Christian scholar Bart Ehrman: Books of Bible

Why doesn't Bart believe in God, the Devil, or the Bible anymore?

(Bart D. Ehrman) March 21, 2023. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Bible scholar and Professor Bart Ehrman has written a new book on Revelation, titled Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End.

In it he examines the least-read and most-misunderstood book of the Bible, The Book of Revelation. It is out this month (March 2023). It's an interesting subject: It's The. End. Of. The. World!

• Visit bartehrman.com/courses to shop from Prof. Ehrman’s online courses and get a special discount by using code: MJPODCAST on all courses.

A person’s reasons for de-conversion from Christianity to agnosticism (not knowing) or atheism (not believing in a superior being) are something that many Christians speculate wildly about, misunderstand, or simply refuse to believe, but those reasons can be varied and complex.

In this episode, Prof. Ehrman talks to Megan Lewis about why he de-converted, how he found meaning after the Christian religion, and why he does what he does. Meg asks Barty some personal questions:

• What impact did learning more about the Bible have on your religious convictions?
• What truly prompted you to leave Christianity, and how long had you been wrestling with that problem before you realized that you couldn’t solve it?
• Was there a specific moment that led you to finally walk away, or was it more the culmination of years of thought and reflection?
• Did you find any of the solutions satisfying, or were they all lacking?
• What do you mean when you say you’re an agnostic-atheist?
• Some people believe that the real reason you write all of these popular books, speak in public, run your blog, and so on, is because you’re on a mission to de-convert the faithful.
• In his book God’s Problem, you make the point of saying that you have no interest in de-converting anyone, so why do you do this work?

Who chose official books of the Bible?

Megan Lewis and Bart Ehrman discuss the "origin of the Christian canon," meaning: Who chose the books that made it into the Bible?"

And why did they choose these 27 and leave out the other books? They address related issues, such as:

• books, letters, and gospels that were considered authoritative by some early Christians, but were ultimately rejected on one basis or another
• early New Testament manuscripts that actually DO contain some rejected texts
• criteria that were used to determine which texts to include
• proto-orthodox church fathers and their influence
• what information early church fathers did -- and did not -- have to base their decisions on.

• Hatred is weaponizing Jesus Christ: How violent Evangelicals, faith-based con artists, serial abusers are using the Christian religion for the purpose of evil (salon.com)