There’s a large list of things that people assume are in the Bible, but actually are not. Abortion is a great example. While many use the Bible to push their anti-Abortion agenda, leading even more to believe the Bible is firmly against it, the Bible is actually more on the fence, so to speak. But that’s not the only thing people assume is in there that isn’t.
1. Many Common Sayings We Think Come from the Bible Don’t
There’s a list of common sayings and phrases that are generally thought to come from the Bible that don’t. Just a few examples:
- “God helps those who help themselves.” (Actually that was Ben Franklin, and the Koran, 13:11.)
- “God will never give you anything you can’t bear.” (A poor restating of Corinthians 10:13, which actually states that God will tempt us, or in other words lead us to sin, more that we can handle and that he’ll provide a way out.)
- “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” (Actually Francis Bacon.)
- “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” (St. Augustine, kind of; he actually said: “with love for mankind and hatred of sins.”)
- “God works in mysterious ways.” (Anonymous.)
- “Be in the world but not of the world.” (Anonymous.)
This is the short list. If you hear phrases that sound religious, you may want to Google them to be sure.
2. The Three Wise Men
First off, the “wise men” mentioned in Matthew 2 were actually magi, or wizards. Why magi was translated to wisemen we’ll never know. As to who they were, there are many guesses. Some think they followed Zoroastrianism. They were likely astrologists, seeing the sign in the sky.
The Bible also never numbers them, so we really have no clue how many of them there were. They had three gifts, and that’s likely why people assume there were three of them. There’s also a theory that they were just traveling salesmen, and the “gifts” were actually the items they sold.
3. The Trinity
This surprises a lot of people, but the trinity isn’t from the Bible. I don’t just mean the word, but the idea as well. It’s actually an extra-Biblical concept given to us from the Catholic church. Though the trinity was mentioned before the Catholic church was organized, it didn’t have the same meaning. Theophilus of Antioch used the term, but he described the Holy Spirit as the wisdom of God, not something commonly recognized in most of today’s Christianity.
What many people don’t understand is that Christianity was originally much like it is today, with a lot of fighting over who is right. To some, Jesus was literally the son of God. To others, he was God-made flesh. To still others, he was just a prophet and/or messiah, not a god. Eventually, the Catholics merged all this to create a monotheistic religion as their theology evolved. And the Bible is vague enough that no one has a definitive answer.
The idea that there are two, three, or even four Gods as one can be taken from the Bible — as can the idea that there’s just one. It’s really all in how the Bible is translated into English. Seeing that the authors are long dead, translators generally put their own spin on things when they bring it to the masses.
4. The Holy Grail
The idea of the Holy Grail is legend. Literally. In the Bible, at the last supper, Jesus gives wine in a cup to represent his blood. This is what most Christians believe was the first sacrament. However, there’s nothing special about the cup. Stories and movies like King Author’s tale have given rise to the myth that the cup was holy. And maybe it is — but the Bible doesn’t tell us so. And if it is, why not also the plate that held the bread? Or the tablecloth?
5. The Antichrist
Speaking of God and Jesus, the Antichrist isn’t the person Hollywood portrays him to be either. Yes, the Antichrist is mentioned in the Bible. However, he’s not the son of the devil. He can be anyone. Literally.
“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”
-1 John 2:22
One can argue that the Antichrist is the devil based on 1 John 4:3, but there’s definitely not just one.
6. The Devil
First off, before anyone flips out, yes, the devil is in the Bible. However, his role and what he looks like isn’t. Or at the very least, it’s vague. We know there’s an angel of light, Lucifer, that fell (Isaiah 14). We know that in the book of Job, Satan makes a bet with God that he can break Job. We know the devil tempted Christ (Matthew 4:1–11). We know there was a serpent in the garden of Eden. We don’t know these are the same beings. We don’t know what any of them look like.
The idea of what the devil looks like is based on pagan gods. The idea he has goat legs, Pan. His pitchfork, Poseidon. And, the idea that he looks like a snake or becomes a snake is from Genesis, the snake that tempts Eve. However, the original authors more than likely just saw the serpent as a talking snake that was just being a jerk.
7. The Forbidden Apple
Speaking of the serpent, let’s end this list in the beginning. As everyone knows, humanity fell because of an apple. Except that we didn’t.
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” -Genesis 2:17
In the next chapter, we read about Eve eating from the “fruit of the tree,” but it’s never stated what kind of fruit it is. Some say it’s a symbol for sex, others a symbol for worldly knowledge, others still a fig. The point is that we don’t know.
And that’s really the key to understanding the Bible. There’s much in it and about it that we just don’t know. This is why so many churches have been built around it. While it’s filled with wisdom and knowledge, it’s also filled with terrible things. Maybe this is why we weren’t suppose to eat the fruit — our eyes are open yet we don’t understand so much about the world around us.