Hi, I'm Tonus

[Tonus]

There is certainly no evidence of any consistent attempt at modifying the text of the Bible. That isn't to say you won't find them - if you read the Samaritan Pentateuch you will find obvious instances of deliberate alteration to support their following. Since we find it so easily with their version, and their version is just the Pentateuch - just 5 of the 66 books of the Christian Bible - if the text really was modified deliberately over the years then it should be obvious and easy to locate where they are.

I was thinking more of the original writings that would eventually become the Bible. As I understand it, they're mostly a collection of historical texts in the manner of the time that they were written, which is to say that they are myths and allegorical tales that were designed to help them cope with their past and present. They were influenced greatly by politics and culture, and thus were modified and expanded upon over time. The idea that people today take those books as literal truth, whole or in part, when the original writers did not is a fascinating concept to me.

Once the various writings were selected and assembled into what we have now, further modification could not be attempted on the scale that it was during the ages when those stories and histories were first being written or changed. Even so, minor changes like the change the JWs make to the NT can have profound effect. For example, their change to John 1:1 is used to reinforce their teaching that Jesus and Jehovah are two separate beings, whereas many Christian denominations consider them to be the same person. That's a significant change, IMO. Their inclusion of the name Jehovah in the NT also gives a different impression of the import given to god over Jesus by early Christians, which they use to reinforce their decision to worship Jehovah instead of Jesus.

Not being able to make radical changes to the writings once they were legitimized and codified as the Bible also gave rise to the many philosophical interpretations of the Bible and apologetic discussions designed to harmonize the sometimes discordant content. It's not a direct modification of the book, but I can imagine that in a few centuries, both scientific and archeological discoveries may force a radical alteration of its content.