Ben Witherington interview with Bart Ehrman

Conservative NT scholar Ben Witherington recently interviewed not-so-conservative NT scholar Bart Ehrman on the issue of whether Jesus actually existed. You may know that in the last few years a small group of skeptics has challenged the very existence of Jesus of Nazareth. I think you will enjoy these interviews (there are seven posts in all), not because you will agree with everything Ehrman says - you won't. But I think you will enjoy them because because you will see how strong the historical testimony is about Jesus, even as understood by a scholar as hostile to traditional Christianity as Ehrman.

Chronology and Christology

Here's a link from New Testament scholar Larry Hurtado's fine blog summarizing evidence regarding the early development of the high view of Jesus in early Christian writings (esp. Paul).

The Gospel Truth: Lesson 5 Did the Gospels Borrow from Pagan Mythology?

Some unbelievers argue that various pagan religions had stories about virgin births, and dying and rising gods, centuries before the gospels were written, and that the gospel writers simply took those stories and made them about Jesus. This concept was first popularized by German scholars in the early 1900s, in what is usually called the “Old History of Religions School” (Religionsgeschichtliche) of thought.

The Gospel Truth - Lesson 6 - The Preservation of the Gospels

So far we have shown that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote reliable histories of the life of Jesus. But some object that what they wrote has not been reliably preserved.

In some instances, the very meaning of the text is at stake, depending on how one resolves a textual problem: Was Jesus an angry man? Was he completely distraught in the face of death? Did he tell his disciples that they could drink poison without being harmed? Did he let an adulteress off the hook with nothing but a mild warning? Is the doctrine of the Trinity explicitly taught in the New Testament? Is Jesus actually called “the unique God” there? Does the New Testament indicate that even the Son of God himself does not know when the end will come? The questions go on and on, and all of them are related to how one resolves difficulties in the manuscript tradition as it has come down to us.  -Bart Erhman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, p. 208 

In this lesson we will take a look at the text of the New Testament.

The Gospel Truth - Lesson 4 - The Writing of the Gospels

Lesson 4: The Writing of the Gospels

In the last lesson we looked at the writers of the gospels. In this lesson we will look at the writing of the gospels.

The Gospel Truth: Lesson 3 - Who Wrote the Gospels

None of the four gospels contains a formal statement of authorship. Many critics latch on to this point and suggest that the gospels were written much later than the first century, and reflect the growth of unreliable traditions about Jesus.

The Gospel Truth - Lesson 1: The Gospels as History

The gospels claim to be history, the written description of events that actually happened (Luke 1:1-4; John 20:30-31).  But what are we to make of these claims?

The Style of the Gospels

The consensus among scholars of the New Testament is that the gospels belong in the category of bioi, “lives,” ancient biographies.

Has the Text of the New Testament Been Tampered With? (Jesus, Jegend or Lord Part 3)

Introduction
One of my best friends from my days in college is here with his family today, and I hope you get a chance to meet them. This May will mark 20 years since I graduated from college, and things have changed so much for students not only on those two decades, but also in the 10 years since I taught in college. I remember the frustration of typing papers on my portable typewriter, and thought I had reached the big time when I got a Commodore 64 computer (which had far less firepower than my cell phone!).

Did the Gospels Borrow from Pagan Myths (Jesus Legend or Lord Part 2)

Introduction
One of the main reasons that Joe Biden is our vice-president now and was not elected president 20 years ago is because of plagiarism. When he ran for president in 1988, reporters discovered that he was using large sections of a British politician’s speeches as his own words, without giving credit. Preachers do this all the time, of course, but for a politician like Biden, it was a serious matter. It forced him to withdraw from his campaign, and it took 20 years before he could run for office again.

Are the Gospels History or Fiction? (Jesus: Legend or Lord Part 1)

Introduction
My elementary school has a wonderful librarian, Mrs. Samuels. She played a big role in developing my life-long love of reading, especially biographies. Every week I would head over to the 920 section of the library and grab a book about a new person. I still remember some of those biographies – even the ones about lesser known people like Benjamin Banneker and James Oglethorpe. In fact, my love for biographies became so excessive that Mrs. Samuels actually banned me from the 920 shelf, forcing me to read (ugh) fiction!