ApostateAbe

Two weeks ago, I saw Bart Ehrman debate Craig Evans at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He kicked ass in the debate, and I regard him as a hero. It was in front of a large audience of students and professors of conservative Protestant Christianity, many of whom had not before been exposed to Ehrman's arguments and point of view.

I went up to speak with him afterward. After he signed my book, I said to him, "I have wanted to speak meet for a long time. There are a lot of atheists on the Internet who believe that Jesus never existed..."

He interrupted me, "That will be my next book."

I was filled with joy. I could hardly believe it.

I said, "Have you already read the mythicist authors, like Doherty and Price?"

He nodded his head, "Yes."

I shook his hand heartily. I said, "Wonderful. There are so many people who believe it, they are all over the Internet, and there is no professional scholar rebutting them."

He said, "Yes, that is what the book is for."

He said it will be an e-book. I said, "Yeah, that is the way to go. It will be hard to sell a book like that." And he said, "Yeah, that's why it is an e-book."

I think I looked like an idiot fangirl, but it was worth it.

hjalti

I hope it won't be "Jesus existed for dummies" :Cheeky:

EarlDoherty

Great. Finally something that will give mythicism a shot in the arm. After all, if someone like Bart Ehrman feels the necessity to take it on, that implies a certain degree of legitimacy. It can no longer be dismissed as a fringe crackpot theory not worthy of mainstream scholarship's attention.

Maybe I'll finally get my "peer review." I look forward to the challenge.

I'll check and make sure that he did receive a copy of Jesus: Neither God Nor Man. If he didn't, I'd send him one, if I knew an address for him. Anyone who can supply me with one?

Earl Doherty

avi

Thank you for the news, it is welcome, indeed.

I do not understand exactly what you wish to communicate here, with this sentence.

Does "rebutting them" refer to atheists on the internet, or Price/Doherty?

Did you intend to write that Ehrman plans to write a book, or more accurately, an ebook, which seeks to debunk ("rebut") mythicism?

Or, did you mean that Ehrman has read Price/Doherty, and will write a book designed to disprove those two authors in particular?

Or, is Ehrman going to write about mythicism to repudiate the historicists, but from a different perspective than has been used by Price/Doherty?

avi

hjalti

Not really. I mean, Ehrman writes against crackpot ideas like inerrancy, doesn't he?

Toto

Ehrman was invited to join the Jesus Project, but declined. I wonder what has kindled his interest.

EarlDoherty

Yes, that would be a disappointment. Of course, I might suggest, given the state of the 'proof' for an HJ and the abysmal traditional response to mythicism, that perhaps it couldn't be anything else.

Earl Doherty

ApostateAbe

If there is legitimacy to your theory, then it is not reflected in the event that there is one respected scholar who writes against it, or else the same could be said for when Richard Dawkins writes a book against the creationist authors. And of course you don't want that comparison, so maybe be a little more cautious with your conclusion of how much respect you think Ehrman is giving you. Not that you shouldn't be taking this as good news. I am sure you will find it profitable.

ApostateAbe

Does "rebutting them" refer to atheists on the internet, or Price/Doherty?

It refers to generally people who believe Jesus never existed. Their greatest presence is on the Internet, and their representative authors are Robert M. Price and Earl Doherty. I don't know specifically what ideas or authors Ehrman will focus on. I spoke with him only hastily and briefly.

Did you intend to write that Ehrman plans to write a book, or more accurately, an ebook, which seeks to debunk ("rebut") mythicism?

Yes.

Or, did you mean that Ehrman has read Price/Doherty, and will write a book designed to disprove those two authors in particular?

Mythicism is a belief that has many viewpoints, many perspectives existing, and it goes back for at least a hundred years, so I don't imagine that it would be only Doherty or Price.

Or, is Ehrman going to write about mythicism to repudiate the historicists, but from a different perspective than has been used by Price/Doherty?

Most certainly not. He has written a book on the historical life of Jesus, and he has expressed great contempt for the mythicists in the past.

ApostateAbe

Well, for one thing, Bart Ehrman is a respectable scholar, and the Jesus Project has almost nothing to do with respectable scholarship. Ehrman would be motivated to talk to the lay people who may sincerely believe the mythicist theories. I don't think he would have any faith in the ability of the hack scholars of the Jesus Project to be influenced in favor of reasonable arguments. Instead, they would only use their association with Ehrman to elevate their own status, as Doherty has sort of already done so.