Misquoting Jesus

By: Bart D. Ehrman

Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson

Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

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.Bart D. Ehrman chairs the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a widely regarded authority on the history of the New Testament.

©2005 Bart Ehrman (P)2006 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Engaging and fascinating." (Publishers Weekly)

extremely informative and great narrator

one of the most interesting books I have ever read/listened to. I purchased a paperback copy to follow along with because I was so intrigued. the narrator is fantastic. he reads at a perfect pace and enunciates with expert precision.

Fantastic.

An informative tour of how the New Testament was canonized, developed, altered and brought into its existing form, this is absolutely a must-read for any Christian or anyone interested in the history of the bible or Christianity.

What did who mean to say to whom?

Who actually spoke?
What was actually said?
What was actually meant?
How did the words we see today
come to be in our possession?
This information should be studied
by everyone who intends to quote "scripture".

informative

Shed light on understanding the different sources that go into the book everyone says they know

Very informative, rough patch in the middle.

Overall I very much enjoyed the book and the information it contains. The middle was a little hard for me to get through when going into the details and iteration of the manuscripts, but very educational.

Questionable pronunciations

The narrator reads well with a great deal of (although, not always warranted) dramatic expression. However, it is the seriously mispronounced names and terminology throughout the reading that tends to grate on the ear. It is surprising that something so easily researchable and verifiable should be ignored by someone creating a professional recording of the text. For example, the narrator pronounces "gnosis" with a hard instead of silent g: "guh-nosis." Annoying.

Great information

Good information for those interested in the Bible for whatever reason. Narrator was great but as I listen to this author frequently it is odd not hearing it in the author's voice

I prefer Dr. Ehrman's great courses lectures.

There is some good information in here, but also it gets a bit dry at times. I prefer his great courses lectures on the new testament, delivered by himself. the narrator also had a strange way of trying maybe add drama to his voice which just felt off in this mainly academic book.

Educational and entertaining

Having an ability to make ancient manuscript interpretations into something that is entertaining to listen to, Dr Erhman has created an informative and engaging book that allows you to know how the Bible has evolved over the centuries.

Understanding Manuscripts

Dr. Erhman does a very good job of helping people to understand the cannon of Scripture and the differences in the manuscripts and how personal beliefs influenced the people transcribing those manuscripts. Very illuminating. A very good course in understanding the New Testament. Enjoy! Warning: May not be suitable or might upset those with a KJV only belief.