Bart Ehrman on "Coast to Coast" radio interview

Ian Punnett was joined by Bible expert and author Bart Ehrman for a discussion on the apparent contradictions found in the New Testament. Many lay people are unaware of these discrepancies as well as the historical findings on the Bible, he said, because "scholars have done such terrible job of communicating with normal human beings." Ehrman believes that knowing more about troublesome passages can actually help people better understand the Scripture, and to that end he provided some specific examples of inconsistencies in the Bible.

Bart Ehrman - Coast to Coast - Part 1


On the question of when Jesus died, Ehrman pointed out that the Gospel of Mark (see Chapter 14) indicates it was the day after Passover, while John's account (in Chapter 19) records it as occurring the day before the Jewish holiday. According to Ehrman, John changed the historical date to make a theological point about Jesus being the Passover Lamb of God. Ehrman presented the different details surrounding the demise of Judas as well. Matthew (27:5) says Judas "went and hanged himself," while the Book of Acts (1:18) records, "he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out."

Bart Ehrman - Coast to Coast - Part 2


Bart D. Ehrman spoke about the formation of the New Testament, noting how the collection was a result of theological conflict among different Christian groups and not a decision handed down by a Church council. Gnostic texts, such as the Gospel of Thomas, were not included in the Canon, though they provide information not found in the four Gospels, he added. Ehrman also mentioned the New Testament story about the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). He said the account is not found in the earliest manuscripts and was likely inserted into the Gospel of John some centuries after the Canon had been closed.

Bart Ehrman - Coast to Coast - Part 3


Bart Ehrman - Coast to Coast - Part 4


Bart Ehrman - Coast to Coast - Part 5


Bart Ehrman - Coast to Coast - Part 6


Part 7: About later adding to the bible


Bart Ehrman - Coast to Coast - Part 8


Bart Ehrman - Coast to Coast - Part 9


Bart Ehrman - Coast to Coast - Part 10


Bart Ehrman - Coast to Coast - Part 11


Bart Ehrman - Coast to Coast - Part 12


Coast to Coast - Bart Ehrman - April 18 2009


Biography:

Bart D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He came to UNC in 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 Department of Religious Studies.

A graduate of Wheaton College (Illinois), Professor Ehrman received both his Masters of Divinity and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, where his 1985 doctoral dissertation was awarded magna cum laude. Since then he has published extensively in the fields of New Testament and Early Christianity, having written or edited twenty-one books, numerous scholarly articles, and dozens of book reviews.