Misquoting Jesus - Addressing claims that the Bible has been corrupted

TRUSTED?
CAN THE BIBLE BE

ADDRESING CLAIMS THAT
THE BIBLE TEXT HAS
BEEN CORRUPTED

Was the New Testament Corrupted?

It is often alleged that the New
Testament message was altered
from its original form.

Was the New Testament Corrupted?

While this claim is
not new, the subject
was brought to
public attention by
Bart Ehrman’s
book…

Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind
Who Changed the Bible and Why:
Bart D. Ehrman

Can claims that the Bible text is
unreliable or corrupted be
substantiated?

The Great Commission
Before Christ
ascended into heaven,
he commanded his
followers to preach
the gospel to
everyone, teaching
and baptizing
according to his prior
instructions.

Matthew 28
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:
20 Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I
am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world. Amen.

The message was
initially
proclaimed
orally by
preaching long
before it was
initially written.

Bible Distortion

Some scholars
say Jesus’
followers
distorted and
embellished
their Master’s
original words
and deeds.

Bible Distortion
They insist, by
the time the
ministry of Jesus
was recorded in
the Gospels, it
had already
reached a form
that was partly
fictional.

The Jesus Seminar

Scholars of the gospels are faced with a
problem: Much of the lore recorded in the
gospels and elsewhere in the Bible is folklore,
which means that it is wrapped in memories
that have been edited, deleted, augmented,
and combined many times over many years.

Telephone Gospel
Stories based on eyewitness accounts are not
necessarily reliable, and the same is true a
hundredfold for accounts that—even if stemming
from reports of eyewitnesses—have been in oral
circulation long after the fact. … Imagine playing
‗Telephone‘…over the expanse of the Roman
Empire (some 2,500 miles across!) with thousands
of participants from different backgrounds, with
different concerns, and in different contexts, some
of whom have to translate the stories into different
languages all over the course of over the course of
decades.‖
Bart Ehrman

Child’s Play?

This was not a
game played by
children, nor
was the
communication
a silly message of
no consequence.

It was a life altering message and
people staked their life on it and
took pains to make sure it was
accurate.

First Century Customs

The customs of the first century are
much different than they are today.

When we are given important information,
we are inclined to write it down.

This was not the case in the first century.

First century oral culture
In the oral culture of the
first century, acts and
teachings could be
summarized in oral
histories that reliably
circulated over long
periods of time.

The interval between Jesus and the written
Gospels was not dormant.

This period was filled with a
tremendous amount of activity. The
followers of Jesus told and retold his
story wherever they went.

Reinventing Jesus
If the earliest proclamation about Jesus was
altered in later years, then surely first-
generation Christians would know about
the changes and would object to them. It
would not even take outsiders to object to
the ―new and improved Christianity,‖ since
those who were already believers would
have serious problems with the differences
in the content of their belief.
Reinventing Jesus: What the Da Vinci Code and
Other Novel Speculations Don't Tell You

Craig Blomberg : New Testament scholar
The oral tradition was accurately transmitted:
1. Jesus’ followers believed that he
proclaimed God’s Word in a way which
demanded careful retelling
2. Poetic elements made memorization easy
3. Rote memorization was universal
4. Shorthand written notes were often kept
by rabbis and their disciples

Reinventing Jesus
The disciples recollections were not
individual memories but collective ones—
confirmed by other eyewitnesses and
burned into their minds by the constant
retelling of the story. . . . Memory in
community is a deathblow to the view that
the disciples simply forgot the real Jesus.

Reinventing Jesus: What the Da Vinci Code and
Other Novel Speculations Don't Tell You

Why the delay in writing?
 The primary focus for the disciples was on preaching
the gospel message.
 Most of the earliest disciples were non-literary, simple
individuals who had little formal education.
 In the first century the oral transmission of tradition
was the standard and preferred method of
transmission.
 Writing books in the first century was very expensive.
 Many believers also looked for an early return of
their Master.

“But I shall not regret to subjoin to my
interpretations, also, for your benefit, whatsoever
I have at any time accurately ascertained and
treasured up in my memory as I have received it
from the elders, and have recorded it in order to
give additional confirmation to the truth by my
testimony. For I have never, like many, delighted
to hear those that tell many things, but those that
teach the truth; neither those that record foreign
precepts, but those that are given from the Lord
to our faith, and that came from the truth itself…

But, if I met with any one who had been a
follower of the elders anywhere, I made it a
point to inquire what were the declarations of the
elders; what was said by Andrew, Peter, or
Philip; what was said by Thomas, James, John,
Matthew, or any other of the disciples of our
Lord; what was said by Aristion and the
presbyter John, disciples of the Lord. For I do
not think that I derived so much benefit from
books as from the living voice of those that are
still surviving.”
Eusebius

The Making of the New Testament
Luke provides
New Testament
readers with a
clue as to how
the oral
tradition was
put into writing.

He explains what motivated him to compose
his account in the opening chapter of his
Gospel…

…to confirm in writing facts that
Theophilus had learned orally.

