April 2007 Archives

Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why

by Bart D. Ehrman

I recently read two wonderful books by Bart Ehrman, Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew and Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why.

Lost Christianities charts the development of different branches of early Christianity/ies, through an examination of various lost gospels and other early Christian writings. It also presents a framework for understanding the emergence of 'proto-orthodoxy', that stream which eventually triumphed over other versions and established itself (post-Constantine) as orthodox Christian faith.

Misquoting Jesus examines the development and transmission of the canonical New Testament texts, discussing the way in which thousands and thousands of copyist errors and deliberate changes accumulated over time. Ehrman explains how many of the letters traditionally ascribed to Paul are in fact later forgeries, introduced for various theological reasons. He debunks the fundamentalist notion of a received text (textus receptus) and describes the methods used by biblical scholars to reconstruct the earliest versions of the text and thus take us a close as possible to the original meaning of the biblical authors.

Both books are fascinating introductions to New Testament studies. I'd studied the literary and textual development of the Hebrew bible but had never really delved into the New Testament. As a result I've decided to learn Koine Greek, so that I can begin to read the NT in the original language.

I started self-paced lessons a few weeks ago, using Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar. I'm just starting to get into Greek grammar and nouns. I thought it would be impossible to learn a new language at this stage in my life, but it's actually progressing nicely so far. I'm looking forward to being able to perform my own exegesis.

As late fall and winter bore down on the upper Midwest, I began to lose my enthusiasm for maintaining this blog. I began to lose enthusiasm for a lot of things unfortunately. My last posting was over three months ago. I have not had much to say in the interim.

Winter here can be hard on the soul for someone used to the eternal sunshine and warmth of Australia. I don't know if the end of summer was the trigger or whether that was just a coincidence. I have to admit it's been a difficult few months. I struggled with depression and a treatment program that just seemed to keep making things worse, not better. I wrote a little about this here and here.

It seems I am through the worst of it now and regaining a sense of normalcy. I wonder to what extent the diagnosis of my depression (which was based on an 'educated' guess by a physician unsupported by any objective physiological or neurological indicators) was more a less a self-fulfilling prophecy. Once planted in my mind, it somehow tapped into deep seated insecurities or hurts somewhere inside for fuel to grow, until it began to define me. I allowed a measure of self-responsibility and ownership for my feelings to be taken away and replaced by a 'diagnosis', one that I now challenge. I might write about this a little more some time when there is more distance from the events of the past three months.

Getting off the medication was just horrible. I do not recommend ever taking a drug like Effexor; it is nasty to be on and truly brutal to get off of. There is some indication these drugs can be permanently addictive in that some people simply cannot tolerate the terrible withdrawal side effects and therefore cannot stop taking the drug. I was sick for two weeks after gradually titrating the dose, and I still have the occasional shivers as well as the seemingly permanent tinnitus that begun the day I started taking Effexor. I won't even mention the horrible emotional rollercoaster that also ensued. I'm sure we'll eventually learn more about the damaging effects of this and other SSRI drugs, and discover that far from the panacea they are claimed to be they are toxic chemicals that should never be given to humans.

In any case, this blog has been an important vehicle for me to express myself and dialogue with others. I enjoy posting and want to re-engage with the world. If anyone's reading this, take a look at some of my observations on matters spiritual and political. Feel free to add a comment. And thanks for stopping by!