Forged

Writing in the Name of God - Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are

By: Bart D. Ehrman

Narrated by: Walter Dixon

Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

It is often said, even by critical scholars who should know better, that “writing in the name of another” was widely accepted in antiquity. But New York Times best-selling author Bart D. Ehrman dares to call it what it was: literary forgery, a practice that was as scandalous then as itis today. In Forged, Ehrman’s fresh and original research takes readers back to the ancient world, where forgeries were used as weapons by unknown authors to fend off attacks to their faith and establish their church. So, if many of the books inthe Bible were not in fact written by Jesus’s inner circle - but by writers living decades later, with differing agendas in rival communities - what does that do to the authority of Scripture?

Ehrman investigates ancient sources to:

• Reveal which New Testament books were outright forgeries.
• Explain how widely forgery was practiced by early Christian writers - and how strongly it was condemned in the ancient world as fraudulent and illicit
• Expose the deception in the history of the Christian religion.

Ehrman’s fascinating story of fraud and deceit is essential reading for anyone interested in the truth about the Bible and the dubious origins of Christianity’s sacred texts.

©2010 Bart D. Ehrman (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

Great information

It is crazy what we are not taught in church growing up. There are so many forgeries that are still passed off as truth today. The narrator's voice was a little bland for me, but the content was enough to overcome that.

informative but repetitive of the previous titles

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would not recommend this to anyone since this is repetitive information of the first book title Misquoting Jesus and Jesus interrupted.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would not have written another story if I know the same information is repeated in different ways.

Would you be willing to try another one of Walter Dixon’s performances?

No

Do you think Forged needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Forged is already follow up of the last two previous title "Misquoting Jesus" and "jesus Interrupted". No follow up is needed on this book anymore

Any additional comments?

Between the 3 titles "Misquoting Jesus", "Jesus Interrupted" and "Forged in the name of God" the best one is "Jesus Interrupted" is the best one, buy this one to avoid paying extra for the same information on the other title.

open your mind

very well narrated! I didn't fall asleep. convincing and compiling thesis! After hearing, how and why would any one doubt that forgery, lying and plagiarism , just to mention a few, exist in the Bible? oh yeah, FAITH!

Ehrman challenges the status quo again

As far as I can ascertain, prof. Bart D. Ehrman's Forged is the first popular book he wrote, before a scholarly work on the same subject matter. The fundamentalist Evangelical scholar turned agnostic investigates the issue of truth and apply it on the human writers of the Bible. He challenges the basic assumption of scholars concerning pseudepigraphic books found in early Christianity, especially those found in the New Testament. He calls the category where the Bible authors wrote under the name of a well-known figure in early Christianity downright forgery. In this book he produces evidence that this type of writing was widely condemned in the ancient world. It wasn't acceptable, as modern scholars would let people believe. This is the challenge Ehrman throws to the reader, if a large part of the New Testament is a forgery, where does it leave us, especially when claiming it to be God's truth? While listening the book I couldn't help but feel that Ehrman might be going too far. It was difficult to see the writer of Luke and Acts as a forger. Yet, Ehrman makes an compelling argument. Christians must take notice of this book and the problems it present to the faith. Where will honest answers lead readers to?

great work for christians and non believers

I have bought all Bart Ehrman's books that I know of. And continue to re read them (well listen anyway - plus one on kindle) As a former Jehovah's Witness (fulltime pioneer) I also had a 'no fault' belief in the scriptures and if there was a question raised it was my fault or the Watchtower society hadn't given me the answer yet! Barts methodological process of highlighting biblical errors and why they are there have been helpful. He hits items I also found (that star over a building to identify where Jesus was - can you identify a specific country a star hovers over never mind a town or building). Context and historical background is essential and justified. There has been scholarly justification for some errors and forgeries but these excuses are rejected and clear arguments for that decision given. Bart's academy and erudition gives all you want if you haven't had the formal training. All his arguments he justifies and yet its at a lay level but adds to your personal knowledge and can test at the edge of your own education making it an interesting, challenging but educative read. Very well recommended.

Ehrman is a shining light on the new testament

I Enjoyed Bart book. I've listened to him debate some apologists and see him as an authority on the New Testament. Of course him being a previous born again gives him extra gravitas.

lI think he skates around the edges of the real reason why attempts to forge the NTwere made. The battle was there for the Roman Empire to defeat the Jewish people to submission. They accomplished this by demolishing the temple and murdering the Jewish Christians. The final nail in the coffin was to create a falsereligion based on a messiah for more liberal non-palestinian Jews to convert to a new way. Paul was the perfect man for the job thus creating the NT. Ehrman does touch on the battle between Paul and original 12 apostles. Maybe it was beyond the scope of the book.

Eye opening

Truly a great listen. Even if you are strong in your faith and don’t question anything the Bible says, this book will make you think! It has confirmed a lot of my doubts I had being raised to believe in the infallibility of the “good book”

Scratches the surface

scratches the surface of the unreliability of NT scripture, in a scholarly way. Great Ehrman.

Book was ok

The book was ok, but just a rehash of other books with the word Forgery written too many times which made the book annoying to listen to sometimes. There were some good explanations for things and interesting facts.

Excellent.

This author never disappoints. If you are interested in Christianity and want an objective look, then look no further.