I picked up a book by "accident" Friday at Barnes and Noble. Lost in Transmission? by Nicholas Perrin a prof out at Wheaton. A timely and valuable read since we'll be preaching on the trustworthiness of Scripture from 2 Peter this Sunday. (BTW, this is why brick-and-mortar will not be entirely taken over by internet shopping--browsing a bookstore is a valuable discipline that has often led me to books I needed to read.)
This book is largely an alternative to the story of the Bible's transmission presented by Bart Ehrman in Misquoting Jesus. Anyone wrestling with reliability of the New Testament, particularly the Gospels, in communicating the life and words of Jesus, ought to read this book.
And Perrin is no sterile scholar. He weaves his own journey of encountering Jesus through the words of the Bible in his college years as he writes. The book is not what you would expect. Far from dry, it is an engaging presentation of the historical reliability of the Gospel writers and those who preserved the text through the ages of church history.
Its the kind of book that reminds you what a treasure the Bible is without employing the tactic of truthiness. Its meaty without being pedantic or sanctimonious.
Here's a great summary statement from Perrin:
I have been arguing that historically speaking, we can have a fair deal of confidence that the Gospels give us the words--not to mention the life--of Jesus. But this confidence does not mean that we have fully grasped Jesus, that we have intellectually mastered him, that he is in our back pocket. (p. 127)
This book is worth the $15 or $20 you'll spend--it will increase your confidence in the words of the New Testament with a fully engaged mind and heart.
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