When it was Wallace’s turn, he showed some good use of humor (playing off the UNC-Duke rivalry), and an impressive command of the field of textual criticism, but he spent way too much time (in my opinion) on listing all the manuscripts and the number of copies we have. That would have been good for a lecture, but was too tedious for a debate format. He showed that Bart Ehrman understated the number of early manuscripts we have, but did not satisfactorily engage him on the theoretical question as to how we can say we have the original text of the NT.

Probably Wallace’s strongest moment was when he quoted from Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus where Ehrman said that none of the variants affects a major NT doctrine. Wow! That’s a powerful point. If I’d been in Wallace’s place, I would have kept reiterating this point several times, especially since Ehrman never responded to it. Another golden opportunity missed on Wallace’s part, in my opinion, was that he never pressed Ehrman on his comment that there were several places in the NT where there were serious problems with the text. Amazingly, Ehrman just made this general statement in his opening presentation without giving even a single example. He should not have gotten away that easily with this unsubstantiated assertion.

Also, at times Wallace conceded too much, as when he acknowledged there were problems with the text of 2 Corinthians but maintained that 2 Corinthians was not representative of the rest of the NT. Some of the material on 2 Corinthians in our NT Intro, The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown might have been helpful here. Also, when Ehrman claimed that the German scholar Gunther Zuntz’s theory of a Pauline letter collection reflects a scholarly consensus, I was waiting for Wallace to object (he did not). What about David Trobisch? And what about those who don’t think any such compiler modified the text of the letters he collected?

In my judgment, it may have been effective for Wallace to ask Ehrman early on what kind of proof he required to be persuaded that we have the original text of the NT. That would have brought out the fact that Ehrman sets the bar so unreasonably high that virtually nothing could ever satisfy him. Even though Wallace titillatingly dangled the prospect of a first-century MS of Mark in front of Ehrman’s nose (mysteriously hinting that he was sworn to secrecy), it was clear that even that discovery (if it checks out) is unlikely to sway Ehrman. Simply producing a few earlier MSS does not necessarily overturn Ehrman’s theoretical concerns.

Perhaps it might have been helpful at some point, without being unduly ad hominem, to bring out Ehrman’s agnosticism and overall skepticism toward the Christian faith. Ehrman certainly came across as very sensible and measured during the debate, but in some of his writings it is quite clear that he has taken a strongly adversarial stance toward Christianity (not least because of his concerns related to the problem of evil).

Finally, the closing statement cried out for an effort to transcend the stuffy academic issue that probably went over many people’s heads in the audience anyway. If I’d been Wallace, I might have said something like this in closing: “Friends, I think I’ve shown that for every skeptical argument Bart Ehrman advances, there is a reasonable response that shows the Bible to be more reliable than he makes it out to be. But in the end, how many of us believe in the Bible because of text criticism, or the number of manuscripts, or differences in the variants? The bigger questions, I submit to you, are these: Is Christianity true? Is Jesus divine? Did Jesus die on the cross for our sins? Did he rise from the dead? Is Jesus the only way? What is the gospel? Will you and I believe? There are many believers in this audience who have become convinced that the Bible is true and that Jesus is real. We’ll continue to advance arguments and counter-arguments on the minutiae of textual matters, and those matter, but let’s not forget the bigger picture. The Bible is trustworthy, and Christianity is true. Hopefully, we can all agree on that. Thank you very much.”

After the debate, I conducted an informal survey among those who had just witnessed the debate. I asked them who they thought won the debate. There seems to have been no clear winner. Some said Wallace, others Ehrman. It seems that those who were more conservative in the audience appreciated Wallace’s solid presentation of the textual MS evidence and felt confirmed in their belief in the reliability of the NT documents. Others, especially UNC students who have taken Ehrman’s classes or heard about him from others, were impressed with Ehrman’s debating skills and clarity of explaining complicated issues. Some seemed unsure why the issue even mattered. One girl told me that she believed there were errors in the Bible but that she believed in Jesus anyway. On the whole, Ehrman’s delivery was crisper and more lucid. Wallace had a lot of valuable information but wasn’t always able to drive home the relevance of the data he presented for the issue at hand. Perhaps he should contact Romney’s debate coach and get some tips?

Longing to see the world rest on biblical foundations and serving you,

The Biblical Foundations Team (with help from Alan Knox Web Development)

This is easier said than done. Only by the grace of God can we be the kinds of people God wants us to be. Yet follow-through is of absolutely critical importance, as James, the half-brother of Jesus, told his readers: “But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror; for he looks at himself, goes away, and right away forget what kind of man he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who acts—this person will be blessed in what he does” (Jas 1:22–25).

As far as we know, James did not become a believer in Jesus until after the resurrection. But doubtless he was familiar with Jesus’ similar words in the Sermon on the Mount: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Matt 7:21). Let us be careful, therefore, to be doers of the word and not hearers only. Let us not merely study the Bible but do what it says.

Karl Marx was born into a Jewish family, but his family later became Lutheran, and Marx was baptized at age 6 and confirmed at 15. But Marx showed absolutely no fruit of the Christian faith. To the contrary.Marx’s life abounded with hypocrisy and self-contradiction. He, the self-proclaimed advocate of the working class, knew virtually no workers personally, and did not pay the one servant that he had. Rather than work with his own hands, he lived off his inheritance and family money. His mother lamented that perhaps he should accrue some capital of his own by working rather than simply writing about it. How pitiful!

In response, we should say, “There, but by the grace of God, go I.” But we should also aim to thrust ourselves upon Christ, exclaim, with Paul, “What a wretched man I am!” (Rom 7:24), and live our lives fully in the strength supplied by God—“I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13)—and do our best to “walk our talk,” to the glory and praise of God.

As far as we are able to determine with regard to the background of 1 John, there had been some in the church who taught that possession of the Spirit was not enough; those “truly enlightened” must be initiated into all kinds of “secret knowledge” open only to those initiates. This created all kinds of insecurity and second-guessing among those who were no longer sure whether or not they were Christians at all—when in fact it was those self-characterized “super-Christians” who turned out not to be believers in the end. This seems to follow from 1 John 2:19: “They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belonged to us.”

Some people in the church might look mighty good for a while. They are the stars, but after a brief time on the ascendancy they come crashing down like shooting stars. This, incidentally, is one of the reasons why Paul cautioned his associates not to appoint new converts to positions of leadership in the church. This also is why John tells believers to “test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). So we find that John, the apostle who basked in God’s and Christ’s love more than any other NT writer, is also the one who stresses the need for careful discernment of truth in the church. Like Jesus, Paul, and the other NT authors, John struck a proper balance between truth and love, unlike the above-mentioned church I visited. We, too, should speak the truth in love.

For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

Köstenberger moves through Christian virtues chapter by chapter, outlining the Bibles teaching and showing how Christ-dependent excellence in each area will have a profound impact on ones ministry and scholarship. Virtues covered include grace, courage, integrity, creativity, eloquence, humility, diligence, and service.

This unique book is an important character check for all Christians engaged in teaching and ministry, and especially for those in training. Köstenbergers thoughtful volume will be a valuable touchstone for readers, for ones character is a critical matter in both scholarship and ministry.

For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

-J. I. Packer, Professor of Theology, Regent College

The special value of this book lies in its pervasive exposition of Scripture. We are adrift in a sea of speculation without this. I am thankful for the book. I plan to give it to my grown children.

-John Piper, Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis

For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

-D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

-D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.