Did Christians remove verses about Heaven to scare people into Christianity?

by 2manyusernamestaken

I have heard that in the past Christians used to remove verses about Heaven to scare people into Christianity. So basically, most of the verses of Hell were left. It didn't really work to get enough converts, so Christians do not try this method (of scaring people into Christianity) anymore.

However, now we are left with "playing the harp" and being together with God. We don't have a thorough answer about what's in Heaven anymore.

Is this true?

Evan_Th

I've never heard this thesis before, and I find it difficult to guess where or when these verses might have been removed. The current text of the Bible is substantially identical to the most ancient manuscripts we have, dating back at least to the second century AD. (There are some mostly-small differences, but however significant they are to textual critics, they don't have any bearing on this issue). The only two lengthy passages which may have been removed from some texts are the Pericope Adulterae and the "Longer Ending of Mark," neither of which discuss Heaven at all, and virtually all scholars believe they were actually inserted later (i.e. the original manuscripts didn't have them).

It's definitely true that some groups (e.g. the Chinese Communist Party) have discouraged Christians from teaching about Heaven, but even they didn't go so far as to try to edit the Bible. If you could give further details as to where this was supposed to have happened, we could maybe give a better answer - but as it is, all I can really offer is a general "no."