Evidence: The Gathering

[abaris]

What does Ehrman say about that Jesus that did exist? What do the scholars say about that Jesus?

Ehrman makes his statement based on studying the scriptures. In that he's an expert, but he didn't do any field work. He's no historian or archeologist. He's a theologian. And he's the only one making an assertive statement about Jesus' existence, based on his study of scripture. That's the one point where he's dishonest. Not because he's making a claim, but because he's making an assertive claim.

Jesus' existence is very much up for debate and probably will be for times to come. There is no solid evidence of his existence, since if he existed, he was far to unimportant to leave anything behind. So all you're left with are educated guesses. And that's what Ehrman does. Many scholars swing indeed in the direction of a person named Jesus having existed. But they aren't assertive about it, which, in absence of stone cold evidence, is the honest thing to do.