Discovering the Original Gospel of John by Jerry Wayne Bernard
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Well, I admit I did not finish this book completely. I had high hopes for it, until I read the introduction and he gave high praise for the time he sat under Dr. Bart D. Erhman. Knowing Erhman has spent most of his career attacking Christianity and the Scriptures, I started loosing my high hopes immediately, but I pushed on hoping for the best. Well, my fears were justified, as the book started attacking the text, claiming there were two writers of John, one being more gnostic and adding pieces that wouldn't have been in the original. He also goes on to claim that Paul was radically different and actually more gnostic than the other Apostles.
Basically, this line of attack is typical for modern liberal scholars, and I do not claim to be well studied enough to say that it totally lacks all credibility. But to me, this line of study is not taken with the intent of honoring Yahweh more, but ends in doubt and questioning of truth. This focuses on all things human, and seems to totally neglect any idea of Yahweh having any control over what gets written and preserved. It becomes a focus on errors that man brought to the text through their own understanding and defense of their particular doctrine.
Anyway, I know textual criticism is important, but this type of writing only touches on it and instead just ends up coming across as an attack the Scriptures in general. No thanks. I would prefer to study writings that further my understanding of the Lord, and assist in better understanding the Scripture and living a more righteous life.
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