The eighth article of the Articles of Faith reads, "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God." That tricky phrase, "as far as it is translated correctly," has been a thorn in the side of evangelicals for years. Funny stuff, though -- when you consider the number of translations, the number of changes over the years, it seems that no one would have a problem suggesting that there are places where the Bible has not been "translated correctly." What makes the problem even more thorny is that, inasmuch as original manuscripts are not available, how does one decide what is correct?

All of this falls under the general heading of "textual criticism," a study beloved by some and despised by others. The author, in his introduction, describes his life passage, from nominal involvement in the mainstream Protestant church, to the "born again" experience and its attendant belief in biblical inerrancy, and finally into the realization that, after all, the Bible is a very human book, written by human hands, and subject to the flaws and shortcomings of other books.

Like a fine craftsman, Ehrman lays out his case in a balanced and systematic fashion. One piece builds upon the next, forming an impressive rhetorical structure that is entirely convincing. And he does all this in exquisite plainness -- one need not be scholar, or even familiar with the critical apparatus used by scholars, to understand the case he makes.

Chapter 1, "The Beginnings of Christian Scripture," offers a survey of the many writings that emerged in the early days of Christianity, most of which are not included in the New Testament canon, many of which are utterly unfamiliar to the modern reader. He presents the early Church as composed largely of those with no ability to either read or write, making necessary the public reading of the writings produced by early church leaders. He also addresses, although in abbreviated form, the formation of the New Testament canon, the issues involved in the selection of books, and the amazing length of time it took the church to decide just what that canon ought to look like.

Lacking printing presses and other modern inventions, early Christian writings were passed from one hand to the next either by the circulation of existing documents, or by the copying of documents by scribes and other copyists. Chapter 2, "The Copyists of the Early Christian Writings," takes us on something of a ride through the process of copying, a process often flawed by sloppiness or, in some cases, deliberate alterations made either by unscrupulous scribes or by those who genuinely thought they were restoring a better text. It's a fascinating read, and well worth studying.

Chapter 3, "Texts of the New Testament," takes us into the evolution of the New Testament corpus, tracing early attempts to produce a printed version of the scriptures reflecting the best available scholarship. The author outlines the various kinds of changes made to the manuscripts, with some very specific information on the motivations that caused these copyists to make these changes. His discussion of Erasmus and his attempt to provide a Greek testament, and its influence on the King James Version, was fascinating, and helps put the whole King James Only-controversy into perspective.

Chapter 4, "The Quest for Origins," surveys the major efforts of biblical scholars to trace the available manuscripts and determine as best as possible, through various methods, the most accurate text. This is a daunting task. The author discusses the major players and their methodologies, culminating in the major work of Westcott and Hort, whose research continues to be used, albeit in a modified form, to this day.

In chapter 5, titled "Originals That Matter," Ehrman considers two specific texts where manuscript evidence varies, and discusses how translators determine which is the better rendering. Reading this chapter is a bit like going inside the scholar's mind, sorting through the evidence and settling on a reasonable version of the text.

It is with chapter 6, "Theologically Motivated Alterations of the Text," that we get to the meat of the Mormon interest in this subject. The words of Nephi are very familiar: "Wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are many plain and precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God." (1 Nephi 13:28) Ehrman states his position very clearly:

The thesis of this chapter is that sometimes the texts of the New Testament were modified for theological reasons. This happened whenever the scribes copying the texts were concerned to ensure that the texts said what they wanted them to say; sometimes this was because of theological disputes raging in the scribes' own day. (p. 151)

The author discusses several theological controversies that affected the scribal work, leading the copyists to alter the text in order to support their particular theological bias. The implications of this are staggering. Can the New Testament be trusted to fairly represent the thoughts of the original authors? And how can we ever know? The claim of biblical inerrancy becomes something of a non-issue; it's a non-provable, and in light of sound research, unsupportable idea.

Chapter 6, "The Social Worlds of the Texts" follows with a vigorous discussion of the effect of the social environment on the editing and copying of the New Testament documents. Three areas are in focus: the role of women in society, Jewish opposition to Christianity, and pagan enmity toward the church. It's a lively and insightful essay, very revealing of how vulnerable the copyists were to their social setting.

Ehrman ends with a conclusion that leads the student to continue his or her study of the Bible, conscious that all translations are flawed in one way or another, but merit consideration nonetheless.

I don't often call a book a "must read," but here the description really fits, in my opinion. Ehrman has an enormous talent for taking complex theological and linguistic concepts and making them understandable to just about anyone. His passion for his subject is evident. He makes his case convincingly.

Most of the material in this book was not new to me, but putting it all together in a cohesive argument was very instructive. And there were details I had not known before.

Latter-day Saints have long held that the Bible has been compromised over the years by scribal and translational problems. To some extent, the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible is seen as an effort to restore some of these "plain and precious" parts that were either altered or taken away. But in this volume, we have what constitutes a veritable road map to the kinds of changes and omissions that scholars have discovered.

Misquoting Jesus is a feast for non-scholars like myself. It is highly recommended to every thoughtful Latter-day Saint.

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Jeff Needle
August 14, 2005