Book Reviews

Hello Again,

I recently read a book by Bart Ehrman titled "Mis-quoting Jesus." It is a fascinating study by Mr. Ehrman on how the Bilble was formed and especially how imperfect a document it is. We have all read and heard from Sylvia on the many inconsistencies found in present King James and other similar versions in circulation today.

Bart really drills down and gets into a great analysis, in layman's terms, on exactly what those inconsistencies are and who/what caused them. He also discusses what the Christianity of antiquity looked and felt like, complete with all the theological issues in play within what was a very diverse Christian community in those first few centuries after Christ's crucifixion. What is even more interesting is how the competing Christian theologies of the day served to influence not only what would become the New Testament but what that new testament would say.

Some of the things I learned.....

There are NO originals of any New Testament Gospel.....all we have are copies!

There is no way of knowing how faw removed any given New Testament copy is from the original.....

The oldest copies are NOT necessarily the most accurate

There was text added some NT Gospels to support debate on the nature of Jesus....

Copies of early Christian Gospels were made from amatuer scribes who often made several mistakes in copying the texts.

The literacy level in Christian antiquity is estimated to be only 5% of the populace who knew how to read and write. And by read and write may have meant that if a person knew how to sign their name they were considered literate back then.

The most accurate copies of the NT manuscripts were the Coptic (Egyptian) versions.

NT Gospels were copied by hand until the invention of the printing press in 1439.

The first english version of the bible did not appear until the King James bible was built in the early 1600s, all versions of the Bible prior to that were written in Latin.

A study by bible scholar in the 1600s found that there were over 30,000 errors in the NT Gospel manuscripts, most of them unintentional.

I think the most significant thing I learned from this book is that I discovered that the Bible is a very "human" book, filled with errors and the social, theological overlays of the scribes and church fathers who wrote them and guided their release to the public. Also, Bart makes a very valid point that the only thing that separates the varous Christian denominations we have today is their mere interpretation of the SAME bible manuscripts.

What make gnostism unique to me is that we are not just another flavor of Christianity, we are truly seekers of truth....wherever we find it.

A great read and written in a way that you can follow Bart Ehrman's thoughts easily enough without getting lost in the analysis.........

Blessings,
Ronnie

Has anyone ever read the book "The banned book of Mary"? it is all about Mary, the mother of Jesus and the facts of the time compared to what was written in the bible. Mary's life is depicted in a lot of artwork in Italy according to the book and they give examples of the artwork as well. It is a small book and a pretty quick read. I found it very interesting.

CathyO wrote:Has anyone ever read the book "The banned book of Mary"? it is all about Mary, the mother of Jesus and the facts of the time compared to what was written in the bible. Mary's life is depicted in a lot of artwork in Italy according to the book and they give examples of the artwork as well. It is a small book and a pretty quick read. I found it very interesting.

Is this book available through Amazon? Please find out for me.

Blessings,
Ronnie

Hi Ronnie,

I just purchased the book " The Banned Book Of Mary ".

I bought the book at Amazon for

$ 1. 25 plus shipping costs $ 3.99

it was used copy; which stated like new.

There were many used copies to purchase

at around the same price ... a real bargin!


Blessings, Sonnia

Ronnie, i liked how you reviewed the book "Mis-quoting Jesus". It sounds very intresting.



Many blessings.

rpgnostic wrote:Hello Again,

I recently read a book by Bart Ehrman titled "Mis-quoting Jesus." It is a fascinating study by Mr. Ehrman on how the Bilble was formed and especially how imperfect a document it is.

I own that book But have yet to read it. (I was thinking of reading the bible first then the book)

The Banned Book of Mary is a wonderful book. It will make you look at mary, the mother of Jesus is awhole new way.