Bart D. Ehrman

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New Testament Studies
21st century author and professor
Name
Bart D. Ehrman
Birth Unknown
School/tradition Evangelical Christian -> New Testament textual critic -> agnostic
Main interests New Testament authentication, Historical Jesus, Lost Gospels, Early Christian writings
Notable ideas Textual errors in the New Testament, Criterion of independent attestation, Criterion of dissimilarity, and Criterion of contextual credibility.


Bart D. Ehrman is a New Testament scholar and textual critic of early Christianity. He attempts to discern the original wording of the gospels, epistles, and other ancient texts. He claims that his research demonstrates that not only was the Biblical text unintentionally altered by scribes, but sometimes was done intentionally for a variety of reasons such as to make them more uniform and bring them into conformity with changing beliefs.

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[edit] Career

Ehrman began studying the Bible and its original languages at the Moody Bible Institute and is a 1978 graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois. He received his Ph.D and M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, where he studied under Bruce Metzger. He currently serves as the chairman of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was the President of the Southeast Region of the Society of Biblical Literature, and worked closely as an editor on a number of the Society's publications. Currently, he co-edits the series New Testament Tools and Studies.

Much of Ehrman's writing has concentrated on various aspects of Walter Bauer's thesis that Christianity was always diversified or at odds with itself. Ehrman is often considered a pioneer in connecting the history of the early church to textual variants within biblical manuscripts and in coining such terms as "Proto-orthodox Christianity." In his writings, Ehrman has turned around textual criticism. From the time of the Church Fathers, it was the heretics (Marcion, for example) who were charged with tampering with the biblical manuscripts. Ehrman theorizes that it was more often the Orthodox that "corrupted" the manuscripts, altering the text to promote particular viewpoints. He has authored or contributed to nineteen books.

Ehrman became an Evangelical Christian as a teen. His desire to understand the original words of the Bible led him to the study of ancient languages and to textual criticism, which he attributes to undermining his faith in the Bible as the inerrant, unchanging word of God. He now considers himself an agnostic. Nevertheless, Ehrman has kept ongoing dialogue with evangelicals. In March of 2006, he joined theologian William Lane Craig in public debate on the question "Is There Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus?" on the campus of the College of the Holy Cross.[1] Ehrman is slated in April of 2008 to dialogue with evangelical New Testament scholar Daniel B. Wallace on the textual reliability of the New Testament.[2]

In 2006, he appeared on The Colbert Report, as well as The Daily Show, to promote his book Misquoting Jesus. In 2007, he gave a speech at Stanford University in which he discussed the textual inconsistencies of the New Testament, and also takes questions from the audience. He has also made several guest appearances on National Public Radio (NPR) including the show Fresh Air in February 2008 to discuss his book God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer.

Professional awards include 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.

[edit] Major Themes of His Works and Useful Terminology

Two major themes run throughout nearly all of his books and lectures. First, is the desire to analyze the historicity of claims made by ancient texts used in the creation of the New Testament, as well as many books left out of the Christian canon, and subject them to a series of criteria. Second, is the desire to reveal the thousands of differences and changes in the texts some people take to be the inerrant and literal "Word of God," who it was that changed the originals (which we no longer have), and what motivations or theological benefit could lie behind such changes being made.

[edit] Historicity of New Testament tradition

The first major theme in his books and lectures is to analyze the historical accuracy of ancient religious texts used in the creation of the New Testament. Ehrman subjects them to a series of specific criteria. The criteria are as follows:

1. Criterion of independent attestation - the more sources that mention an event, the more likely it is to be historically accurate. Multiple witnesses are better than one witness. This is akin to corroborating evidence in modern trials.[3] It is worth noting here that since Matthew and Luke took many stories from Mark, those instances cannot be considered independently attested. It is also worth noting that just because an event or saying is found only in one source, that alone is not evidence that it is historically inaccurate. This criterion will, however, assist us in determining where the information is on a spectrum of more or less likely to be authentic.

2. Criterion of dissimilarity - the more a witness or source makes claims counter to their vested interests, the more that testimony is likely to be true.[4] This criteria is the most controversial of the three, and sometimes does not always apply properly to ancient sources, but is valuable nonetheless as one of the tools to evaluate historical reliability. In short, if a saying or deed of Jesus goes against or does not support the general Christian agenda, then it is more likely to be historically accurate.

