Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene

July 1, 2007
Prolific biblical scholar Ehrman sheds some light on the wellsprings of the Christian Church in the persons of its earliest stars. As with the historical Jesus (or Socrates, or Buddha), history provides scant direct access to these three (Paul is a welcome if partial exception), but the various depictions and adaptations of these figures tell us a great deal about the early Christian leaders a century and more after Golgotha and the extent their churchlargely today's churchmay or may not reflect the wishes and concerns of the first apostles and their leader. Grover Gardner's energetic and articulate reading matches the author's conversational style and keeps even the driest exegesis fresh and alive. Ehrman rounds out the picture with fresh views from noncanonical scripture, in addition to frequent references to chapter and verse; listeners may want to keep a Bible handy. Although this package lacks some of the sizzle of his "Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code" or "The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot", Ehrman's clear, reasoned scholarship on matters more often consigned to faith make this a useful addition to most libraries.David Wright, Seattle P.L.

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 13, 2006
There is a bit of irony in the subtitle of this terrific book. Ehrman, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at UNC–Chapel Hill and author of several well-received volumes including Lost Scriptures
and Lost Christianities
, struggles with the very issue of how to separate history from legend, whether it can be done at all and whether it matters. He contends "it is often easier to know how the past was remembered than to decide what actually happened." By shifting focus from the tales to the tellers, Ehrman enters the ongoing discussion of biblical literalism and reliability, insisting that we're not arriving at satisfactory answers because we're not asking the right questions. Drawing widely from history, scripture and extra-biblical writings, he studies the many stories of the lives of the first-century "Peter, Paul and Mary," arguing that inclusion of some accounts in the canon should not elevate these texts above the others, some of which were accepted early on by the church but later excluded from the canon. As with his other works, Ehrman presents his case clearly and succinctly. So, are the biblical stories more reliable than those outside the canon? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind.