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EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored 170+ books. Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).
Hebrews 3:12 Updated American Standard Version (UASV) 12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart,[1] in falling away[2] from the living God
[1]Heart, Evil and Unbelieving: (Gr. kardia ponēra apistias) The sense of kardia is the inner person, the person’s thoughts (mind), volition (decisions, choices, desires), emotions, and knowledge of right and wrong, i.e., the conscience. The sense of ponēra is evil, wicked, morally bad or wrong. The sense of apistias is unbelief. In the context of the book of Hebrews, it is the trait of not trusting in or relying on God and his Word. Paul warned the Hebrew Christians about developing an evil, unbelieving heart. We cannot remain “pure in heart” if we develop a heart “lacking faith.”–Heb. 3:12
[2]Falling Away: (Gr apostenai) Lit to standoff; to abandon a cognitive position. to cause to rebel, to depart, to forsake. This here is a case of apostasy; that is, one who abandons the faith, who stands off from the truth, who now rejects their former biblical views so that they have now forsaken Jesus Christ.
“No agnostic can be a Valiant for Truth,” says Charles A. Aiken, “Valiant for the Truth,” in Princeton Sermons (New York; Chicago: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1893), 55.
Bart D. Ehrman is one of the most renowned and controversial Bible scholars in the world today. He is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is the author of more than twenty books, including the New York Times bestsellers How Jesus Became God; Misquoting Jesus; God’s Problem; Jesus, Interrupted; and Forged. He has appeared on Dateline NBC, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CNN, History, and top NPR programs, as well as been featured in TIME, the New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and other publications. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.—HarperCollins Publishers.
Dr. Bart D. Ehrman is also a world-renowned New Testament textual and early Christianity scholar, who literally refers to himself as the “Happy Agnostic.” Education: Moody Bible Institute (1973-1976), Wheaton College (B.A., 1978), Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div., 1981; Ph.D., 1985) Let’s do a little bullet point to expound on who Ehrman really is:
Did Bart D. Ehrman Fall Away from the living God? (Heb. 3:12; 1 Tim. 4:1) He has abandoned the faith, who stands off from the truth, who now rejects their former biblical views so that they have now forsaken Jesus Christ.
Is Bart D. Ehrman an Agnostic who believes nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or anything beyond material phenomena? “No agnostic can be a Valiant for Truth,” says Charles A. Aiken, in Princeton Sermons, 1893.
Does Bart D. Ehrman possess an Unbelieving Heart? (Heb. 3:12) He has no trust or reliance on God or His Word. He attacks both regularly.
Is Bart D. Ehman an Apostate? Does he reject, has he defected, revolted, abandoned or deserted the worship and service of God, and rebelled against the faith and God they formerly worshipped and served? (2 Thess. 2:3)
Is Bart D. Ehrman an Antichrist? Has Ehrman not been instead of or against Christ, working in opposition to Christ? Did Ehrman not ‘go out, that it might become plain that he is not of us [Christian].’ (1 John 2:18-19)
Ehrman fits the definition of Antichrist, correct? John said that there would be many. “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting.” (2 John 6-9)
Doesn’t Ehrman have disciples that quote his apostate teachings (atheists, Muslims, Mormons, etc.) Don’t apostates seek to have their own followers, causing division, and stumbling genuine Christians? (Acts 20:28-30)
Isn’t Ehrman a False Teacher? Doesn’t he introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought him initially? (2 Pet 2:1, 3)
Is it not true that Ehrman as an Apostate abandoned the faith, but then he also has spoken abusively of the faith, “upsetting the faith of some”? (2 Timothy 2:16-18)
Isn’t it true that Ehrman, as an apostate, has opposed the faithful followers of Christ? (John 15:20-21)
How does the Bible say that faithful Christians are to treat apostates like Bart D, Ehrman? (2 John 9-10; Rom. 16:7-8) Are they to co-author books with them? Are they to refer to them as friends for decades? Are they to work with them on projects? Should a truly Christian publisher publish an apostates books?
