Misquoting Jesus

I took 3 years of koine (Biblical) greek in college and am aware of the textual variants in the texts of the New Testament. And while the author is upfront about his bias and purpose in writing the book, he glosses over some significant points.


1. Counting textual variants. A textual variant is counted for every manuscript, even if that manuscript is a known copy. So once a scribe made a mistake, every copy of the document is counted as a textual variant even when it is a part of the same family of texts.


2. Many of the textual variants cited do not exist in the Bible today, but the author presents them as though these are widely distributed texts. A small number of these variants appeared in certain areas, but the widely accepted text that has been passed down is generally the same.


3. The author presents the pseudoprigrapha texts (Gosepl of Thomas, etc.) as equally valid as the 4 accepted Gospels of the New Testament. However, these texts were never accepted by the majority of the early church and were not viewed as credible in their own time. But the author paints the picture of a broad conspiracy of proto-orthodox believers to exclude these texts, without regard for their content or historical context.


There are a number of issues that the author and I agree on, this was an enjoyable read, for the $5 I paid during an audible sale.

The reading is intonation is on point. There were parts of this book that sort of made me cringe as a Christian, but kept me listening so that I could understand how the transcribing of what is considered the original texts aren't that at all. What we have now as our Bible is the best that could be written with the limited material that was available and missing the original documents (first writing) for many of the books. It is easier to see why there are so many different interpretations and how this came to be.

I want to listen again and take notes and talk with my pastor. Overall it helped to reaffirm my beliefs in Jesus as my savior and explain some of the discrepancies in the Bible that I had been struggling with. Highly recommend if you seek to further your knowledge of the history of the Bible along with your spirituality.

I took 3 years of koine (Biblical) greek in college and am aware of the textual variants in the texts of the New Testament. And while the author is upfront about his bias and purpose in writing the book, he glosses over some significant points.


1. Counting textual variants. A textual variant is counted for every manuscript, even if that manuscript is a known copy. So once a scribe made a mistake, every copy of the document is counted as a textual variant even when it is a part of the same family of texts.


2. Many of the textual variants cited do not exist in the Bible today, but the author presents them as though these are widely distributed texts. A small number of these variants appeared in certain areas, but the widely accepted text that has been passed down is generally the same.


3. The author presents the pseudoprigrapha texts (Gosepl of Thomas, etc.) as equally valid as the 4 accepted Gospels of the New Testament. However, these texts were never accepted by the majority of the early church and were not viewed as credible in their own time. But the author paints the picture of a broad conspiracy of proto-orthodox believers to exclude these texts, without regard for their content or historical context.


There are a number of issues that the author and I agree on, this was an enjoyable read, for the $5 I paid during an audible sale.

The author of Misquoting Jesus leaves you wondering, almost until the end, just what his personal beliefs are. I enjoyed this book all the more because of that. The information is presented very objectively.

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.

Professor Ehrman has written a marvelous book about how the books of the New Testament came to be, and what inspired him to write it. His research is very thorough, and very mind-opening regarding who actually "wrote" or copied the books prior to the invention of the printing press.

Highly recommended for those who are curious about the history behind the scriptures, as well as the foundation of his subsequent books. Not recommended for fundamentalists, unless they are ready for some shocking revelations about how their sacred texts were altered over time.

A 5-star book, I gave it a 4 due to the poor reading by Mr. Davidson. He doesn't seem to have a handle on the timing and dramatics. (Thank goodness this was the only of Ehrman's books he read.)

Also recommended: _Peter, Paul & Mary Magdalene_, _Truth and Fiction in The DaVinci Code_, _God's Problem_, and _The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot_.

This was a great listen . The facts were solid and the information contain should help the student of the bible "rightly divide the WORD of TRUTH" . Assuming one is seeking Wisdom and truth. The book is disigned to enlighten the reader as to the origins of today's modern Bible. It is not designed to shake or destroy ones faith in the Christian Religion. It is an engaging listen , with a nice pace . Reader , keep and open mind and know that if one would seek truth ,he must search in multiple places. Not just the church

I recommend you first try the book Ehrman wrote after this one, "Jesus Interrupted". It steps back from the details presented in this book to give a better understanding of how the Bible developed. Then, if you want to delve deeper into the details of the New Testament, get this one.

Ehrman came to this subject with all the right credentials as a formerly-fundamentalist Christian who became educated via the best universities and who slowly realized through research in the original documents of Christianity that the story he was told in church before becoming a learned scholar is not based on documents that tell a consistent tale. He explains how the Christian bible is filled with errors caused by the failures of those who copied the documents through the centuries before (and after) printing presses came to be. His explanation is rational and welcome, at least to me, an educated person who does not read Greek but who wants to know what the bible really says and means....and if it is to be taken as the literal word of God. After listening to this book twice and buying the print copy to study, I have concluded that there is both more and less to the Bible than the fundamentalists say...although I guess I knew that all along.

Ehrman's book is compelling, interesting, and essential to seekers who are tired of the voodoo and scare tactics of a certain type of "religious" person in American society who is to be found literally everywhere in the country.

After reading some other books that, maybe for the first time, got me to ask "where did we get the bible from anyway?" I came across Misquoting Jesus.

I couldnt recommend the book enough not only because of its comprehensive nature but the ability of the author to keep the book interesting and thought provoking.

I found it easy to understand and unlike a lot of books on the matter this one is not apologetic and skewd towards the beliefs of a practicing Christian who wants you to still believe everything is good even though theres a lot of problems with the text. However its not a Hitchens god basher either. A very well rounded scholarly book for the layman such as myself.

Great book and well worth the time to listen or read.