SAN FRANCISCO, March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- In his groundbreakingNew York Times bestseller, Misquoting Jesus, Bart Ehrman, one of the world's leading authorities on the Bible, dispelled the notion held by
millions of Americans that the Bible is an infallible document. His argument was so provocative that it spawned three major response books.
Now, in JESUS, INTERRUPTED: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in
the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them), Ehrman goes even further, revealing not only that the Bible is riddled with inconsistencies
and outright forgeries, but that many fundamental stories and doctrines don't actually exist within its pages--they were later inventions by people trying to make sense of a disconnected collection of texts. The Scriptures did not come down to us through the ages in one, harmonious,
unbroken version. The story of Jesus was, in fact, interrupted.
Based on years of scholarship, and just in time for Easter, Ehrman's most important work-to-date reveals, among its many findings:
- Only 8 of the 27 books of the New Testament were actually written by the authors to whom they're attributed. Others are likely forgeries.
- The gospels provide remarkably divergent portrayals of Jesus.
- The message of the Apostle Paul and the message of gospel writer Matthew are completely at
odds over the question of whether a follower of Jesus also had to observe the Jewish law.
- The Nicene Creed and the Trinity were constructs of the later church and are not found in the pages of the Bible.
- Traditional doctrines such as the suffering Messiah, the divinity of Christ, and the notion of heaven and hell are not based on the teachings of the historical Jesus.
- The commonly told story of Jesus -- his birth, death, and resurrection is actually a composite of
four vastly different gospel narratives.
