Excerpt

This report will show, with a strong basis in evidence plus logic, that the Christianity taught from the New Testament of the Bible for the last 15 centuries is seriously contaminated with misinformation and unreliable sources of information. This report will also show that when the contaminants are identified and removed, the result is a clear, coherent, and accurate account of the Christianity taught by Jesus Christ himself while he was here on earth (True Christianity). Before jumping to a quick rejection of these statements, please take time to read thoughtfully the presentation in this report.

Because this study of the New Testament deals with various aspects of information and belief, an understanding of the basic nature of these entities is desirable for understanding this report (For the reader who desires a review of this subject, a reference is given).

Information and belief are closely related in that belief always consists of believing information. And the basis for the accuracy (or correctness) of any given belief is identical to the basis for the accuracy (or correctness) of the information believed. History has demonstrated repeatedly that the strongest basis for a piece of information or for a given belief consists of evidence plus logic. Information or belief so-based withstands close scrutiny and the test of time more consistently than information or belief not so-based.

In all branches of knowledge, religious and non-religious alike, we seek correct information because action based upon correct information brings desired results. But the closest we can come to finding correct information on any subject (except for information that is correct by definition such as 2+2=4) is finding information that has a high-probability of being correct, called high-probability information. And the closer we can get to correct information via high-probability information, the greater is the probability that action based upon that high-probability information will bring desired results. We seek truth (correct information or correct belief) to guide our actions but we are able to achieve only a certain probability of having found it.

All of our daily activities are based on probability, the probability that the information we believe and base our actions on is correct. The concept, high-probability belief, low-probability belief, and all gradations in-between these extremes is basic to the present study.

Basic also is the concept that high-probability belief can change to low-probability belief and vice versa when new evidence plus logic is found. This does not happen very often but it does happen.

Information or beliefs that do not lead to action can be incorrect without causing problems in the material world. They can be interesting and worthwhile from an intellectual standpoint but they do not cause problems in the material world because they do not initiate action.

The lessons learned from the Galileo scandal in the early 1600s A.D. brought major changes in the way we identify correct information (high-probability information). The disciplines of science and engineering started using these lessons fairly quickly, and over the ensuing four centuries this led to such an abundance of new information that the information explosion we are now experiencing came into being.

New Testament scholars, however, did not make use of these lessons. They believed that the New Testament is the inerrant word of God and therefore does not need a determination of its accuracy. This belief has an almost zero probability of being correct. An examination of the contents of The New Testament shows that it contains conflicting quotations of Christ's words and obvious misquotations of his words (Examples are given on Pages 6: 5 and 6: 8 of this report). The presence of these is what gives the New Testament an almost zero probability of being the inerrant word of God. The presence of errors in the New Testament is not disturbing because nowhere does Christ say that his words would be recorded without error. The New Testament is thus no more and no less than an historical document and as such is expected to contain errors. The task is then to separate the correct information from the incorrect, that is, the more probable information from the less probable, on the basis of the evidence plus logic.

New Testament scholars, instead of identifying the errors and dealing with them, have either glossed over them, ignored them, or put their own meaning on the words containing the errors. Religious beliefs therefore lagged way behind beliefs in other branches of knowledge in making advances. The time is now long overdue for New Testament scholars to catch up.

The New Testament as it now stands is seriously contaminated with incorrect information and unreliable sources of information. Consequently, many Christians have for at least 15 centuries been receiving incorrect teachings in their churches and in classes they attend. A removal of these contaminants is necessary to bring forth most accurately the beliefs and teachings of True Christianity.

By applying the lessons learned from the Galileo scandal of the early 1600s A.D. regarding ways to identify high-probability information, we are able to identify and remove the contaminants from the New Testament. The result is a clear, internally consistent, and most probably accurate account of the beliefs and teachings of True Christianity. The content of True Christianity should rightfully replace today's New Testament (today's conventional wisdom) because only the high-probability beliefs of True Christianity have a high probability of bringing desired results in the eternity into which we step at the moment we die. And one of the main functions of any religion is to prepare individuals for their existence in that eternity.

The intent of this report is to identify the most basic high-probability beliefs and teachings that constitute True Christianity. Of these beliefs and teachings, the most important of all are Christ's teachings that show us the way to eternal life with God in the eternity into which we step at the moment we die.




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