While I was in college, I took only one religion course: Introduction to New Testament. It was my first introduction to the Christian academic world, as well as my first encounter with the often-abused “historical critical” method for analyzing Scripture. This method has been used over the years to discredit the authenticity of the Bible, and is a pet tool of many faithless academics.
At its best, the method helps provide richer context into the Biblical texts: knowing the who, what, when, why, and how of Scripture can unveil new horizons of faith. On the other hand, those with a predetermined agenda to prove the Bible inaccurate often hold textual errors as “proof” that the Bible did not stem from God.
The textbook we used in my class was written by a popular New Testament scholar named Bart Ehrman who was a staunch proponent of the “historical critial” method.
Throughout the semester, I always had this nagging feeling that many of Christian academics at my school didn’t believe in the religion they devoted their professional lives to. I later learned that this was especially true for Ehrman.
While he was still a well-known Scripture scholar while I was in school, he later become an agnostic and had renounced the divine inspiration of Scripture (something generally held by Christians of every persuasion). Ehrman began writing popular books questioning the accuracy of the Gospels, books that found their way into the hands of many unsuspecting and unprepared Christians.
He was quick to admit that his positions weren’t new–in fact they’ve been debated and dismissed in each of the last few centuries by the Church–but as with The DaVinci Code, Ehrman’s books have caused many Christians to question the legitimacy of their faith.
Thankfully, a group of Reformed Protestant scholars have created The Ehrman Project, a beautiful website specifically designed to answer Ehrman’s claims. The site includes a number of videos, each featuring a well-known Scripture scholar debating one of Ehrman’s points.
Now, a Catholic would take issue with some of the video responses off. For instance, the video on the “canon of Scripture” is pretty weak, never giving credit to the actual, sole reason we have a settled collection of Scriptures: the Church. But besides that, this website is a great resources. I wish any college professor assigning an Ehrman book would also provide this link to students.
In light of our culture’s general skepticism toward the Bible, The Ehrman Project is definitely worth checking out.