by truth_b_known 6 Replies latest watchtower bible
Dr. Bart Ehrman is a Bible scholar who wrote such books as Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why and How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee.
I found this interview with Dr. Ehrman fascinating. Notice are about the 23:35 time stamp one example of many problems with errors in the Bible and its many translations.
Hope that his work turns out to live up to his name's meaning, Man of Honour.
Dr Ehrman is an interesting case, he began his new Testament Studies as a full-on believer, very soon he found some BIG problems with the Gospels, and things just got better from then on.
Ehrman's books are a great read. You guys may enjoy his collection of early christian documents, in his book, "After the New Testament: A Reader in Early Christianity."
It allows us to peer into the church as it develops after the first generation of believers.
Ehrman has done a lot of valuable popularizing of critical scholarship. I've enjoyed many of his books, especially when I first left the church. I am disappointed by his own resolute rejection of a nonhistorical Christian origin. In debates he has shown a real lack of objectivity IMO. Even if the current proposals prove to be incorrect the research has value in understanding Christians origins. For me it's an object lesson in the need to continue the open minded humility it took to free my mind from Fundamentalism.
" For me it's an object lesson in the need to continue the open minded humility it took to free my mind from Fundamentalism."
I agree 100% with that attitude Peaceful, it is mine too, not just on matters to do with the Scriptures, but politics, Current Affairs, new Scientific and Archaeological and Historical discoveries etc.etc
I made the mistake when first leaving the Cult of trusting that all people in the Academic world were right and trustworthy, whoops ! big error ! I now do a lot more digging as to the person behind the claims, seek other Expert's views, and often reserve my judgement on matters.
With Dr Ehrman I realised as I read a couple of his populist books some years ago that he was dumbing matters down a fair bit, which is O.K for the audience he is aiming at, but that he was going further, and sensationalising somewhat. But it sells Books I guess !
Science is a methodology not a bunch of people with degrees. Science works despite the humans who do it because of the needs for peer review and repeatability or at least a sound inductive logic that withstands scrutiny in matters of history and cutting edge physics for example.
Popular media stories inevitably over state the implications of every new twist or discovery . How many times statements like "rethink everything" or "overturns" are used when in fact the improvement in understanding may be small or a slight refinement, or in fact be simply an anomalous outcome yet to be explained.
