Misquoting Jesus - Bart D. Ehrman

I found out about this through an intriguing footnote in God Is Not Great, and it raises some fascinating questions about how the New testament came to be in its present form. The basic thesis is that the current text stems from a series of historical accidents that have gradually altered the original manuscripts and, in the process, altered the course of Christianity itself very profoundly.

The changes came through a gradual accumulation of 4 basic processes:

- Selection (choosing which works belonged in the canon, and which were excluded)
- Mistranslation (changes from the original Greek into Latin and then English)
- Mistranscription (accidental alterations in copying, from pre-printing days)
- Deliberate alteration (changes made to minimise apparent errors and support theological orthodoxy)

The eye-opening alterations call into question such central tenets as Mary's virginity, the doctrine of the Trinity, and Christ's divinity. (Hey! I'm sounding like a rapper!)