How Did Bart Ehrman Evaluate The Gospels

In the Gospels according to Matthew and that according to Luke, Jesus’ birth and childhood is narrated. While both of these accounts mention Jesus as not only being the son of Joseph and his virgin wife Mary but also the Son of God, they also have numerous differences between the two. When compared and contrasted many scholars find historical inaccuracies between the two Gospels (especially when it comes to the birth and childhood of Jesus). That being said however, after a closer look at some of the historical problems one may be able to see that they are not nearly as important as the deeper motivation they bring out to the reader.

In Examining the Record section, Strobel supports the historical reliability of the New Testament. He examines the eyewitness evidence, the documentary evidence, the corroborating evidence, the scientific evidence, and the rebuttal evidence. Strobel writes about his first interview with Craig Blomberg regarding the four gospels. Blomberg proposes that the four gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. A hypothesis was made that Matthew and Luke are constructed on Mark which means it’s not likely that Matthew and Luke fully

(4) The textbook lists several things that we should keep in mind when considering the authenticity of the Gospels. Briefly summarize what they write about the cultural role of

One of the first editors on the book’s list is Benjamin Blackwell, PhD. He currently holds a position at the Houston Baptist University where he is in the Department of Theology and School of Christian Thought. It is in these departments where he helps to teach students with the primary focus of the New Testament and in Theology. In these classes, he particularly likes to specialize in helping the students to understand how Christians from different time periods read the Bible differently and what the importance of the Bible is in both ancient and modern contexts. Dr. Blackwell’s educational background ties well into both his current positions and in his editing practices. His educational background consists of many degrees, starting with a Doctorate in Philosophy in both the New Testament and in Historical Theology from Durham University in

Additionally, the structure of the Gospel breaks down into the three sections previously mentioned. Next, the introductory section on the theology of the Gospel highlights 4 different theological themes seen throughout Matthew: Israel and the Gentiles, Christology, The Fulfillment of Scripture, and Discipleship and the Church. Regarding the purpose and audience of the Gospel, Blomberg notes much debate surrounds this topic, but concludes, however, that regardless of the debate the author of Matthew appears to address “. . . a Jewish-Christian audience with distinctively Jewish-Christian concerns” (Blomberg 1992:37). Next, the introduction notes the sources through which scholars believe the author of Matthew gleaned come of his material, specially the material that also resides in Mark and Luke. Blomberg discusses that most scholars believe Matthew used Mark as well as an unknown source, which scholars often refer to as the Q-Hypothesis. Regarding the date of the Gospel

Gospel is an old English word meaning “good news.” When comparing the four gospels they are all unified, but each gospel can have slight differences to them. Whether is literary structure, length, how many teachings, important events, different significance, geography or chronology; they all are correlated to tell us Jesus’ story, in their own way. In like manner, God didn’t give us one explanation from an confined individual. Rather, God educates us about the broad richness of Jesus’ life through a numerous prophet-witnesses. Moreover, God works through well-documented and a valid history, not through confidential revelations to a single person. The prophetic witnesses of the Gospels endorse the truth that God himself is speaking. Each Gospel

The common belief among source critics is that, the Gospel of Mark is the oldest and Matthew and Luke used his gospel along with an unknown source to write their Gospels. Evidence supporting this view make the makes four points. First, the Luke’s Gospel is contains approximately half of Mark’s information and Matthew’s Gospel encompasses almost all of Mark’s views. Second, Mark’s words are used verbatium Matthew and Luke. Third, Matthew and Luke follow the same sequence of events as Mark. Finally, Matthew and Luke sometimes reword Mark’s uncomfortable passages of scripture to allow smooth transitions and ease of understanding.[5]

The word 'gospel' means good news. There are four gospel accounts in the New Testament:

What does it mean to question the authenticity and originality of a religious scripture? Is it a life changing question? Yes, it absolutely can be a life changing curiosity leading to a long journey of research. As it was the case for Bart D. Ehrman. Ehram a less devout episcopal Christian who converted to evangelical Christianity, in an essence, re-embraced the religion at a young age and started studying Christianity. His education started off at Moody Bible Institute and the Wheaton College and later received his PhD in New Testament studies. During his studies, Ehram developed a particular interest about infallibility and inerrancy of the Christian scripture. In a quest of finding answers for his questions about Scripture he wrote a book Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. The main thesis of the book reads “The book is about ancient manuscripts of the New Testament and the differences found in them, about scribes who copied scripture and sometimes changed it. This may not seem to be very promising as a key to one's own autobiography, but there it is. One has little control over such things” . The book is a very readable, accurate condensation of many of the most important facts about the nature and history of textual criticism. A critical review of the book demonstrates that Ehram almost absolutely proves the thesis statement of the book.

