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Sometimes Christian apologists say there are only three options to who Jesus was: a liar, a lunatic or the Lord. But there could be a fourth option – legend.

Bart D. Ehrman

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  His name never occurs in a single inscription, and it is never found in a single piece of private correspondence. Zero! Zip references!

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• 

  No other author, biblical or otherwise, mentions this event. Is it, like John’s account of Jesus’ death, a detail made up by Matthew in order to make some kind of theological point?

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• 

  In the entire first Christian century Jesus is not mentioned by a single Greek or Roman historian, religion scholar, politician, philosopher or poet.

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• 

  Traditionally in Christian circles, Judas in fact has been associated with Jews. Of being traitors, avaricious, who in fact, betray Jesus, who are Christ-killers. And this portrayal of Judas of course also leads then to horrendous acts of anti-Semitism through the centuries.

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• 

  In fact, most of the changes found in early Christian manuscripts have nothing to do with theology or ideology.

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• 

  I think the evidence is just so overwhelming that Jesus existed, that it’s silly to talk about him not existing.

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• 

  The search for truth takes you where the evidence leads you, even if, at first, you don’t want to go there.

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  As time goes on, thing do get made up.

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• 

  I don’t know anyone who is a responsible historian, who is actually trained in the historical method, or anybody who is a biblical scholar who does this for a living, who gives any credence at all to any of this.

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• 

  [P]eople need to use their intelligence to evaluate what they find to be true and untrue in the Bible. This is how we need to live life generally.

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• 

  Did he say both things? Could he mean both things? How can both be true at once? Or is it possible that one of the Gospel writers got things switched around?

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• 

  Different authors have different points of view. You can’t just say, ‘I believe in the Bible.

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  Everything we hear and see we need to evaluate—whether the inspiring writings of the Bible or the inspiring writings of Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, or George Eliot, of Ghandi, Desmond Tutu, or the Dalai Lama.

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• 

  The problem then with Jesus is that he cannot be removed from his time and transplanted into our own without simply creating him anew

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• 

  Sometimes Christian apologists say there are only three options to who Jesus was: a liar, a lunatic or the Lord. But there could be a fourth option – legend.

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• 

  I have such a fantastic life that I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for it. . . . But I don’t have anyone to express my gratitude to. This is a void deep inside me, a void of wanting someone to thank, and I don’t see any plausible way of filling it.

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