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1 Local Warehouse Religion Western- Bible History and Criticism


Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
by Bart D Ehrman

Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why Cover

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

When world-class biblical scholar Bart Ehrman first began to study the texts of the Bible in their original languages he was startled to discover the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations that had been made by earlier translators. In Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman tells the story behind the mistakes and changes that ancient scribes made to the New Testament and shows the great impact they had upon the Bible we use today. He frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultraconservative views of the Bible.

Since the advent of the printing press and the accurate reproduction of texts, most people have assumed that when they read the New Testament they are reading an exact copy of Jesus's words or Saint Paul's writings. And yet, for almost fifteen hundred years these manuscripts were hand copied by scribes who were deeply influenced by the cultural, theological, and political disputes of their day. Both mistakes and intentional changes abound in the surviving manuscripts, making the original words difficult to reconstruct. For the first time, Ehrman reveals where and why these changes were made and how scholars go about reconstructing the original words of the New Testament as closely as possible.

Ehrman makes the provocative case that many of our cherished biblical stories and widely held beliefs concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the divine origins of the Bible itself stem from both intentional and accidental alterations by scribes — alterations that dramatically affected all subsequent versions of the Bible.

Synopsis:

An expert on the Bible reveals how ancient scribes changed the New Testament, forever impacting fundamental Christian beliefs. He claims many widely held beliefs including the divinity of Jesus, and the origin of the Bible are the results of intentional and accidental alterations by scribes.

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Shoshana, May 29, 2007 (view all comments by Shoshana)
Clear, straightforward, and easy to follow. The premise (that the New Testament contains both deliberate and accidental textual changes) is not very radical if the reader accepts the assertion that the New Testament is rendered by humans, even if divinely inspired. Judging from the reviews available on the web, for some this premise is more outrageous than for others. Ehrman uses interesting examples, such as looking at the form of a section of text to determine which elements are likely to be intrusions. (Those readers who have become familiar with chiasmus through the structure of the Harry Potter series will appreciate the example from Luke.)

Ehrman assumes that the reader has some knowledge of New Testament criticism--he doesn't talk much about the history of the writing of the Gospels, for example). This may be confusing for people who are not familiar with the writing and redaction of the New Testament. In addition, the "bible" of the title is misleading. Ehrman is only addressing the New Testament, not the Torah/Old Testament.

I'd have wished for Ehrman's recommendation for the best contemporary New Testament available, since I won't be reading it in Greek any time soon.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780060738174
Subtitle:
The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
Author:
Ehrman, Bart D
Author:
Ehrman, Bart
Author:
Ehrman, Bart D.
Publisher:
HarperOne
Subject:
General
Subject:
Bible - Study - New Testament
Subject:
Religion - Church History
Subject:
Christianity - General
Subject:
Christianity - History - General
Subject:
Biblical Studies - New Testament
Subject:
General Religion
Copyright:
Publication Date:
November 2005
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
242
Dimensions:
9.16x6.70x.90 in. 1.05 lbs.