For many, the Hebrew bible is read and accepted without question. It plays a significant role in the practice of many religions and yet not many dare to wonder who wrote such sacred writings that would still be read to this very day. For generations, it was almost unheard of to ask or even fathom the identity of the author. Richard Elliot Friedman, a biblical scholar and graduate from Harvard University, explores, studies, and analyzes the bible to discover who wrote it. Having earned a master degree in theology, B.A degree in Philosophy, and master degree in Hebrew literature, Friedman proves to be a knowledgeable expert in his field of studies. From the years of work he invested into, Friedman aims to provide convincing evidence that the book is written by four persons through historical, archaeological, logical proof.

The two gospels written by Matthew the Jewish Disciple of Christ and Luke, the gentile physician, differs on several points. Matthew is writing to the Jewish audience that Jesus is the promise Messiah, whereas Luke’s audience is all the gentile races. The manner that they both record Joseph’s lineage varies, Matthew records 41 names including Jesus and begins with Abraham father of the Hebrew race. Luke’s genealogy has 74 names including Jesus and traced back to Adam.

In the bible we have recently been looking at the gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke. In these gospels there are a lot of similarities and also some differences. For example in each one of those gospels it tells the story of John’s Preaching About the Coming One. (Matthew 3:11-12, Mark 1:7-8, Luke 3:15-18) All three of these gospels have a share a lot of similarities. This is not the only story. Another story is The Walking on the Water. (Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52) Although not this story is not in Luke, the other two gospels have similarities. Looking at all of the things that are the same in these stories helps supports that the bible is true. It would be hard for the authors of these gospels to make up exactly the same thing for all three or two stories. There are many other examples of similar stories in the

The Gospel According to Matthew is the first book of the New Testament in the Bible, and is a Gospel narrative. The narratives provided by the Gospels in the New Testament are here to provide us with descriptions of the life, death, and resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ, as well as to share His teachings. Like any other narrative, it is important to understand the historical and literary contexts surrounding the Gospel of Matthew, as well as the importance and significance of Matthew itself. As a Gospel, Matthew is here to present us with the narrative of Jesus Christ as our Messiah, as promised in the Old Testament Prophesy. While it is important to evaluate the extensive context surrounding the narrative of Matthew, the meaning behind the narrative can be found through relating it to the various events that are described in the other Gospels. By comparing the Gospels, it is easy to evaluate the underlying meaning and significance, within the context of the Gospels. Because the Gospels were written as narratives to provide us with information on the life and death of Jesus Christ, and all that happened in between, it is important to compare the different accounts described in the Gospels whenever possible. In doing so, it is possible to examine the Gospels within the appropriate context. With 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), it is important to compare them with one another in order to further evaluate the importance of Jesus Christ, as he is the

This essay will show contrasts in views on the Gospel of John regarding authorship,dates, and the relationship between John's Gospel and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Some comparison of thought, concerning composition and life setting, will also be presented.

The book assigned for my evaluation is John Goldingay’s Old Testament Theology: Israel’s Gospel. There are several kinds of concerns that John Golidngay addresses, in relation to the Old Testament, in the introduction of this book. The first statement that stood out to me was, “The expression ‘Old Testament theology’ suffers from a number of disadvantages and ambiguities, but I have retained it in the title for this book because of its value connotations with regard to my subject (though for some people these are negative value connotations).” (15) In this statement the author speaks about the term Old Testament, which often bringing forth various preconceived notions that individuals bring as they read it. Similar to the issue we discovered in Old Testament Theology class, we all came in to the class with our ideas of what represented the Old Testament. Bringing preconceived notions of reading often limits the reader, if the reader is not open to learning additional information about the text. The author states, “I do not care for the phrase ‘Old Testament,’ which we inherit from some time in the patristic period, because it rather suggests something antiquated and inferior left behind by a dead person.” (15) What the author states shows that he wants the readers to be open minded and expand their thinking of the Old Testament to more than a time period or something that is no longer relevant. The author also