Blog (1) Noelle Lyons

Ehrman’s exploration into the editing and copying of the New Testament is fascinating. The straightforward context of the chapter presents the evidence and knowledge of changes in the New Testament, presenting that the New Testament, as we know it today, is very different from the original Scripture (of which we will very possibly never find). The various intentional deviations and editing mistakes introduce questions of what the New Testament was supposed to say, what we were originally intended to interpret and gain insight from, and a question of faith: how are we supposed to believe that the New Testament was inspired by God when it was carelessly handled or manipulated by multiple scribes over hundreds of years? The unintentional mistakes, either spelling or missing words and phrases, does not provoke any real concern about my understanding of the New Testament, as that is what should be expected when reading from a book that has been copied over a thousand years ago. The manipulation of scribes to prevent women’s roles in the church and to promote their own theological understandings and beliefs is very disconcerting. How can readers be sure that doctrines and practices of the church, as inspired by Scripture, are accurate representations of God’s will? The textual criticism allows for an outside approach to Christianity, in which readers can step outside of their faith driven views of the Bible and of their religion and realize that this is a religion- it can be manipulated, it can be wrong. For example, “God [as a] triune: three persons- the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… is never explicitly stated in the Bible- except in some late manuscripts of one passage.” [1] A very prominent belief in Christianity was added years later, and may never have been intended to be added, or believed, by the original authors. Viewing the New Testament as a historical document that is susceptible to mistakes encourages the reader to further explore their church teachings, and rather focus on the message than the literal meaning.

[1] Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament (New York : Oxford University Press, 2008),

497.

Ehrman, Bart D. The New Testament. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.