The Secret History of the Bible – What You Were Never Told
Uncover the hidden truths behind the Bible's creation, from political power struggles to the exclusion of crucial texts—what you’ve never been told about the sacred scriptures.

The Bible is widely considered the word of God by millions, but behind its pages lies a messy and controversial history that most people don't know about. It’s not just about divine revelation—it’s about power, politics, and the deliberate exclusion of certain texts. The Bible you know today was shaped by centuries of decisions made by powerful people, many of whom had little interest in what God wanted and more in what would serve their interests. So, let’s dive into the secret history of the Bible—what you were never told.
The Bible Didn’t Fall From Heaven
Unlike some would love to believe the Bible wasn’t handed down directly from God, fully formed and perfect. It’s not some mystical book that fell from the sky in a shiny, unaltered form. It was written by humans—humans with their own agendas, biases, and political motives. Over the centuries, religious leaders, councils, and rulers chose what would be included and what would be left out. And the decisions weren’t always made based on what was "divinely inspired"—they were based on what would support the establishment and their control over the masses.
This is a fact often ignored or dismissed by those who claim the Bible is inerrant. The canonical Bible—the version accepted by most Christian denominations today—wasn't determined in one fell swoop. It was shaped over centuries, with numerous debates about which books to include. For example, the Council of Carthage (397 CE) confirmed the current New Testament canon, but even then, debates about the exact contents continued for centuries. The Bible we have today is the result of institutional decisions influenced by a variety of factors, from theological consistency to political necessity (Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance).
The Bible is a Product of Political Power
If you think the Bible is just a spiritual guide, you may want to reconsider that since its compilation was deeply political. The early church, especially in the centuries after the death of Jesus, was in a power struggle. It wasn’t about spreading the word of Christ—it was about creating an empire that could control a vast number of followers. The Roman Empire had a lot to gain by standardizing Christian doctrine, and that's exactly what they did.
One of the most famous instances of this is the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, convened by Emperor Constantine. The council didn't just discuss theology; it was an attempt to solidify political power. They declared the nature of Christ, and in the process, they picked and chose which texts would fit the narrative they wanted to promote. The idea of a "Trinity" wasn’t universally accepted at the time, but it was what Constantine and his crew thought would unify the empire.
Constantine’s political motive was clear: unify his empire under one faith to stabilize his rule. And let’s not pretend the church didn’t benefit. As Bart D. Ehrman discusses in Lost Christianities, early Christianity was divided into various sects, many of which had radically different views about Jesus and his message. What became known as "orthodox Christianity" was ultimately the version that best suited the interests of the Roman Empire, particularly under Constantine, who saw Christianity as a tool for unifying a diverse and fragmented empire.
The Books That Didn’t Make the Cut
Now, let’s talk about the books that didn’t make it into the Bible. You think you know the whole story, but you don’t. There are dozens of gospels, letters, and books that didn’t make it into the canon, and the reasons for their exclusion weren’t spiritual—they were often political. The Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary, and the Gospel of Judas all present radically different views of Jesus and early Christianity. But these didn’t make the cut because they didn’t fit with the narrative that the church wanted to push.
For instance, the Gospel of Thomas contains sayings of Jesus that don’t appear in the canonical Gospels, many of which suggest that salvation is more about personal knowledge than blind faith. The church wasn’t too keen on that, so it was conveniently left out. As Elaine Pagels points out in The Gnostic Gospels, the early church was particularly hostile to any text that implied a more mystical or individualistic understanding of salvation. The Gnostic texts, like Thomas, stressed esoteric knowledge, which the institutional church felt undermined its control.
Then there’s the Gospel of Mary, which suggests that Mary Magdalene was a key figure in the early church, even possibly the leader of the disciples. This was a massive threat to the patriarchal control the early church had established, so it was dismissed and hidden away. Scholars like Karen L. King in The Gospel of Mary argue that the early church's exclusion of texts like this reflects a deep desire to suppress the feminine in favor of a male-dominated leadership structure.
