when John the Baptist came preaching and all the people of the Judaean countryside and all the of Jerusalem flocked out to him, were baptised and confessed their sins REVOLUTION! Or the start of a play being presented in an amphitheatre? Mark contains some very sophisticated stuff that suggests to me that the audience would have been intellectuals. Mark was later expanded by an author hostile to the original storyline. (The Petrine influences as some scholars say) ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/36 "2015-08-08T13:47:04Z")
Which New Testament did you read, the thing’s been edited here and there through the millenia. Right or wrong, we have a document today that is over 5% different from what we had at the founding of the Catholic Church. Anything over 5% inconsistencies allows crackpotism. Now I’m not saying you’re advancing a crackpot theory, hell, I have no idea what you’re saying. I’m just trying to be helpful and caution you about “looking like” a crackpot. You should know me well enough by now to know I fancy myself as something of a crackpot expert. The most serious flaw in your argument is “I read the NT from beginning to end in one sitting.” Okay, you won’t understand anything in the New Testament until you’ve thoroughly studied the Old Testament and comprehend **WHY** God sent His only begotten Son to Earth. Start by becoming familiar with the Book of Psalms, about a third of them are worthy of memorization. Then as you study the Old Testament, try to live your life according to the letter. It’s impossible in today’s society, but don’t worry, God isn’t judging you that way. Here it will be extremely helpful to belong to a Church, this is a social affair so you’ll need to be able to discuss these matters with other people, “eye’n’eye” as the Rasta Man says. Typically this takes about 7 years, there’s a ton of stuff covered and it takes this long to study, apply and (hopefully) demonstrate how futile your efforts are. It’s critically important to fully understand exactly what failed in the Old Testament. Now that you’ve been living this failure for these many years, begin your study of the New Testament, as this presents an alternative to the Old Testament. This is the context you seem to be missing. Focus on the books _before_ Romans, some Bibles will actually caste Christ’s own words in red and these are to be particularly studied. As you work your way through this material, you’ll also be changing your lifestyle. Here’s where the letters of Paul come into play. He was just a mortal man, like you and me, who himself was transitioning between the judgements of the first covenant and the judgements of the second covenant. God speaks down to Man, Christ speaks down to Man; but Paul’s your brother, your equal, he speaks to you on the level, truly “eye’n’eye”. The bad news is that you’ll have to give up all your worldly wealth. Even the smallest amount of filthy lucre will tempt you to wine, women and cutting your hair; all of which blind you to THE TRUTH you’re seeking. Sell off all your assets and write a check, then send it to 350 North Orleans Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60654 … … your salvation awaits you. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/37 "2015-08-08T15:55:30Z")
> [@SeniorCitizen007](#): > > I’m following a line of thought that Paul was a playwright and that Jesus, King of the Jews, was a character concocted by him. Paul wrote Mark, as a play. Later the text was altered and Catholicism was born. You do realize that the language and syntax in the writings of Paul bear no resemblance to the language and syntax of Mark? Aside from all the other problems with your hypothesis, you need to be able to explain that discrepancy. (And claiming “one was a play” does not do it. The pattern of syntax _might_ change between a letter and a play (although it it unlikely unless the author is a professional), but the vocabulary with which one writes is generally constant.) Was the “play” written in Aramaic or Greek? If the Gospel of Mark was a play, why did the author(s) of Paul’s letters write those letters? Even without your editing, there is a progression of thought in Paul’s letters that matches the history of Paul’s (purported?) missionary travels as related in Acts. So, now you have a play being written followed by someone taking a bunch of letters and editing them to include additional text–with no example of the unmodified texts appearing anywhere. Then someone else writes a history of Paul’s travels that matches up against the modified texts of the letters. (And since the vocabulary and syntax of the author of Acts corresponds to the vocabulary and syntax of the author of Luke’s Gospel, why did that author apparently re-write that Gospel using “his own” language?) Your hypothesis has far too many holes and and unsupported bridges to hold up under any serious scrutiny. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/38 "2015-08-08T16:01:57Z")
> [@SeniorCitizen007](#): > > Statistically the odds against this happening by chance are considerable. [Multiple testing problem.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_comparisons_problem) There are umpteen million possible patterns that could exist in any random text that might seem meaningful to a human brain looking for hidden meaning. So finding ONE of these possible patterns, even if it’s extremely unlikely statistically, is not only unsurprising, but almost inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/39 "2015-08-08T16:48:45Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Even without your editing, there is a progression of thought in Paul’s letters that matches the history of Paul’s (purported?) missionary travels as related in Acts. My understanding is that some of both Christ’s and Paul’s activities were documented by the Romans. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Apostle) lists some sources about Paul outside the Bible, but I’m not sure that counts as an official citation. ---
**Author:** ![SeniorCitizen007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@SeniorCitizen007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeniorCitizen007)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228/40 "2015-08-08T19:20:31Z")
Mark 1,35 should be followed by verses 40-42 Deleting the interpolated text throughout the gospel changes the storyline. It wasn’t Jesus on the cross in the original. I can construct a convincingly readable story by completely removing the ‘Petrine’ (ie Catholic) text. Jesus was the King of the Jews … he wasn’t God, or even the son of God. He was a fictional character in a play. The interpolated text is of a completely different “religious tone” (authoritarian) to the original. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-interpolation-in-the-new-testament/727228.md?page=3)