How the bible got changed & misquoting Jesus

[Valley Oak]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0zWbL8Uqfw&feature=related

[Jim Wilson]

Just for balance I thought I would offer my own experience of Ehrman's works. Genreally I have found that the more I read Ehrman the less I am drawn to his views. I find him often dogmatic and rigid; which is probably a holdover from his fundamentalist background and upbringing. In other words, overall I think Ehrman has moved from being an unyielding religious fundamentalist (studying at the Moody Bible Institute) to being a fundamentalist securalist. It's an interesting journey, for sure; but the rigidity of his views, and his higly selective readings of evidence make me wonder how longlasting his works will be. For example, Ehrman doesn't seem to be able to distinguish between discrepancies and contradictions. If you missed a party you really wanted to go to, but something came up and you couldn't, you might ask friends how the party went. Say you ask three friends. You get three different reports. They will be different. Discrepancies are when Person A talks about Event M at the event, while Person B does not relate the event. It is not a contradiction because B simply doesn't mention it. Perhaps B isn't interested in that part of the party, or left for a few minutes and missed it. There are numerous reasons why B wouldn't mention a specific event that A does mention, but that is not a contradiction. A contradiction is when Person A says 'M happend' and then Person B says, when asked, 'M did not happen'. There is a difference yet I find Ehrman often conflates the two. There are other difficulties as well. The field of biblical criticism, and more narrowly textual criticism, is highly contentious and it takes some equanimity to wade into its regions. I'm not saying Ehrman doesn't make any good points; only that over the years I've become more and more skeptical of some of his sweeping generalizations.

There is a good, recent, publication which brings up some of these issues. For those who are interested it is called "The Heresy of Orthodoxy" by Andreas Kostenberger and others. It is an extended examination of Ehrman's views and neatly places them within a particular stream of biblical criticism.

Best wishes,

Jim