We will be holding an Interview with Bart Ehrman

[Rex]

I need some questions from you guys to ask him. Here is a little about Bart Ehrman. The questions can relate to his book(s) which 2 of them have been posted here in this forum or they can relate to any general topic on religion.

BART D. EHRMAN
Chair, Department of Religious Studies

Summary of Curriculum Vitae

• Ph.D. Princeton Theological Seminary (magna cum laude), 1985
• M.Div. Princeton Theological Seminary, 1981
• B.A. Wheaton College, Illinois (magna cum laude), 1978

Principal Areas of Research Interest: New Testament Interpretation; History of Ancient Christianity (first three centuries), especially Orthodoxy and Heresy, Formation of the Canon, NT Manuscript Tradition, Historical Jesus, and Apostolic Fathers;

Secondary Areas of Interest: Jewish-Christian Relations in Antiquity; Greco-Roman Religions; Christianization of the Roman World.

Bart Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He came to UNC in 1988, after four years of teaching at Rutgers University.

Prof. Ehrman completed his M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees at Princeton Seminary, where his 1985 doctoral dissertation was awarded magna cum laude. Since then he has published extensively in the fields of New Testament and Early Christianity, having written or edited thirteen books, numerous articles, and dozens of book reviews. Among his most recent books are a college-level textbook on the New Testament, two anthologies of early Christian writings, a study of the historical Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet (Oxford Univesity Press), and a Greek-English Edition of the Apostolic Fathers for the Loeb Classical Library (Harvard University Press).

Prof. Ehrman has served as President of the Southeast Region of the Society of Biblical literature, 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). He currently serves as co-editor of the series New Testament Tools and Studies (E. J. Brill) and on several other editorial boards for monographs in the field. Winner of numerous university awards and grants, Prof. Ehrman is the recipient of the 1993 UNC Undergraduate Student Teaching Award, the 1994 Phillip and Ruth Hettleman Prize for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement, and the Bowman and Gordon Gray Award for excellence in teaching.

Click Here to See Professor Ehrman's Full Curriculum Vitae​

 

[lilithu]

I need some questions from you guys to ask him. Here is a little about Bart Ehrman. The questions can relate to his book(s) which 2 of them have been posted here in this forum or they can relate to any general topic on religion.

Hard to ask a question not having read his books or knowing his position on things, but since he's interested in the historical Jesus, I'll take a stab at that.


Q: I see a lot of interest lately in the historical Jesus and in tracing the history of the concept of Jesus' divinity. It seems that the trend today amongst liberal Christians is to try to bring Jesus back to the level of a human being who understood and taught spiritual truth. At best, he is seen as a prophet.

My concern is that in reducing Jesus to a human who lived 2000 years ago, we destroy the concept of a living Christ who is still engaged in the world today. It seems to me that the strength of Christianity comes from this belief in God's active love continually expressed through the Son. And this may be the reason why orthodox Christianity has been so successful. How does one portray Jesus as a person without destroying that personal relationship that Christians feel they have with God? Wouldn't reducing Jesus to the historical person also reduce Christianity to a form of Judaism?

End of Q.
How do we find out if our question was answered?
-lilith

 

[Rex]

The q&a will be posted here!

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

In terms of both current consensus and, where different, your views, I would line to know ...

• Who authored the epistles and books of the New Testament? Should they be considered eyewitnesses?
• Roughly what date would you assign to these works?
• Do you agree with Perrin that the pastorals are inauthentic?
• Given the works of Paul and Mark, would it be reasonable to consider the Virgin Birth as a late embellishment?
• What was the relationship between NT authors and the Jerusalem sect, and is this relationship fairly treated in the works of Paul and Luke?
• What are your views on Crossan's position on the Passion narrative?
• Do you consider the Passion narratives credible?
• Do you consider the anti-Pharisee stories credible, as opposed to being later polemical additions?
• What is the likelyhood that any of the Jesus dialogue has been correctly attributed and accurately conveyed?
• What are the substantive arguments against viewing 'Jesus' as a conflated legend?
• What is a good source of information on the Jerusalem church?
• What is a good source of information on the apocalyptic nature of 1st century Jewish society?
• What is the current consensus on Qumran?
• What is your view of the Synoptic Problem?