Luke 1
1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set
forth in order a declaration of those things
which are most surely believed among us,
2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which
from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and
ministers of the word;
3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect
understanding of all things from the very first, to
write unto thee in order, most excellent
Theophilus,
4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those
things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

John, informs his
readers that he
committed the
Gospel to writing so
that a reading of it
might produce faith in
Christ as the Son of
God and that by
believing in Jesus men
might have eternal
life.

John was selective in the material
that he incorporated in the 21
chapters that comprise his Gospel.

John 20
30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the
presence of his disciples, which are not written
in this book:
31 But these are written, that ye might believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that
believing ye might have life through his name.

“When Peter had proclaimed the word publicly at
Rome, and declared the gospel under the influence of
the Spirit; as there was a great number present, they
requested Mark, who had followed him from afar,
and remembered well what he had said, to reduce
these things in writing, and that after composing the
gospel he gave it to those who requested it of him.
Which, when Peter understood, he directly neither
hindered nor encouraged it.”
Clement of Alexandria

“And John the presbyter also said this, Mark being the
interpreter of Peter, whatsoever he recorded he wrote
with great accuracy, but not, however, in the order in
which it was spoken or done by our Lord, for he neither
heard nor followed our Lord, but, as before said, was in
company with Peter, who gave him such instruction as
was necessary, but not to give a history of our Lord's
discourses. Wherefore Mark has not erred in any thing,
by writing some things as he has recorded them; for he
was carefully attentive to one thing, not to pass by any
thing that he heard, or to state any thing falsely in these
accounts. . . . Matthew composed his history in the
Hebrew dialect, and every one translated it as he was
able.”
Eusebius

The purpose of the written Gospels was to
put into permanent form for future
generations what before had been in the
minds of the
first witnesses
of the gospel
of Christ.

These records would later be copied as the
message spread and others wanted copies to
take with them.

The scriptures were
transmitted by
copyists who
sometimes
accidently made
mistakes or who
occasionally may
have deliberately
changed the text.

As a consequence
errors were
recorded and
propagated by hand
from one
manuscript to
another.

The differences among the manuscripts have
become great, either through the negligence of
some copyists or through the perverse audacity of
others; they either neglect to check over what they
have transcribed, or; in the process of checking,
they make additions or deletions as they please.
Origen

Mistakse were made
All books that have been transmitted to
us from ancient times have suffered
from copyists’ mistakes.

Mistakse were made
This problem also
existed for such
writings by Plato,
Homer or even
Shakespeare where the
original writings are no
longer in existence.
The authenticity of
these secular writings
is not questioned.

Inspired Copies
I came to realize that it would have been no more
difficult for God to preserve the words of
scripture than it would have been for him to
inspire them in the first place. If he wanted his
people to have his words, surely he would have
given them to them (and possibly even given
them the words in a language they could
understand, rather than Greek and Hebrew). The
fact that we don‘t have the words surely must
show that he did not preserve them for us. And if
he didn‘t perform that miracle, there seemed to
be no reason to think that he performed the
earlier miracle of inspiring those words.
Bart Ehrman

Bible Inspiration

The Bible teaches
that God inspired
the original writers
to record what was
true, accurate and
reliable, God did
not guide the hands
of copyists.

To expect the preservation of a perfect
copy of the text would have required a
miracle every time a scribe reproduced
a manuscript.

Total Variations
Scholars differ significantly in their estimates—
some say there are 200,000 variants known,
some say 300,000, some say 400,000 or more!
We do not know for sure because, despite
impressive developments in computer
technology, no one has yet been able to count
them all. Perhaps it is best simply to leave the
matter in comparative terms. There are more
variations among our manuscripts than there
are words in the New Testament.
Bart Ehrman

Types of Variations
1. Confusion of letters having nearly the same form
2. Mistakes from words having the same sound
3. Addition, omission and transposition of letters, syllables, or
words, and even of phrases or clauses
4. Combination of wrong words
5. Marginal notes copied into the text
6. Changes in the Greek language reflected in the manuscripts
7. Variations in grammar
8. Changes in the spellings of words
9. Changes in the order of words, such as “the Lord Jesus
Christ” instead of “Christ Jesus the Lord”
10. Longer insertions not found in early manuscripts are
considered suspect and assumed to be later additions

The great majority of
variations within the
text deal with readings
of no consequence;
many of them are so
small that they cannot
be represented in
translation.

In many cases
where differences
occur in the
Greek
manuscripts
scholars are able
to restore the
text.

The Case for Faithful Copyists
―Lest the foregoing examples of alterations
should give the impression that scribes were
altogether wilful and capricious in transmitting
ancient copies of the New Testament, it ought
to be noted that other evidence points to the
careful and painstaking work on
the part of many faithful
copyists‖
Bruce Metzger

F. F. Bruce
In view of the inevitable accumulation of such
errors over so many centuries, it may be thought
that the original text of the New Testament
documents have been corrupted beyond
restoration. Some writers, indeed, insist on the
likelihood of this to such a degree that one
sometimes suspects they would be glad if it were
so. But they are mistaken. There is no body of
ancient literature in the world which enjoys such
a wealth of good textual attestation as the New
Testament.

