Bart D. Ehrman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bart D. Ehrman
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Ehrman in 2012
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Bart Denton Ehrman
October 5, 1955 Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.
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Notable work
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| Spouse(s) | Sarah Beckwith |
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| Thesis | The Gospel Text of Didymus (1985) |
| Doctoral advisor | Bruce M. Metzger |
Bart Denton Ehrman (born October 5, 1955) is an American scholar who studies the New Testament (the second part of the Christian Bible). He focuses on how ancient Bible texts were copied and changed over time. He also researches the historical Jesus (what we know about Jesus from history) and how early Christianity began and grew.
Ehrman has written and edited 30 books, including several that became New York Times bestsellers. He is a distinguished professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Contents
Biography
Early Life and Education
Bart Ehrman was born in Lawrence, Kansas, on October 5, 1955. He grew up there and was part of his high school's debate team. He started studying the Bible and ancient languages at Moody Bible Institute.
Later, he earned his bachelor's degree from Wheaton College (Illinois) in 1978. He then went to Princeton Theological Seminary, where he earned two more degrees, including a PhD in 1985. There, he studied how ancient Bible texts were copied and how the New Testament was put together.
His Journey of Belief
Ehrman grew up in the Episcopal Church. As a teenager, he became an evangelical Christian. He believed that God had inspired every word of the Bible and protected it from any mistakes.
His strong desire to understand the Bible's original words led him to study ancient languages like Koine Greek. He also learned about textual criticism, which is the study of old manuscripts to figure out the most accurate original text.
However, during his studies at Princeton, he started to notice differences and contradictions in the ancient Bible manuscripts. He realized that the people who copied the texts (called scribes) had made changes, sometimes big, sometimes small. This made him question his earlier belief that the Bible's text was perfectly preserved.
He later became a liberal Christian and stayed in the Episcopal Church for 15 years. Eventually, he became an agnostic atheist. This change happened as he thought deeply about the problem of evil and suffering in the world.
Works
Books About the Bible and Early Christianity
Bart Ehrman has written many books about the New Testament and early Christianity. These books are for both academic scholars and general readers. Many of his books are based on textual criticism, which means comparing different ancient copies of the Bible to understand how they changed over time.
He has written six New York Times bestsellers, and over two million copies of his books have been sold. His books have been translated into 27 languages.
- In Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium, Ehrman suggests that Jesus was a Jewish preacher who believed the end of the world was coming soon. He thought God would soon set up his rule on Earth.
- Misquoting Jesus explains how New Testament manuscripts were copied and how errors or changes happened in them.
- Jesus, Interrupted talks about what scholars have learned about the Bible over the last 200 years. It discusses the different ideas found in the New Testament. It also mentions that some books in the New Testament might have been written by people pretending to be apostles.
- In Forged, Ehrman argues that some New Testament books are "forgeries." This means they were written by someone else but claimed to be by an apostle. He explains that this practice was common in ancient times, but it was also seen as wrong.
- Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth argues that Jesus of Nazareth was a real historical person.
- How Jesus Became God explores how Jesus, who Ehrman believes did not claim to be God, came to be seen as God's incarnation (God in human form).
- The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World describes how one form of Christianity became dominant in the Roman Empire under Emperor Constantine.
- Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife looks at how ideas about the afterlife developed in Greek, Jewish, and early Christian cultures. It shows how these ideas eventually led to the modern concepts of Heaven and Hell.
Courses (on DVD/CD)
Ehrman has also created nine courses for "The Great Courses." These courses include many lectures on topics related to the Bible and early Christianity.
Personal life
Bart Ehrman has been married twice and has two children from his first marriage. His current wife, Sarah Beckwith, is a professor at Duke University. Ehrman enjoys watching classic films with his wife every week.
See also
In Spanish: Bart Ehrman para niños