 

[Ceridwen018]

Putting him through his paces, eh Deut? In hopes that it might increase the odds of the questions being answered, I second all of Deut's.

By the by, this is a wonderful idea, Rex!

 

[Pah]

You seem to have drawn quite a list already but I would like to add some of mine, if and when you can get to them.

In dealing with the historic Christ, what do you consider as the more credible contempory evidence? Is the historic Christ even necessary for a vital faith?

Bob

 

[robtex]

Rex help us out a little bit so we can taylor this better. Why did you choose this particular indivdual out of the probably thousands who had academic credentials in Christanity? Knowing that might give us an angle for questions.

 

[Rex]

Rex help us out a little bit so we can taylor this better. Why did you choose this particular indivdual out of the probably thousands who had academic credentials in Christanity? Knowing that might give us an angle for questions.

Actually they came to me with his book stuff and I said, can I have an interview with the guy.

 

[Simon the Cat]

How is the date of Passover determined?

 

[Faust]

I'll second one of Deuts,
How do you view the relationship between the Ebionites and Paulianism?

 

[Scott1]

I would like to know what his religious affiliation is.... that would answer most of my questions.

 

[linwood]

Here`s a lecture he gave ...

Interpreters of the NT are faced with a discomforting reality that many of them would like to ignore. In many instances, we don't know what the authors of the NT actually wrote. It often proves difficult enough to establish what the words of the NT mean; the fact that in some instances we don't know what the words actually were does more than a little to exacerbate the problem.

I say that many interpreters would like to ignore this reality; but perhaps that isn't strong enough. In point of fact, many interpreters, possibly most, do ignore it, pretending that the textual basis of the Christian Scriptures is secure, when unhappily, it is not....
(continue at link)


http://rosetta.reltech.org/TC/extras/ehrman-pres.html

I have no idea of his relligious affiliation but he seems well regarded by both theists and atheists if the comments about him and his work spread across the net are any indication.
His recent claim to fame is a critique on the historical accuracy of Dan Browns "The Davinci Code".
The reviews sound like he shreds it..but in a very polite manner.


I`ll have to check out more of his work.


Deuts got some good questions there, I particularly like this one...

What was the relationship between NT authors and the Jerusalem sect, and is this relationship fairly treated in the works of Paul and Luke?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I would like to know what his religious affiliation is....

Good question.

I`ll have to check out more of his work.

See, e.g., Text and Tradition: The Role of New Testament Manuscripts in Early Christian Studies.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

After he has addressed Deut's questions, if he has time, I would like to know:

What do we know about the early Christian view of war?
What parallels can be seen between Christian traditions such as the Virgin Birth and earlier mythologies?

 

[Rex]

Great questions everyone. Keep them coming!

 

[Lightkeeper]

Ask him for his definition of God.
Is there only one true religion?
What is his stance on reincarnation or afterlife?
What is his definition of heaven?

 

[Faust]

OK then,
1. How does he view the contrast between God the creator and God the personal deity.
2.What are his views on the reliance on the father figure, there to step in as dad when one can't deal with personal responsibility.(I just turn it over to the Lord)
3. How about something I have noticed lately, God you said this and I'm holding you to it.( invocations in time of need ) It sounds a bit like ordering God around to me.
4. How about the difference in order between the old testament books and the books of the Tenach. In the Tenach God has a one on one physical relationship with his creation, then he speaks to humans from a distance, then he speaks through representatives (prophets), then he is silent. I think that has a great deal of significance concerning Gods relationship with mankind.

 

[chuck010342]

when will this interview happen? did it already?

 

[Scuba Pete]

Etymologically speaking...

Why do they only transliterate "baptism"?

Are there any other "transliterations" that we need to watch for?

Why do they translate charis as grace. It doesn't mean the same as when they translated the KJV.

Are there any other archaic translations that we need to watch for?

 

[Scuba Pete]

I would like to know what his religious affiliation is.... that would answer most of my questions.

I would rather listen to his answers first. We can always pigeon-hole him later.