Bart D.

Ehrman
Ehrman redirects here. For another historian, see John partment of Religious Studies. He was the recipient of
Ehrman.
the 2009 J. W. Pope Spirit of Inquiry Teaching Award,
the 1993 UNC Undergraduate Student Teaching Award,
Bart D. Ehrman /rmn/ (born October 5, 1955) is an the 1994 Phillip and Ruth Hettleman Prize for Artistic
and Scholarly Achievement, and the Bowman and GorAmerican New Testament scholar, currently the James
[5]
A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at don Gray Award for excellence in teaching.
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a
leading scholar in his eld, having written and edited over
25 books, including three college textbooks, and has also
achieved acclaim at the popular level, authoring ve New
York Times bestsellers. Ehrmans work focuses on textual
criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and
the development of early Christianity.

Ehrman currently serves as co-editor of the series New

Testament Tools, Studies, and Documents (E. J. Brill), coeditor-in-chief for the journal Vigiliae Christianae, and
on several other editorial boards for journals and monographs. Ehrman formerly served as President of the
Southeast Region of the Society of Biblical Literature,
chair of the New Testament textual criticism section of
the Society, book review editor of the Journal of Biblical
Literature, and editor of the monograph series The New
Testament in the Greek Fathers (Scholars Press).[5]

Education

Ehrman speaks extensively throughout the United States

and has participated in many public debates, including
debates with William Lane Craig, Dinesh D'Souza, Mike
Licona, Craig A. Evans, Daniel B. Wallace, Richard
Swinburne, Peter J. Williams, James White, Darrell Bock
and Michael L. Brown.

Ehrman grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, and attended

Lawrence High School, where he was on the state champion debate team in 1973. He began studying the Bible
and its original languages at Moody Bible Institute, where
he earned the schools three-year diploma in 1976.[4] He
is a 1978 graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois, where
he received his bachelors degree. He received his PhD
and M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, where
he studied under Bruce Metzger. He received magna cum
laude for both his BA in 1978 and PhD in 1985.[5]

In 2006 and 2009 he appeared on The Colbert Report,[6][7]

as well as The Daily Show,[8] to promote his books
Misquoting Jesus, and Jesus, Interrupted (respectively).
Ehrman has appeared on the History Channel, the
National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, A&E,
Dateline NBC, CNN, and NPRs Fresh Air and his writings have been featured in TIME, Newsweek, The New
York Times, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post.[9]

Career

Ehrman became an Evangelical Christian as a teenager.

In his books, he recounts his youthful enthusiasm as a
born-again, fundamentalist Christian, certain that God
had inspired the wording of the Bible and protected its
texts from all error.[4] His desire to understand the original words of the Bible led him to the study of ancient languages and also textual criticism. During his
graduate studies, however, he became convinced that
there are contradictions and discrepancies in the biblical
manuscripts that could not be harmonized or reconciled.
He remained a liberal Christian for 15 years but later became an agnostic after struggling with the philosophical
problems of evil and suering.[4]

3 Works
Ehrman has written widely on issues of New Testament and early Christianity at both an academic and
popular level, with over 25 books including three college textbooks and ve New York Times bestsellers:
Misquoting Jesus,[10] Jesus, Interrupted,[11] Gods Problem,[12] Forged,[13][14] and How Jesus Became God.[15]
Much of his work is on textual criticism and the New
Testament. His books have been translated into 27 languages.
In The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, Ehrman argues
that there was a close relationship between the social history of early Christianity and the textual tradition of the
emerging New Testament. He examines how early struggles between Christian "heresy" and "orthodoxy" aected

Ehrman has taught at the University of North Carolina

at Chapel Hill since 1988, after four years of teaching at
Rutgers University. At UNC he has served as both the
Director of Graduate Studies and the Chair of the De1

