Customer Reviews
Great introduction to textual criticism of the NT - By: N. Laurence, 15 Mar 2008 
Bart Ehrman is one of the world's foremost textual critics of the New Testament (NT) & probably the most influential currentlyin the English-speaking world, having taken over this role from his previous tutor, the late Bruce Metzger.
Here he presents for the lay-reader some of the thorny issues that textual critics examinein their attempts to get back to earlier & earlier texts & readings of the NT. To those who are familiar & up-to-date with NT textual criticism, little here is particularly startling, although Ehrman's rehabilitation of particular readings (e.g. Luke 23:34, "father forgive them for they know not what they are doing") may come as a surprise to UBS4 aficionados. In some of the examples he gives, he is undoubtedly combining his expertisein early Christian history (he follows on from, & develops, the ideas of Walter Bauer) with his enormous proficiencyin textual criticism.
He annoys the conservatives, because he sets the record straight about how unreliable the text of the NT is, & he clearly shows how fabricated statistics of 95%-99% textual reliability are demonstrably false. What a breath of fresh air & honesty!
Ehrman writesin his very accessible style, which has made this book a hit with a wide public. For a more technical treatment, Bruce Metzger's The Text of the New Testament would be recommended reading. In fact Ehrman has edited the latest edition of this standard work.
A few mistakes have crept into the edition I read; most embarrassingly the manuscript on the cover is reproduced upside down! This particular mistake will undoubtedly be a fault of the publisher rather than Ehrman. I hope this & a few others are correctedin future editions; but the current situation has lead to me dropping a star.
A biased agenda - By: Mr. P. E. Casey, 10 Jan 2008 
Ehrman was once a niave inerrantist ('The belief the Bible is without error'). When he lost this belief he swungin the other direction.
The books title is misleading. Ehrman does not show Jesus is misquoted at all.
Not one textual variantin scripture affects a Christian doctrine & 98%-99% of the text is not disputed. Indeed most textual variants are due to ancient lectionaries which transcribed 'He' for 'Jesus' to make the speaker obvious.
Read this book with a very large pinch of salt.
Textual Criticism - By: M. A. Ramos, 03 Dec 2007 
Bart Ehrman is a biblical historian who posits that scribes' alterations to New Testament manuscripts reflect both human error & the influence of theology, culture, & politics. He explores the development of written scripture from the Greco-Roman era, the effect of inconsistencies on doctrine & later versions, & attempts to reconstruct original text. This was written with lay readersin mind rather than academics. And I would have rated it four stars if the author would stayed away from adding his own speculation. But it is a serious work that will open discussion on textual error again.
99% perspiration - By: calmly, 16 Oct 2007 
Ehrman's "The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture" covers similar ground but seems addressed primarily to scholars. This popular presentation is not only considerably more readable for the lay reader but has a superb, open introduction by Ehrmanin which he details his path from a born-again believer to the mature scholar he is today, who appreciates the Bible but sees it as the work of human beings who may "... have to figure out how to live & what to believe on our own, without setting the Bible up as a false idol ..." Strong words indeed & a challenge to those who have not yet read this book or, having read it, remain unable to accept even the factual aspects of Ehrman's presentation.
Ehrman explains textual criticism for lay people with examples. He exposes the problem that the present versions of the Bible have: besides having been copied over centuries & translated, they are derived from multiple differing versions, such that even scholars don't knowin places what the original words of the Bible were.
Ehrman, since his youth, has had a deep & authentic interestin how the Bible came down to us. You may disagree with himin part or even whole as to his speculations but he's made a gifted & sincere effort to share with you what he has learned. He's no salesman. If you read it with an open mind, you may never regard the Biblein the same way again.
Separating wheat from chaff seldom got so interesting - By: Brian Griffith, 23 Sep 2007 Ehrman believes the history of our great stories matters. And his exploration of the New Testament's evolution is an enormous accomplishment. This is a work building on hundreds of years of research, for example, Stephanus's 1550 translation with marginal notes identifying variations between 14 different ancient Greek manuscripts. Or John Mill's 1707 comparison of over 100 Greek manuscripts to show 30,000 points of difference. And Ehrman's data base includes over 5,700 manuscriptsin Greek alone, which yield a total of between 200,000 to 400,000 varients among them.
While comparing manuscripts, Ehrman gives us a parallel history of arguments & riposts among scholarly egos, making this a fascinating human story. We have, for example, the French Catholic scholar Richard Simon whoin 1689 produced "A Critical History of the Text of the New Testament", giving a partisan blast at Protestant rejection of Church traditionin favor of reliance on scripture alone:
"The great changes that have taken placein the manuscripts of the Bible ... since the first originals were lost, completely destroy the principle of the Protestants ..., who consult only these same manuscripts of the Biblein the form they are today. If the truth of religion had not lived onin the Church, it would not be safe to look for it nowin books that have been subjected to so many changes & thatin so many matters were dependent on the will of the copyists."
Do all these differences among ancient hand-copied versions of the Bible make any difference? Ehrman shows thay do at many important points -- concerning Jesus, women, Jews, leadership, & more. And that's the really good part. I think this book is a big step forwardin separating wheat from chaffin the scriptures.
