This is the first debate ever between these two top-ranked scholars. Both Evans and Ehrman are probably 2 of the 10 most recognized historical Jesus scholars.

The MP3 audio and a link to the video is here. (From Brian Auten at Apologetics 315)

Speakers

Bart Ehrman

Dr. Ehrman, is a graduate of Wheaton College (Illinois), Professor Ehrman received both his Masters of Divinity and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, where his 1985 doctoral dissertation was awarded magna cum laude. Since then he has published extensively in the fields of New Testament and Early Christianity, having written or edited twenty-one books, numerous scholarly articles, and dozens of book reviews. Among his fields of scholarly expertise are the historical Jesus, the early Christian apocrypha, the apostolic fathers, and the manuscript tradition of the New Testament.

Craig Evans

Dr. Evans received his B.A. degree in History and Philosophy from Claremont McKenna College, his M.Div. degree from Western Baptist Seminary in Portland, Oregon, and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Biblical Studies from Claremont Graduate University in southern California. Author and editor of more than fifty books and hundreds of articles and reviews, Professor Evans has given lectures at Cambridge, Durham, Oxford, Yale, and other universities, colleges, seminaries, and museums, such as the Field Museum in Chicago and the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa.

Note: This is a very snarky summary, and I am just paraphrasing things to be silly and funny. Reader discretion is advised.

Summary

Snarky things I made up are in italics.

Question 1: are the gospels historically reliable?

Bart Ehrman opening speech:

I used to be an ignorant fundamentalist like you!

but then I went to Princeton, and now I know better

to Craig: are there errors in the Bible

the gospels have some reliable and some unreliable info

only careless readers don’t see contradictions in the gospels

contradictions in the genealogies

contradictions in timing of recognizing Jesus as the Messiah

contradiction about when Jesus died

contradiction about when the stone was rolled away

contradiction about who was at the empty tomb

contradiction about when the disciples went to Galilee

contradictions in minor details means the gospels are unreliable

Craig Evans opening speech:

the question is “do the gospels tell us enough about Jesus for faith?”

the gospels don’t tell us everything, but they tell enough for faith

the extremely early creed in 1 Cor 15:3-7 has an outline of the gospel

it contains the burial, the appearances to eyewitnesses

and it agrees with the early sermons of Peter in Acts 2

the gospels agree with these extremely early summaries

the gospels are based on earlier sources

the gospels are corroborated by the Jewish historian Josephus

Question 2: Do the gospels accurately preserve the teachings of Jesus Christ?

Bart Ehrman

are there any discrepancies in the gospels?

the gospels have things Jesus said, and things he didn’t say

if the Bible is inaccurate in some minor details, then it’s all unreliable

in the latest gospel, John, Jesus calls himself God and sees himself as divine

but these high-Christology statements are not in the synoptics

therefore, Jesus really didn’t say these things

why didn’t the synoptics record these claims to divinity

the author of John changed the words of Jesus and John the Baptist?

Craig Evans

E.P. Sanders (a non-Christian scholar) says we can know what Jesus taught

cites E.P.’s list of Jesus’ core teachings that are agreed on by most scholars

Jesus’ focus was talking about the Kingdom of God – the rule of God

Jesus’ followers were expected to record and understand the words of Jesus

It is permissible for the followers of Jesus to have some editorial license

Question 3: Do the gospels accurately preserve the activities of Jesus Christ?

Bart Ehrman

E.P. Sanders agrees with me that there are discrepancies in the gospels

E.P. Sanders agrees with me that there are mistakes in the gospels

If Jesus’ followers changed his words a little, then we can’t know anything he said

If the author changes the story a little, then the story was changed a lot

If there not 100% accurate, then they’re not accurate at all

contradiction of the ordering of Jesus’ temptations

contradiction of the number of animals Jesus rode into Jerusalem

contradiction of whether Jesus spoke or didn’t speak in some instance

contradiction of what Jesus said on the cross

contradiction of the number of robbers who speak to Jesus

Jesus can only say ONE THING when he’s on the cross

the gospel writers have to be in complete agreement

Craig Evans

E.P. Sanders (non-Christian) lists 7 virtually indisputable facts about Jesus

just because there are discrepancies, doesn’t mean there are no minimal facts

in additional to E.P. Sanders, there are other facts that are widely-accepted

many assertions in the gospels are embarrassing to the author

many liberal scholars think that Jesus was a healer and an exorcist

all scholars agree on the crucifixion

most scholars accept the “King of the Jews” placard placed over the cross

this means that Jesus was viewed by his followers as the Messiah

Question 4: Do the gospels contain eyewitness tradition?

