Who Is Jesus?
With the publication of Bart Ehrman’s book How Jesus Became God and the response How God Became Jesus by a team of scholars, Jesus is in the news again. That’s a very good thing. It’s also terrific that scholars are rising to the challenge of responding to the skeptical questions raised by the likes of Ehrman.
But at a deeper level, what is needed is to equip high school students and young college students, as well as their parents and youth leaders, to know what the issues are and to respond intelligently and biblically to questions such as, Why does God allow human suffering? Is the Bible full of contradictions? Can we trust our Bibles? And, of course, was Jesus God?
For this reason, Darrell Bock, Josh Chatraw, and I have written two books that address these kinds of issues at a popular as well as academic level, Truth Matters (Amazon), and Truth in a Culture of Doubt.
Not only do these books feature comprehensive responses to the kinds of issues Ehrman – and many other critical college religion professors – are raising, they are written for the young people who are the next generation to carry on the faith, as well as for youth pastors, parents, and other key influencers. Darrell, Josh, and I will be participating in a Symposium on Truth Matters at Liberty University on March 3, 2014, 7–9 p.m., at Liberty University, where we will discuss our new book and take questions from the audience. A PDF sample of Truth Matters will be loaded at B&H website soon.
I first became convinced that Truth Matters was needed when attending a debate between Bart Ehrman and Dan Wallace on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus where Ehrman teaches. To see the debate wrap-up, click here. I’m grateful to Darrell Bock, professor at Dallas Seminary and bestselling author of Breaking the Da Vinci Code and other volumes, and to Josh Chatraw, my former student, for teaming up with me to write these books.
