Some of you may have seen the UK BBC TV programmes called Bible Hunters, which have examined some of the work done by biblical scholars to recover earlier and more reliable manuscripts of the New Testament. Focus is given to Tischendorf, the Smith sisters and Charles Lang Freer.
I've only seen the first programme so far, though it is somewhat sensationalist in tone! The presenter, Jeff
There are a number of scholars interviewed in the programme. Professor Larry Hurtado is probably the most distinguished scholar that they interview, and he is certainly an expert on early Christian texts. His broadcast words, however, are few - perhaps twenty seconds over the hour long programme.
Much more time is given over to a certain scholar from Cambridge who was very excited that these discoveries were a bombshell to Victorian Christianity. As he is an expert in Classics, not the history of Christianity, or textual criticism, or any field vaguely related to the subject of the documentary, I am completely unpersuaded that he knew what he was talking about!
So it was a very excitable documentary, with lots of shots of Jeff being Indiana Jones in Egypt. Rose on a Sinaiticus did not contain the so-called longer ending to Mark? Well, some of the medieval manuscripts had marks in the margin next to this passage, which suggest that even then people were aware that it was of doubtful origin.
Rose implies that the Resurrection hinges on the ending to Mark, but verse 6, in all the manuscripts, says, "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here."
The Resurrection does not depend on the longer ending to Mark, and nor do any major Christian doctrines, unless one wants to count snake handling and drinking poison as key Christian teaching...
The final difference that Rose gets very excited about is that the phrase "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing," is not in the Sinaiticus version of Luke 23.34. This would indeed by quite alarming if this was unique teaching, but we know that Jesus elsewhere urges his followers to forgive their enemies and to show love for them.
Good points - telling the story of the Smith sisters, a remarkable pair of women whose story is not often told.
Bad points - the slightly patronising tone towards the sisters learning languages, and the Bedouin's bread making skills. As well as all the slightly dodgy scholarship.
More on Sunday, and possibly next week too!
1 comment:
Well said. A member came to speak to us about the 'new information' about the ending in Mark. We ended a 15 minute discussion with talking about how the bible was written, the differences between the bibles and finally that the BBC may have hidden agenda...and that a little knowledge is dangerous, but wonderful when someone comes and asks for your oppinion. We are praying for those led astray, those whose faith may be troubled and of course for the presenters etc.
Great article...
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