Posted on 03/28/2011 12:48:31 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
A new book by a major New Testament scholar is sure to make mincemeat of many peoples faith. Needlessly.
The scholar is the iconoclastic Dr. Bart Ehrman, who teaches religion at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The book is called Forged: Why the Bibles Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are. Ehrman said on a radio broadcast that about 75 percent of the New Testament documents are supposedly forged. Theyre frauds.
Dr. Sam Lamerson is a conservative New Testament scholar who teaches at Knox Seminary in Ft. Lauderdale. (By way of full disclosure, I earned a theology degree there). He heard Ehrman on a radio broadcast say words to this effect: I want to be the scholar that uses the F-word about the Bible. I want people to know that these books were forged.
Forged is a strong word. Several of the New Testament books claim no authorship at all. Church tradition has attributed them to various writers, but the biblical text itself does not claim authorship for these particular books. For instance, none of the four Gospels (of which tradition names the writers as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) actually have the names of the authors at the beginning of their documents.
But if a document is anonymous, how could it be a forgery?
Dr. Mike Licona, a rising star in New Testament scholarship, has been reading an advanced copy of Forged. He told me that the most prolific biographer of antiquity is widely held to be Plutarch (as in Plutarchs Lives), yet of all the 50 or so existing manuscripts we have of Plutarch, none of them are signed.
Were they forgeries? By Ehrmans definition, it would seem so. But no serious scholar holds that view.
Dr. Licona, who has debated Ehrman twice, told me, What were seeing from Ehrman [in Forged] is not new information. It may be new to many readers who arent used to looking at the academic stuff, but its not at all new.
Ehrman goes on to assert that many New Testament books that do claim authorship within the text, such as Ephesians, Colossians, and the letters of Peter and James, are not written by the claimed authors. It should be noted that this is not based on manuscript evidence. Its based largely on the style of the text, and there are many conservative scholars who are not convinced by these arguments. Thus, Ehrman is stating liberal opinion as fact.
Ironically, Ehrman even states in his own book, Virtually all of the problems with what Ive been calling forgeries can be solved if secretaries were heavily involved in the compositions of the early Christian writings. [p. 134]
But thats exactly what happened.
Conservative scholars note that many of Pauls writings begin with his name and that of a co-author, such as Timothy, Silas, or Sosthenes.
Dr. Lamerson, who interestingly worked his way through seminary by doing magic tricks, knows sleight of hand when he sees it (or in this case, hears it). He said, Of course, being forged is very different from having a secretary or having someone help you with the text or not knowing who wrote the text because their name simply isnt included.
Ehrman likes to tout that hes a former evangelical, who went to Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College. Ehrman then went on to Princeton Seminary where he began to have some doubts about his faith. That faith finally shattered when he was teaching at Rutgers University. Now, hes an agnostic.
So why are Bart Ehrman and other liberal scholars even concerning themselves with this stuff if they dont believe it?
Amazingly, Jesus made a warning that fits here (if the Gospel of Matthew is to be believed-and, no, it wasnt forged; it just isnt signed). He admonished those who shut the kingdom of heaven in mens faces. He said, You yourselves wont go in, but you prevent others from going in.
Im concerned that many people will hear Bart Ehrman and think that he speaks for all the scholars. He does not.
Many people might miss the Gospel because they take Ehrmans word as Gospel. It is not.
It is liberal opinion repackaged well for a mass audience.
For anyone needing a scholarly rebuttal to Bart Ehrmans 2011 book, feel free to read Terry L. Wilder's excellent article called "Pseudonymity and the New Testament," which appears in a 2001 book, Interpreting the New Testament: Essays on Methods and Issues. (Indeed, his arguments arent new.)
Dr. Paul Maier, a professor of ancient history at Western Michigan University and a first rate scholar of the New Testament and its history, told me, Both [Ehrman] and his publisher [HarperOne] are guilty of cheap sensationalism with little or no regard for the truth.
Ehrmans book went on sale on March 22, 2011. Just in time for Easter, he, his publisher, and the lackeys in the media who go for all the anti-faith iconoclasm get another chance to try and cash in. What a friend we have in Jesus.
-- Jerry Newcombe is the senior producer and host of The Coral Ridge Hour. He has also written or co-written 21 books, including The Book That Made America: How the Bible Formed Our Nation
Convenient. The author gets to define "serious scholars" apparently.
gravity has no author ... it doesn’t exist.
This is critical. You don't go out of your way to be hostile to things you simply don't believe in. I don't think the Bhagavad Gita is divinely inspired, for instance, but I don't make it my business to tear it down, and I certainly wouldn't become a "scholar" on the subject if I thought it was fraudulent.
In other words, these rabid anti-Christian types are motivated by something more than mere unbelief.
