MISQUOTING JESUS: THE STORY BEHIND WHO CHANGED THE BIBLE AND WHY FREE DOWNLOAD Bart D. Ehrman | 272 pages | 13 Sep 2011 | HarperCollins Publishers Inc | 9780060859510 | English | New York, United States Accidental or Intentional Revisions of Copyists Another interesting way to add depth might get into the council of Nicea and other early church gatherings where the selection of the books of the bible was made - how did the choice of what was to become "canon" impact the potential interpretation of these books that may have then led to potential scriptural changes? In some ways, though, Judaism was distinctive. A second supposition necessary for Ehrman's case is that the non- professional scribes that he postulates did most of the copying of New Testament documents until the fourth-century, when Constantine became the first emperor to commission new copies of the Bible, did not do nearly as careful a job as the professional scribes that he postulates did most of the post-Constantinian copying. I would be interested in reading a book from a believer's perspective. Jun 16, Martin Pierce rated it did not like it. In the end, Ehrman is not saying anything new, anything that has not been said by textual critics for years and years and years. In view of this, it's hard to appreciate the lofty value that textual critics hold of their work. All other religions in the empire were polytheistic -- acknowledging and worshiping many gods of all sorts and functions: great gods of the state, lesser gods of various locales, gods who oversaw different aspects of human birth, life, and death. Also, those new to the study of comparative religion will probably be amazed to learn or refuse to believe that some part A must for anyone who wants to know WHY the Bible isn't inerrant. I found this book interesting. Why I recommend this book? And in language accessible to nonspecialists, Ehrman explains these procedures and their results. Ehrman and his payday, but this point has been made much more eloquently by Often the earliest manuscripts we have date from centuries after they were originally written and many generations of copies later. 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. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. I now better understand the origin of the Christian religion and it's refinement. Those qualifications, however, are exceeded in Misquoting Jesus. When this book showed up as an eBook bargain, I got it and promptly lost it on my huge digital TBR shelf. Novum Testamentum suggested that Misquoting Truth was a useful example of how conservative readers are reacting to Ehrman. There was no New Testament until the fourth century. Also, those new to the study of comparative religion will probably be amazed to learn or refuse to believe that some parts of the Bible were deliberately changed for political purposes, while others were changed due to mistakes, either of interpretation or of copy-error. Reading this book has saved me a lot of time. During a discussion, a student of mine of Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed The Bible and Why particular Christian sect piped up and desired to end the discussion by saying, "Well, just do what the Bible tells you to do. Every reader and writer give different meaning to each text. Only slightly tongue in cheek, he called it the one school that had not changed any of its views since the nineteenth century. Most of the changes and additions that were made were recognized as such and therefore were not incorporated into our modern Bibles. Jan 27, Becky rated it really liked it. Although Ehrman's thesis was interesting, the problem is that you can take any of these phrases or words that are found in some New Testament manuscripts and not others and draw from that fact whatever implications you desire. As someone who comes from a religious background, I have to agree with this conclusion. I can only surmise that falsely leading readers into believing the opposite would sell more books. Until that time assorted factions warred over all sorts of different beliefs about Jesus. 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. Ehrman is the James A. View all 3 comments. When Wendy recommended it I thought that it would be pretty much the same old stuff that one would expect when an Atheist recommends a book on Religion. In that case, we can't Thinking it was impossible to learn the true meaning in translation he found himself soon at Princeton Theological Seminary, a downright bastion liberal thinking where he studied Greek and eventually Hebrew. Another egregious error that he seemed to commit was to assume that scriptural texts are the foundation and lifeblood of the Christian Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed The Bible and Why. In discounting not only the authenticity Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed The Bible and Why existing manuscripts but also the inspiration of the original writers, Ehrman will deeply divide his readers. View all 7 comments. Jessica The good news is, God did give us a reliable text, at least in every way that matters. Here you will find access to the Denver Journal, Engage Magazineand the various initiatives organized by the Seminary. Mar 29, Brian Mckean rated it did not like it Shelves: faith. I generally enjoyed Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed The Bible and Why of this book and found it to be very interesting. In all these ways, Judaism was "familiar" to the worshipers of other gods in the empire. The meaning of the text is always deferred to other texts and the chain goes on. Get A Copy. This book is slightly more technical than the other, and I would recommend reading Jesus, Interrupted first, then this one. A nice line. View all 41 comments. Still, this is a useful overview for biblical history collections. Ehrman's discussion of Erasmus and the famous Johannine Comma 1 John is both lucid and entertaining. All rights reserved. The Jewish people, it was believed, had a "covenant" with this God, an agreement that they would be uniquely his as he was uniquely theirs. Unfortunately, Ehrman, a former fundamentalist Christian, thinks it's such a big deal that it casts doubt on the veracity of the Christian faith. View all 25 comments. The last person who consciously edited the new testament to strip it of what he thought was wrong, false, and irrelevant to its message was Thomas Jefferson who did so not as a surreptitious amender but who set off his version as standing Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed The Bible and Why its own as an independent book, a slim volume known as The Jefferson Bible. It's almost like A real eye opener. Even those very few additions or changes that were incorporated into our modern Bibles are inconsequential; it would not alter orthodox doctrine one iota if they were eliminated, because all of the doctrines they bolster find support elsewhere in uncontested passages of the New Testament. He is the James A..