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Historical inaccuracies

To the editor,

Contrary to what David Schrieber wrote in his letter, "Mormons 'playing a different game,'" the original Hebrew, Greek and Roman manuscripts of the Bible have been changed since they first came into existence - many times, from scribe to scribe and from translation to translation, over the centuries. (Schrieber wrote they have not). His next statement that "each translation of the Bible is taken directly from the original documents is, which do exist," is likewise incorrect. The earliest biblical documents in existence date back no further than the fourth century. This is common knowledge among historians and biblical scholars, as well as those who have taken basic college courses in the Old and New Testament.

Finally, his statement "the Trinitarian doctrine is the foundation of Christianity" is likewise incorrect. Believe it or not, not all Christians were/are Trinitarians, and the Trinitarian concept was not originally a Christian belief. It became a part of Christian belief in the second century and came from the Greek Trinitarian tradition. It was later established as central to Christian belief at the Council of Nicea in 325 C.E. Consequently, all who disagreed with this teaching were condemned and persecuted as heretics.

Michael D. Berdine

Doctoral candidate, History Department