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Product Description:
For almost 1,500 years, the New Testament manuscripts were copied by hand––and mistakes and intentional changes abound in the competing manuscript versions. Religious and biblical scholar Bart Ehrman makes the provocative case that many of our widely held beliefs concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the divine origins of the Bible itself are the results of both intentional and accidental alterations by scribes. In this compelling and fascinating book, Ehrman shows where and why changes were made in our earliest surviving manuscripts, explaining for the first time how the many variations of our cherished biblical stories came to be, and why only certain versions of the stories qualify for publication in the Bibles we read today. Ehrman frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultra–conservative views of the Bible.
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Average Rating : 
Rating : - Eye opening
Ehrman takes us on a journey detailing the development of the New Testament, from 2nd century manuscripts through modern day biblical scholarly attempts to piece together what the original "autograph" copy may have really said.
While contradictory and altered versions of the New Testament were known to me, the scope of those variations, and the causes for them was not. Using examples of scripture, and referencing the earliest and later manuscripts, Ehrman details instances of simple scribal errors, mistakes in Greek translations, attempts to counter "heretical" alternative Christian beliefs, reinforcement of the preferred Christian orthodoxy, demonizing Judaism, attempts to fend off pagan criticisms, and suppression of the role of women in the church hierarchy. Much of what was done, in error or with an agenda, clearly altered the intent of the writers of the bible, in some cases so significantly as to alter the original authors' perspectives of the "historical" Jesus and church doctrine.
His ability to explain to the layman the methods of textual critical research, opened up a whole new world of understanding as to how these contradictions and variances came to be and how they can be deconstructed to get a better picture of the original lost version.
That in this day and age there are people who will attempt to gloss over / ignore, or diminish the implications of these errors / alterations / contradictions, instead preferring to cling to the "word of God" dogma, is evidence of blind faith's ability to cloud reason and scholarship in defense of a beloved tradition and belief system. It attests to the strength of the religious meme, not the diminishment of scholarly facts
This is a must read for anyone with an interest in Christian scripture, regardless of where one stands on religion.
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