01-27-2007, 05:51 PM | #1 |
Senior Member
|
On "Misquoting Jesus"
I bought Erhman's Misquoting Jesus on Wednesday. It is indeed a quick read-- I brushed through the first third of it in less than an hour. By the time I finished with that third, I was so dissapointed that I had spent twenty five American dollars on it that I returned it the next day.
My overall impression is one of dissapointment. I had hoped for a more solid academic work than this one, which was toned down considerably in order to appeal to a more general audience. I can't speak for everybody else, of course, but the result for me was a book with considerably less intellectual muscle. What kind of a book claims to evaluate the claims and objects of New Testament textual criticism and has not so much as a iota of Greek in it? There were also some minor details that weren't quite accurate-- largely, they were ones that were outside of the scope of his main focus, and thus much less relevant to the overall book, but their presence was dissapointing nonetheless. The bottom line for me was this: there has been nothing in the book that one will not hear while attending Religion 211 with Thomas E. Wayment at BYU. I will order a copy of the book from Amazon, where the price I pay will more accurately reflect its value, and finish it soon, but so far, I don't feel that Erhman has said anything truly substantial. I get a feel for the ultimate claims he is going to try to make, though. My prediction is that he either doesn't get to them, and contents himself with demonstrating the fallacy of considering the Bible inerrent; he makes a flying leap of judgement in saying that since the Bible is inerrent, it is entirely unreliable and good for nothing but to be trodden under the foot of men; or he pulls off a literary marvel by masterfully composing the remainder of the work. My money is on the second one, unfortunately.
__________________
εν αρχη ην ο λογος |
01-27-2007, 06:03 PM | #2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Gotham City
Posts: 7,157
|
Do you think you would have liked the original work, Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, better? I understand that this is the more scholarly version of the book.
Or were you so disappointed with the arguments of the book that you wouldn't want to pursue them in depth anyway? |
01-27-2007, 06:55 PM | #3 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: The People's Republic of Monsanto
Posts: 3,085
|
Quote:
__________________
"Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; " 1 Thess. 5:21 (NRSV) We all trust our own unorthodoxies. |
|
01-27-2007, 07:14 PM | #4 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Elk Grove, California
Posts: 211
|
Orthodox Corruption of Scripture ...
... will give you plenty of real scholastic filling.
__________________
Dan Temet Nosce - \"Know Thyself\" |
01-27-2007, 08:02 PM | #5 |
Senior Member
|
Thanks for the tip, all. I'll get it from the library on Monday.
__________________
εν αρχη ην ο λογος |
01-28-2007, 04:18 PM | #6 | |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Posts: 216
|
Quote:
Also, what details does he get wrong, I'm just curious? (BTW, I just thumbed through it, and he has plenty of Greek in here, mainly in his discussion of textual variants, exactly where you would expect it. I'm not sure what you were expecting, in his very broad discussions in the portion of the book you read.) All I know is that he is America's premiere TC scholar (and one of the top few in the world, maybe the top), so I would hesistate to call him on things without specific reasons. I don't say this just because of who he is, but because of how careful and conservative he is in drawing historical and even textual conclusions. Last edited by Chapel-Hill-Coug; 01-28-2007 at 04:24 PM. Reason: additional comment |
|
01-28-2007, 04:34 PM | #7 | |
Senior Member
|
Quote:
Like I said, VERY minor point wherein he is not EXACTLY correct-- so yes, I likewise hesitate to call him out on things. And he has some greek words transliterated into the Latin alphabet, but no Greek script. Unless I missed it. And I will finish the book, worry you not; I'm just going to wait until a cheaper version arrives in the mail.
__________________
εν αρχη ην ο λογος |
|
01-28-2007, 04:49 PM | #8 | |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Posts: 216
|
Quote:
|
|
01-29-2007, 05:13 AM | #9 |
Assistant to the Regional Manager
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: The Orgasmatron
Posts: 24,338
|
The last three chapters are the best.
The book is a good overview, for those of us, who are not scholars in the antiquities. It is not scholarly, as I suppose the Orthodox book is, but that is not its intended audience. I appreciated the read, but look forward to a more scholarly approach, with more meat and potatoes.
__________________
Ἓν οἶδα ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα |
Bookmarks |
|
|