Useful Resource, even for Christian Biblical Studies Major
In this, Bart Ehrman's most accessible book on historical criticism, the author seeks to divulge to the lay person what seminarians have known for over a century. Namely, the individual books and letters in the Bible were written by many different people, who often take very different perspectives from one another. In this book, Ehrman argues that the perspectives are not only different, but also contradictory. For instance, the gospel of Mark records Jesus suffering to carry his cross and crying out in agony as he dies "separated" from God. According to Luke's account, though, Jesus was cool and collected, thinking more of those around him than himself. The common solution to these different stories is to combine elements from all four gospels into one, thus creating a gospel story entirely unlike any of the canonical books. Ehrman chastises this approach as missing the author's original intentions. The authors of Mark and Luke (both anonymous, by the way) had reasons for showing Jesus in different lights. To ignore the differences is to miss the point of each work. To create our own story with pieces from all of them is to show disrespect to the intentions of the authors, who wrote with particular goals in mind.
Ehrman dips into the realm of Christology by studying how different Biblical authors seem to think differently about Jesus. Is he a man who was empowered by God's Spirit, or a complete God who chose to become man? Different authors speak differently on the deity of Jesus, and it was not until centuries after the Bible was written that the Arian controversy forced Constantine and other church leaders to hold a council to reconcile different opinions about the deity of Jesus. Ehrman shows how the different views of Jesus are important to understanding each Biblical work in the way that the author intended.
The greatest strength in this work comes in how he rarely forces his own a conclusions upon the reader--as some of his books come dangerously close to doing. If a Christian skipped past Ehrman's preface, then she or he might assume that he is a believer, instead of an agnostic. In this book, he lays out the problems and leaves it for the reader to reconcile. In this, believers and nonbelievers will be able to better understand the Bible without having to swim through a sea of biased opinions. Naturally, Ehrman is biased towards the scholarly extreme, but his treatment of the texts is incredibly fair and reasonable.
He makes a few leaps in his conclusions, but overall, I recommend it to anyone interested in a better understanding of the New Testament. (Ehrman's Old Testament examples are weak, as he personally admits, but that is to be expected of a scholar who specializes in the NT.)
If pastors have studied at any Biblical seminary of repute, then they will not be surprised by anything that they read in this book--they will agree with most of it, too.
If readers have never looked at the New Testament from a historical/literary perspective, then they are in for a ride. This book introduces historical criticism to the lay person in a helpful, but often shocking way
I loved reading Jesus Interrupted, and I continue to cite it for quick references to different themes, especially among the gospels. It will always remain in my personal library.
Further, for anyone unfamiliar with Bart Ehrman's works, I recommend starting with this one. It is a safe segue into his more controver
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback.
Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.