Baidarka

There are many non-canonical additions to scripture that most people assume to be part of the biblical text but somehow developed elsewhere and somehow got attached to the biblical stories in the popular mind.

1- Paul traveled to Damascus on a horse.
2- Mary Magdalene was a whore.
3- Jesus was a virgin.
4- Jesus had long brown straight hair.
5- Jesus never wore a hat.

These are just a few that I can think of; they are all from the NT. I’m sure that there are many more examples from the Torah and the NT.
Here’s an invitation to try to compile a list of non-canonical popular assumptions that most people believe to be in scripture.
Where do these additions come from? Does this happen to other forms of literature?

GakuseiDon

Jesus was born on Christmas Day
In the manger there was a donkey and an ox looking on (or something like that - it dates from around 8th C CE I believe)
The Immaculate Conception refers to Jesus
From the OT - Moses had horns when he came down from Mt Sinai

chapka

That Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote the Gospels. This tradition became so generally accepted that it's printed in all or almost all modern bibles, but none of the manuscripts we have (until surprisingly late, I seem to remember) name their authors or imply in any way that they were written by any of the Apostles.

Also, that John of Patmos, traditional author of the book of Revelations, was the same as John the Apostle/Evangelist (mostly a fundamentalist/evangelical idea AFAIK). This is probably a result of the same instinct that has led all of the Marys and anonymous women in the Bible to be lumped together into Mary Magdalene.

Vinnie

What Jesus probably looked like:



Vinnie

Hazel-rah

That there were three Wise Men.
That Lucifer, Satan, and the serpent are one and the same; and that he was a fallen angel.

To answer other questions from the OP: This can come from a number of sources. Cf, for instance, the traditional depiction of Santa Claus, which came from an advertising campaign. Milton and early Christian apologists did it for Satan; I don't know where the Three Wise Men came from unless it was from innumerable Sunday school Christmas pageants or some such.

It sure does happen in other forms of literature. For a prime example, study the evolution of the Arthurian legends--not just the evolution of the character of Arthur, but of how lots of unrelated legends glommed onto his.

In modern times: "Play it again, Sam." Bogey never said that.

Nostalgic Pushhead

Coca cola didn't invent Santa Claus' image

The whole santa thing dates to the 19th century. I <3 snopes.

Hazel-rah

Thanks for the link. Guess that just illustrates how easy it is to embellish canon.

spin

The trinity I'd say is the most important non-canonical assumption I've heard about.


spin

lpetrich

That reconstruction of Jesus Christ's appearance makes him look like pop singer-songwriter George Michael.

CX

That a manger is an outbuilding of some kind (it's a food trough).