Are The Doctrines of Christianity Effected By Textual Variants? Even Bart Ehrman Says No

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Bruce Metzger, a big shot in New Testament studies, is renowned for his meticulous research and comprehensive grasp of early Christian manuscripts. His work in textual criticism has significantly influenced the study of the Bible, earning him immense respect among his colleagues and students. Enter Bart Ehrman, an impressive scholar in his own right, who had the privilege of being Metzger’s student. Ehrman absorbed his mentor’s expertise and adopted his meticulous approach to biblical research. However, as he embarked on his own scholarly journey, Ehrman started questioning the fundamental beliefs he grew up with, leading to a shift in his religious perspective that diverged from Metzger’s. Ehrman’s bestseller, “Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed … Read more

From Homer to Luther: Tracing the Epic Journey of a Reformation Icon with Chat GPT

After some prompting, I asked ChatGPT to create a mock episode of MythVision with guest “Donald MacDennis”, discussing the story of Martin Luther and its parallels to Homer’s work. I was not disappointed by the result. Although I did make some edits for clarity and to add a little personality, the content was largely generated by the AI. Enjoy! Disclaimer: This is not necessarily meant to be taken as a serious criticism of Dr. Dennis MacDonald. This is just a product of me goofing around. Satire only! Derek: Welcome to MythVision, the podcast where we explore ancient myths and their relevance to our modern lives. Today, we have a special guest, Donald MacDennis, a renowned scholar … Read more

No, The Author of Acts Didn’t Use Josephus

There’s an ongoing debate among scholars about whether the author of the book of Acts used Josephus’ writings. Some critics argue that the author heavily relied on Josephus, which would raise doubts about the author’s claim of being a companion of Paul. This is because Josephus’ writings didn’t appear until the early second century and obviously Luke would’ve long been dead. Although this perspective isn’t widely accepted yet, it’s gained popularity among some scholars and a few online skeptics who believe that Acts is a work of historical fiction. In this post, I aim to explore why I think this theory is really far-fetched. Let’s Talk Chronology The order of events is a major point … Read more

Pervo’s Pitfall: Acts Is Independent from Paul’s Letters

Did Luke really travel with Paul as Christians have always believed? Richard Pervo, a New Testament scholar, has a different idea. Pervo thinks the Book of Acts, which tells us about Paul’s adventures, was made up much later, in the second century. Pervo believes they took parts of Paul’s letters to create the book. Several scholars and skeptics online have latched onto his thesis in their quest to discredit the reliability of the Book of Acts. But is there any proof to support what he’s saying? Let’s dive into this topic and see if Pervo’s arguments really make sense. So, if we entertain the idea that both Paul’s letters and Acts are based on real … Read more

Defending Luke-Acts: Exposing and Answering More Than 24 Objections to its Historical Credibility

In an online group that I’m part of, an insightful skeptic, whose identity I’ll respect by keeping nameless, challenges the prevailing belief held by Christian apologists that Luke, the author of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, deserves to be hailed as a skilled historian. This skeptic takes it a step further, boldly claiming that Luke is nothing short of “terrible.” While presenting an extensive list of objections that may initially appear overwhelming, a closer examination uncovers their inherent weaknesses. In this blog post, I analyze the arguments put forth by this particular critic, one by one. The skeptic shotguns out 8 different arguments, with bullet points to back up his assertions.  … Read more

On the Strange Ending of Mark

Bart Ehrman: “All four Gospels agree that on the third day after Jesus’ crucifixion and burial, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and found it empty. But on virtually every detail they disagree . . . do the women tell the disciples what they saw and heard (Matthew 28.8) or do they not tell anyone? (Mark 16.8)” Jesus, Interrupted page 48, Kindle Edition. John Fulton Blair, writing over 100 years earlier: “Mark’s statement that the women ‘said nothing to any one; for they were afraid,’ does not necessarily mean that they held their peace even from good. They were instructed, according to Mark, to tell the disciples and Peter (ver. 7). Their fear would dispose … Read more

What You Might’ve Missed About the Mount of Transfiguration

Does John’s Gospel give us a much higher view of Jesus than what we find in Matthew, Mark and Luke? Bart Ehrman certainly thinks so. He says:  If Jesus went around Galilee proclaiming himself to be a divine being sent from God…could anything else that he might say be so breath-taking and thunderously important? And yet none of these earlier sources says any such thing about him. Did they (all of them!) just decide not to mention the one thing that was most significant about Jesus? Almost certainly the divine self-claims in John are not historical. How Jesus Became God p 125 In other places, Ehrman admits that the Synoptic Gospels don’t depict Jesus as … Read more

Bart Ehrman’s Worst Argument Against John’s Christology

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Bart Ehrman is fond of saying that if Jesus really said “Before Abraham was, I am” and “I and my Father are one” the Synoptic Gospels would’ve surely reported it. Since they don’t report it, Ehrman infers that it didn’t happen. The author of John’s Gospel made it up. He writes: “If Jesus went around Galilee proclaiming himself to be a divine being sent from God . . . could anything else that he might say be so breathtaking and thunderously important? And yet none of these earlier sources [Matthew, Mark, and Luke] says any such thing about him. Did they (all of them!) just decide not to mention the one thing that was most significant … Read more

The Historical Paul vs. The Legendary Paul?

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Skeptical critics argue that Luke wasn’t a traveling companion of Paul’s. Why do they say this? Let’s discuss one reason. NT scholar Uta Ranke-Heinemann asserts that in: “Acts and the epistles there are two Pauls. The historical Paul of the authentic epistles and the legendary Paul of Acts.” 1 In other words, don’t confuse the colorful Paul of Acts with the actual Paul we read about in his letters. This indicates that Luke didn’t have firsthand knowledge of Paul. He must have lied about being his traveling companion and embellished a bunch of stories. But is the Paul of Acts that different from the Paul we read about in his letters? I’d say no. Not … Read more

Is John’s Jesus Different Than The Synoptics?

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New Testament scholars often treat the Gospel of John like a red-headed stepchild. We’re often told that John presents a Jesus who is fundamentally different from the Synoptics. For example, here is the well-known NT critic Bart Ehrman:  …if Matthew and John were both written by earthly disciples of Jesus, why are they so very different, on all sorts of levels? … Why do they have such fundamentally different views of who Jesus was?… (interview with NPR 12/14/05) Ehrman certainly isn’t alone in his opinion here. Even Craig Evans, an evangelical New Testament scholar, concedes this point to Bart. He says: I suspect we (Ehrman and I) don’t have too much difference on John. My … Read more

Is Jesus Alive?