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

Forgery of early Christian literature

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The book has some interesting information, however rambles on with detail not suited to an audible book. The author appears to know his subject well, however does a mediocre job of explaining what really went on during the early Christian period. I think the material could have been presented in a more orderly fashion that would have conveyed his message much more clearly

Would you ever listen to anything by Bart D. Ehrman again?

Probably

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

I think the author should find a good editor and re-do the book with some additions

An Awesome book to have in ones library

This book is very informative. Very well written.
The author mentioned many sources. I will read it again and again and again...

Great book

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The content in this book is very reliable so I certainly would recommend it to anybody. Bart Ehrman is a very intelligent person what studied the content of all the books we have available and is very clear to how he comes to his conclusions. I do disagree with him on one item and that is the existence of Jesus. He believes in him and I don't.

Practical, scholarly, enlightened, and wrong.

I have always enjoyed Bart's expertise on early Christian writing even though I disagreed with his conclusions. But in this book he let a little too much of his personal bias against Christianity show. He came across as a little angry.

Great Explanation s

I had given up on the New Testament because a lot of it didn't make sense to me. But I'm going to give it another try and not be thrown by apparent contradiction s.

Valuable Information

The book provide very useful and important information one should know. Personally, I had no idea forgery was so common place during the times the Bible was written.

Mindblowing!

Well-written. Simple, understandable use of language but never patronizing. Plus... it will blow your mind.

Good, but not his best

"Forged", like Ehmrans other books, is well researched and written in a style that is easy to follow. Easily a worthwhile listen. Most of the material was also included in his other books "Misquoting Jesus" and "Jesus, Interrupted." I was also surprised that much of the book is about forgeries that are NOT in the Bible. Books that have been found. This was very interesting but I was expecting more time spent on the forgeries he believes made it into the Bible and more time spent on why scholars believe that a given writing is a forgery, and then, for intellectual honesty, also points made by those who do not believe that the text is forged.

Overall, a good book, certainly not a waste of time, but not as good as I had hoped.

Interesting

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was interesting for awhile, but... I didn't finish the book. About 1/2 way through I found it repetitious.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Walter Dixon?

Yes, I thought the narration was nicely done. The volumn was constant, and that's a big issue for me. Watler Dixon speaks clearly, passionately, and easily understood.

Great Book

Great book for someone who wants to learn about the books of the New Testament and who really wrote them. This is the third book by this author that I have listened to and have found them all to be excellent.