Is it true that some of the concepts that are similar to other religions might have been removed from the present Bible?

[Shri Anil asked: Pādanamaskaraṃ Swami! The New Testament gospel is considered to be written by four authors namely St. Mathew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John. However, in the life history of Jesus written by the four, there are few inconsistencies in reporting certain incidents. Also there is no mention of rebirth in any of the four gospels. Some believe that priests in the past might have censored the gospels to remove certain concepts like rebirth, preaching against eating non-vegetarain food etc. It is highly possible that Jesus would have preached about finer concepts like rebirth and avoiding non-vegetarian food etc. to His disciples personally. Some writings on the preaching of Jesus like the Gospel of the Nazarenes mention a of lot of incidents in which Jesus strongly objects to the eating of non-vegetarian food and harming innocent birds for business etc. A few of them are given below. Please enlighten on why some priests suppressed these concepts in the present form of the scripture:

“And some of his disciples came and told him of a certain Egyptian, a son of Belial, who taught that it was lawful to torment animals if their sufferings brought any profit to men. And Jesus said to them, ‘They who partake of the benefits which are gotten by wronging one of the Creator’s creatures cannot be righteous; nor can they touch or teach holy things, or speak of the mysteries of the Kingdom whose hands are stained with blood, or whose mouths are defiled with flesh’. The Lord gives the grains and the fruits of the earth for food; and for righteous man there is truly no other lawful substance for the body. Wherefore I say to all those who desire to be disciples, keep your hands from bloodshed and let no flesh meat enter your mouths; for the Lord is just and bountiful; who ordains that man shall LIVE by the fruits and seeds of the earth alone. I am in all creatures and all creatures are in me. In all their joys, I rejoice. In all their afflictions, I am afflicted.” 38:1-6

“And as Jesus was going to Jericho he met there a man with a cage full of birds which he had caught and some young doves. And he saw how they were in misery having lost their liberty, and moreover being tormented by hunger and thirst. And he said to the man, ‘What will you do with these?’ And the man answered, ‘I go to make my living by selling these birds which I have taken.’ And Jesus said, ‘What would you think, if another stronger than you, or with greater craft, were to catch you and bind you, or your wife, or your children, and cast you into a prison, in order to sell you into captivity for his own profit, and make a living?’ Are not these your fellow creatures, only weaker than you? And does not the same Creator care for us all? Let these your little brethren go forth into freedom, and see that you do this no more, but provide honestly for your living. And the man marveled at these words and at his authority, and he let the birds go free. So when the birds came forth they flew to Jesus and stood on his shoulder and sang to him. And the man inquired further of his doctrine, and he went his way, and learned the craft of making baskets, and by this craft he earned his bread, and afterwards he broke his cages and his traps, and became a disciple of Jesus.”41:1-6

Another point is that in the Bible, Jesus is seen to be very peaceful except on one occasion in which He expelled people doing business inside the Temple. Jesus visited the Temple, where the courtyard is described as being filled with livestock, merchants, and the tables of the money changers. Seeing these activities in the Temple He made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And He poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And He told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade”. Why did Jesus become so angry during this incident? Even nowadays, we can see such business going on in every place of worship.]

Swami replied: As told by Me already, the fundamental concepts in all religions are exactly one and the same because the same God came in various human forms to preach the spiritual knowledge in different regions. There cannot be any contradiction in the basic concepts of all religions in the world. There may be some superficial differences due to different cultures and traditions that had developed in various places of the world when the preaching was given to them. There is only one God for this entire world, who is beyond space and beyond the imagination of any human being. God is beyond the imagination of even angels who are energetic beings. This unimaginable God gets mediated; that is, He enters into the medium of a human being in order to approach human beings present in various places of the world. The human media in which the unimaginable God enters in different times appear different, as per the different cultures and the different languages of the people to whom God is preaching. In the above-mentioned concept of not harming any creatures, you can find perfect similarity between the preachings of Buddha, Mahāvīr and Jesus.

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| Shri Datta Swami | Is it true that some of the concepts that are similar to other religions might have been removed from the present Bible? | Mahaaviir Mahavir Mahaavir