bart d ehrman

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Bart D. Ehrman

Born 5 October 1955

Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.

Nationality American

Education BA (1978), MDiv (1981), PhD

(1985)

Alma mater Moody Bible Institute

Wheaton College

Princeton Theological Seminary

Employer The Department of Religious

Studies, University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Bart D. EhrmanFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bart D. Ehrman (born 5 October 1955) is an American New Testament scholar, currently the James A.Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ehrman isa leading New Testament scholar, having written and edited over twenty-five books, including three collegetextbooks. He has also achieved acclaim at the popular level, authoring four New York Times bestsellers.Ehrman's work focuses on textual criticism of the New Testament, the Historical Jesus, and the evolution ofearly Christianity.

Contents

1 Education2 Career3 Works

4 Philanthropy5 Bibliography6 References7 External links

Education

Ehrman grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, and attended Lawrence High School, where he was on the statechampion debate team in 1973. He began studying the Bible and its original languages at Moody Bible

Institute, where he earned their three-year diploma in 1976.[2] He is a 1978 graduate of Wheaton College inIllinois, where he received his bachelors degree. He received his PhD and M.Div. from Princeton TheologicalSeminary, where he studied under Bruce Metzger. He received magna cum laude for both his BA in 1978

and PhD in 1985.[3]

Career



Known for New Testament authentication and

textual variants, historical Jesus,

early Christian writings, orthodox

corruption of scripture.

Religion None (Agnostic)[1]

Spouse(s) Sarah Beckwith

Children Kelly and Derek

Website

www.bartdehrman.com

(http://www.bartdehrman.com/)

Ehrman became an Evangelical Christian as a teenager. In his books, he recounts his youthful enthusiasm as aborn-again, fundamentalist Christian, certain that God had inspired the wording of the Bible and protected its

texts from all error.[2] His desire to understand the original words of the Bible led him to the study of ancientlanguages and to textual criticism. During his graduate studies, however, he became convinced that there arecontradictions and discrepancies in the biblical manuscripts that could not be harmonized or reconciled. Heremained a liberal Christian for fifteen years but later became an agnostic after struggling with the philosophical

problems of evil and suffering.[2]

Ehrman has taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since 1988, after four years of teaching atRutgers University. At UNC he has served as both the Director of Graduate Studies and the Chair of theDepartment of Religious Studies. He was the recipient of the 2009 J. W. Pope "Spirit of Inquiry" TeachingAward, the 1993 UNC Undergraduate Student Teaching Award, the 1994 Phillip and Ruth Hettleman Prizefor Artistic and Scholarly Achievement, and the Bowman and Gordon Gray Award for excellence in

teaching.[3]

He currently serves as co-editor of the series New Testament Tools, Studies, and Documents (E. J. Brill), co-editor-in-chief for the journal Vigiliae Christianae,and on several other editorial boards for journals and monographs. Ehrman formerly served as President of the Southeast Region of the Society of BiblicalLiterature, chair of the New Testament textual criticism section of the Society, book review editor of the Journal of Biblical Literature, and editor of the

monograph series The New Testament in the Greek Fathers (Scholars Press).[3]

Ehrman speaks extensively throughout the United States and has participated in many public debates, including debates with William Lane Craig, Dinesh D'Souza,Mike Licona, Craig A. Evans, Daniel B. Wallace, Richard Swinburne, Peter J. Williams, James White, Darrell Bock and Michael L. Brown.

In 2006 and 2009 he appeared on The Colbert Report,[4][5] as well as The Daily Show,[6] to promote his books Misquoting Jesus, and Jesus, Interrupted(respectively).

Ehrman has appeared on the History Channel, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, A&E, Dateline NBC, CNN, and NPR's Fresh Air and in Time,

Newsweek, the New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post.[7]

Works

Ehrman has written widely on issues of New Testament and early Christianity at both an academic and popular level, with over twenty five books including three

college textbooks and four New York Times bestsellers: Misquoting Jesus,[8] Jesus, Interrupted,[9] God's Problem,[10] and Forged.[11][12] Much of his work ison textual criticism and the New Testament. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages.



