“Misquoting Jesus” by Bart D. Ehrman – Reinterpreting the Bible

There are numerous versions of the Bible currently in circulation in our world, and if we talk about holy books in general, there is no telling how many there are and the number of variations they come in.

Apart from those who fervently hold the belief that the Bible was passed down verbatim from God to Man and everything in it is to be taken as a literal truth, most of us realize that the Bible we know today is a far cry from what it was at the outset.

In Misquoting Jesus, Bart D. Ehrman, one of the modern faces of New Testament researchers, makes it his task the analysis of how the Bible has come to change over the centuries. In this book, he attempts to show not only what was or could have been changed, but also explain the possible reasoning behind such a course of action.

Before discussing the book itself, I feel that the author should be given some attention first. Though he give out such an impression at first, Ehrman is far from being a mindless zealot who seeks to do nothing but spread the word of God. Rather, he is a very intelligent and eloquent person who has come a very long way in terms of his personal spiritual studies.

As new information presented itself to him, Ehrman changed his relationship with his faith and reconciled the differences of the past with the evidence of the present. He looks at the subject from a rational and more or less neutral perspective, aiming to show us an impartial reality he believes to be important in our relationship towards religion and holy scriptures.

As for the content found within the book itself, it is pretty much what you would expect from the description above (at least I hope so). Ehrman takes the time to talk about the many different modifications which have or could have happened since the Bible was written, using specific quotes to support his arguments.

He also discusses the reasons as to why texts have been changed, and they include: personal interests, meanings lost in translation, plain old human error, divergence of opinions and/or beliefs.

At the end of it, it seems that what Ehrman is trying to get across is that the Bible has been written in countless different variations, and at this point, the original text as it was first written is unrecoverable. That in the end, it is something written by humans and interpreting it rigidly and literally only leads to the regression of one’s spiritual development.

If you aren’t particularly touchy in regards to religious opinions, criticisms and discussions which challenge your worldviews, or are simply seeking to learn more about the profound and captivating history of the Bible, then Misquoting Jesus is a book I can confidently recommend for you.

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Bart D. Ehrman Personal site Bart D. Ehrman is an American scholar who has specialized himself in the analysis and study of the New Testament, also currently teaching Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina. He has written and edited numerous books, including four New York Times bestsellers: Misquoting Jesus, God’s Problems, Forged and Jesus, Interrupted.