07-09-2012, 04:58 PM
Quote:I have not read Mr. Ehrman's writings.
I suggest you read his Jesus Interrupted.
Quote:I wonder, however about the implication that, "Well, it's the Bible. Of course it can't be true" that many people take.
Basically the problem is that people have accepted it uncritically.
Quote:John was present at the Crucifixion, and the verses following the spear thrust signifies that not only was he an eyewitness, he wrote these things as a factual report. He was close enough to hear Jesus give His mother to John's charge. If the other 3 gospel writers were farther back in the crowd, it's reasonable to assume that their accounts would lack some of the details that a closer viewer would notice.
There's virtually no possibility the gospels were written by the actual apostles. For one thing, the gospels were written in Greek, whereas the apostles spoke aramaic and were most likely illiterate. Also the gospel of john was written c 90-95 CE, 60 or so years after the crucifixion. It's not likely any apostle was still alive in an age when the average life expectancy was maybe 20-30.
Quote:.. nor should they spend much time trying to figure out which verses are true and which are not...
As Ehrman wrote, this is exactly what scholars have been doing for a century or more. He mentioned the methodological criteria used to separate truth from fiction in the NT.