In The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture Ehrman argues that there was a close relationship between the social history of early Christianity and the textualtradition of the emerging New Testament. He examines how early struggles between Christian "heresy" and "orthodoxy" affected the transmission of the documents.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 Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium Ehrman argues that the historical Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher, and that imminent apocalyptic beliefsare recorded first in the earliest Christian documents (the authentic Pauline epistles, 1st Thessalonians and 1st Corinthians) and then later in Jesus' preaching in theearliest Christian gospels: the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Matthew. Paul's epistles and Jesus' preaching indicate Jesus believed the Son of man would soonarrive, and all present powerful nations would fall and God's kingdom would be established on earth. The twelve disciples would each get a throne alongside theSon of Man and judge each of the twelve Jewish tribes. [Matt 19:28]. Jesus may have come to believe he was to be the Son of man, or else a gospel writer mayhave put those words and that idea in Jesus' mouth. The early Christians believed Jesus to be the returning Son of man. There are no "end times" predicted in thelatest, and last gospel, the Gospel of John.

In Misquoting Jesus he introduces New Testament textual criticism. He outlines the development of New Testament manuscripts and the process and cause ofmanuscript errors in the New Testament.

In Jesus, Interrupted he describes the progress scholars have made in understanding the Bible over the past two hundred years and the results of their study,results which are often unknown among the population at large. In doing so, he highlights the diversity of views found in the New Testament, the existence of forgedbooks in the New Testament which were written in the names of the apostles by Christian writers who lived decades later, and the later invention of Christiandoctrinessuch as the suffering messiah, the divinity of Jesus, and the Trinity.

In Forged Ehrman posits some New Testament books are forgeries and shows how widely forgery was practiced by early Christian writersand how it wascondemned in the ancient world as fraudulent and illicit. His scholarly book, Forgery and Counterforgery is an advanced look at the practice of forgery in the NTand early Christian literature. It makes a case for considering falsely attributed or pseudepigraphic books in the New Testament and early Christian literature"forgery," looks at why certain New Testament and early Christian works are considered forged, and the broader phenomenon in Greek and Roman world.

In 2012, Ehrman published Did Jesus Exist?,The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth, defending the thesis that Jesus of Nazareth existed in contrast to

the mythicist theory that Jesus is an entirely mythical or fictitious being.[13]

Philanthropy

Bart Ehrman created the Bart Ehrman Foundation to raise money for alleviating the effects of poverty, hunger, and homelessness.[14] He started his "Christianity in

Antiquity (CIA)" blog in 2012 and all membership fees collected to join the blog are donated to several charities.[15] In the blog Bart Ehrman provides his insightsand opinions on important issues related to the New Testament and early Christianity, discusses his books and public debates, responds to criticisms from other



scholars, and answers questions and concerns raised by readers. In its first year, the blog raised $37,000 for charity through blog membership fees.[16] In 2013, the

blog raised $61,000 for charity.[17]

Bibliography

Didymus the Blind and the Text of the Gospels (The New Testament in the Greek Fathers; No. 1). Society of Biblical Literature. 1987. ISBN 1-55540-084-1.The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research: Essays on the Status Quaestionis. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1995. ISBN 0-8028-4824-9.The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture: The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament. Oxford University Press, USA. 2011[1996]. ISBN 0-19-973978-1.After the New Testament: A Reader in Early Christianity. Oxford University Press, USA. 1998. ISBN 0-19-511445-0.Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium. Oxford University Press, USA. 1999. ISBN 0-19-512474-X.Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament. Oxford University Press, USA. 2003. ISBN 0-19-514182-2.The New Testament and Other Early Christian Writings: A Reader. Oxford University Press, USA. 2003. ISBN 0-19-515464-9.The Apostolic Fathers: Volume I. I Clement. II Clement. Ignatius. Polycarp. Didache. Harvard University Press. 2003. ISBN 0-674-99607-0.The Apostolic Fathers: Volume II. Epistle of Barnabas. Papias and Quadratus. Epistle to Diognetus. The Shepherd of Hermas. Harvard University Press. 2003.ISBN 0-674-99608-9.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.The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. Oxford University Press, USA. 2003. ISBN 0-19-515462-2.Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. Oxford University Press, USA. 2003. ISBN 0-19-514183-0.A Brief Introduction to the New Testament. Oxford University Press, USA. 2004. ISBN 0-19-516123-8.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.2004. ISBN 0-19-518140-9.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.Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. HarperSanFrancisco. 2005. ISBN 0-06-073817-0.Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend. Oxford University Press, USA. 2006. ISBN 0-19-530013-0.The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot: A New Look at Betrayer and Betrayed. Oxford University Press, USA. 2006. ISBN 978-0-19-531460-1.God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question Why We Suffer. HarperCollins, USA. 2008. ISBN 978-0-06-117397-4.Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them). HarperCollins, USA. 2009. ISBN 978-0-06-117394-3.Forged: Writing in the Name of GodWhy the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are. HarperCollins, USA. 2011. ISBN 978-0-06-201261-6.Ehrman, Bart; Plee, Zlatko (2011). The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-973210-4.Did Jesus Exist?:The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth. HarperCollins, USA. 2012. ISBN 978-0-06-220460-8.Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics. Oxford University Press, USA. 2012. ISBN 978-0-19-992803-3.The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction. Oxford University Press, USA. 2013. ISBN 978-0-19-530816-7.The Other Gospels: Accounts of Jesus from Outside the New Testament. Oxford University Press, USA. 2013. ISBN 978-0-19-933522-0.How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee. HarperOne, USA. 2014. ISBN 978-0-06-177818-6.



