Pretty much everyone knows or will agree that there are some contradictions in the Bible. Did Jesus say salvation was by faith or works? Did Jesus say those who are not against him are for him, or those who are not for him are against him? Was the incident with the Temple Moneychangers at the beginning of his ministry, or the end? What were the last words of Jesus on the cross?
But these are the obvious contradictions, the ones everyone points out. But there are other contradictions that are not so obvious- the hidden ones, those we generally don't think of. Did Jesus believe he was the savior? Did he speak about himself as the savior? Why don't the gospels agree on this point?
But the point of the method Bible scholars use to read the Bible is the "vertical" method- put two stories side by side, read them and compare them point by point. It works just as well with the two creation stories (Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3 and Genesis 2:4-2:25) the two flood accounts, and the four gospels. Once you begin reading these stories in the vertical manner, you see many more of the contradictions and inconsistencies standing out.
While this manner of reading and understanding the Bible does cause the people who believe the Bible to be literal and inerrant- or rather a certain kind of literal and inerrant- problems when it comes to the Bible. But not all Christians are put off by a Bible that is neither literal or inerrant. So, while this may be a problem for some Christians, Ehrman asks them to do as he did- to follow the truth to its conclusion.
Because he had to do the same. Once he believed in the Bible as literal and inerrant, and based on his own studies, he had to change his mind. It wasn't easy for him- he was dragged kicking and screaming into the realization that it wasn't so and he wrestled and struggled mightily with the evidence. But in the end, he was more wedded to the truth rather than any one interpretation of the Bible, and he had to submit to the truth. He couldn't lie to himself by rejecting the truth for a view that was wrong, no matter how beloved or how he heartily wished it true.
And this view of the Bible didn't cause him to lose his faith. Although he used to use C.S. Lewis's Trilemma, "Lunatic, Liar or Lord" to make a case for Jesus being the divine son of God, he came to the conclusion that there is a fourth choice: Legend, that Jesus existed, but never thought of himself as anything more than a prophet. It was his followers and those who came after him who mythologized him into being a divine son of God. He uses the gospels to show us how the truth of who Jesus was can be winnowed from the mythologizing in the Bible.
For example, if two stories independently claim something, it's probably true. So Matthew and Luke both said he came from Nazareth- that's probably where he was raised, even if they give two different reasons for his living there. But by the same token, if something they would not have made up is revealed, it's probably true, too. Baptisims are given by the spiritually superior person to the spiritually inferior person- John the Baptist is noted as having Baptized Jesus- something problematic for his followers, who would not allow Jesus to be spiritually inferior to a mere human. But since they mentioned it, it probably happened.
On the other hand, Jesus only asserts in the Gospel of John that he is divine. In fact, he says it all over the place. Yet none of the other gospels even mention it. If Jesus really asserted his divinity that often, don't you think the other gospels would mention it? Not likely they wouldn't, which means it almost certainly was mythologized about him by the writer of the gospel of John.
This is a fascinating book, for believers and non-believers alike. I was not made uncomfortable at all by what was discussed, but then, I am a non-believer in Jesus. Like Bart Ehrman, I think he probably did exist, but he was not divine. Just another Jewish prophet who believed the end times were imminent. He spoke of the End Times coming within the lifetime of the people he spoke to. But he wasn't divine- when he died, he died. His body wasn't buried in a fabulously wealthy crypt, it was probably tossed in a garbage pit. Many of the stories that grew up around his death were just that- stories that eventually grew into legends- legends that concealed rather than revealed what the man Joshua or Jehoshua or Yeshua or whatever you want to call him, really was.
This book will really get you to think. Now, for some people, in regards to faith, that's anathema, and if you really believe in the "Jesus said it, I believe it, that settles it!" school of thought, this book will make you very uncomfortable indeed- that is, if you even pick it up at all. For those not wedded to a dogmatic, fundamentalist beliefs, this book may lead you closer to the real Jesus, and his words. Recommended.
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