History of Alexandria

Located on the Mediterranean Sea in the country of Egypt on the continent of Africa, Alexandria is still an active city today.  This great seaport is in the area known scripturally as the “land of Ham” (Psalm 105:23Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
See All...).  Alexander the Great founded the city in 332 BC during his conquest of the world.  It rapidly developed into the greatest metropolis of the ancient world, reaching an estimated population of one million by the first century BC  At the time of Christ, the city was superseded only by Rome.

Under the rule of the Egyptian Ptolemies, Alexandria became the literary and scientific center of the world.  Its university molded much of the philosophical thought of the time.  The famous library of Alexandria contained half a million or more books and rolls.  Vigorously pursued were the studies of mathematics, astronomy, poetry, and medicine.  Alexandria was a Greek city by founding and thought; but because of the city’s open-mindedness, it became a city known for its cosmopolitan collection of the religions and philosophies from the known world.  It was in this environment that the Jewish theologian Philo first combined Judaism with Platonism to establish the allegorical approach to the Old Testament.

School of Alexandria

In practice, Philo (b. 20 BC) was more of a Greek philosopher than a Jewish theologian; hence his greatest influence was not in the Jewish realm.  He desired to use the Old Testament to support his Greek philosophy.  Therefore, he established a system of allegorical interpretation (spiritualizing of scripture) in order to make the scripture mean anything he desired.  He taught that the hidden, deeper meaning of a passage of scripture was far superior to the plain, literal meaning.  His allegorical interpretation became a wealth of ideas for the Alexandrian school of Christian thought of the second and third centuries.

This theological school was established in Alexandria in the second century after Christ by a man named Pantaenus and was continued by Clement of Alexandria.  The School elevated Greek philosophy and emphasized the allegorical interpretation of scripture.  The school became known for its scholarship and philosophy and was later brought into great prominence by a man named Origen (lived 185-254 AD).

Influence of Origen

In most church histories, Origen is praised as one of the greatest Bible scholars of all time.  In this book, Origen’s mental genius and religious fervor are not questioned, only his knowledge of Biblical truth and his spiritual relationship with God.  Origen possessed only one coat and no shoes, rarely are flesh, never drank wine, devoted much of the night to study and prayer, and slept on the bare floor.  The certainly demonstrates religious fervor and devotion.  On the other hand, because of his doctrine, Origen is certainly unworthy of his reputation as a great Bible scholar.  He taught that the Father is the originating cause of the Son, and that the Holy Spirit was subordinate to and created by the Son.  He believed in the necessity of baptism  for the remission of sins and approved of the baptism of little children.  He taught that even the damned and devils would be brought into voluntary subjection to Christ after they were sufficiently punished.  Origen developed a formal method of interpreting the New Testament scriptures by applying Philo’s allegorical interpretation.  In this way, he was able to support all of the above doctrines and more.

Theologians and scholars who reject Origen’s method of allegorical interpretation and doctrinal conclusions often claim that his abiding merit lies in his work in textual criticism.  He is famous for his labors to produce a correct text of the Greek Bible.  Is it possible, however, that Origen’s false doctrines affected his Biblical criticism?  Two examples should suffice.  While editing the New Testament text, Origen removed the word carpenter from Mark 6:3Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
See All... because he did not think it should be there.  He also removed the command, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” from the passage of Matthew 19:16-22 [16] And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? [17] And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. [18] He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, [19] Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. [20] The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? [21] Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. [22] But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
See All... because he could not logically explain its presence and said it therefore must have been added.  How many times Origen applied this method of Bible correction only God Himself knows.

The Greek text which was being formed at Alexandria during the time of Origen came to be known as the Alexandrian Text.  This text is represented mainly by two Greek manuscripts:  the Sinaiticus (found by Tischendorf in 1844 in a Greek Orthodox monastery at the base of Mt. Sinai) and the Vaticanus (discovered in the Vatican library in 1481).  These manuscripts are the basis for the majority of the subtractions made in the English bibles since 1611.  Because Origen supported the readings which make up the Alexandrian text, scholars look to him as one of the most important witnesses to the corrupted text which is used for modern translations of the Bible.  After Origen’s death, Alexandria continued to have great influence on the text of the New Testament.  Even today, the Alexandrian Text is accepted by the majority of scholars as that which is closest to the originals.

Alexandria in Scripture

Alexandria is very rarely mentioned in the Bible, but these references tell the Bible student much about the direction the city would take.  Its commerce and shipping trade are evident in the fact that the ships which took Paul from Caesarea to Rome for trial were ships of Alexandria (Acts 27:6And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put us therein.
See All...; 28:11
See All...).  Alexandria’s opposition to true doctrine is demonstrated by the Alexandrian Jews which were found in the temple disputing with Stephen (Acts 6:9Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
See All...).  But the most revealing passage about Alexandria is found in Acts 18:24And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.
See All... where, “a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus."  Here was a man who was eloquent in speech and very knowledgeable in the scriptures, but who knew, “only the baptism of John” (v.25).  For this reason, Aquilla and Priscilla, converts of the apostle Paul, “took him unto then, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly” (v.26).  The high degree of training and superior knowledge of Apollos confirms the emphasis on scholarship in his home town.  However, his gaps in Biblical knowledge and errors in Biblical doctrine also point to the characteristic problems of Alexandria.  These problems were to continue in Alexandria through the early church history period.  The old copies of manuscripts of the New Testament which were influenced by the Alexandrian scholars are characterized by their omitting of important doctrinal phrases and verses.  These omissions are not mistakes--scholarship always subtracts from the Word of God.

For an example of their subtractions, let us examine the passage of Mark 16:9-20 [9] Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. [10] And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. [11] And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. [12] After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. [13] And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. [14] Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. [15] And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. [16] He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. [17] And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; [18] They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. [19] So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. [20] And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
See All....  This passage is missing in both the Sinaitic and the Vatican manuscripts.  Therefore, in most recent versions, it is either omitted, or marginal notes question its place in the divine text.  However, these verses are found in all the Greek manuscripts except the two noted above and in all the Latin manuscripts but one.  The Sinaitic and Vatican manuscripts were written between 325-350 AD.  But approximately 150 years before Mark 16:9-20 [9] Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. [10] And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. [11] And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. [12] After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. [13] And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. [14] Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. [15] And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. [16] He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. [17] And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; [18] They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. [19] So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. [20] And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
See All... was deleted by these manuscripts, the passage was quoted as scripture by several writers:  Justin Martyr (c. 150), Tatian (c. 175), Iraneaus (c. 180) and Hippolytus (c. 200).  Thus the evidence of the majority of witnesses and the evidence of greatest antiquity both overwhelmingly support the passage.  Why then do the scholars still prefer to omit the verses?  Evidently because they still desire to follow Alexandrian scholarship.

Conclusion

Alexandria became the world center of education and scholarship.  Here both Judaism and Christianity tried to merge their thought with Grecian Platonism.  Soon, human wisdom took place over the words of the Bible, and scholars leaned upon allegorical interpretations to derive from the Bible what they already accepted as truth.  However, this was not enough.  The science of textual criticism had to be developed to remove from the scriptures phrases which were offensive to their own doctrine.  Hence, Alexandria became the place known for her subtraction from the Word of God.