Originally Posted by Zaphod

Bart Ehrman

Originally Posted by MrMacSon

you mean argument from authority ?

Originally Posted by Peter Kirby

If you love ad hominem, who am I to stop you?

Bart Ehrman has written several books and articles that are at least as good in their critical approach as the books written by any historians whose conclusions you like.

If this one book of his offends you enough to go on a crusade against his bona fides, so be it.

Originally Posted by Peter Kirby

Bart Ehrman has written several books and articles that are at least as good in their critical approach as the books written by any historians whose conclusions you like.

If this one book of his offends you enough to go on a crusade against his bona fides, so be it.

Originally Posted by Zaphod

And what of the members of this august group of historians without an actual History degree, raised as Christians, educated in Christian institutions, and doing their "good faith" investigations as paid employees of religious institutions who demand adherence to a code of Doctrinal beliefs? Would it be an ad hominem to submit that such a background might well induce a lack of "good faith" scholarship?

Here, for example, is text from the application for employment form at Dallas Theological Seminary, where there eleven professors of New Testament studies:

DOCTRINAL BELIEFS
Please write a brief statement describing your conversion to Christianity. Please indicate what a person must do to receive eternal life and when you took that first step.
The mission of Dallas Theological Seminary as a professional, graduate-level school is to prepare men and women for ministry as godly servant-leaders in the body of Christ worldwide. We are seeking applicants who are passionately committed to our mission and will subscribe in good faith to the school’s doctrinal beliefs.
Do you adhere to the following doctrines:
• The authority and inerrancy of the Scripture
• The Trinity
• The full deity and humanity of Christ
• The spiritual lostness of the human race
• The substitutionary atonement and bodily resurrection of Christ
• Salvation by faith alone, in Christ alone
• The physical return of Christ


Bart Ehrman received his education at Moody Bible Institute, Wheaton College, and the Princeton Theological Seminary. At Princeton, where he received his PhD, he was required to adhere to a Mission Statement, which includes the following paragraph:

"A professional and graduate school of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Seminary stands within the Reformed tradition, affirming the sovereignty of the triune God over all creation, the Gospel of Jesus Christ as God’s saving word for all people, the renewing power of the word and Spirit in all of life, and the unity of Christ’s servant church throughout the world. This tradition shapes the instruction, research, practical training, and continuing education provided by the Seminary, as well as the theological scholarship it promotes."


This is the mission statement from Wheaton College. Among other things, it asserts the existence of Satan, evil powers, and that Jesus was "true God and true man":

http://www.wheaton.edu/About-Wheaton...tional-Purpose

Does the scholarship evident in Ehrman's "Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth" indicate that Ehrman was doing historical research in the same manner as an actual historian?