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 Continuing Excellence Nov 18, 2009
This is the fifth book I have read by Bart Ehrman. I enjoy his level-headed historical examinations of the biblical texts which have played such an influential role in our society and his willingness, over the years, to allow his own beliefs to be shaped by the truths he discoveries in his inquiries.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Terrible title for a good book Nov 09, 2009
Who comes up with book titles? Whoever dreamed up this one (obviously a take-off of the movie "Girl, Interrupted") wasn't giving a thought to the contents of the book; he or she just wanted a splashy title to attract attention. Perhaps that person was right, but I don't think so.
Anyway, this is another in a long line of Biblical scholarship books written by this author. Once again he educates those of us who are not really conversant with the formation of parts of the Bible,in this instance the New Testament. As a lay reader I was aware that this Testament was not written until years after the death of Jesus, but I never really gave a thought to how oral stories can be changed by the tellers, even if accidentally. Reading this book I can see how many biblical scholars believe that we are not getting the gospels in their original form, and even that those gospels are not necessarily true depictions of what was said and done by Jesus and his followers.
There are obvious contradictions in the New Testament, as there are in the Old, but to me that does not really matter to my faith. I believe in Jesus as the Son of God and the one who died for our sins, and nothing anyone can say, or do, or prove can change my mind. I read these books because I find them intellectually stimulating, and they satisfy my thirst for knowledge. Knowing how (possibly) a testament is written, or even if it is true does not shake any part of my faith, but I do appreciate the scholarship that goes into the writing of a book such as this. Everyone should be open-minded about religion (any religion) and always ready to state his or her own convictions. Read the book: you will learn much about the New Testament you were probably unaware of, but that knowing should not change you own particular view of your religious philosophy; it didn't to mine.
 Contradictions, Interrupted Nov 08, 2009
Bart Ehrman is one of my favorite...no...make that my absolute favorite biblical scholar and author in that field. This book is also one of his better books, and I would say right up there with Misquoting Jesus, God's Problem, and Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium.
There is possibly no other biblical scholar I know of that is quite as effective in communicating issues concerning the historical-critical method of biblical study, so this was one book I looked forward to. The only negative issue about this book is that he says there will not be enough room to go over tremendous numbers of contradictions, so he focuses on a few of the top ones on his personal list, then spends less than 100 pages of the book on these contradictions (out of about 300 pages).
Certainly, he went over other subjects that helped to explain contradictions, but I think he tried to cover too much, and covered much ground he had already thoroughly exhausted in previous works. I understand why -- he can't very well always write for those that have already read most of his works, and a broader perspective will help with people that are new readers of his work.
For readers familiar with Ehrman's work, this is still a great book, but I have to give four stars rather than five, because there was much more room to cover many more contradictions. There are some spectacular ones in this book, but there are so many that came to mind that he could have easily added.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
TRUTH-SEEKERS LOVE IT--FUNDIES CAN'T STAND IT Oct 22, 2009
This book should be mandatory reading in every church--especially evangelical/fundamentalist churches which teach the `inerrancy of the scriptures.' In this book Bart Ehrman reveals some important facts about the Bible that most ministers either refuse to admit to themselves, or, even if they do, they still refuse to teach or even discuss the issue with laymen Christians.
In very simple terms Ehrman demonstrates that the Bible contradicts itself. Some Christians, mainly of the fundamentalist variety, will regard this book as an attack on Christianity (as may be seen in some of the knee-jerk, reactionary reviews posted at Amazon). But all that Ehrman is doing here is presenting Bible scripture in its true context. Example: the Four Gospel witnesses in fact don't agree on many important details of Jesus's life and teaching. Obviously the Gospels weren't written by eye-witnesses (nor do they purport to be in and of themselves). And the Gospels and Paul disagree on whether Jesus was resurrected in the flesh, and whether the flesh will inherit the kingdom of God. Of course I am barely scratching the surface here. Ehrman gets into a penetrating and detailed of analysis on a number of key points where the scriptures disagree. Conservative Christians will find this threatening and it will call into question the cherished theological structure of "orthodox" Christianity. But in truth, no Christian need be threatened: Ehrman's presentation allows the layman to see the early Christian tradition the way it really was: the New Testament writings show that the early Christian movement was already comprised of numerous sects, theologies and traditions at a very early stage. The lesson for Christians today is that the real spirit of Christian unity is rooted in faith in God and love for brothers and sisters. This has nothing to do with the supposed inerrancy or theological unity of biblical texts. This is not the truth and insisting on these things is what leads to doubts, schisms and lost faith. To insist on a supposed inerrancy and perfect unity of the Bible is to reduce the Gospel message to a superstition.
