13 letters in the New Testament claim to be written by the Apostle Paul. But some New Testament scholars like Bart Ehrman say that 6 of them are blatant forgeries, notably 1st and 2nd Timothy. This puts the Christians in an awkward spot, as forgery is…well… just another way to lie, which goes against the 9th Commandment. And that’s allegedly what we have in our New Testament: one big fat lie about who wrote the Pastoral epistles.
But if the critics’ arguments turn out to be weak sauce, then it’s not the New Testament that loses credibility but its detractors. In his book Forged: Writing In The Name Of God – Why The Bible’s Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are Ehrman lays out three main reasons why he thinks the pastorals are bogus. Granted there are more arguments out there, but I’m guessing Bart’s picking these because he thinks they’re the strongest.
In this video, I see if Ehrman’s arguments hold water and provide three good reasons to trust that the Pastoral epistles are authentic.
Erik is the creative force behind the YouTube channel Testify, which is an educational channel built to help inspire people’s confidence in the text of the New Testament and the truth of the Christian faith.
