Former fundamentalist ‘debunks’ Bible
By John Blake
CNN
CNN — Just so you know, Bart Ehrman says he’s not the anti-Christ.
What an idiotic lead statement. Anyone who has any knowledge whatsoever about the AntiChrist will almost puke when they hear Bart laughingly admit that he isn’t “the anti-Christ”. The real question is whether or not he is against Christ - and particularly whether or not he is against the teachings of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Bart Ehrman says most of the New Testament is a forgery but it’s still an important body of work.
Really - we of course assume he has evidence to back this up. Given this lead line to a front page CNN story - we are all in awe of such a blanket statement - has he read the Bible? - Who by the way does he say “forged” it? Certainly he is not talking about the book of John, of which we have quite a body of evidence - even concerning the author and the Roman’s inability to boil him in oil.
He says he’s not trying to destroy your faith. He’s not trying to bash the Bible. And, though his mother no longer talks to him about religion, Ehrman says some of his best friends are Christian.
What an idiotic statement - or series of statements. Sure, he wants to “accept” the Bible because it exists - but he doesn’t want to believe it - so don’t patronize us.
Ehrman, a best-selling author and a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is a biblical sleuth whose investigations make some people very angry. Like the fictional Robert Langdon character played by actor Tom Hanks in the movie “Angels & Demons,” he delves into the past to challenge some of Christianity’s central claims.
So Bart is a professor. You might want to take a good look at the word professor. The Apostle Paul stated that he had “professed a good faith”. Do you really believe that Bart is doing all of this in good faith?
In Ehrman’s latest book, “Jesus, Interrupted,” he concludes:
Doctrines such as the divinity of Jesus and heaven and hell are not based on anything Jesus or his earlier followers said.
Oh, good for you Bart. Were you there? This is the Jesus Seminar again - since the “scholars” said it, it must be true.
At least 19 of the 27 books in the New Testament are forgeries.
Wow, so who did write them? CNN is doing a lead story with not a chance of rebuttal. That isn’t investigative journalism - it is pandering to the unbeliever - Bart the professor of doubt, unbelief, and ignorance.
Believing the Bible is infallible is not a condition for being a Christian.
The first bit of truth mixed with all the lies above.
“Christianity has never been about the Bible being the inerrant word of God,” Ehrman says. “Christianity is about the belief in Christ.”
Of course, and the Bible is not only a record of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but there is a lot of other stuff in there, Jewish history, eschatology, prophecy, poetry, songs, sex stories.
Critic: ‘There’s a touch of arrogance’ about him
Ehrman’s claims have found an audience, and controversy. He’s a fixture on History Channel and Discovery Channel documentaries on Christianity. He’s appeared on National Public Radio, CNN and the BBC and talked about scribes misquoting Jesus on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”
Being a fixture for unbelievers may comfort Bart - but it does not accredit him in any way. And just for the record, where do we have the scribes quoting Jesus - I thought the Gospels were written by his disciples - and not by the scribes. Does he believe that Matthew was one of the scribes, or that John was?
Yet Ehrman’s popularity also may be due to a larger trend. The books of people like Elaine Pagels, author of “The Gnostic Gospels,” and Dan Brown, author of “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Demons,” resonate with people who believe there are parts of the Bible that the church left on history’s editing floor.
Popularity lends nothing whatsoever to his credibility.
Some scholarly critics say Ehrman is saying nothing new.
His arguments are as old as the Serpent’s in the Garden of Eden.
Bishop William H. Willimon, an author and United Methodist Church bishop based in Alabama, says he doesn’t like the “breathless tone” of Ehrman’s work.
“He keeps presenting this stuff as if this is wonderful new knowledge that has been kept from you backward lay people and this is the stuff your preachers don’t have the guts to tell, and I have,” Willimon says. “There’s a touch of arrogance in it.”
Yet even many of Ehrman’s critics say he has a knack for making arcane New Testament scholarship accessible to the public.
“He has a gift for clear thinking and an ability to present some complicated things in simple, direct ways,” Willimon says.
“The serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field.” - Genesis
Some pastors also say that Ehrman forces them to confront tough questions about the Bible in front of their congregations.
What a pity - considering that “Most Americans, even those who say they are Christian, have doubts about the intrusion of the supernatural into the natural world,” commented George Barna, founder of The Barna Group and author of books analyzing research concerning America’s faith. Seems like the pastors ought to be confronting at least some questions, doesn’t it? Since when was “confronting tough questions about the Bible” something that followers of the teachings of the Bible would want to shy away from?
“His take on the scriptures is a gift to the church because of his ability to articulate questions and challenges,” says Rev. Guy Williams, a blogger who also happens to be a Methodist minister in Houston, Texas. “It gives us an opportunity to wrestle with the [Bible's] claims and questions.”
Ehrman: There was no resurrection
Ehrman says that no one accepts everything in the Bible. Everyone picks and chooses . He cites some New Testament’s references to the role of women in church as an example.
Something he is not guilty of?
In the first book of Corinthians, Ehrman says, the Apostle Paul insists that women should remain silent in church (1 Corinthians 14:35-36).
In the 16th chapter of the book of Romans, Paul’s attitude is that women could and should be church leaders — and he cites women who were serving as deacons and apostles in the early church, Ehrman says.
Oh gee, Bart - you are sooooooo perceptive - ever heard of context? And attacking the Bible based on what the churches have accepted as their liturgies or dogma isn’t a very good basis for judgement.
