The original texts of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) were written in Hebrew and Aramaic. The Christian Scriptures (New Testament) were written in various forms of Greek. Unfortunately, relatively few adults in North America can read any of these ancient languages. So most of us have to rely upon English translations.

The reader cannot always trust the translators. Bibles contain many inaccuracies and errors; some appear to be intentional.  Most versions of the Bible are sponsored by one or more Christian denominations. Thus, translators tend to have similar belief systems. Some denominations have long standing prejudices against other religions, sexual minorities' etc. This sometimes affects the accuracy of their translation. Translators are under economic constraints: if they translate some verses as they actually appear in the original Hebrew and Greek, then long held prejudices would be threatened and many potential readers might reject the translation. Some pastors have favorite passages that appear to condemn Wiccans, other Neo-pagans and homosexuals. If a translation appeared in which those verses no longer attacked Witches or homosexuals, it is unlikely that those clergy would buy it or recommend it to their flock. Some of the most obvious mistranslation occur in passages related to Witchcraft where the word has so many conflicting meanings in modern English that (in our opinion) it should never be used by Bible translators. The English phrase "black magic" would be a much better fit in most locations. Homosexuality, which is used in the Bible to refer to a broad range of mostly criminal activities: homosexual rape, same-sex temple prostitution and child abuse of boys, heterosexuals engaging in homosexual activities.
 

Forgeries in the Bible

Matthew 6:13: The Lord's Prayer traditionally ends: "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for
ever. Amen." This seems to have been absent from the original writings (6) Matthew 17:21 is a duplicate of Mark 9:29. A copyist apparently added it in order to make Matthew agree with Mark. But Mark 9:29 also contains a forgery; this makes Matthew 17:21 a type of double-layered forgery. (5) John 7:53 to 8:11: One of the most famous forgeries in the Bible is the well-known story of the woman observed in adultery. It was apparently written and inserted after John 7:52 by an unknown Christian forger, perhaps in the 5th century CE. It is a pity that the verses John 8:1-11 is not valid. If they were not a forgery, they would have given a clear indication of Jesus' stance on the death penalty. Mark 9:29: Jesus comments that a certain type of indwelling demon can only be exorcised through "prayer and fasting" (KJV) This is also found in the Rheims New Testament. But the word "fasting" did not appear in the oldest manuscripts. (5) New English translations have dropped the word. Mark 16:9-20: The original version of Mark ended rather abruptly at the end of Verse 8. Verses 9 to 20, which are shown in most translations of the Bible, were added later by an unknown forger. The verses were based on portions of Luke, John and other sources. Luke 3:22: This passage describes Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist. According to Justin Martyr, the original version of this verse has God speaking the words: "You are my son, today have I begotten thee." Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Augustine, and other ancient Christian authorities also quoted it this way. (1) The implication is that God first recognized Jesus as his son at the time of baptism. But a forger altered the words to read: "You are my son, whom I love." The altered passage conformed more to the evolving Christian belief that Jesus was the son of God at his birth, (as in Mark and Matthew) or before the beginning of creation (as in John), and not at his baptism. John 5:3-4: These verses describe how "a great multitude" of disabled people stayed by the water. From time to time an angel arrived, and stirred the waters. The first person who stepped in was cured. This passage seems strange. The process would not be at all fair, because the blind could not see the waters being stirred, and the less mobile of the disabled would have no chance of a cure. Part of Verse 3 and all of Verse 4 are missing from the oldest manuscripts of John. (3) It appears to be a piece of free-floating magical text that someone added to John. John 21: There is general agreement among liberal and mainline Biblical scholars that the original version of the Gospel of John ended at the end of John 20. John 21 appears to either be an afterthought of the author(s) of John, or a later addition by a forger. Most scholars believe the latter. (4) 1 Corinthians 14:34-35: This is a curious passage. It appears to prohibit all talking by women during services. But it contradicts verse 11:5, in which St. Paul states that women can actively pray and prophesy during services. It is obvious that verses 11:33b to 36 are a later addition, added by an unknown counterfeiter with little talent at forgery. Bible scholar, Hans Conzelmann, comments on these three and a half verses: "Moreover, there are peculiarities of linguistic usage, and of thought. [Within them]." (2) If they are removed, then Verse 33a merges well with Verse 37 in a seamless transition. Since they were a later forgery, they do not fulfill the basic requirement to be considered inert: they were not in the original manuscript written by Paul. This is a very important passage, because much many denominations sexist stand against female ordination is based on these verses.

Revelation 1:11: The phrase "Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and," (KJV) which is found in
the King James Version was not in the original writing. (7)