The New Testament has been misquoted from the beginning. See Erhman's "Misquoting Jesus." amazon.com
The great majority of text changes were simply scribes making mistakes. Picture a room full of pharmacist assistants trying to interpret a doctor's handwriting on a scroll instead of a prescription pad. But many were made on purpose because the scribes, or their masters, didn't care for the original versions.
Where I disagree with him is when he concludes that the texts are, therefore, pretty useless. The Lord's Prayer and The Sermon on the Mount are very similar in Matthew and Luke, and, IMHO, that is the crux of Jesus's teaching. This is the so-called "Q Source," that both Matthew and Luke use, in addition to the book of Mark, which they plagiarize and rearrange to better fit their major points.
Since Paul's letters rarely mention Jesus's words, and they have been incredibly re-edited, it does make them of little use.
I think following the sayings is the most important thing we can do. But, despite the sentiment in Martin Mull's humorous song, "Jesus is Easy," the Lord's prescriptions are tough as they can be. Which is pretty much why most Christian churches have abandoned them. |
