Is the New Testament Confused?
Reflections on the Discrepancies of the Christian Scriptures

Dr. Bart D. Ehrman
James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of
Religious Studies
University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill

October 29, 2009
Lecture: Smith Auditorium
Willamette University
7:30 p.m.

Please note information about tickets below

Co-Sponsors:
The Salem Society of the Archaeological Institute of America
Westar Institute and Polebridge Press

Bart Ehrman, a New Testament scholar and New York Times bestselling author, will deliver the 2009 Lane C. McGaughy Lecture in Ancient Studies on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Smith Auditorium at Willamette University.

Ehrman’s topic will be “Is the New Testament Confused? Reflections on the Discrepancies of the Christian Scriptures.” The New Testament contains numerous accounts of the same events, but often in seemingly contradictory detail as different authors present diverging views of matters such as who Jesus was, why he died and how one attains salvation. Ehrman will address what scholars have said about these discrepancies and why their views have not been widely known outside the academic community.

Ehrman, the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is an expert on the historical Jesus, the early Christian apocrypha, the apostolic fathers and the manuscript tradition of the New Testament. He has appeared on National Public Radio’s Fresh Air, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, CNN and the BBC.

He has written or edited 21 books, numerous scholarly articles and dozens of book reviews. His bestselling books include Jesus, Interrupted, which addresses the larger issue of what the New Testament actually teaches; God’s Problem, an assessment of the Biblical views of suffering; and Misquoting Jesus, an overview of the changes found in the surviving copies of the New Testament and of the scribes who produced them.

Among his latest publications are a Greek-English edition of The Apostolic Fathers for the Loeb Classical Library and an assessment of the newly discovered Gospel of Judas.


Tickets

Tickets are available starting Oct. 14 for Willamette and TIUA students, faculty and staff; emeritus faculty; and members of the Institute of Continued Learning. The first ticket is free with a Willamette ID and additional tickets are $5, available at the Information Center on the first floor of Putnam University Center.

Willamette alumni may purchase tickets beginning Oct. 20 at 8 a.m., and tickets will be released to the general public on Oct. 22 at 8 a.m. Tickets for both groups are $5, payable by cash or check, at the Information Center or reserved by phone at (503) 370-6300. Reserved tickets will be placed on will call and can be picked up the day of the event, before 4 p.m. at the Information Center, or beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Smith Auditorium.

This lecture is sponsored by the Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology at Willamette University, the Westar Institute, and the Northwest House of Theological Studies in Salem. For more information, visit www.willamette.edu/centers/casa or call Andrea Foust at (503) 370-6654.

 

The Lane C. McGaughy Lectureship in Ancient Studies

The Lane C. McGaughy Lectureship in Ancient Studies was established in 2007 by the Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology at Willamette University in honor of Lane C. McGaughy, George H. Atkinson Professor of Religious and Ethical Studies emeritus (1981-2007), and founder of Willamette’s Classical Studies program, as well as a founding member of the Salem Society of the Archaeological Institute of America and the Northwest House of Theological Studies.  An ordained United Methodist minister, Dr. McGaughy is also a distinguished scholar and the author of numerous books and articles in the fields of Early Christianity and New Testament Greek.  His many accomplishments beyond the Willamette campus include the founding of Scholars Press, the development of the Westar Institute (Jesus Seminar) and the related Polebridge Press, and the reorganization of the Society of Biblical Literature.  The McGaughy Lectureship enables the Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology to pass on this inspiring tradition of distinctive scholarship and service by bringing a noted scholar to campus each year to deliver a major public lecture and to meet informally with students and faculty members.

 

2008 Lane C. McGaughy Lectureship in Ancient Studies

Thomas F. Mathews
The John Langeloth Loeb Professor Emeritus
The Institute of Fine Arts
New York University
Icons in Antiquity: The Symphony of the Gods