Bart D. Ehrman

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Bart D. Ehrman is a New Testament scholar, textual critic, and an expert on early Christianity. He attempts to discern, as nearly as possible, the original wording of the gospels, epistles, and other ancient texts. He champions the thesis that early Christians, as they developed a single, orthodox doctrine, altered the Biblical texts in order to make them more uniform and bring them into line with changing beliefs.

1 Career
2 Personal life
3 Bibliography
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links

[edit] Career

Ehrman began studying the Bible and its original languages at the Moody Bible Institute and is a 1978 graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois. He received his Ph.D and M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, where he studied under Bruce Metzger. He currently serves as the chairman of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was the President of the Southeast Region of the Society of Biblical Literature, and worked closely as an editor on a number of the Society's publications. Currently, he co-edits the series New Testament Tools and Studies.

Much of Ehrman's writing has concentrated on various aspects of Walter Bauer's thesis that Christianity was always diversified or at odds with itself. 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 his writings, Ehrman has turned around textual criticism. From the time of the Church Fathers, it was the heretics (Marcion, for example) who were charged with tampering with the biblical manuscripts. Ehrman theorizes that it was more often the Orthodox that "corrupted" the manuscripts, altering the text to promote particular viewpoints. He has authored or contributed to nineteen books.

Ehrman became an Evangelical Christian as a teen. His desire to understand the original words of the Bible led him to the study of ancient languages and to textual criticism, which in turn undermined his faith in the Bible as the inerrant word of God.

Ehrman now considers himself an agnostic. He appeared on The Colbert Report, as well as The Daily Show, in 2006 to promote his book Misquoting Jesus and was jokingly called an "atheist without balls" (alluding to his agnosticism) on national television by Stephen Colbert.^[1]

In March of 2006, Ehrman and evangelical theologian William Lane Craig engaged in a debate entitled "Is There Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus?" on the campus of the College of the Holy Cross, with Ehrman arguing the opposing position. Following the event, Ehrman's publisher, along with Craig, expressed interest in publishing the transcript in book form. However, Ehrman declined.^[2]^[3]^[4] In June of 2006, a transcript of the debate was made available on the college's website.^[5]

[edit] Personal life

Ehrman has two children, a daughter, Kelly, and a son, Derek. He is married to Sarah Beckwith (Ph.D., King's College London), Marcello Lotti Professor of English at Duke University.

[edit] Bibliography

Ehrman, Bart (2008). God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer. HarperOne, USA. ISBN 0-06-117397-5.
Ehrman, Bart (2006). The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot: A New Look at Betrayer and Betrayed. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-531460-3.
Ehrman, Bart (2006). Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-530013-0.
Ehrman, Bart (2005). Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 0-06-073817-0.
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.
Ehrman, Bart (2004). 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. ISBN 0-19-518140-9.
Ehrman, Bart (2004). A Brief Introduction to the New Testament. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-516123-8.
Ehrman, Bart (2003). The Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-514183-0.
Ehrman, Bart (2003). The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-515462-2.
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.
Ehrman, Bart (2003). The Apostolic Fathers: Volume II. Epistle of Barnabas. Papias and Quadratus. Epistle to Diognetus. The Shepherd of Hermas. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-99608-9.
Ehrman, Bart (2003). The Apostolic Fathers: Volume I. I Clement. II Clement. Ignatius. Polycarp. Didache. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-99607-0.
Ehrman, Bart (2003). The New Testament and Other Early Christian Writings: A Reader. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-515464-9.
Ehrman, Bart (2003). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-514182-2.
Ehrman, Bart (1999). Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-512474-X.
Ehrman, Bart (1998). After the New Testament: A Reader in Early Christianity. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-511445-0.
Ehrman, Bart (1996). The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture: The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-510279-7.
Ehrman, Bart (1987). Didymus the Blind and the Text of the Gospels (The New Testament in the Greek Fathers; No. 1). Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 1-55540-084-1.