Ehrman’s expertise is history
Your editor erred when he placed in the religion section a news story about Bart Ehrman of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill coming to speak in Fresno. Mr. Ehrman is neither an advocate nor an opponent of religion. He is a historian.
When he delivers morning and evening lectures at Fresno City College on Feb. 18, he will examine early Christianity as a historian, just as another historian might deal with the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte or Abraham Lincoln, not to convince or convert, but to inform.
I’ve heard many lectures by Mr. Ehrman and feel I can safely predict his pattern. He will present well-documented historical facts, then, as other historians do, present his take on the causes and effects of those events. People attending the lectures will be invited to speak with him.
Their faith is unlikely to be affected, but they are almost certain to come away better informed about historical Christian origins.
Wayland Jackson, Fresno
This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 8:46 AM with the headline "Ehrman’s expertise is history."