Today's interview is with Dr. Daniel B. Wallace, professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and an authority on Koine Greek grammar and New Testament textual criticism. He is founder of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts. He talks about his background and current work, photographing NT manuscripts, the current number of manuscripts, some of the most important manuscripts (and some great stories), his testimony journey into textual criticism, the trustworthiness of the Bible, the meaning of textual variants (how they are really counted, and what they affect), how he approaches apparent Bible contradictions, the doctrine of inerrancy, his interactions and debates with Bart Ehrman, comparing the popular vs. the scholarly Ehrman, "we don't have the originals!", determining the authorship of the Gospels, advice for apologists (great stuff), and do's and don'ts for defending the Bible. Visit CSNTM.org to assist his work.
Full Interview MP3 Audio here (64 min)
Check out Wallace's debates with Ehrman:
• Greer-Heard Forum debate (book)
• SMU Debate (on DVD)
• Debate at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Feb. 1, 2012
Books by Daniel B. Wallace include:
Wallace's recommended books to get started:
• The New Testament Documents: Are they Reliable? by F.F. Bruce
• The Historical Reliability of the Gospels by Craig Blomberg
• Reinventing Jesus by Komoszewski, Sawyer, and Wallace
Enjoy.
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6 comments :
Ehrman asked Wallace not to point out the inconsistencies and contradictions between his professional works and his popular works in a debate!?! That is shocking for two reasons. One, Ehrman himself acknowledges that he is being inconsistent, which in this interview Wallace politely does not call either the product of incompetence (which I doubt) or blatant falsehoods to boost his book sales. But secondly, Wallace obliged him??? That makes no sense to me. Did you ask Wallace why he did that?
Ehrman might be good at popularizing skepticism for skepticism's sake on friendly venues like NPR but when he goes head to head with intelligent people he rarely gets away with it. I've heard Daryl Bock, William Craig, heck even Stephen Colbert tear him to pieces (uhhhh...in a Christian love kind of way). It drives me nuts that his platform is so big.
I should add that I really appreciated Wallace's take on the grounding of an effective apologetic. That is to say, I hear an awful lot of apologists quote part of 1 Peter 3:15, but they usually start with "...and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you" but they omit "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts" at the beginning. Without recognizing God's sovereign love and justice, without acknowledging who Christ is and what he done for us, and without asking the Holy Spirit to indwell our lives and empower us to understand the truths of the Bible we will be hopelessly ill prepared to put on the armor of God and mount a serious defense of the Gospel. (There's a bit of balance to my earlier blusterin' bloviatin'. Great interview as always Brian.)
Hello Brian,
Dr. Wallace is an A+++++ guy. My first interaction with him was at a Discover Dallas event years ago. He and Dr. Bock got into a discussion that was so high level to me that I was floored. And they were laughing about it. That one of the reasons I went to Dallas Seminary. Over the years, I got to know Dr Wallace, I used to clean his office as a student job, and he is humble and funny and a very caring man. People should get to know him and what he is doing at a better level. The Center he runs is doing good work that is so valuable for the body. His apologetic focus on the deity of Christ is so spot on. Those who know him are blessed by his life and calling. He makes me want to be a better student of the New Testament and a better lover of God. Great interview.
Dan Wallace is awesome. More exciting stuff about the new discovery here:
http://www.hughhewitt.com/transcripts.aspx?id=2ae35594-18e1-4776-bd4a-ca8f77c4deb6
Another lecture by Dan Wallace can be found here:
http://www.4truth.net/fourtruthpbbible.aspx?pageid=8589952769
He is also quite a comedian.
Thanks for this interview. Fascinating.
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