FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Bible/Textual criticism
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This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
Contents
Question
What can textual criticism (the scholarly study of ancient texts, such as the Bible) tell us about the doctrines of scriptural inerrancy?
Answer
The LDS Church does not take any position on which verses in the Bible are accurate and which are not. From a point of faith we use the Bible as a spiritual guide and don't try to pick it apart. Textual criticism is the realm of the scholar. The Church is an institute of faith and revelation, not scholarship.
From the scholarly point of view, the differences in various Biblical manuscripts are well-documented. Some standard references include:
- Bruce M. Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration (Oxford University Press, USA; 4 edition, 2005), ISBN 019516122X. ISBN 978-0195161229.
This is the standard reference. Metzger and Ehrman are the leaders in this field of study. - Bart D. Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (HarperSanFrancisco, [2005] 2007). ISBN 0060859512. ISBN 0060738170.
This is a little more accessible to the layman. - Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (United Bible Societies; 2 Revised edition, 2005), ISBN 1598561642. ISBN 978-1598561647.
This a companion publication to the United Bible Societies' 4th edition Greek New Testament. The Textual Commentary lists 284 variant readings that the UBS committee felt were significant enough to warrant comment.
Examples of variant readings
A few common, well-known variants include:
- John 7:53-John 8:1-11, traditionally known as the pericope adulterae, is not contained in the earliest and best manuscripts and was almost certainly not an original part of the Gospel of John. Among modern commentators and textual critics, it is a foregone conclusion that the section is not original but represents a later addition to the text of the Gospel. Metzger summarizes in Textual Commentary: "The evidence for the non-Johannine origin of the pericope of the adulteress is overwhelming." (p. 187).
- Mark 16:9-20 does not exist in the earliest and best manuscripts. Virtually all scholars believe it was a later addition, added by scribes who felt the original ending was unsatisfactory.
- 1 John 5:7-8 ("in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth"), the infamous Comma Johanneum, is accepted as a later insertion by virtually every scholar. It is most interesting to me that it is the only explicit reference to the Trinity in the New Testament, yet it is not part of the original epistle, but dates from probably the fourth century.
- John 1:18 is notoriously difficult because various manuscripts read either monogenes theos ("the only God") or ho monogenes huios ("the only son").
- Hebrews 1:3 reads "reveals (phaneron) all things" in the Codex Vaticanus, while most manuscripts read "sustains (pheron) all things". This is particularly interesting because there's a scribe's marginal note in the CV that reads "Fool and knave, leave the old reading, don't change it!", indicating contention over an intentional change in the passage.
Conclusion
Latter-day Saints are not interested in searching the Bible for errors, or high-lighting its flaws, though they readily admit that no text can be perfect or without error when mortals are involved in writing, transcribing, transmitting, or translating it. (See Book of Mormon—Introduction].)
The flaws in the Biblical text present a problem to Biblicists—those who believe the Bible is without error—but not to Latter-day Saints.
Bart Ehrman was a Biblical inerrantist when he entered the study of the New Testament (he started off at the very conservative Moody Bible Institute), but ultimately lost his faith over the 200,000 to 400,000 variant New Testament readings.[1] As he wrote, "There are more variations among our manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament."[2]
Ehrman's slide into agnosticism illustrates the dangers of inerrantism. His inability to have complete confidence that every word of the Bible was correct led to an inability to trust any of the Bible's witness about Jesus as Lord, Son of God, and Savior.
Latter-day Saints do not rely on scripture—biblical or otherwise—for their knowledge of Christ. They rely instead upon that which provided the scripture in the first place: revelation by the Holy Ghost. They treasure the scriptural witnesses, but do not require perfection from any mortal or mortal work to have faith in the revelations of God.
Endnotes
- [note] The estimate is Ehrman's; see Bart D. Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (HarperSanFrancisco, [2005] 2007), 89. ISBN 0060859512. ISBN 0060738170.
- [note] Bart D. Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (HarperSanFrancisco, [2005] 2007), 90. ISBN 0060859512. ISBN 0060738170.
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
FAIR web site
| FAIR Holy Bible materials |
- John A. Tvedtnes, "The Bible Code and Biblical Inerrancy," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR) FAIR link
External links
| On-line Holy Bible materials |
- Alma Allred, "Coin of the Realm: Beware of Specious Specie (Review of: "Scripture," In The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism)," FARMS Review of Books 12/1 (2000): 137–174. off-site
- Danel W. Bachman, "The Other Side of the Coin: A Source Review of Norman Geisler's Chapter (Review of: "Scripture," In The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism)," FARMS Review of Books 12/1 (2000): 175–214. off-site
- John Gee, "The Old Testament as Reliable History, Review of On the Reliability of the Old Testament by Kenneth A. Kitchen," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 425–430. off-site wiki
- William J. Hamblin and Daniel C. Peterson, "The Evangelical Is Our Brother (Review of How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation)," FARMS Review of Books 11/2 (1999): 178–209. off-site
- Blake T. Ostler, "Bridging the Gulf (Review of How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation)," FARMS Review of Books 11/2 (1999): 103–177. off-site
- Daniel C. Peterson and Stephen D. Ricks, "Comparing LDS Beliefs with First-Century Christianity, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, no date). off-site
- Stephen E. Robinson, Are Mormons Christians? (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1993). off-site FAIR linkoff-site
- John A. Tvedtnes and Matthew Roper, "'A Bible! A Bible!' The Canon and Ongoing Revelation (Review of Luke P. Wilson's "Lost Books & Latter-Day Revelation: A Response to Mormon Views of the New Testament Canon")off-site
Printed material
| Holy Bible print materials |
- Alan Denison & D.L. Barksdale, Guess Who Wants To Have You For Lunch?, 2nd edition, (Redding, California: FAIR, 2002[1999]), 37–57. ISBN 1893036057. FAIR link
- Emanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 2nd Rev edition (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2001[1999]), 1. ISBN {{{isbn}}}.
- Leon Vaganay and Christian-Bernard Amphoux, An Introduction to New Testament Criticism, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 1. ISBN {{{isbn}}}.