Would the Real Bart Erhman Please Stand Up?

Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, there was an immensely popular evening quiz show on television called “To Tell the Truth” There was a panel of well-known folks who asked questions of three guests, each posing as a particular individual who did something noteworthy.

When nobody on the panel correctly guessed which of the trio was actually who they all claimed to be, the host of the program would pronounce “Would the real Joe Blow please standup?” At that point, of course, all of the panelists would express surprise, bemusement, puzzlement, etc. etc.

What on earth does this have to do with working on Capitol Hill? Or Christianity? Or anything else other than nostalgia? Well, allow me to explain: if you are ever involved in a a discussion of the reliability of the New Testament or the issue of the divinity of Christ, odds are very good somebody will throw out the name of Dr. Bart Erhman.

Erhman is currently a professor at the University of North Carolina and is a world-famous author of six books concerning the reliability of the New Testament. He is a skeptic who does not believe the information about Jesus Christ in the Gospels can be trusted. It is probably impossible to have a discussion with an informed atheist or agnostic without Erhman being mentioned.

But William Lane Craig, Professor of Philosophy at Houston Baptist University, contends there are actually two Bart Erhmans, the one a respected New Testament textual critic and scholar, and the other a popular author, lecturer and debater. Professor Craig has some significant problems with Professor Erhman, as he explains in the following brief video:

https://youtu.be/9Ajox4Ocpn4

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