Posted on 04/25/2014 7:48:17 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Bart Ehrman, prolific author, New Testament scholar and former evangelical Christian, says it took him eight years to research and complete his new book, How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee. Yet, a group of fellow scholars responded in their book, How God Became Jesus, by claiming that the Christian-turned-agnostic's "sloppy" scholarship on Jesus' divinity leaves much to be desired.
Ehrman, the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, says his research reveals that Jesus, a first century Galilean, never claimed to be God, and that it was his followers who elevated him to a deity after his death.
"What I argue in the book is that during his lifetime, Jesus himself didn't call himself God, didn't consider himself God and that none of his disciples had any inkling at all that he was God," Ehrman has said.
Ehrman ultimately concludes in his work that there is no reliable evidence to support the belief that Jesus was ever resurrected from the dead, even though it is the most essential aspect of Christianity. Instead, his followers had "visionary experiences," or hallucinations of Jesus after his burial that led them to determine that Christ was alive.
Ehrman discusses his latest published work in a lengthy interview with NPR's "Fresh Air." Listen below, or at NPR.com.
How God Became Jesus: The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus' Divine Nature—A Response to Bart D. Ehrman was written by Christian historians Michael F. Bird, Craig A. Evans, Simon Gathercole, Charles E. Hill, Chris Tilling. The book was released the same day as Ehrman's, with Bird apparently being the main initiator of developing a response.
Bird, Lecturer in Theology at Ridley Melbourne College of Mission and Ministry and author of several theology titles, revealed that his team was "very graciously given the opportunity to read a pre-publication copy of Ehrman's book" and upon receipt immediately went to work.
Bird and company applaud Ehrman for his "challenging and thought-provoking book," yet remain unconvinced by his claims and conclusions.
"Bart Ehrman's book...has an number of perceptible strengths. Not only is it well-written and you'll learn a lot about ancient history and the early Church from it, but what I like the most is that Ehrman forces people to ask a very important question. Namely, who is Jesus?" says Bird in a video on How God Became Jesus.
Yet, the authors claim to "offer a better, historically informed account of why the Galilean preacher from Nazareth came to be hailed as 'the Lord Jesus Christ,'" according to a description of How God Became Jesus. They insist, contrary to Ehrman's findings, that "the exalted place of Jesus in belief and worship is clearly evident in the earliest Christian sources, shortly following his death, and was not simply the invention of the church centuries later."
Bird, in a submission made to The Christian Post, argues for "5 Lines of Evidence Missing from Ehrman's Latest Popular Study, How Jesus Became God." Read it here. Bird explains how he and his colleagues' challenges to Ehrman's work in the video below.
CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEOS
There’s just so much wrong I don’t even know where to begin...................
Ehrman is right about the late origin of trinitarian dogma, but due to his stance about the Christ’s resurrection and the fallibility of scripture, he won’t get far with believers.
We are seeing before our eyes a man who, like Esau, was pushed aside by God and denied the capacity to see truth. He likely is a very sincere man, but because God chose to marginalize him, he cannot believe. This is the seed that was cast along the side of the road.
So if he’s a former evangelical Christian then what is he now? An atheist?
This guys a blind and a fool (I don’t care if he’s a scholarly professor) who doesn’t look to the actual words of scripture. More Satanic deception trying to lure those who would be saved away from Christ.
Wonder if he ever read the parable of the seeds ...
Black Bart ping!
Figures NPR would use the season of Lent to denounce the divinity of Jesus.
Hyam Maccoby, “Revolution In Judaea: Jesus And The Jewish Resistance”
RE: So if he’s a former evangelical Christian then what is he now? An atheist?
In an interview with Stephen Colbert, he calls himself agnostic.
To which Colbert responded: “That’s like an atheist without balls...” ( LAUGHTER FROM THE AUDIENCE)
See video here:
interesting this poor carpenter that never really did much and died at the age of 33 made such a ruckus that millions of people have given their lives for him.
RE: Figures NPR would use the season of Lent to denounce the divinity of Jesus.
With your tax dollars and mine of course...
I think he forgot about this:
John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Jehovah Witness New World Translation of the same:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,+ and the Word was a god”
The ACLU is absent from hollering about this taxpayer funded “violation of the separation of church and state”.
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