Blog # 1 Corey Gray

After reading chapter 30 it was pretty eye opening to see how many different mistakes are in the bible.  Considering this thee holiest of books, I was surprised to find many controversial passages and even different interpretations of the bible.  From this book it says, “The most common type of accidental change is simple spelling differences.”(Erhman 1)  Any good author or editor always checks his or her own work for spelling mistakes before submitting their final copy.  It was amazing how many people back in those days either did not care about spelling or take the time to make sure their words were used grammatically correct and spelled the right way.  I also found that the style of writing known as “scriptua continuo” was often common in many of the writings.  “Many of these writers did not use punctuation, capitalization of letters, or paragraphs in their writings”(Ehrman 2).  This could definitely make it hard for scribes to interpret the bible when there could be missing info left out of the passages.

            I also found out that many of these scribes would be affected by social conflicts at that time and change the sacred text.  It is a major difference trying to paraphrase scriptural passages and completely changing the words to mean something else.  The social view of women in the church during that time was very controversial.  “Many scribes would take offense to women participating in leadership roles and would insert words to indicate women should be silent and submissive.” (Erhman 3)

            Just from these two examples we can tell how much the NT has been changed throughout the course of time.  Different spellings, grammar, views, and opinions of what occurred during that time are likely subjective.  Much of the information is similar between scribes, but altering the text and changing things bring up controversial topics.  We have found out that even historians are no more qualified to answer these questions than anyone else is able to.  It is important to learn that the bible is the word of God , but not every passage of every single word is absolute.  Being passed down through many centuries it is quite likely that through time, scribes have made slight alteration in the bible. So it is up to us to read the text and learn the old traditions to understand how the bible came to be what it is today.

Ehrman, Bart D. The New Testament. Fourth edition. New York: Oxford, 2004

1.       Erhman. NT. Pg 492

2.      Erhman NT. Pg494

3.      Erhamn NT Pg 498