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Word Gems
exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity
Prof. Bart D. Ehrman
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In I Corinthians 7 Paul argues that those who are single are better positioned to maintain their relationship with God, and should not marry, given the dire state of the world; however, in Timothy and Titus we find a Paul who now insists that leading Christians, the elders, ought to be married. These latter writings, the "Pastorals," are forged documents from later in the second century.
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return to the main-page article on "Bible"
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Editor's prefatory comment:
Dr. Ehrman explains that the 5700 early copies of the New Testament – copies of copies of copies – contain hundreds of thousands of discrepancies.
Many of these are inconsequential but a significant number alter the meaning of the text in important ways. Most of these constituted mere human error in copying but some of them, it appears, were purposefully injected into the text by editorial judgment of scribes.
This entire area of scholarship is far more complex than most realize, leading the objective reviewer to understand that, in many cases, we have no knowledge of the original text of the New Testament.
In addition to Dr. Ehrman’s books, his lectures are available on youtube; for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfheSAcCsrE&t=12s
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Dr. Ehrman speaks of this in his book, "Forged: Writing In The Name Of God."
“In I Corinthians 7 Paul is insistent that people who are single should try to remain single, just as he is. His reason is that the end is near, and people should devote themselves to spreading the word, not to establishing their social lives. But how does this square with the view in the Pastorals? Here the author insists that the leaders of the church be married.”
For many reasons, convincing ones, the Pastorals are deemed to be forged documents. See discussion elsewhere.
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