2
the transmission of the documents. 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".[16]
In Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium, Ehrman argues that the historical Jesus was an
apocalyptic preacher, and that imminent apocalyptic beliefs are recorded rst in the earliest Christian documents
(the authentic Pauline epistles, 1st Thessalonians and 1st
Corinthians) and then later in Jesus preaching in the
earliest Christian gospels: the Gospel of Mark and the
Gospel of Matthew. Pauls epistles and Jesus preaching
indicate Jesus believed the son of man would soon arrive, and all present powerful nations would fall and Gods
kingdom would be established on earth. The twelve disciples would each get a throne alongside the son of man
and judge each of the twelve Jewish tribes (Mt 19:28).
Jesus may have come to believe he was to be the son of
man, or else a gospel writer may have put those words and
that idea in Jesus mouth. The early Christians believed
Jesus to be the returning son of man. There are no end
times predicted in the latest, and last gospel, the Gospel
of John.[17][18]
In Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman introduces New Testament
textual criticism. He outlines the development of New
Testament manuscripts and the process and cause of
manuscript errors in the New Testament.[19][20]
In Jesus, Interrupted, he describes the progress scholars have made in understanding the Bible over the past
two hundred years and the results of their study, results
which are often unknown among the population at large.
In doing so, he highlights the diversity of views found
in the New Testament, the existence of forged books
in the New Testament which were written in the names
of the apostles by Christian writers who lived decades
later, and the later invention of Christian doctrinessuch
as the suering messiah, the divinity of Jesus, and the
Trinity.[21][22]
In Forged, Ehrman posits some New Testament books
are literary forgeries and shows how widely forgery was
practiced by early Christian writersand how it was condemned in the ancient world as fraudulent and illicit.[23]
His scholarly book, Forgery and Counterforgery, is an
advanced look at the practice of forgery in the NT and
early Christian literature. It makes a case for considering
falsely attributed or pseudepigraphic books in the New
Testament and early Christian literature forgery, looks
at why certain New Testament and early Christian works
are considered forged, and the broader phenomenon in
the Greco-Roman world.[24]
In 2012, Ehrman published Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth, defending the historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth in contrast to the
mythicist theory that Jesus is an entirely mythical or ctitious being.[25]

4 BIBLIOGRAPHY
2014 saw the publication of How Jesus Became God: The
Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee which examines the historical Jesus, who according to Ehrman neither thought of himself as God nor claimed to be God,
and how he came to be thought of as the incarnation of
God himself.[26]

4 Bibliography
Didymus the Blind and the Text of the Gospels (The
New Testament in the Greek Fathers; No. 1). Society
of Biblical Literature. 1987. ISBN 1-55540-084-1.
The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research: Essays on the Status Quaestionis. Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1995. ISBN 08028-4824-9.
The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture: The Eect
of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of
the New Testament. Oxford University Press, USA.
2011 [1996]. ISBN 0-19-973978-1.
After the New Testament: A Reader in Early Christianity. Oxford University Press, USA. 1998. ISBN
0-19-511445-0.
Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium.
Oxford University Press, USA. 1999. ISBN 0-19512474-X.
Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into
the New Testament. Oxford University Press, USA.
2003. ISBN 0-19-514182-2.
The New Testament and Other Early Christian Writings: A Reader. Oxford University Press, USA.
2003. ISBN 0-19-515464-9.
The Apostolic Fathers: Volume I. I Clement. II
Clement. Ignatius. Polycarp. Didache. Harvard
University Press. 2003. ISBN 0-674-99607-0.
The Apostolic Fathers: Volume II. Epistle of Barnabas. Papias and Quadratus. Epistle to Diognetus.
The Shepherd of Hermas. Harvard University Press.
2003. ISBN 0-674-99608-9.
Ehrman, Bart; Jacobs, Andrew S. (2003). Christianity in Late Antiquity, 300-450 C.E.: A Reader.
Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-5154614.
The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the
Early Christian Writings. Oxford University Press,
USA. 2003. ISBN 0-19-515462-2.
Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the
Faiths We Never Knew. Oxford University Press,
USA. 2003. ISBN 0-19-514183-0.

3
A Brief Introduction to the New Testament. Oxford
University Press, USA. 2004. ISBN 0-19-5161238.
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. 2004. ISBN 0-19-518140-9.
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.
Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed
the Bible and Why. HarperSanFrancisco. 2005.
ISBN 0-06-073817-0.
Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers
of Jesus in History and Legend. Oxford University
Press, USA. 2006. ISBN 0-19-530013-0.
The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot: A New Look at Betrayer and Betrayed. Oxford University Press, USA.
2006. ISBN 978-0-19-531460-1.