Bart Ehrman

I used to be an ignorant uninformed fundie, like you all

but then I started to study seriously, not like Craig Evans

I changed my mind based on intense research, not peer pressure

My apostasy has nothing to do with the problem of evil and suffering!

I use my brain, and Craig Evans and you fundies don’t use your brains

the gospels don’t claim to be written by eyewitnesses

the titles of the gospels were added later

the gospels don’t claim to be written by the authors attributed to them

the gospels were written anonymously

the gospels only had names attached in 120-140 AD

even if gospels were written by eyewitnesses, they are not always accurate

written 40-60 years after Jesus died

written in Greek, not Aramaic

written in different countries

based on stories that were told and retold and changed over time

Craig Evans

Richard Bauckham says the gospels are largely based on eyewitness accounts

the gospels were written while there were still eyewitnesses alive

the people who met Jesus were there to correct the written accounts

there were many disputes about things in the early church, so if the early church invented sayings, then why not invent sayings of Jesus to resolve the disputes?

there is no evidence of things being invented wholesale by the early church

Pappias says that he talked to Christians who knew the eyewitnesses to Jesus

Question 5: Do archaeologists and historians use the gospels as sources?

Bart Ehrman

archaeologists do not use the gospels, they just dig things up

historians do use gospels

Jesus is not mentioned by any Greek or Roman non-Christian source for 80 years after Jesus’ death

The earliest Jewish source is Josephus, writing 60 years after Jesus’ death

Paul is the earliest source, but says nothing about Jesus’ words and deeds

the earliest sources for words and deeds are the discrepancy-filled gospels

the gospels are based on telling and re-telling of the stories

Craig Evans

James Charlesworth has a 700-book about archaeology and the Bible

the book contains hundreds of references to the four gospels

the four gospels and Acts are viewed as the best sources for archaeologists

they provide accurate information about the way things were

the gospels and Acts helps archaeologists to know where to dig for things

the Biblical sources are early and based on eyewitnesses

the gospels and Acts fit well in the first century culture

the gospels and Acts talk about real events and real places and real customs

the gospels and Acts talk about real buildings and real public figures and real groups

the language of the gospels traces back nicely to Aramaic

the gospels talk about geography and climate

archaeologists discover many things discussed in the gospels

Question 6: Have the gospels been accurately preserved done through the centuries

Bart Ehrman

if God inspired the Bible without error, he should have preserved it without error

but the originals have NOT been preserved without error

so I no longer accept the inerrancy of the autographs (the originals)

we don’t have the originals

we only have copies of copies… of copies… of copies… of copies

and the copiers all made mistakes

the first manuscripts are decades later

and the manuscripts we have are different from one another

the earliest copies have the most mistakes

even if we have many copies, they are late, so we don’t know what the original said

we don’t have early manuscripts

Craig Evans

we know where the discrepancies in the manuscripts are

the discrepancies are marked in your Bible

the discrepancies affect peripheral issues

some discrepancies are supported by other verses

Mark doesn’t have the appearances, but 1 Cor 15 does, and it’s earlier

the errors are things like spelling and grammar errors, typos, etc.

we have fragments that are earlier than the full manuscripts

some early manuscripts have errors, but other early manuscripts are correct

Question 7: Do scribal errors and textual variants significantly impact any teaching of Jesus or any important Christian teaching?

Bart Ehrman

the woman caught in adultery is a late addition

the ending of Mark is a late addition

can we handle snakes or can’t we?

did Jesus sweat blood or didn’t he?

some manuscripts have errors – that should not be allowed by God

some scribes are careless – that should not be allowed by God

we have to have perfect copies of the originals, or I won’t believe!

if God really inspired it, it all has to be perfect! Perfect! I was lied to!!!!

if the snake-handling verse isn’t there, then the whole Bible is lies! Lies!



Craig Evans

no variants impact any teaching of Jesus or significant Christian teaching

the vast majority of the manuscripts agree on 98-99% of the text

often, the theology gives rise to a variant, which is introduced later

variants aren’t central enough to affect any theological doctrines

And then there are concluding speeches by each speaker.

I made this summary based on the video, which is here on Apologetics 315.