“. . . each author of the Bible needs to be allowed to have his own say, since in many instances what one author has to say on a subject is not what another says. Sometimes the differences are a matter of stress and emphasis; sometimes they are discrepancies in different narratives or between different writers’ thoughts; and sometimes these discrepancies are quite large, affecting not only the small details of the the text but the very big issues that these authors were addressing.”
Jesus Interrupted, Bart D. Ehrman, pg 99, 2009
I love Bart. I get a little dose of his new book every morning. We interviewed him for our podcast here. And Tony Jones interviewed him for our rivals podcast here. But the best way to experience him is through one of his newest books or through The Teaching Companies lectures by him. They are immaculate.
Tags: bart ehrman, bible, jesus, podcast, religion
Can you PLEASE quote where he talks about how “little” discrepancies challenge the very fundamentals of Christianity? That pretty much had me running out of the church doors and in a far far away location.
To provide a counterpoint to Leslie’s reaction to Ehrman, I wasn’t running out the church doors when I read it, but instead I was looking at the church through new eyes, and with a shit ton of questioning. The strangest thing about all the Ehrman I’ve read (Jesus, Interrupted, Misquoting Jesus, and the Lost Gospels… haven’t read ‘God’s Problem’ yet) is that it didn’t kill my faith, if anything it strengthened it. Maybe I’m just weird.
What I like that Ehrman points out is that most of the pastors that have gone to seminary know this information. Why would they not expect reactions like Leslie’s when instead of conveying this information to the people in the pew. I don’t think it is a conspiracy, and I know that more and more pastors these days aren’t going to seminary, but still. Matt you are right to start asking a shit ton of questions, and if it makes your faith stronger, more power to it. And Leslie is right to run away from an institution that doesn’t let her in on some of the basics of Biblical Study and Criticism. I mean if this is a life and death or heaven and hell thing, we need to work through if we have accurate verses.
That being said, I don’t go to church, I read Ehrman, and I still try to follow Jesus. I don’t know how they all fit together, but I guess it’s kind of like when you heard that MLKjr was a womanizer it doesn’t necessarily put you off to social justice, but it does something.
“And Leslie is right to run away from an institution that doesn’t let her in on some of the basics of Biblical Study and Criticism.”
Agreed, I probably came across differently than intended in my first comment.
I wasn’t suggesting any way that you ‘came off’, I was just affirming Leslie’s instinct to get away from the machine.
It is definitely a personal decision and each person has to approach the information and respond accordingly. Some people it will make stronger and some people it will turn away.
For me I want the truth and historical information to bring me to a more accurate place. That place was out of the church and that may not be the same place it drives other people.
But yeah, I wasn’t suggesting any intonation from yourself.
For me, I dont see how you cant fun far far away. I cannot believe any of the bible if parts of it that really state the fundamentals of Christianity are wrong. I do not see how you can follow Jesus having read some of this stuff. I mean I think you can say, well I think reading about Jesus taught me to be selfless, so that is good. I can say like I can say about any other book, this taught me this…but I cant say there is any truth in it for me.
I can completely relate, and I will fully admit that at times I want to just say “fuck it” and drop the whole Jesus thing. But, even without the bible, I am led to believe in a diety, and while at times i’m inclined to agnosticism, I am irresistibly drawn to the way of Jesus. I do not think, however, that christianity has any sort of stranglehold of full truth, nor am I willing to say that the Bible is truth. I am willing to say that i think the Bible gives glimpses of “truth”, and that there is something there in which to start from, but i know plenty of people who reject the whole Jesus thing, and I can understand.
That’s the shortened version of my thoughts, this subject is way to deep for blog comment section postings, but it’ll do for now. (and please know i’m not saying you’re wrong at all, just putting out how i feel about it)
yeah a very deep topic and I in no way thought you were stating that you were “right” and I was “wrong” and I in no way was directing my comments at you Matt. For me, it is all very difficult to understand. Strange part, I used to work at a church. But, that time only distracted me from my initial and current opinion on Christianity. Now I think I am at a place where I it is hard for me to understand how people can run away fast but I am trying to look at the positives as I am a pessimist.
Biblical Criticism is as old as the 19th century. The Germans made it an art form. Higher criticism, Bultmann and a host of others. Ehrman makes a living peddling a rehash of these men’s scholarly works. He feeds on the masses ignorance. Bypass the lightweight Ehrman and read the original scholars.
They never come to “simplistic all or nothing conclusions” such as Ehrman does. You can even read where they doubt each others scholarly conclusions. They are honest men.
As far as the Lost Gospels – they were never lost they are just written many many years after the original documents. Some are even 3rd and 4th century AD