My students sometimes ask: what is a fundamentalist? I give them a very simple definition.
BART D. EHRMANA fundamentalist is no fun, too much damn, and not enough mental.
More Bart D. Ehrman Quotes
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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 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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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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As time goes on, thing do get made up.
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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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A fundamentalist is no fun, too much damn, and not enough mental.
BART D. EHRMAN -
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 fact, most of the changes found in early Christian manuscripts have nothing to do with theology or ideology.
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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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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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In Matthew, Jesus declares, “Whoever is not with me is against me.” In Mark, he says,“Whoever is not against us is for us.”
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You can’t believe something just because someone else desperately wants you to.
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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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Different authors have different points of view. You can’t just say, ‘I believe in the Bible.
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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.
BART D. EHRMAN