The book Jesus: The Historical Figure by Bart Ehrman may be shocking to some. I am not here to convince Christians, but rather to ensure that atheists do not fall into Christianity or cults. It has been over ten years since the book was published, and I believe it will be difficult to obtain a copy. There are limits to what I can convey here. However, there are several books by the author Bart Ehrman that compare the contradictory contents of the Bible. I will make an effort to briefly and authentically convey the essence of Jesus: The Historical Figure. 

The Jesus presented in the Gospels is not a historical description of the actual Jesus, but rather an interpretation of who Jesus is from a later perspective. How did Jesus transition from being human to divine? This book reexamines the concept of God as shaped by human interpretation and mistakes, which the church does not teach.

The controversial work that explores the nature of Jesus reveals that he did not refer to himself as God. He taught about God but mentioned himself very little. The authors of the Gospels are not Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. There is a consensus among New Testament scholars that the letters attributed to Paul were not actually written by him. The Gospels provide differing explanations on important Christian issues, such as who Christ is, how salvation is achieved, and whether those who follow Jesus must adhere to the law. The narrative we know about Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection is a clever fabrication within the Gospels. Out of the 27 books of the New Testament, only eight are attributed to known authors, while the rest are considered forgeries. The original texts of the Bible, including the Gospels, have not been transmitted and were rewritten long after the events they describe. The religions of Jesus, Paul, Matthew, and John are entirely different from one another. The suffering Messiah and the divinity of Jesus are distinct concepts.

The doctrine of the Trinity, heaven, and hell is a creation of later Christians. Bart Ehrman's shocking work, Jesus: The Evidence, uncovers the truths and lies intertwined with Jesus and the Bible throughout foreign history. The New York Times stated that I resolved to study the Bible rigorously to become a true Christian. I was desperate to know everything about the Bible and delved into my studies, losing sleep over it. I not only attended lectures on the Bible and theology but also memorized the entire Bible. I dedicated my free time to studying, reading textbooks and reference materials, and examining my lecture notes until they became tattered. On weekends, I would review and prepare for lectures, staying up all night as a student. I was a Christian who believed the Bible to be the truth. I firmly believed that every single word written in the Bible carried the breath of God. Thanks to that faith,

I don't know if I searched the Bible fervently. I entered Princeton Theological Seminary as a young and poor student, but I was overflowing with determination to stand against liberal interpreters who interpreted the Bible casually. As an evangelical Christian, I vowed to withstand any attacks on biblical faith. Over time, it became increasingly clear that my belief that the Bible could not contain errors was wrong. I have often encountered people who said that if my faith did not align with reality, then it was fundamentally flawed, but I was not one of those people. In this book, I aimed to explain the reasons why I had to change my mind while studying the Bible academically. The Bible is read in another way. It is the best-selling, most widely read, and most respected book in Western civilization. It is also, though controversial, the most misunderstood.

The Bible is also an interpreted book, especially in the world of ordinary people. Scholars who study the Bible have achieved significant results over the past 200 years due to discoveries of archaeological artifacts, improvements in knowledge of the ancient Hebrew and Greek languages in which the Bible was originally written, and in-depth and thorough analyses of history, literature, and biblical texts. The extensive efforts in academia cannot be overlooked either. In North America alone, thousands of scholars continue serious research in this field, and their findings are being shared not only with university students but also with future pastors who are preparing for ministry in seminaries. However, these research results are almost unknown to the general public. This is partly because scholars who spend their lives studying the Bible do not make significant efforts to share their knowledge with the general public, and also because pastors who learn new facts in seminary often, for various reasons, fail to convey this information to the members of their congregations after they settle into their church positions.

One reason is that it does not teach facts. When students step away from purely faith-based studies of the Bible and take their first steps into historical-critical research, the first issue they encounter is that both the Old and New Testaments are filled with contradictions, and that many of these contradictions cannot be resolved in any way. There are also significant questions, such as how the world was created, why God's people suffer, and what the meaning of Jesus' death is, where the authors of the Bible hold differing views. Sometimes these views differ only to a certain extent, but at other times they clash so completely that no compromise can be found. So, what is the reason that even casual readers of the Bible, as well as those who read it daily, do not recognize these contradictions, even though the reasons are clear enough for anyone to agree? This is closely related to the way the Bible is read.

It seems to be related that most people do not read in order; instead, they read here and there, selecting a passage to read while thinking about the meaning contained in that passage. They do not intend to compare similar passages or different passages in detail from other books. Most of the time, they read one passage from here and another from there. It is not particularly difficult to find contradictory parts in the Bible. Read the stories of Jesus' birth, the healing of Jairus' daughter, his death on the cross, and the resurrection in the Gospels, and meticulously record them in order. This time, find the same stories in another Gospel and record them in detail. When you compare the two accounts, there may be subtle differences, but there will also be significant differences that stand out. Additionally, there are differences that may seem unimportant at first glance but are actually very important. The example I present first is just such a case. The simple question of when and at what time Jesus died on the cross has an answer that

