Avandris Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Hi there, It's been a while since I really participated on here. Life got busy and for a while I was happy to leave Christianity in the past and grow comfortable in my new atheist skin. However, now I've started to seriously consider 'coming out' to my family and friends once more, and before I do so I'd like to have a decent about of knowledge to back me up should the need to defend myself arise. I was scrolling through the books I'd collected during my deconversion process, in particular those that discuss who wrote the Bible. I have a load from Ehrman (Jesus Interrupted, the Lost Christianities, Forged, probably more) and one by Richard Friedman (Who wrote the Bible?). Now it's my understanding that some people disagree with some of what Ehrman says and I'm sure some people disagree with Friedman, and I'd like to get a good overall grasp on the topic. So I was wondering if anyone had any other books/authors they could suggest? What are you opinions on these two authors? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Ava Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyfan70 Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 I've read two books by Ehrman and although I know he is controversial in even the non-christian scholar world, his stuff is pretty solid. And easy to read and understand. And he doesn't come across as a hostile person, it seems like he presents it in an almost, "Hate to tell you this, but this is really what the Bible says." I like that about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdelsolray Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Well, I don't really know who wrote most of the books in the Bible, and neither does anyone else. Many of the claimed authors are likely not correct. The only thing for certain it that every book was written entirely by humans. Ehrman is more mainstream than his (theist) critics will admit. Carrier is a bit more out there. Much of Robert M. Price's extensive writings are worth reading. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castiel233 Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 No one really knows who wrote the Bible, or when........ What matters is does it confirm with reality and the answer is largely a no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blood Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Hi there, It's been a while since I really participated on here. Life got busy and for a while I was happy to leave Christianity in the past and grow comfortable in my new atheist skin. However, now I've started to seriously consider 'coming out' to my family and friends once more, and before I do so I'd like to have a decent about of knowledge to back me up should the need to defend myself arise. I was scrolling through the books I'd collected during my deconversion process, in particular those that discuss who wrote the Bible. I have a load from Ehrman (Jesus Interrupted, the Lost Christianities, Forged, probably more) and one by Richard Friedman (Who wrote the Bible?). Now it's my understanding that some people disagree with some of what Ehrman says and I'm sure some people disagree with Friedman, and I'd like to get a good overall grasp on the topic. So I was wondering if anyone had any other books/authors they could suggest? What are you opinions on these two authors? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Ava Ehrman only writes about the New Testament. And not very well. Friedman's book only covers the first five books of the Old Testament, but it's just a re-hash of the failed "Documentary Hypothesis." There isn't a single book on this huge subject. You have to read a lot of books and essays from a bunch of different people. Unfortunately, even most of the supposedly secular writers in this area tend to just mindlessly follow the ideas of theologians of hundreds of years ago. The way you keep tenure is to be uncontroversial and follow the crowd. The books of the Bible were written by a lot of anonymous people. There is no authorial authority to any of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
older Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 You write that you want to defend yourself, but I'd suggest that the question of authorship of the Bible is irrelevant. Further, you don't need a defense. The believer is the one that bears the burden of proof. Ask them to show you observable, independently verifiable proof. They'll say you have to take it on faith. Then you ask them to define "faith." Then you move on, asking questions that back them into a corner to a point where they can't reply. A good source for this tactic is Peter Boghossian's book, A Manual for Creating Atheists. He suggests not trying to argue the Bible or theology but instead to question the thought process behind the belief. Thus you don't deal with a defense of your position. Boghossian suggests the use of carefully crafted questions that put the believer in a position where he or she will eventually see that his or her position can't be supported. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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