Ehrman is an Antichristos? This means to be against or instead of Christ. The term applies to all who reject and oppose what the Bible says about Jesus Christ. These also mistreat his followers. Trying to mislead, misrepresent, and misinform about the Word is also the work of the Antichrist. (1 John 2:18)
Do the Antichrists not abandon the faith that they once loved? (1 John 2:19)
Do the Antichrists deny Jesus Christ? (1 John 2:22)
How are faithful Christians to treat the Apostates and Antichrists?
Should faithful Bible scholars co-author books with Bart D. Ehrman? Hasn’t Ehrman now spent decades penning books and articles that misleadingly try to undermine the Word of God? Doesn’t Christian scholars author books with him, work with him, publisher publish his books, and give Ehrman a platform to spew his misinformation?
Just because Ehrman is hiding in the guise of a Bible scholar and his words are like a glass of water that is half poison, half water, the scholarly world has forgotten or ignores who he really is. See the truth.
Many unsuspecting Christians have no clue about Ehrman. It wasn’t people calling him an apostate that impacted him in any way. As that was not the case with him. His doubts about God’s Word caused him to leave Christianity. LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY so you can get the correlation. He LEFT CHRISTIANITY because of HIS OWN DOUBTS about the truthfulness and trustworthiness of the Bible.
This Agnostic uses his New York Times Bestselling books, which he has written over twenty, to stumble Christians out of the faith. And yet, some so-called Christians will co-author books with him. If you co-author a book with a person who calls himself the happy Agnostic, who has stumbled many thousands of Christians, regardless if some things he says are true, you are, by extension, promoting Agnosticism. Or at least you are giving validity to other books he has written that promote things like the New Testament was a book by men who were not moved along by the Holy Spirit, or Jesus lived as a historical person, but he is not the divine Son of God, or that there was no resurrection.
According to Ehrman, “the disciples’ belief in the resurrection was based on visionary experiences.”[1] Ehrman notes that both Jesus and his early followers were apocalyptic Jews who believed in the bodily resurrection, which would start when the coming of God’s Kingdom was near.[2] Ehrman further notes that visions usually have strong persuasive power but that the Gospel accounts also record a tradition of doubt about the appearances of Jesus. Ehrman’s “tentative suggestion” is that only a few followers had visions, including Peter, Paul, and Mary. They told others about those visions, convincing most of their close associates that Jesus was raised from the dead, but not all of them. Eventually, these stories were retold and embellished, leading to the story that all disciples had seen the risen Jesus.[3] The belief in Jesus’ resurrection radically changed their perceptions, concluding from his absence that he must have been exalted to heaven by God himself, elevating him to an unprecedented status and authority.[4]
[1] Ehrman, Bart (2014), How Jesus Became God. The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilea, HarperOne, pp. 98, 101. Ehrman dismisses the story of the empty tomb; according to Ehrman, “an empty tomb had nothing to do with it […] an empty tomb would not produce faith.” [2] IBID, p. 99. [3] IBID, pp. 101-102. [4] IBID, pp. 109-110.
Bart D. Ehrman is one of the most renowned and controversial Bible scholars in the world today. He is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is the author of more than twenty books, including the New York Times bestsellers How Jesus Became God; Misquoting Jesus; God’s Problem; Jesus, Interrupted; and Forged. He has appeared on Dateline NBC, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CNN, History, and top NPR programs, as well as been featured in TIME, the New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and other publications. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.—HarperCollins Publishers.
According to Ehrman, “the disciples’ belief in the resurrection was based on visionary experiences.”[1] Ehrman notes that both Jesus and his early followers were apocalyptic Jews who believed in the bodily resurrection, which would start when the coming of God’s Kingdom was near.[2] Ehrman further notes that visions usually have strong persuasive power but that the Gospel accounts also record a tradition of doubt about the appearances of Jesus. Ehrman’s “tentative suggestion” is that only a few followers had visions, including Peter, Paul, and Mary. They told others about those visions, convincing most of their close associates that Jesus was raised from the dead, but not all of them. Eventually, these stories were retold and embellished, leading to the story that all disciples had seen the risen Jesus.[3] The belief in Jesus’ resurrection radically changed their perceptions, concluding from his absence that he must have been exalted to heaven by God himself, elevating him to an unprecedented status and authority.[4]