And let’s not forget the Gospel of Judas, which depicts Judas not as a traitor, but as Jesus’ most trusted disciple, fulfilling a divine purpose by betraying him. Can you see why the church wouldn’t want that story floating around?
These texts didn’t disappear because they were "false"—they disappeared because they didn’t fit the church’s desired narrative. The Bible was edited and curated by those in power, and anything that threatened their grip on control was tossed out.
The Bible’s Contradictions and Inconsistencies
If you read the Bible closely, you’ll quickly see that it’s full of contradictions and inconsistencies. The Old and New Testaments don’t always match up, and many of the stories don’t agree on key points. But this isn’t some mistake—it’s part of the design.
Take the story of the creation of the world, for example. The Genesis creation story contradicts itself. In one account, God creates humans after animals; in another, he creates them before. The timeline doesn’t match up, and there’s no clear explanation of how this could happen if it was divinely inspired.
And what about the resurrection of Jesus? The four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—tell different stories about who was at the tomb, when it happened, and who saw Jesus first. It’s not just small details. The differences are significant. But instead of seeing these as warning signs of a human-made book, believers tend to brush them aside with "faith."
These contradictions are a glaring reminder that the Bible wasn’t handed down from on high. It was written, edited, and assembled by people—flawed, biased, and very much subject to the politics of their time.
As biblical scholar Bart Ehrman argues in Misquoting Jesus, the Bible we read today is the result of centuries of scribes making changes, whether intentional or accidental, as well as theological debates over the centuries about what should be considered authoritative. The Bible’s inconsistency is evidence of its human origins, not divine authorship.
The Bible and Slavery
One of the most inconvenient truths about the Bible is its stance on slavery. We like to think of the Bible as a moral guide, but it doesn’t exactly condemn slavery. In fact, the Old Testament has laws governing slavery, and the New Testament doesn’t exactly condemn it either.
In Ephesians, Paul advises slaves to obey their masters, even going so far as to say that slavery can be part of God’s plan. This wasn’t an oversight—it was a reflection of the times. The Bible was used to justify slavery for centuries, and the verses that didn’t condemn it were conveniently ignored by abolitionists.
It’s easy to cherry-pick verses that support the idea of freedom and equality, but the reality is that the Bible, in its original form, didn’t support these ideals. The powerful elite, whether in the Roman Empire or the American South, made sure that the Bible worked for them, not the other way around.
The Bible's ambiguous stance on slavery has been explored by scholars such as John E. Toews in Slavery and the Bible: The Legacy of an Old Testament Law, who demonstrates that both Old and New Testament texts have been used historically to justify slavery. It was only through societal pressure and reinterpretation that these texts were eventually distanced from the institution of slavery.
The Bible’s Creation and Control
At the end of the day, the Bible was crafted to serve a purpose: control. It wasn’t meant to be an absolute guide to spirituality—it was a tool used by those in power to solidify their authority. Whether it was the Roman emperors or the medieval church, the Bible was about maintaining power. And let’s be honest—it worked.
The Bible didn’t have to be perfect. It didn’t have to be internally consistent. It just had to be persuasive enough to keep people following the rules. And it has done that job spectacularly for over two thousand years.
Before You Go
The Bible you read today isn’t the whole truth. It’s a version of the truth—edited, curated, and crafted by powerful figures who decided what was worth keeping and what was worth discarding. From the political machinations behind its creation to the exclusion of competing gospels and the contradictions within its pages, the Bible is far from the perfect, divinely inspired book many believe it to be. So, before you let it dictate your life, remember that it’s been shaped by the hands of men, not gods.
Read the whole thing? Good. Now drop a comment, follow for more unholy truths, and tell the world what you think.
Sources and Further Reading
The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance by Bruce M. Metzger (1987)
Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew by Bart D. Ehrman (2003)
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels (1979)
Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart D. Ehrman (2005)
Slavery and the Bible: The Legacy of an Old Testament Law by John E. Toews (2000)
The Gospel of Mary translated by Jean-Yves Leloup (2002)
The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus translated by Marvin Meyer (1992)