This kind of scholarship is not new. It’s been going on for at least 150 years. But few churches have kept apace and, as polls consistently show, most Christians know little about their faith, even less about how the Bible came to be. A 2010 survey on religious knowledge by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed most Americans were able to answer correctly only half of the survey’s questions about the Bible.

The release of a new book by UNC-Chapel Hill’s pre-eminent New Testament scholar, Bart Ehrman, has long been an unnerving and occasionally intimidating time for evangelical Christians on campus.

The pugnacious professor, whose challenges to cherished Christian beliefs make him a nemesis among some, relishes the role.

The titles of some of his bestsellers – “Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why,” and “Jesus Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible”- testify to his penchant for knocking dogmas.

Now he’s at it again with “Forged: Writing in the Name of God – Why the Bible’s Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are” (HarperOne, $26.99).

This time, campus evangelicals are better prepared.

In January, leaders of Campus Crusade for Christ, an international student ministry at 1,140 colleges and universities, decided to fight back with a website critical of Ehrman’s conclusions.

In a polite, straightforward way, The Ehrman Project, ehrmanproject .com , attempts to offer students alternative views to those drawn by the superstar scholar whose Introduction to the New Testament class draws hundreds of students each semester.

“A lot of people struggle with what he teaches,” said Miles O’Neill, director of Campus Crusade for Christ at UNC-CH. “We just wanted to give students other resources because we feel he gives a one-sided view.”

The site consists of short video clips of scholars from evangelical schools offering their views on Christian orthodoxies:
· Does the Bible include errors?
· Did the early church leaders conspire to misrepresent what Jesus said to conform to their emerging theology?
The website’s scholars, professors at conservative evangelical schools such as Asbury Theological Seminary and Dallas Theological Seminary, maintain that the Bible is reliable and that the changes made by scribes over the years are trivial.

But, Ehrman contends, their views do not represent the consensus among scholars using historians’ techniques to analyze ancient texts.

“Look at their credentials,” said Ehrman, 55. “None of them teaches at state universities, Ivy League schools, or prominent four-year liberal arts colleges,” he said. “People with those views would never get a job at UNC.”

Read More: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/03/28/1087065/evangelicals-counter-arrogant.html

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