Another review of Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus

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Bible.org has published a review of Bart D. Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why entitled "The Gospel according to Bart" by Daniel Wallace. The piece is authored by Daniel J. Wallace, Th.M., Ph.D., who presently teaches at Dallas Theological Seminary. To say that this article is not particularly flattering to Bart Ehrman is an understatement. Early on in the article, Dr. Wallace notes:

Why all the hoopla? Well, for one thing, Jesus sells. But not the Jesus of the Bible. The Jesus that sells is the one that is palatable to postmodern man. And with a book entitled Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, a ready audience was created via the hope that there would be fresh evidence that the biblical Jesus is a figment. Ironically, almost none of the variants that Ehrman discusses involve sayings of Jesus. The book simply doesn’t deliver what the title promises. Ehrman preferred Lost in Transmission, but the publisher thought such a book might be perceived by the Barnes and Noble crowd as dealing with stock car racing! Even though Ehrman did not choose his resultant title, it has been a publishing coup.

More importantly, this book sells because it appeals to the skeptic who wants reasons not to believe, who considers the Bible a book of myths. It’s one thing to say that the stories in the Bible are legend; it’s quite another to say that many of them were added centuries later. Although Ehrman does not quite say this, he leaves the impression that the original form of the NT was rather different from what the manuscripts now read.

The review is very good and takes Dr. Ehrman to task on a number of his claims and presuppositions in a detailed way. I found it a very enjoyable and informative read.

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