Evidence · Case 10 · Islam
Bart Ehrman, historian and New Testament scholar
One exhibit from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Ehrman is an agnostic scholar with no motive to defend Christian doctrine, yet he treats the crucifixion as settled history, calling it “one of the most certain facts of history.” Atheist scholar Gerd Lüdemann likewise calls Jesus’ death by crucifixion indisputable, and John Dominic Crossan says it is as certain as anything historical can be.
Sources
- Bart D. Ehrman, The Historical Jesus (The Great Courses, 2000), course guidebook, p. 162 (opens in a new tab)
Bart D. Ehrman, The Historical Jesus: Lecture Transcript and Course Guidebook (The Teaching Company, 2000), p. 162: “one of the most certain facts of history is that Jesus was crucified on orders of the Roman prefect of Judea, Pontius Pilate.”
- Gerd Lüdemann, The Resurrection of Christ: A Historical Inquiry (Prometheus, 2004), p. 50; John Dominic Crossan, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (HarperSanFrancisco, 1994), p. 145 (opens in a new tab)
Lüdemann, p. 50: “Jesus’ death as a consequence of crucifixion is indisputable.” Crossan, p. 145: “Jesus’ death by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate is as sure as anything historical can ever be.”
Objections & responses
- Bart Ehrman doesn’t even believe Jesus rose from the dead. Why does citing him help the case for anything here?
Ehrman is cited here for one narrow, specific fact: that Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate, not for the resurrection. He’s an agnostic historian with every incentive to be skeptical of the Christian story, and no reason to concede a point that helps the case for Christianity unless the evidence genuinely requires it.
That’s exactly what makes the citation strong rather than weak. When a scholar who rejects your conclusion still grants one of your premises, that premise is about as solid as ancient history gets, which is why his agreement here, alongside similarly skeptical scholars like Gerd Lüdemann and John Dominic Crossan, carries real weight.