Jesus, Interrupted

Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible

By: Bart D. Ehrman

Narrated by: Jason Culp

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Picking up where Bible expert Bart Ehrman's New York Times best seller, Misquoting Jesus, left off, Jesus, Interrupted addresses the larger issue of what the New Testament actually teaches...and it's not what most people think. Here Ehrman reveals what scholars have unearthed:

The authors of the New Testament have diverging views about who Jesus was and how salvation works.

The New Testament contains books that were forged in the names of the apostles by Christian writers who lived decades later.

Jesus, Paul, Matthew, and John all represented fundamentally different religions.

Established Christian doctrines, such as the suffering messiah, the divinity of Jesus, and the trinity were the inventions of still later theologians.

These are not idiosyncratic perspectives of just one modern scholar. As Ehrman skillfully demonstrates, they have been the standard and widespread views of critical scholars across a full spectrum of denominations and traditions. Why is it most people have never heard such things?

This is the book that pastors, educators, and anyone interested in the Bible have been waiting for, a clear and compelling account of the central challenges we face when attempting to reconstruct the life and message of Jesus.

©2009 Bart D. Ehrman (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

Thought provoking

"Jesus, Interrupted" by Bart Ehrman is a well written and well organized analysis of The New Testament using historical (biblical scholarship) techniques. I think the first half of the book, where Ehrman points out significant issues and differences between the various books of The New Testament, is much better than the second half where, in my mind, he presents many historical anecdotes as he strongly hypothesizes about how the early Christian church developed and how that development impacted the Bible. If you are a Christian who has not encountered biblical scholarship before, many of the ideas in this book would be very startling to you.

Excellent biblical historical scholarship

The author is a fire scholar who does accept a very "minimalist" interpretation of the facts, though he does give other authors, like Mike Licona. Room 2 voice alternative interpretations on his blog website.

Perfect Comparative Study Between the Apostles.

Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible, written by: Bart D. Ehrman and narrated by: Jason Culp. The work provides a basis from which to consider the New Testament, not as an incantation of from upon high, but rather the aspiration of those living in the time of Jesus and for a few hundred years thereafter.

There is nothing here that denigrates the core teachings. There is much here that provides that G-d, himself did not ordain the Words. The New Testament is the combined learning of the Apostles. The book provides information to make it obvious the teachings are inconsistent, and even contradictory. The New Testament's purpose was sacred, but humanly flawed. Our job is to discern the history and apply it’s underlying concepts to assist us in living today.

The examination of the known history is perfect and the comparisons between the Apostle’s individual teachings is well-structured and compelling. Culp does a perfect job in his reading.

If you want a comparative study of the teachings of Jesus; this is your read (listen). Great experience.

One of Ehrman's Best

This is not an anti religion book, but it does force people to think about their own religious beliefs and practices. It is short and to the point. The narathion is good too.

Wow. This is an extremely important book!

For anyone interested in factual data and historical information about the books of the Bible, and about the origins of the Christian religion, this is a must read. Well done!

Ehrman is Back

After Ehrman's last book, God's Problem, I was worried that his work had lost its usual rigor and objectivity. I am happy to say that Ehrman is back in Jesus, Interrupted. This is a concise, objective view of how different authors of the New Testament differ on fundamental issues and how we are left to decide for ourselves how to reconcile these discrepancies. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has read the Bible and thinks they really know it well. This book will open your eyes to how little you actually know.

Wonderful

I debated whether to give this book 4 or 5 stars, I love and admire his work, this volume should really be read as a supplement to Misquoting Jesus, however compared to Misquoting Jesus, this book is less subject focused, i.e it went from a book about textual discripency to biblical history to religious ethics to personal experience. I agree with the sentiment and historical approach to religion, I still wish this volume provide more scholarly and academic information than it does, maybe I am too greedy. I remain the author's most loyal fan and disciple.

A book for believers & non-believers to learn from

I myself an ex-Jehovah's Witness who now identifies as an atheist found this book extremely insightful.
I enjoyed the way the book developed and how the writer's style is not aggressive or passive-aggressive to believers or non-believers. He simply teaches the historic approach to study of the Bible.

I strongly recommend this book. I actually enjoyed it so much I plan to buy a paper version to read and highlight parts I want to remember in more depth. I did not have any pre-knowledge of biblical scholarly writings, but this book was easy to follow and understand. The writer uses word illustrations when appropriate to bring the message home to the audience.

Not only did this audiobook help me have a better understanding of the new testament. It gave me an understanding of why different Christianities in the modern day are so diverse. Because I was raised Jehovah's Witness I was taught the strong position of "debunking" other Christianities. And although I'm sure many Christianities do the same to others in their own ways.
This audiobook was able to give me a better understanding of why other Christianities have come to their own understandings of certain scriptures. Although now atheist myself, I somehow still brought with me the baggage of my previous faith. After listening to this audiobook I have walked away with a more historical understanding of why people of certain faiths have come to believe their ideologies.

Faith Invented

This book will be tough for the faithful to get through without altering their beliefs. There is just too much scholarship here to counter. Even though I'm not a Christian and dodge the world of dogma like the plague, I was still shocked to learn that we have no idea who wrote the Gospels and were in fact written several decades later by scribes who did not witness any of it.

The big revelation here for me is the late arriving Gospel of John, written after Jesus and most, if not all of the disciples had died and God's Kingdom did not arrive as Jesus promised. It was then that the writer of John got to work and wrote a new, open-ended interpretation of Jesus and his death that Jesus himself never taught.

I want to read more!

How someone can be so respectful of a tradition while dismantling it one brick at a time is an amazing accomplishment, but the author managed this with grace and ease. His ability to swim amidst the text of the New Testament and beyond is itself a testament to the author's years of serious study. He does not aim to destroy anyone's faith, but if your faith is not at the least radically altered, if not destroyed, then you are irrevocably closed minded and scared. I can't wait to digest more of the aithor's works. It is rare to have essentially a person who can see and think compassionately about how conservative Xians view and understand the bible while using the voice of a critical historian and scholar. Truly excellent. His publishers should not have feared to make this book longer and more thorough. Hearing more detail would have only enhanced the value of the work.