Over all this is an excellent book and a valuable tool. However, I do have some minor reservations. First, I think Ehrman doesn't go far enough in examining the theology of Paul's letters. Ehrman reads Paul like a Protestant theologian. He portrays Paul as preaching a doctrine of atonement that was fulfilled in Jesus; and that Paul believed that Jesus was fulfilling "God's Law." It seems to me that Ehrman avoids the more unusual elements of Paul's writings. For example: do the Pauline letters really affirm consistently that "God" gave the "Law" to Moses? Believe it or not, the Pauline letters do not have a unified position on the issue; as may be seen in Galatians 3:19 where we read that the "Law" was "ordained by angels" (cf. Acts 7:38, 53; Hebrews 2:2). Or what about Paul's method of Bible interpretation? Does Paul use the literalistic or "historical-grammatical" method as used by conservative theologians today? Example: in Galatians 3 Paul writes that Abraham was justified by his faith alone apart from circumcision. But in Genesis 17 we learn that Abraham's faith was justified by his obedience to God. Abraham obeyed God and circumcised himself and his family. How do we account for Paul's interpretation of Genesis 17? I think Ehrman could have delved into this a little more rather than giving us the same old Protestant Paul, which is based on a cherry-picked collection of Bible passages.
Some critics see a pattern of repetition in this book. But to me it appears that Ehrman is being methodical in examining some Bible passages repeatedly from different directions. For example, Ehrman compares the accounts of Jesus's death in Mark and John; and then later compares the same accounts between Mark and Luke. Some people mistake this as repetition, but in fact the differences between Luke and John as compared with Mark are highly significant. But to some readers this second examination of Mark will seem tedious and repetitious.
Again, I highly recommend this book. And I think that one of the most important purposes that this book can serve is that it exposes the fallacy of Bible inerrancy, which some fundamentalist cult leaders use to completely brainwash people and gain control over their very souls. Again, I recommend to anyone who is considering joining a church: read this book first. And if your minister can't come clean with you about the facts addressed in this book then maybe his church isn't worth joining.
7 of 22 found the following review helpful:
 Shortcoming of the Historical-Critical Method of Biblical Interpretation Oct 15, 2009
Part of Ehrman's reasoning and critique evolve out of the thesis that "if there are contradictions in the Bible, particularly in the Four Gospels, about a particular story or event, then, by the Historical-Critical interpretive method, the reader must conclude that the story or event never happened". In other words, if different people are describing what they saw or heard during an event, and, if there are differences in how they are describing the story or event, then maybe it didn't happen at all. So, what Ehrman has essentially done, is to point to a supposed plethora of supposed contradictions in the Bible and say, because of these "contradictions" the Bible cannot be taken as an accurate record of historical fact.
Here is the short-coming of Ehrman's method of analysis and interpretation. The "historical" example that "screams" to be used at this point is the JFK assassination. So very well do many of us remember that day. I know that I was sitting in class at school as the Principal's voice came over the intercom at school and announced "The President has been shot in Dallas". And, then, the world changed.
Let's look briefly at the Kennedy assassination. There are a myriad of conspiracy theories swirling around this historical event. Some examples are "It would have been impossible for Lee Harvey Oswald to have gotten off the multiple shots required, in the few seconds that evolved, and to have been that accurate from such a distance". Next, there is the grassy knoll. Several people who were there that day talked of seeing another gunman on the grassy knoll. But, the experts say that a shot at such close range would have done much more damage. But, others argue that a lighter caliber gun could have been used. And, also at the grassy knoll, were the supposed policeman that "came out of nowhere and then disappeared" after the shooting. And, then, there was the woman who was picked up as she was hitch-hiking around the New Orleans area a few weeks before and told the driver of the car that gave her a ride "They're going to kill the President in Dallas".
So, we are left with more questions than answers when it comes to the Kennedy assassination. Who were "They" that this mystery woman was talking about? And, it does seem that it would be a lot to expect a lone gunman to accomplish at the distance and few seconds of time that Oswald supposedly was able to do. And, what about the several eye-witnesses to things going on at the grassy knoll? Indeed, it is a mystery.
My point is this. We have many, many people who gave many, many varying and different and "contradictory" accounts of the Kennedy assassination. There was even a formal governmental investigation of the event and still no solid conclusion and much disagreement among the legal and governmental experts. So, no conclusion on exactly how and why the Kennedy assassination occurred. So, according to Ehrman and his view and perspective of the Historical-Critical approach, we would have to conclude that because there are "irreconcilable contradictions" surrounding the Kennedy assassination that, we perhaps have to conclude that "it didn't happen". Maybe, everyone simply had a "visionary imagination" about all of it, and Kennedy has been hidden away somewhere all these years for some mysterious reason. You may say, that's absurd. Well, read Ehrman's book. This is exactly how Ehrman goes about "interpreting" the Bible.
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