Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman

There are hundreds of Bible translations available – but why so many and why are they different? When a biblical scholar decides to do a translation, which manuscripts do they choose to use, how to they know what the ancient words meant, and do religious considerations get in the way of accurate translations. Are there places where no one can agree on what the original text says? Jennifer Knust is a prominent New Testament scholar who helped lead the committee that recently produced an updated edition of the New Revised Standard Version. Here she discusses with Bart the problems and pitfalls of biblical translation.

What's wrong with the King James Version? Anything? Why don't we *all* use it? The KJV is the best known and arguably most elegant, aesthetically pleasing, and significant piece of English literature ever. But there are problems with it for anyone wanting to know what the biblical authors actually said. Some of the problems are today rather amusing, many are serious, and all are worth knowing about.

Many people say that the New Testament cannot be true because we don’t know exactly what the authors originally wrote, or because there are contradictions in it, or because some of the books were not written by their alleged authors, or because there are historical mistakes. But even if these things are true, does that mean the New Testament cannot be true – on some level?

Dive into the exciting belief of apocalypticism in ancient Jewish times. What is it? Why is it in the New Testament? And what was its purpose?

What does the New Testament actually say about women's roles in the early church?  Has the church acted consistently with the examples and guidelines offered in New Testament?

Special guest, Dr. James Tabor, offers a historical "revealing" of the apostle Paul.  Through careful examination of Paul's authentic or “undisputed” letters, his disputed or “Deutero-Pauline” epistles, and the book of Acts, Dr. Tabor peels back the layers to get to the historical Paul's life, beliefs, and personality.

While our four gospels eventually were named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, did you know they're actually anonymously written? So, who actually wrote the gospels? And when were they written? Do we know where the writers were when they were written? And much more!

Explore the concept of forgery in the New Testament and the moral judgment of forgery in ancient times. Discuss the debate over canonization and authorship, highlighting the tension between historical and theological perspectives. Learn about pseudopigraphy in ancient writings and the importance of identifying forgeries. Discover the importance of open-mindedness, considering different viewpoints, and evaluating historical evidence. Also, get updates on Bart's online courses and explore frustrations in discussions and the current political climate.

There are 27 books in the New Testament Canon. How were they chosen? We have other non-canonical gospels, epistles, and apocalypses that didn't make it in. So why these 27? And why were the others left out? For more information, visit https://www.bartehrman.com

From simple misspelling mistakes to intentional changes, find out how the manuscripts of the New Testament got copied over the centuries and whether the copy mistakes affect any major Christian theology. For more information, visit https://www.bartehrman.com