# _Misquoting Jesus_...



## beej6 (Mar 13, 2006)

I was surprised to read a short article in my local newspaper about Bart Ehrman's latest book. I guess he is a fairly popular author, and his latest book is a top40 best seller. It's about textual criticism and corruption. 

Sadly, from what I gleaned on Amazon.com, Mr. Ehrman is no longer a believer (which presuppositionally explains why he doesn't believe the Bible is the Word of God?). I wonder if those of you who may be familiar with this work might have suggestions for interacting with people who have read it... I'm tempted to read it myself but there are so many good things to read I need to read that I hesitate...


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Mar 13, 2006)

I haven't read the book but I'm familiar with the author (he was a former professor of mine) and his scholarship is governed by a heart filled with hate for the Lord. See this thread.


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## WrittenFromUtopia (Mar 13, 2006)

Why don't people write dozens of books criticizing the manuscript evidence for The Odyssey or other ancient Greek works (which pale in comparison to the NT's manuscript evidence)?


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## jfschultz (Mar 13, 2006)

Hmmmm that name seems familiar ... make a quick check of "The Teaching Company" ... Yup!

Last night I started watching their series "History of the Bible: The Making of the New Testament Canon" by Ehrman. In it he claims that the New Testament was written by 13 or 14 different authors. I count 7 or 8 depending on who wrote Hebrews. He further indicates that only 7 of Paul's letters were written by Paul and 6 were written by someone else!

In his introduction, he makes a divide between historical and theological studies. Well he might be right to some degree, but his "historical" take on the New Testament Canon has great impact on theology.

In summary


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## beej6 (Mar 13, 2006)

Gabriel - because no one cares about _The Odyssey_ ;-)

Any suggestions for *good* books about textual criticism? Metzger? I'm willing to read critically...

(I have no problem with TC so long as the ulitmate conclusion(s) drawn do not question the inerrancy or inspiration of the Bible autographs...)


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## Evan May (Mar 15, 2006)

Bart Ehrman actually appeared on the Daily Show last night. It was as expected.

It really comes down to this: Ehrman doesn't believe that divine inspiration is possible. For Ehrman, the criteria is that either the Bible falls out of the sky, or it isn't the Bible.

In the end, however, he tells us that our Bibles are "basically reliable" because of the tenacity of the scribes. I, of course, believe that that they are *fully* reliable, but this statement of his is one that his readers and supporters often miss.

Go to http://aomin.org and search for "Ehrman." If the Dividing Line episodes are still up, that's what you need to listen to.


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## DrOakley1689 (Mar 16, 2006)

I have commented a good bit on Ehrman on my blog, and done a number of Dividing Line broadcasts where I have played his interviews and rebutted his comments on the text of the NT. I even have a link on my current blog to a cruise he is doing in Alaska for the Biblical Archaeology Society. He's an apostate and making as much money as he can off of his disbelief. Sad, but a modern day Alexander the Coppersmith.


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