References

1. ^ John Blake "Former fundamentalist 'debunks' Bible (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/05/15/bible.critic/)", CNN, 2009

2. ^a b c Ehrman, Bart D.. Misquoting Jesus, HarperSanFrancisco. 2005. ISBN 0-06-073817-0

3. ^a b c Official website Bart Ehrman Biography (http://www.bartdehrman.com/biography.htm)

4. ^ "Bart Ehrman" (http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/70912/june-20-2006/bart-ehrman). The Colbert Report. 20 June 2006. Retrieved 19October 2013.

5. ^ "Bart Ehrman" (http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/224128/april-09-2009/bart-ehrman). The Colbert Report. 9 April 2009. Retrieved 19October 2013.

6. ^ "Bart Ehrman" (http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-march-14-2006/bart-ehrman). The Daily Show. 14 March 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2013.

7. ^ http://www.bartdehrman.com/curriculum.htm

8. ^ Dwight Garner (2 April 2006). "Inside the List: The Agnostic" (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/books/review/02tbr.html). The New York Times. Retrieved 22October 2013.

9. ^ Jennifer Schuessler (19 March 2009). "Inside the List: Honest to Jesus" (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/books/review/02tbr.html). The New York Times.Retrieved 22 October 2013.

10. ^ "Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonfiction (March 9, 2008)" (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/books/bestseller/0309besthardnonfiction.html). The New York Times.9 March 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2013.

11. ^ "Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonfiction: Sunday, April 10th 2011" (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F06E5D8153EF933A25757C0A9679D8B63). TheNew York Times. 10 April 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2013.

12. ^ Official website Bart Ehrman Main Page (http://www.bartdehrman.com/)

13. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bart-d-ehrman/did-jesus-exist_b_1349544.html

14. ^ "Philanthropy" (http://ehrmanblog.org/philanthropy/). CIA: The Bart Ehrman Blog. Retrieved 23 October 2013.

15. ^ Bart D. Ehrman (20 April 2012). "What Charities Does The Blog Support?" (http://ehrmanblog.org/what-charities-does-the-blog-support/). CIA: The Bart EhrmanBlog. Retrieved 23 October 2013.

16. ^ Bart D. Ehrman (3 April 2012). "Our One-Year Anniversary!" (http://ehrmanblog.org/our-one-year-anniversary). CIA: The Bart Ehrman Blog. Retrieved 23 October2013.

17. ^ Bart D. Ehrman (31 December 2013). "End of the Year Blog Reflection" (http://ehrmanblog.org/end-year-blog-reflection). CIA: The Bart Ehrman Blog. Retrieved 31December 2013.

External links

Bart Ehrman's website (http://www.bartdehrman.com)Christianity in Antiquity (CIA): The Bart Ehrman Blog (http://ehrmanblog.org/)Faculty page (http://religion.unc.edu/people/current-faculty/faculty-bios/bart-d.-ehrman), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.Stanford lecture on "Misquoting Jesus" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cK3Ry_icJo) (YouTube video)A Q&A session with Ehrman (http://blog.oup.com/oupblog/2006/10/a_few_questions.html)



Interview with Bart Ehrman (http://www.readthespirit.com/explore/2008/03/127-conversatio.html) on "God's Problem" by ReadTheSpirit.comBart Ehrman's page at The Teaching Company (http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/professors/professor_detail.aspx?pid=150)

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Categories: American academics American agnostics American religion academics New Testament scholars American biblical scholars

Moody Bible Institute Princeton Theological Seminary alumni American former Protestants University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty

Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni Living people People from Lawrence, Kansas 1955 births

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