Debunking Dr. Bart. D. Ehrman
A look into Bart D. Ehrmans Misquoting Jesus
Bart would head on to yet another big named school, but one that was now moving away from his founding conservative principles, to a more liberal progressive stance: Princeton Theological Seminary. It is here that Bart D Ehrman would study under the renowned textual scholar, Bruce M Metzger. When writing an initial paper, for a Princeton professor by the name of Cullen Story at the beginning of his stay, Bart tried to give a long complicated answer to overturn a discrepancy found in the Gospel of Mark. (Mark 2:26; 2 Sam 21:1-6) It was the professors response that would send this doubting young man onto the road that would end in his becoming an Agnostic: Maybe Mark just made a mistake. Here is Barts established mindset from Misquoting Jesus before he even enters his first chapter:
(is sure to make mincemeat of many peoples faith)
NEVER! It will only get stronger.
Rewriting the Bible does nothing to those that believe.
That’s the nature of modern scholarship now.
Most modern scholary works are now worth the paper it’s written on. Good for starting campfire is all it’s worth now.
That's rich. Prove him wrong with the same book he claims to be a forgery. lol.
The Author is the Holy Spirit... and its impossible to forge HIS work
re: “Faith in Jesus is separate from faith in The Word.”
Completely untrue. Jesus was the Word of God made flesh in humnan form. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Faith in Christ is faith in God’s Word. They are inseparable. The written Bible is God’s message to us - it is through the written Word of God that we hear God’s love and of His salvation for us.
You can count on it every year around Lent, Holy Week, Easter and Christmas; it really becomes rather wearisome. The more absurd the assertion these people make, the more seriously (and extensively) the MSM will cover it.
Bart D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he has been teaching for over 15 years. He completed his undergraduate work at Wheaton College and received his Master of Divinity and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. Prior to taking his position at UNC, Professor Ehrman taught at Rutgers University.
Professor Ehrman has published dozens of book reviews and scholarly articles for academic journals. He has written or edited 24 books, including The New York Times bestseller Misquoting Jesus; Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium; The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings; and After the New Testament: A Reader in Early Christianity. He has served as president of the Society of Biblical Literature, Southeast Region; book review editor of the Journal of Biblical Literature; and editor of the Scholars Press Monograph Series The New Testament in the Greek Fathers.
Professor Ehrman has received several teaching awards, including the 2009 J. W. Pope "Spirit of Inquiry" Teaching Award, the Students Undergraduate Teaching Award, the Ruth and Philip Hettleman Prize for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement, and the Bowman and Gordon Gray Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Here is what Paul (aka Saul of Tarsus) wrote to the Romans written in Koine Greek, and paraphrased by Eugene Peterson in The Message:
“But God’s angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.”
If you prefer the King James:
“18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, “
or the NIV:
“18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world Gods invisible qualitieshis eternal power and divine naturehave been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools...”
It is sad to see a falling away by anyone, but especially a Moody and a Wheaton graduate.
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first” 2 Thess 2:3 KJV
“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Matt 24:24 KJV
OK, that settles the whole thing! Guess we should pack it in now.
Major scholar? Yeah right.
Just like "The DaVinci Code" this won't have one bit of impact on anyone's faith. People who are looking for reasons not to believe will point to this book just like they did the Code.
And people who do believe are not going to swallow this nonsense just because the guy writing the book claims to be smart.
Classic psychological confusion of personality worship with principle; inherent to those readers of People Magazine and leftists. You can bet Bart Ehrman voted for Barack Obama.
Bart Ehrman would not know the Disciple Matthew if he tripped over him, so what's his point here?
Johnny Suntrade
It even applies to the differences in the styles of, say, the Gospel of St. John, and his apocalypse. “Revelation,” says Greek scholars is written in a rough and ready style. Not, however, by a man for whom Greek is a learned language, but a crude but vigorous “country” style. If it was written by John of Galilee, he could well have been fluent in the Greek of that region albeit unlettered. If composed in the confined space of Patmos, he might have had to do his own writing. That would be as markedly different from his gospel where the real work would be that of scribes with just enough of John’s voice to make it authentic. Bishop Robinson—the iconoclastic Anglican bishop (and a liberal on top of it) even speculated that “John” was written first, but then rewritten, maybe twice, to produce the final product.
I'm trying to think of what one could possibly believe about Jesus without relying on the Bible. Well, obviously, people can make up any old crap to believe in, but I mean credible sources.
Indeed.
God is the Author, but he used a number of people from various backgrounds as His scribes. Not all were "some Palestinian peasants".
Luke was a physican
Paul was a scholar and theologian (probably a member of the Sanhedrin)
Moses was a prince of Egypt
Ezra was a priest
Solomon was a king
David was a king
Not that they were necessarily any better at writing down the word of God than were those who were "some Palestinian peasants."
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