The Gospel of Luke records that, as he was dying on the cross, Jesus showed his boundless mercy by praying for his killers this way: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
Not so fast, say contributors to the Conservative Bible Project.
The project, an online effort to create a Bible suitable for contemporary conservative sensibilities, claims Jesus' quote is a disputed addition abetted by liberal biblical scholars, even if it appears in some form in almost every translation of the Bible.
Oh, those whacky liberals! Imagine, the Son of God forgiving those who were putting him to death!
Wait a minute . . . What was that last sentence again? Oh, yeah: "even if it appears in some form in almost every translation of the Bible".
The passage in dispute, as the "scholars" note, doesn't appear in every manuscript. Of course, there are hundreds of such passages that vary, or disappear or reappear, in various manuscripts. Most serious Biblical translations note this, should the reader note carefully the notes; there will be something like, as in my Revised English Bible, "some witnesses omit". The Hebrew Scriptures very often point out variations between the original Hebrew manuscripts and the Septuagint (the Greek translation done by Jewish scholars in the second century CE). It might also point out that other translations differ, particularly St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate.
What does omitting this particular sentence mean? Can it be proven that, in fact, this was an emendation done by liberals hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago to portray a Jesus far different from the one who actually lived? To the second question, I can only say, "No". To the first, it means that conservatives just don't want their Jesus being all loving and forgiving. These words of grace from the cross have spoken to millions of believers over the centuries about the depths of God's love, the freedom offered by Jesus on the cross, and the mystery of grace that envelopes us.
Which is why, obviously, Jesus never uttered these words and the conservatives want it expunged from their Bible.
My guess is, should they pretend to a certain consistency, their Bible will be thicker with footnotes than most, even as the Biblical books themselves are actually smaller. There are so many disputed passages, should these folks decide to omit all but those that all can agree are authentic, we might end up with whole books removed from the canon.
I just can't wait to see the finished project. What are they gonna do with all those passages in the Hebrew prophets about how the rich grind down the poor, and for that reason God is going to punish Israel? Or one of the last verses of The Revelation of God, which warns against changing or removing one word from that particular book of the Bible?
