MISQUOTING JESUS

“Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why” by Bart D. Ehrman is a critical exploration of how the texts of the New Testament have been altered over centuries, both intentionally and accidentally, by scribes copying manuscripts.

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Key Points from the Book:

1. Transmission Errors and Intentional Changes:

• Before the invention of the printing press, all biblical manuscripts were copied by hand, often leading to scribal mistakes.
• Some changes were intentional, influenced by theological, political, or social agendas, altering the original meaning of the text.

2. Impact on Christian Doctrine:

• Ehrman shows how certain core Christian beliefs—like the divinity of Jesus or the Trinity—may have been shaped or reinforced by later textual modifications rather than the earliest manuscripts.

3. Textual Criticism:

• The book introduces readers to the field of textual criticism, the scholarly effort to reconstruct the earliest and most authentic version of biblical texts from the many variant manuscripts that exist.

4. Faith Journey:

• Ehrman discusses his own spiritual journey, from being a conservative, Bible-believing Christian to a scholar who became disillusioned after discovering inconsistencies and alterations in the scriptures.

5. Major Examples of Changes:

• Stories like Jesus and the woman caught in adultery (John 8) and the longer ending of Mark’s Gospel are cited as later additions, not present in the earliest manuscripts.

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This book challenges the assumption that the New Testament we read today reflects the exact words originally written, urging a more nuanced and historical approach to Scripture.