Bart Erhman - Lost Christianities

  • Thread starter Thread starter Riley259
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
R

Riley259

Guest
Bart Erhman is a scriptural scholar but he often appears to come to different conclusions from orthodox Christian scholars in terms of the tenets of the faith. Does anyone have any feedback on his book “Lost Christianities” and how reputable his conclusions in this book are? Thanks.
 
I usually try to steer clear of the fringe group of “theologians.”

There’s enough good, orthodox stuff to keep me busy for the rest of my life. I don’t have time to mess with folks who stray out to left field. Just sayin’… 🙂
 
Scoobyshme said:
I usually try to steer clear of the fringe group of “theologians.”

There’s enough good, orthodox stuff to keep me busy for the rest of my life. I don’t have time to mess with folks who stray out to left field. Just sayin’… 🙂
Click to expand...
Totally agree. The title is enough to keep away from that book. If you are interested in the subject of historical Jesus would suggest you instead read Gary Habermas.

Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft also has the “Handbook of Christian Apologetics” which covers arguments for the existence of God, the historical Jesus, the Resurrection, etc.
 
I’ve read some of Erman’s books - but by the time I did I was already pretty much where he is. It’s interesting to me that Bart started out as an Born-Again Chrisitian - a very devout true believer. What he discovered during his research called many of his beliefs into question to the point that he is now an agnostic. The reason this is important, IMO, is because he did not set out to disprove his own beliefs. He was sincerely researching and discovered facts that made him question his earlier assumptions. At that point, intellectual honesty made it impossible to continue as he had. I consider him to be a sincere, intelligent scholar who has discovered things that make him ask questions others would rather him not voice.
 
I happen to have this exact book out from the library right now. Let me tell you what I intend to do with it.

If you look at pages xi-xv, you’ll see that he lists the apocryphal texts he deals with in the book, the probable dates they were written, and what they are about. I haven’t searched for all of them yet, but I am pretty sure that you can find them all in translation either on the web or in print.

As I read through the book, I’ll reference the source material to see if I agree with his interpretations. Then I’m going to read other people’s perspectives on the subject to see if his conclusions are widely accepted or wildly speculative.

When seeking out contrasting opinions, I usually look for good credentials, close reading of the source texts, and experts from a variety of faiths. Finally, I’ll decide which interpretation seems to be the best.

It is a lot more work than merely reading the opinions that I already agree with, but it is more satisfying in the end.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top