 "evaluation" | 2009-08-16 |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
1. Product: excellent quality; sufficiently detailed with adequate supportive references; author has the ability to make complex abstract ideas plainly understandable to the reader.
2. Service: right on time!
3. Condition of book: exactly as described.
4. It answered my need. I would buy it again, recommend it to a friend or give it as a gift without hesitation! |
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 "Informative and engaging but read it with caution" | 2009-08-01 |
| - Reviewed By Omnivorous reader from Boston, MA USA |
Dr. Bart D. Ehrman's book, "The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings" is a well written and for the most part well-researched work. A major goal of the book is to introduce the reader to the various methodologies employed in Biblical exegesis. Ehrman explains the value (pros and cons), purpose and usage of each of the major methodologies and employs each of them in turn as he leads us through a study of each book in the New Testament. Several extended photo essays in the text provide historical context and background which promote a fuller understanding of the times and culture within which these early Christians lived, and the challenges they faced.
Ehrman's writing style is very clear and straightforward, easy to follow and understand even for those new to Biblical Scholarship. From that point of view, I recommend this book, as many of my fellow reviewers have done, as a good starting point for studying the New Testament and other ancient Christian texts.
Yet, for all his good points, I found Ehrman's work to be troubling in a couple of areas. Sprinkled throughout the book are sidebar articles on varous topics related to the chapter's subject. Ehrman uses these sidebars for his speculations on the origin of some of the books in the New Testament, or their meaning and importance to the ancient Christians that wrote and/or preserved them. Unfortunately, his assertions in some of these sidebars are, at best, poorly written and misleading.
In Chapter 13's "Box 13.2" Ehrman discusses an ancient belief held by some Syrian Christians that the author of the Apocryphal Gospel of Thomas ("Judas Thomas Didymus") was Jesus' Twin Brother. Ehrman acknowledges it is "puzzling to modern readers" that this group of early Christians believed this. He notes that part of the reason for this was because the Gospel of Thomas itself says the author is a blood relative of Jesus, and because his full name, in the Gospel, is "Judas Thomas Didymus." The name literally means "Jude the Twin" ("Thomas" means "twin" in Greek and "Didymus" means "twin" in Aramaic).
Ehrman goes on to draw parallels between Judas' purported status as Jesus' twin and the Greek myth of the birth of the immortal Hercules and his mortal twin brother, Iphicles. The argument focuses on the Judas mentioned in Mark 6:3, who is said to be a brother of Jesus. Ehrman proposes that this myth, or perhaps a similar one, might have been the seed for this belief that Judas Thomas was Jesus' twin, and speculates on the possible implications of such a relationship.
While an interesting parallel, as well as giving him a chance to relate an entertaining Greek myth, Ehrman's argument is very weak. He never provides any evidence to answer the question he himself poses of why the Syrians thought Judas (from Mark 6:3) might be the same person as "Judas Thomas Didymus" in the Gospel of Thomas. Further, he omits any discussion of the strong evidence that challenges his speculative position.
In summary, in many of these sidebars he goes beyond the facts, if not outright ignoring them, to draw a general conclusion about the material in question. I would not have a problem with this if he was careful to inform the reader when he crosses the line from fact into speculation, but he usually does not do so. As a result, the uninformed reader could easily be left with the conclusion that many of these ancient texts are spurious, of minimal value, or are merely retellings of ancient pagan tales.
I'm not here to argue the historical accuracy of these ancient Christian writings, which is a debate that has been going on for centuries. What I am saying is that in some spots in this book, Dr. Ehrman is being disingenuous in his attempt to lead us to adopt his point of view with regards to Ancient Christianity.
Even so, there is lots of great material in this book, and I really enjoyed readng it. I learned a great deal from Ehrman's book with regards to the nature and study of ancient Christian texts and the New Testament. All I ask is that you, as a reader of this book, take careful note of those few places where the author makes unsupported claims or states his personal opinions as fact.
Given the value and readability of the work, I will rate it at 4 stars: an excellent text, very readable, and with only a few blemishes marring what is otherwise an excellent piece of scholarship. |
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| "The New Testament For Dummies" | 2009-07-12 |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
This book is written for the student who is new to spiritual studies....The style that the material is presented makes it so easy to follow and the text boxes are a condensed so you can more easliy understand the material contained in each chapter.
I find this book so valuable not only as a text book but as a reference for further study of the New Testament.
Marilyn Caudill
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| "must-read for every Christian" | 2009-07-11 |
| - Reviewed By MikeD from Florida, USA |
This book is a must-read for every Christian that takes his faith seriously. As are most of Bart Ehrman's books. Maybe you don't agree on all points but it's important to know this type of scholarship.
Looking at the New Testament as an ancient writing instead of having fallen from the sky does in no way undermine faith. Maybe fundamentalist faith but what good does that faith do anyway?
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." (Blaise Pascal) - If Christians would remove the blindfolds from their brains and actually seek the truth, then this quote would never again apply to Christianity. This book is a good start.
Note: It is a school book though. No easy bedtime reading. It's meant for study. Good thing the Ehrman easy-reading can be found in any bookstore. |
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| "review" | 2009-03-30 |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
| this book was used-like new and looked like it had never been opened and was a great price |
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| "Illuminating and thoughtfully designed" | 2009-03-10 |
| - Reviewed By ken_in_sacramento |
| I read the book from cover to cover over a couple of weeks, as a general reader interested in Christian origins. It is a textbook that nicely bridges the gap between scholarly and popular. Numerous boxes focusing on specific points of interest add value without interrupting the flow. Glossary, supplemental reading recommendations, concise chapter summaries . . . all add up to a very fine overview of a complicated topic, with usable leads to sources of further information. Ehrman provides his own view of some controversial issues (Jesus as apocalyptic Jewish prophet, for example), but I thought did so appropriately in context and with due recognition of other views. |
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