F. F. Bruce
The evidence for our New Testament
writings is ever so much greater than the
evidence for many writings of classical
author, the authenticity of which no one
dreams of questioning. And if the New
Testament were a collection of secular
writings, their authenticity would generally
be regarded as beyond all doubt.

Frederick Kenyon

It is reassuring at the end to find that the
general result of all these discoveries and
all this study is to strengthen the proof of
the authenticity of the Scriptures, and our
convictions that we have in our hands in
substantial integrity, the veritable Word of
God…

Frederick Kenyon
The interval then between the dates of
original composition and the earliest
extant evidence becomes so small as to be
in fact negligible and the last foundation
for any doubt that the Scriptures have
come down to us substantially as they
were written has now been removed. Both
the authenticity and the general integrity
of the books of the New Testament may
be regarded as finally established.

We don’t have the originals
It is one thing to say that the originals were
inspired, but the reality is that we don‘t have
the originals – so saying there were inspired
doesn‘t help much, unless the originals can be
reconstructed. Moreover, the vast majority of
Christians for the entire history of the church
have not had access to the originals, making
their inspiration something of a moot point. Not
only do we not have the originals, we don‘t
have the first copies of the originals. We don‘t
even have copies of the copies of the originals,
or copies of the copies of the copies of the
originals.

We don’t have the originals
If one wants to insist that God inspired the
very words of scripture, what would be the
point if we don‘t have the very words of
scripture? In some places we simply cannot be
sure that we have reconstructed the original
text accurately. It‘s a bit hard to know what the
words of the Bible mean if we don‘t even know
what the words are!
Bart Ehrman

Bruce Metzger: 1914 - 2007

Bart Ehrman studied
with the foremost
leading expert in the
field of New
Testament textual
criticism,
Bruce Metzger.

What does he say?

Confidence in the New Testament
Strobel: If all we have are copies of copies of
copies, how can I have any confidence that the
New Testament we have today bears any
resemblance whatsoever to what was originally
written?

The Case for Christ: A Journalist’s
Personal Investigation of the
Evidence for Jesus

Metzger: What the New Testament has in its favor,
especially when compared with other ancient writings,
is the unprecedented multiplicity of copies that have
survived. We have copies commencing within a couple
of generations from the writing of the originals,
whereas in the case of other ancient texts, maybe five,
eight, or ten centuries elapsed between the original and
the earliest surviving copy. In addition to Greek
manuscripts, we also have translations of the gospels
into other languages at a relatively early time into
Latin, Syriac, and Coptic. And beyond that, we have
what may be called secondary translations made a little
later, like Armenian and Gothic. And a lot of others -
Georgian, Ethiopic, a great variety.

Metzger: Even if we had no Greek manuscripts
today, by piecing together the information from
these translations from a relatively early date,
we could actually reproduce the contents of the
New Testament. In addition to that, even if we
lost all the Greek manuscripts and the early
translations, we could still reproduce the
contents of the New Testament from the
multiplicity of quotations in commentaries,
sermons, letters, and so forth of the early
church fathers.

Strobel: All these decades of scholarship, of
study, of writing textbooks, of delving into
the minutiae of the New Testament text -
what has all this done to your personal
faith?

Metzger: It has increased the basis of my
personal faith to see the firmness with
which these materials have come down to
us, with a multiplicity of copies, some of
which are very, very ancient.

Strobel: So, scholarship has not diluted your
faith -

Metzger: On the contrary, it has built it. I've
asked questions all my life, I've dug into
the text, I've studied this thoroughly, and
today I know with confidence that my trust
in Jesus has been well placed. Very well
placed.

The Word of God
It is difficult to believe
that if God has given
His creation a written
revelation that then He
would allow His Word
to become corrupted to
the point where future
generations would be
uncertain of its true
meaning.

Jesus promised his disciples that the
Holy Spirit would remind them about
the teachings and instructions that they
had heard when they were with him.

Galatians 1
11 But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was
preached of me is not after
man.
12 For I neither received it of
man, neither was I taught it,
but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ.

If the books that comprise the Bible
are merely of human origin then it
follows that the facts and doctrines
found in them are only as reliable as
all human knowledge can be.

The Promise
If on the other hand, the biblical
records were reproduced by men
directed and inspired by the Holy
Spirit, then we have every reason to
believe that the facts and doctrines
recorded in the Bible are free of those
imperfections and blemishes that
apply to all human productions.

We can turn to the Bible with
confidence believing that the events
and doctrines found in it are
trustworthy because they were
recorded by men inspired by God.

Isaiah 55
10. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow
from heaven, and returneth not thither, but
watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth
and bud, that it may give seed to the sower,
and bread to the eater:
11. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my
mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it
shall accomplish that which I please, and it
shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Misquoting Jesus - Addressing claims that the Bible has been corrupted

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