Textual Criticism’s Criticism

7/3/26

Category: Theology

During a Ligonear interview titled, “How Did We Get the Bible?”, Michael Kruger talks about his former seminary professor, Bart Ehrman, and his disillusionment with the traditional, historical view of the canon of scripture and the problem with textual criticism—the academic method used to reconstruct the wordings of the original manuscripts of the Bible.

Ehrman became a skeptic because he believed that if God truly inspired the scriptures, then he should’ve perfectly preserved them, so there should be no textual variances. (See Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus) But this conditional concept is flawed, since God can preserve scripture however he sees fit, even if it means using a normal, historical process, and not being restricted to only working through a supernatural channel, such as writing scripture on golden tablets and then lowering them to earth from heaven. 

Moreover, the discipline of textual criticism is an excellent example of how the Christian faith is not without its challenges much like dealing with the problem of evil and theory of evolution. 

But when each response to these challenges, and others, are given and approached comprehensively, they are most compelling, setting the veracity of Christianity apart from other belief systems.

If you’re interested in watching the interview in its entirety, click on the link below.

https://youtu.be/DTki0ESXIJk?

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7/3/26

Category: Theology

During a Ligonear interview titled, “How Did We Get the Bible?”, Michael Kruger talks about his former seminary professor, Bart Ehrman, and his disillusionment with the traditional, historical view of the canon of scripture and the problem with textual criticism—the academic method used to reconstruct the wordings of the original manuscripts of the Bible. Ehrman…

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