Can We Trust the New Testament? News on Upcoming Debate + Recommended Reading

I'm excited for a debate happening October 1, called "Can We Trust the Text of the New Testament?"

The debate will feature Dr. Daniel B. Wallace and Dr. Bart D. Ehrman, who present cases 'for' and 'against' whether we can trust our New Testament manuscripts to tell us about Jesus and the early Church.

Since I can't make it to the debate I will probably buy a DVD. Here's why I'm excited: while I'm a professing Christian who trusts the New Testament, I only began to trust the Bible near the time I began to trust Christ. And I know plenty of people who trust neither. Some people I know are convinced by Dr. Ehrman's arguments, or similar ones, so I'll listen to the debate with one ear tuned to its value for apologetics. But I'm intrigued by these scholars' points of view anyway; I expect Dr. Ehrman to give all the best evidence against trusting the New Testament, and I expect Dr. Wallace to have clear, excellent counter-arguments.

Below you'll find event details, debater profiles, and a short list of recommended reading on whether we can trust the New Testament.

 

Attending the SMU Debate WHEN October 1, 2011, 7pm CDT. WHERE Dallas, TX, at Southern Methodist University's McFarlin Memorial Auditorium. WHAT A debate for general audiences, featuring cases 'for' and 'against' trusting the text of the New Testament."   Learn more about the DVD Release Can't make it to Dallas in person? A DVD of the debate will become available for purchase. Details are forthcoming, so to stay up-to-date visit smudebate.com or find SMU Debate on Facebook.

 

Who are the Debaters?

Dr. Bart D. Ehrman (bartdehrman.com), the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, is a New York Times bestselling author who has published over 20 books. His book Misquoting Jesus: The Story behind Who Changed the Bible and Why argues that Christian scribes have corrupted the New Testament text irreparably through both uninentional errors and deliberate changes.

 

 

Dr. Daniel B. Wallace, director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM.org) and New Testament Professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, has spent his life studying and digitizing ancient copies of the New Testament. He has authored and edited numerous books (including these biblical Greek resources for Zondervan). Wallace asserts we have good reason to believe that the New Testament text is reliable. Most recently Dr. Wallace has edited and contributed to Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament: Manuscript, Patristic, and Apocryphal Evidence.

 

 

 

Recommended Reading on Trusting the New Testament If you're excited to look into the New Testament's trustworthiness on your own, I hope this list gives you a fun head start.
1. Reinventing Jesus by J. Ed Komoszewski, M. James Sawyer, and Daniel B. Wallace Reinventing Jesus looks at solid evidence for seeing the New Testament as a reliable guide to what went down in the early church. From the official book description: "Reinventing Jesus shows believers that it's okay to think hard about Christianity, and shows hard thinkers that it's okay to believe." Published by Kregel.
2. The Christ Files: How Historians Know What They Know About Jesus (DVD & Discussion Guide) by John Dickson Is "the real Jesus" lost to us living today? This documentary hosted by historian and pastor Dr. John Dickson investigates what we can know for certain about the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The DVD is available alone or with a discussion guide. Published by Zondervan.
3. Forged - Writing in the Name of God - Why the Bible's Authors are Not Who They Say They Are by Bart D. Ehrman If you'd like to get a sense of where Dr. Ehrman is coming from before you view the SMU Debate, check out his latest bestseller. Remember, Dr. Ehrman does not take the traditional evangelical Christian view of Scripture, so this book is quite different from the other 4 in this list. Published by HarperOne.
4. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels by Craig Blomberg From the book description: "Craig Blomberg reveals the faulty analysis and presuppositions that have led to mistaken conclusions about the Gospels [and provides] scholarly criteria for [finding] biblical answers to our hard questions." Published by IVP Academic.
5. Jesus Under Fire by Michael J. Wilkins, J.P. Moreland Can we trust the traditional understanding of Jesus Christ, or did the early church and tradition "Christianize" the historical Jesus? A forum of scholars called The Jesus Seminar (which includes Bart. D. Ehrman) argues the latter. This book evaluates and challenges The Jesus Seminars' methods and conclusions. Published by Zondervan.

 

Does this list leave out your favorite book on trusting the New Testament? Share your favorite book in a comment.

One more question: To you, what is the most convincing reason we can trust the New Testament? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

(-Adam Forrest, Zondervan Internet Team)