Much Ado About Typos
Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
by Bart D. Ehrman
HarperSanFrancisco, 2005
(242 pages, $24.95, hardcover)
reviewed by Denny Burk
What hath John Stewart to do with John the Apostle? Stewart is just one of the many figures in the popular media who lined up to interview Bart Ehrman about his controversial book, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. I would wager that the book’s heady subject matter (text criticism) normally receives very little airtime on Comedy Central.
Bart Ehrman, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina and a popular lecturer for the Teaching Company, combines a knack for provocative writing that appeals to a broad audience with a unique ability to simplify complicated subjects for readers who are not specialists. In Misquoting Jesus, he aims to introduce the layman to the discipline of text criticism, which he defines as the science of restoring the “original” words of the biblical text from manuscripts that have altered them.
Though Misquoting Jesus is written for a popular audience, its conclusions are based on serious scholarship, especially Ehrman’s 1993 book, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture.
Skeptical Introduction
The first two-thirds of the book comprise an introduction to the discipline of text criticism, including an overview of how texts were copied in the ancient world in general and in the Christian communities in particular, a survey of some important ancient manuscripts and published editions of the New Testament, a history of the discipline, and a summary of its modern methods that applies its insights to three texts having to do with Jesus (Mark 1:41; Luke 22:43–44; Hebrews 2:8–9).
In the final two chapters before the conclusion, Ehrman argues that early Christian scribes changed the texts they copied in order to make the biblical text conform to their own theological and social agendas. He argues that the changes favor the orthodox tradition and that scribes who were not satisfied with the words of the New Testament changed those words to make them more forcefully oppose women, Jews, and pagans.
One of the reasons Misquoting Jesus is such a compelling read is that Ehrman frames his entire argument with the story of his own journey of faith—a journey that moves from passionate Evangelical conviction to settled unbelief. Moving from his days as a newly minted born-again Christian, to his studies at Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College, to his doctoral degree at Princeton, Ehrman explains how text criticism provides the “key” to his own story.
He wants to convince readers that “there are clear reasons for thinking that, in fact, the Bible is not this kind of inerrant guide to our lives.” In his own life, the undoing of inerrancy resulted in the undoing of his Christianity, and it appears that he wants to convince his readers to follow him down the path of skepticism.
Unfortunately, Ehrman’s polemical goal of discrediting inerrancy overshadows his stated goal of introducing the discipline of text criticism to a lay audience. His presentation manipulates the unsuspecting reader into thinking that the very existence of imperfect copies of Scripture necessarily implies that the originals are not inspired. He argues that a person cannot credibly believe in the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture unless it can be proved that the copying of the Bible through the centuries was without error.
Denny Burk is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Criswell College in Dallas, Texas, and the author of Articular Infinitives in the Greek of the New Testament (Sheffield Phoenix Press). His weblog can be found at www.dennyburk.com. Currently he is co-sponsoring an effort to amend the doctrinal basis of the Evangelical Theological Society (www.AmendETS.com).
A Journal of Mere Christianity—Delivered to Your Door
- Essays on theology, culture, and the Church
- Contributors from across the Christian traditions
Six print issues (one year) of Touchstone, plus full online access and PDF downloads for only $39.95.
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95.
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more from the online archives
32.4—July/August 2019
Does Biblical Language for Man Matter? by Stephen F. Noll
29.4—July/August 2016
on Noticing That Modern Science Has Rendered Atheism Irrational by Harry Biltz
28.2—March/April 2015
Man, Woman & the Mystery of Christ
An Evangelical Protestant Perspective by Russell D. Moore
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