How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee (Paperback). HarperOne,
USA. 2015. ISBN 978-0-06-177819-3.

5 References
[1] Video on YouTube
[2] John Blake "Former fundamentalist 'debunks Bible",
CNN, 2009
[3] http://ehrmanblog.org/biblical-views-of-suffering/,
Ehrman Blog, 2013
[4] Ehrman, Bart D.. Misquoting Jesus, HarperSanFrancisco.
2005. ISBN 0-06-073817-0
[5] Ocial website Bart Ehrman Biography
[6] Bart Ehrman. The Colbert Report. June 20, 2006. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
[7] Bart Ehrman. The Colbert Report. April 9, 2009. Retrieved October 19, 2013.

Gods Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer

Our Most Important Question Why We Suffer. HarperCollins, USA. 2008. ISBN 978-0-06117397-4.

[8] Bart Ehrman. The Daily Show. March 14, 2006. Retrieved October 19, 2013.

Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About
Them). HarperCollins, USA. 2009. ISBN 978-006-117394-3.

[10] Dwight Garner (April 2, 2006). Inside the List: The Agnostic. The New York Times. Retrieved October 22,
2013.

Forged: Writing in the Name of GodWhy the

Bibles Authors Are Not Who We Think They
Are. HarperCollins, USA. 2011. ISBN 978-0-06201261-6.
Ehrman, Bart; Plee, Zlatko (2011). The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations. Oxford
University Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-973210-4.
Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth. HarperCollins, USA. 2012. ISBN
978-0-06-220460-8.
Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary
Deceit in Early Christian Polemics. Oxford University Press, USA. 2012. ISBN 978-0-19-992803-3.
The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction.
Oxford University Press, USA. 2013. ISBN 978-019-530816-7.
The Other Gospels: Accounts of Jesus from Outside
the New Testament. Oxford University Press, USA.
2013. ISBN 978-0-19-933522-0.
How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee (Hardback). HarperOne,
USA. 2014. ISBN 978-0-06-177818-6.

[9] http://www.bartdehrman.com/curriculum.htm

[11] Jennifer Schuessler (March 19, 2009). Inside the List:

Honest to Jesus. The New York Times. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
[12] Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonction (March 9, 2008)".
The New York Times. March 9, 2008. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
[13] Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonction: Sunday, April 10th
2011. The New York Times. April 10, 2011. Retrieved
October 22, 2013.
[14] Ocial website Bart Ehrman Main Page
[15] Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonction (April 13, 2014)".
The New York Times. April 13, 2014. Retrieved July
17, 2014.
[16] Collins, Raymond F. The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture. Journal of Early Christian Studies.
[17] Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium by Bart
D. Ehrman (September 23, 1999) ISBN 0195124731 Oxford Univ Press pages
[18] Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium.
Publishers Weekly. Retrieved May 24, 2104. Check date
values in: |accessdate= (help)
[19] Garner, Dwight. Inside the List. New York Times. Retrieved May 24, 2014.

[20] Gross, Terry. Bart Ehrmans 'Misquoting Jesus". NPR.

Retrieved May 24, 2014.
[21] Barlow, Rich (May 6, 2009). Book review: Turning a
critical eye to the Bible. Boston Globe. Retrieved 201010-01.
[22] Blake, John. Former fundamentalist 'debunks Bible.
CNN. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
[23] Half of New Testament forged, Bible scholar says.
CNN. 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-17. CNN book review
article summarizing Ehrmans claim that much of the New
Testament was written as a forgery.
[24] Forgery and Counterforgery. The Use of Literary Deceit
in Early Christian Polemics. Oxford University Press.
Retrieved May 24, 2014.
[25] Ehrman, Bart D. (2013-03-20). Did Jesus Exist?". huingtonpost.com. The Hungton Post. Retrieved 201404-08.
[26] How Jesus Became God. NPR.com. NPR. Retrieved
July 14, 2014.

External links
Bart Ehrmans website
Christianity in Antiquity (CIA): The Bart Ehrman
Blog
Faculty page, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill.
A Q&A session with Ehrman
Interview with Bart Ehrman on Gods Problem by
ReadTheSpirit.com
Bart Ehrmans page at The Teaching Company

EXTERNAL LINKS

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