Ehrman backs his arguments with a deep knowledge of the culture and history of the New Testament world. He’s written 20 books on early Christianity and is an authority on ancient manuscripts used to translate the Bible.
His claims, though, take on some of Christianity’s most sacred tenets, like the resurrection of Jesus. Ehrman says he doesn’t think the resurrection took place. There’s no proof Jesus physically rose from the dead, and the resurrection stories contradict one another, he says.
Who cares what he “thinks”? If you know Jesus Christ in your own heart, then Jesus is resurrected in you, isn’t he? Does he have some proof that Jesus wasn’t resurrected? The writers of the Gospels died rather than recanting their stories. I wonder if Bart is ready to die in defense of his story.
He says he doesn’t believe the followers of Jesus saw their master bodily rise from the dead, but something else.
They claimed to have seen him risen from the dead - and that was recorded as little as 3 years after the fact, with the challenge to go and ask them - since they were still around. However, this is a key statement - Bart “doesn’t believe”. If you are ready to base your faith on the arguments of an unbeliever, then God help you. You might want to find someone who does believe and ask them why.
“My best guess is that what happened is what commonly happens today when someone has a loved one die — they sometimes think they see them in a vision,” Ehrman says. “I think some of the disciples had visions.”
Gee Bart, we are so thankful for your guesses. Guess again.
Ehrman says he immerses himself in the Bible, though he doesn’t believe in its infallibility, because it’s the most important book in Western civilization.
“I have friends who teach medieval English,” he says. “They don’t believe in Chaucer, but they think Chaucer is important,” he writes in the conclusion of “Jesus, Interrupted.”
So patronizing. Jesus himself warned the unbelievers, “It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” - John 6:63
The fundamentalist turns agnostic
Ehrman once had a different attitude toward the Bible.
Like this is somehow supposed to authenticate his unbelief. He has converted to agnosticism - Bart, instead of proclaiming your dedication to the Greek “agnostic” - why not use the Latin, “ignoramus”?
He was raised in the Episcopal Church in Lawrence, Kansas, and became a fundamentalist Christian at age 15 when he met a charismatic Christian youth group leader who reached out to him. Ehrman says he later persuaded his parents to embrace a more conservative brand of Christianity.
He says he became so devoted to the Bible that he memorized entire sections. He was convinced the Bible was “God’s words.”
But Ehrman says he began to develop doubts about the infallibility of the Bible after attending Princeton Theological Seminary to become a college Bible professor.
He even began to change his opinion of the Christian youth group leader who helped convert him. The youth leader visited Ehrman’s father when he was dying of cancer in a hospital.
The youth leader used a bottle of hotel shampoo to “anoint” his father, and tried to persuade his father to confess specific sins, Ehrman says. Ehrman says he was angry at the minister for acting “self-righteous” and “hypocritical.”
Bitterness is never a good foundation for teaching others the truth.
“For a vulnerable high-schooler who is trying to figure out the world, a personality like that is very attractive,” Ehrman says. “They’re like cult leaders. They have all the answers.”
Which you admit that you don’t, Bart - being the ignoramus that you are.
Ehrman says he later became an agnostic because he couldn’t find the answer to another question: How could there be a God when there is so much suffering in the world? An agnostic is one who disclaims any knowledge of God, but does not deny the possibility of God’s existence.
Bart, like so many - has the idea, “If I was God I would be doing things differently.” I personally am glad that you are not God, Bart - because so far you only have questions and doubts about the Bible - but I certainly haven’t seen any answers here. Perhaps you can tell us, “Why is there Evil in the World” - being the religious scholar that you are.
Today, Ehrman describes himself as a “happy agnostic.”
“Ignorance is bliss” - Thomas Gray
But some people can’t believe an agnostic can be happy, he says. They tell him that they’re praying for him. Others say worse. They say he’s being fooled by Satan and he’s headed to hell. Some say he’s the anti-Christ.
Happiness is not the goal of the teaching of Jesus Christ or the writers of the Gospels. Salvation from sin and redemption of the eternal soul are.
“I’m not that powerful,” he says, laughing.
And certainly the AntiChrist is no ignoramus.
His family, however, feels no obligation to talk to Ehrman about his ideas on the Bible, Ehrman says. His mother, brother and sister remain conservative Christians.
He once tried to talk to his mother about his new beliefs, but the discussion proved fruitless.
“My mom is a strong evangelical,” Ehrman says. “We talk basketball. We don’t talk religion.”
Still, Ehrman says he still sends his mother and siblings copies of his latest books. They’ve never responded, he says.
“I imagine they’re hidden in a back room,” he says.
Poor rejected baby.
Whether it’s his family, critics or students, Ehrman says he has a better handle on why he is so threatening to so many people — some Christians worry they will make the same decision he has.
Here is the punch line of this article - which in its entirety is an attack on your faith. With this statement, they are sowing the definitive doubt - “If such a scholar as Bart could be converted to unbelief - maybe you could too. After all, he is a professor.”
“I changed my mind,” he says. “My students find me more dangerous that way. I really do know what they’re talking about when they stake out an evangelical position.”
True belief passes the understanding of your mind. If he changed his mind - then he really didn’t have any faith in the first place. Jesus changes hearts and transforms the very being - creating a new creature. Bart needs to really dive in, and not just dangle his feet in the pool - his problem isn’t that he lost faith - his problem is that he never had intercourse with God. All mystics understand that God is a lover.
“‘Will you walk into my parlor?’ said the Spider to the Fly.” - Mary Howitt