3. Criterion of contextual credibility - states that "the sayings, deeds, and experiences of Jesus must be plausibly situated in the historical context of first-century Palestine to be trusted as reliable."[5] Whereas the first two criteria serve to place a tradition on a spectrum or more or less historically reliable, this criteria is used exclusively to argue against a tradition.

[edit] What Changes Were Made, By Whom, and Why?

A second major theme that runs through his more recent works is the analysis of why the variations are there. The vast majority of the literally hundreds of thousands of differences are due to the unintentional mistakes of scribes[6]. These variations have little to no effect on the meaning of the passages or core tenets of Christian dogma. Changes were made, however, that Ehrman believes with near certainty that could not have been mistakes, but were in fact purposeful alterations by the early church fathers and theologians to mold the early Christian writings into what they needed.

Two key examples will be given here to illustrate the critical nature of the variations. Two of the most striking additions that could not possibly be attributed to unintentional scribe error occurs in the last 12 verses in the Gospel of Mark and in 1 John.

In the Gospel of Mark, the last 12 verses have been added on to the original text many years later.[6] Unlike some other scribal errors that had little bearing on the major tenets of Christian dogma, this addition to the text has vast ramifications. In Mark, Jesus's reappearance to his disciples is mentioned only in the 12 verses that were added to the original. Ehrman indicates that when one considers that the Gospel of Mark is generally regarded to be the earliest of the three synoptic gospels, and most likely one of the primary sources for the Gospels of both Matthew and Luke, it becomes apparent that the addition of these 12 verses could have a monumental effect.

In 1 John, where we find a well known Biblical reference to the doctrine of the Trinity, it is shown that it was added centuries later.[6]

[edit] Personal life

Ehrman has two children, a daughter, Kelly, and a son, Derek. He is married to Sarah Beckwith (Ph.D., King's College London), Marcello Lotti Professor of English at Duke University. He no longer attends church with his wife, though they both respect the decisions they have made in regard to their personal faiths.

[edit] Bibliography

  • (2008) God's Problem. HarperOne, USA. ISBN 0-06-117397-5. 
  • (2006) The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot: A New Look at Betrayer and Betrayed. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-531460-3. 
  • (2006) Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-530013-0. 
  • (2005) Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 0-06-073817-0. 
  • Metzger, Bruce M.; Ehrman, Bart (2005). The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-516667-1. 
  • (2004) Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-518140-9. 
  • (2004) A Brief Introduction to the New Testament. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-516123-8. 
  • (2003) The Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-514183-0. 
  • (2003) The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-515462-2. 
  • Ehrman, Bart; Jacobs, Andrew S. (2003). Christianity in Late Antiquity, 300-450 C.E.: A Reader. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-515461-4. 
  • (2003) The Apostolic Fathers: Volume II. Epistle of Barnabas. Papias and Quadratus. Epistle to Diognetus. The Shepherd of Hermas. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-99608-9. 
  • (2003) The Apostolic Fathers: Volume I. I Clement. II Clement. Ignatius. Polycarp. Didache. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-99607-0. 
  • (2003) The New Testament and Other Early Christian Writings: A Reader. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-515464-9. 
  • (2003) Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-514182-2. 
  • (1999) Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-512474-X. 
  • (1998) After the New Testament: A Reader in Early Christianity. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-511445-0. 
  • (1996) The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture: The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-510279-7. 
  • (1987) Didymus the Blind and the Text of the Gospels (The New Testament in the Greek Fathers; No. 1). Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 1-55540-084-1. 

[edit] References

  1. ^ Is There Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus? From the website for The Holy Cross Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture.
  2. ^ Scholars to debate Bible, faith Nolan, Bruce. The Times-Picayune. 2008-03-30. Accessed: 2008-03-30 Reference archived at WebCite®)
  3. ^ Ehrman, Bart (2002) "The Historical Jesus" Lecture 9. The Teaching Company Lectures.
  4. ^ Ehrman, Bart (2002) "The Historical Jesus" Lecture 10. The Teaching Company Lectures.
  5. ^ Ehrman, Bart (2002) "The Historical Jesus" Lecture 10. The Teaching Company Lectures.
  6. ^ a b c "The Book of Bart." Tucker, Neely. The Washington Post, 2006. Profile of Bart Ehrman, focusing on his personal beliefs and how he came to be an agnostic. Accessed: 2008-04-01

[edit] External links

Appearances and interviews:


The Stanford Lecture:


The Teaching Company courses:

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