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)

Not as expected, but good in its own way.

I was expecting details about specific changes to the Bible and how those changes shaped the religions today. Instead, this book focusses on HOW changes to the Bible happened in general, for example sloppy transcribing or sometimes willful intent to convey a specific meaning. The actual details of such changes are only inserted as examples.

The first few chapters were a little slow, perhaps because I kept looking for the meat of the actual changes. But in the end, I wound up learning a lot about the tangled history of the Bible.

I also appreciate how the book avoids the entire issue about whether the Bible is Truth. This story starts when the earliest manuscripts are gathered, translated and transcribed.

Chapters

The only way it could be improved is if the book chapters lined up with the audio chapters.

His nost famous but not his best

Bart Ehrman is an incredible author and one of the few I can listen to hours on end. While this book is his most famous, he has better works like "how jesus became god".

Great Intro to Textual Criticism

As someone with only a casual interest in New Testament and Early Church history, this book was a great introduction. I enjoyed learning about the amazing detective work scholars use to uncover the original text, and I appreciate that the author is willing to explain the methodology behind that effort rather than simply giving up on the original texts as a lost cause. A mix of historical context, explanation of methods, and (in the intro and conclusion) personal narrative. Narrator is well suited for the book, as well.

Fantastic book

I am Christian and after reading this book I am still Christian. I am still grateful for the insight this author gave concerning the Christian belief system. This author’s experience has obvious been of the religion and not an experience with God. There is an experience to which I feel if this author had experienced he would have expressed. Nevertheless I learned so so much from this book.

Intriguing and informative

The only two knocks are that it wasn't longer and the narrator. The narrator was amazing but not so much for this book. I would love to hear him read a mystery or suspense novel though!

Sad truth, but grateful.

I listened to this book for the first time in 2013. I already had doubts about the Bible, but this book gave my concerns validity. It also opened me to other resources on the topic, helped me past confirmation bias, and brought pace of mind, even though it was a truth hard to accept at the time. Thanks Bart!

Misquoting Jesus

Excellent book full of information in regards to centuries old interpretations of the Christian writings.

Outstanding Account of the Origins of the Bible

Dr Ehrman recounts the main source upon which the King James Version was based. Then he goes back to the sources upon which it was based to relate the history of the textual criticism (analysis) of the Bible. From the earliest surviving copies (witnesses), Ehrman does how changes made to the books of the Bible during the 1000+ years before the printing press were both die to human error and deliberate choices. It makes for fascinating reading for anyone who has more than a passing interest in the Bible.

Excellently presented and informative

It presents its information clearly, reasons in a methodical and easy to understand manner, and provides a number of references for research.