According to the Gospels, there are discrepancies that confirm contradictions. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus eats the Passover meal on Thursday night and is crucified the next morning. However, in the Gospel of John, he did not eat the Passover meal and was crucified the day before the meal. Moreover, in Mark, Jesus is crucified at 9 AM, but in John, he is led away for crucifixion after receiving his death sentence. Different perspectives, different beliefs, and different messages. As we saw in Chapter 2, the hidden complexities in the Bible are crucial as they encourage us to consider the perspectives of the authors. The intentions of the Gospel of Mark may be entirely different from those of the Gospel of Luke. The Gospel of Matthew contradicts the Gospel of John, and both may conflict with what is stated in the letters of Paul. However, if we analyze the contrasting intentions of the authors properly, it becomes much more complicated than what was discussed in Chapter 2. Only minor differences exist among the authors.

there are much larger and more significant differences. The differences among the authors of the Bible are closely related to the messages they intend to convey to future generations. For example, perspectives on important issues such as who Christ is, how salvation is achieved, and how the followers of Jesus should live vary from author to author. Who wrote the Bible? Over time, I was shocked to discover that there is no substantial evidence to support the traditional authorship that I had previously taken for granted, and there is abundant evidence that the traditional authorship is incorrect. Progressive scholars had a lot to say and even had evidence to back up their claims. They were not people who maliciously thought of the Bible. Some books, like the Gospels, were initially written under personal names, and only later were the apostles and their friends mentioned as authors, but there was no clear evidence for that.

There have been books that were known to have authors who were later revealed not to be the actual authors. My conviction that the Bible is not merely a collection of authoritative books that teach Christians what to believe and how to act remains unshaken. I firmly believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God. However, this belief began to waver as I started studying the New Testament from various perspectives. In my historical research of early Christian movements, I discovered that many argued that other books not included in the canon should be accepted as canonical. I learned that the books accepted as canon varied by region. Additionally, some books included in the canon were rejected by different denominations or church leaders. Some denominations firmly rejected the Book of Revelation, claiming it contained erroneous teachings.

Although they rejected the Book of Peter's Revelation, it ultimately was not included in the Bible. There were also Christians who accepted the Gospel of Peter while rejecting the Gospel of John, and some Christians recognized versions of the Gospel of Luke that excluded the first two chapters. The biggest problem is that none of the original texts of the books included in the New Testament remain. These are things created by Christians. In the Southern United States, where I currently live, the position of the Bible in Christianity is indeed significant. Most Christians preach about the Bible, teach its principles, and attend churches that adhere closely to its teachings. For the majority of Christians living here, it is common sense that one cannot be a Christian without believing in the Bible. Despite so many people revering the Bible and believing it to be a divinely inspired book, they actually know very little about it. To me, this is considered one of the mysteries of the universe.

At that time, the followers of Jesus completely denied the idea that he was the Messiah. Jesus did not raise an army, nor did he drive the Roman soldiers out of the promised land, and he did not establish Israel as an independent nation. Rather, he was crucified and died a miserable death. Therefore, the belief of Jesus' followers was revealed to be in vain. However, some among them believed that God had resurrected Jesus from the dead. But how were they to resolve the fact that there was no prophecy stating that the Messiah would suffer and die? The early Christians began to search the Scriptures thoroughly for evidence to support their new faith. For Christians, Isaiah 53:6 was clearly a verse that prophesied the Messiah. What about the other prophecies that Jesus fulfilled? Did Jesus' mother truly conceive as a virgin, and was Jesus born in Bethlehem?

He was born and entered Jerusalem riding a donkey. We must remember that all the stories about what Jesus did and experienced on this earth are transmitted through the Gospels. The Gospels are books written based on stories passed down many years after the events occurred. The Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke state that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but the circumstances surrounding his birth differ significantly. Why did Christians wish for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem? Because the Old Testament says that the Savior would come from Bethlehem, as stated in Micah 5:2. Isn't it true that everyone knew Jesus came from Nazareth? Indeed, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke clearly state that Jesus grew up in Nazareth. However, the place of birth is Bethlehem, which indicates that the prophecy has been fulfilled. The problem is that the explanations of these two Gospels contradict each other. What does this contradiction mean? Jesus suffered.

Christians who believed Jesus was the Messiah spoke of him from that perspective to emphasize that he fulfilled the prophecies of the Scriptures. The idea of Jesus as a suffering Messiah is an invention of early Christians. It is clear that, regardless of whether the development of early Christianity was strong or interrupted, the beliefs and perspectives that dominated those who followed Jesus later were fundamentally different from the religion of Jesus himself. The individuals who sought to innovate theological interpretations and created today's Christian doctrine were not just the likes of Balam. Many Christians were involved in this process of change. Anonymous Christian thinkers and preachers interpreted Jesus' teachings in a way that suited their times, and such reinterpretations were influenced by the historical and cultural factors of that era. Living in a much later time, we can only guess and speculate about what those factors were. The Christianity we know today is a result of this evolution.

It was not something that fell from the sky in the morning. Various interpretations, doctrines, perspectives, and criteria competed and conflicted, leading to its long-term emergence. The religion known as Christianity was a human invention with historical and cultural significance. It could be said to be perhaps the greatest invention of Western civilization. So far, it has been more about men than books. I will greet you again with another work next time. Thank you.

예수 왜곡의 역사(JESUS, INTERRUPTED) / 바트 어만(BART D. EHRMAN)

예수 왜곡의 역사(JESUS, INTERRUPTED) / 바트 어만(BART D. EHRMAN)