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Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (Plus) | 
 enlarge | Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher: HarperOne
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  367 reviews
Sales Rank: 3016
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0060859512
Dewey Decimal Number: 230
EAN: 9780060859510
ASIN: 0060859512
Publication Date: February 5, 2007
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Product Description
For almost 1,500 years, the New Testament manuscripts were copied by hand––and mistakes and intentional changes abound in the competing manuscript versions. Religious and biblical scholar Bart Ehrman makes the provocative case that many of our widely held beliefs concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the divine origins of the Bible itself are the results of both intentional and accidental alterations by scribes. In this compelling and fascinating book, Ehrman shows where and why changes were made in our earliest surviving manuscripts, explaining for the first time how the many variations of our cherished biblical stories came to be, and why only certain versions of the stories qualify for publication in the Bibles we read today. Ehrman frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultra–conservative views of the Bible.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 362 more reviews...
 Misquoting Jesus: The Book Everyone Influenced By Christianity Must Read! September 25, 2008
Bart D. Ehrman's "Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why" is simply the most enlightening title I have ever read! Par with his other works, Ehrman condenses centuries of relevant biblical history into this remarkably informative and accessible volume. As one of the world's leading biblical scholars, and chair of the department of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Ehrman's qualifications and experience empower him to deliver candid and noteworthy insight into the most provocative topic the world has ever known. In his luminous book, "Misquoting Jesus", Ehrman reveals the academic and historical truth about the New Testament texts and their turbulent rise to become our society's most influential--and controversial--body of spiritual knowledge. This book is sure to prove itself an imperative revelation for any Christian seeker, and a comprehensive examination of fact-versus-fiction for the inquisitive reader. "Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why" is, without doubt, one of the modern world's most significant and important contributions to the effective understanding of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Clear & Concise Explanation of New Testament Origins September 10, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Erhman's book provides a clear and concise explanation of new testament history.
This history shows the finger prints of humanity on the authorship of the Bible.
The Bible we have today is the result of one version of early Christianity winning the battle for orthodoxy over competing factions. The victors declared the losers heretics and wrote the "word of God" to support their views.
 How to square Biblical inerrancy with textual revisions? September 8, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Ehrman follows up on his 2003 study of The Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew by turning his eye for Biblical criticism on those books that did make it into the canon.
Ehrman talks briefly about textual criticism as applied to New Testament source manuscripts, suggesting that the currently accepted canon has been revised inadvertently and intentionally over in over 30,000 places. He provides a handful of examples, and provides a very elementary introduction to the discipline.
Not that compelling. Most interesting is his introductory biographical essay, telling of his boyhood in the Lutheran faith where Bible study wasn't encouraged, to a teenage born-again experience, to his scholarly studies which have made him pull back and refer to "born again" in quotes.
The most interesting question he raises is how to square Biblical inerrancy with textual revisions, some of which have surely taken place, although none of his main examples are faith-shattering. His point, well taken, is that if you believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, then having the actual words of the original writers is vitally important, and needs to be considered seriously as a theological question.
Well written, objective review of early Christian writings - recommended to anyone interested in the topic September 7, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book is well worth reading if you are interested in the subject matter. Perhaps most refreshing about this book, despite its rather provocative title, is that Ehrman is very objective in his review of early Christian writings. I read a lot of books on the topic of religion that have been written by atheists and, while I enjoy most of these books, I have to admit that many of these authors have a tendency to be sarcastic (some might even say smarmy) when referring to the faithful. Ehrman, a former fundamentalist Christian turned agnostic, appears to respect the religious convictions of others, even if his own research caused him to change his beliefs. His interest in the subject matter seems genuine to me. I didn't get the impression that he had an agenda, other than a genuine scholarly interest to discover, to the degree possible, the truth about early Christianity and the evolution of the New Testament.
It is because of Ehrman's objectivity that I was surprised (although I shouldn't be really) that there is a book called Misquoting Truth that disputes Ehrman's research. I guess this indicates that Ehrman, who has been writing books on early Christianity for years, has achieved a level of success that brings with it a degree of notoriety.
Because I've read a number of books on early Christianity, not everything in this book was new to me, but I found quite a bit of information that I hadn't heard before. It has a logical flow, is accessible to a lay person, and is well researched and objective.
It is unlikely that fundamentalist Christians will read this book with an open mind, but I think a lot of Christians could find it very enlightening to read. I know that as a child, attending Catechism, I was either taught (or just assumed) a lot of things that I suspect many Christians believe. I always assumed that the gospels were written by men who knew Jesus (or at least had first-hand knowledge of his life) shortly after his death. I assumed that the four gospels in the New Testament were the only gospels, that they were consistent with one another, that they never changed, and that we had the originals somewhere. I assumed that all of the followers of Jesus had the same beliefs about his life, death, and resurrection.
I have come to learn that these assumptions are likely false. The gospels were written decades after the death of Jesus and its unlikely that they represent first-hand accounts of his life. There were many very different variations of early Christianity and numerous gospels and writings circulated at this time, reflecting a wide range of interpretations of who Jesus was. These writings reflect the different theological interests and competing agendas of early Christians. The four canonized gospels contradict each other (quite significantly at times) and no originals have been found. Most interesting (and the focus of this book) is how the gospels and other writings of the New Testament were altered by scribes over hundreds of years. Some changes were accidental, but many alterations were likely deliberate. Ehrman objectively analyses the probable motives behind many of these changes.
This is a very well written, well researched, discussion of this topic. I recommend this book to anyone interested in early Christian history.
A Good Piece of Readable, Critical Scholarhip August 22, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Ehrman has masterfully succeeded in putting together a piece of academic scholarship on the writing and construction of the New Testament, which is easily accessible to the lay reader. I recommend it for those interested in a readable starting point in the field of "who (wrote) and how" the Bible was written. While Ehrman prefers the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, his book demonstrates that all Bibles are based upon an incomplete and often times erroneous interpretation of our earliest Biblical texts. We do not even have the original texts, as the Gospels themselves were written a generation or two after Christ's death. Ehrman suggests also, however, that all readers of the Bible need not despair for despite these changes many scholars believe that the meaning and intent of the Bible been preserved. What Ehrman challenges most squarely is the Fundamentalist reading of the Bible that asserts it is the Word of God without error. Ehrman himself believed this at one point, and went to the Moody Bible Institute, then proceeded on to Princeton Theological Seminary in pursuit of the deepest understanding of the Bible, so his credentials and ability in this field are well-established. He has concluded that, while the Bible's meaning may in many places be intact, there are some significant revisions and alterations to the text that have taken place, and that should give us great caution in making inflexibly dogmatic statements based upon it. Anyone wishing to understand the New Testament and the message of Christianity better would do well to read this book.
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