On Bart Ehrman and Jesus Interrupted:
These is a message in the Bible that speaks to the heart of a man or woman and meets intimate, personal needs of the person who is open to that message. I know no greater works on love or joy or peace or contentment. There is also a great felt need on the part of many people to be relieved of the oppression of sin in wickedness found in their hearts. Many people long to escape the oppression of sins of the heart and the sins from other’s hearts. The message and the language of the Bible work in these areas of need of the human heart. Jesus meets the deepest needs of the heart of love, acceptance and forgiveness among many others.
Henri J.M. Nouwen points out what HEART language is all about:
In our world of loneliness and despair, there is an enormous need for men an women who know the heart of God, a heart that forgives, that cares, that reaches out and want to heal. In that heart there is no suspicion, no vindictiveness, no resentment, and not a tinge of hatred. It is a heart that wants only to give love and receive love in response. It is a heart that suffers immensely because it sees the magnitude of human pain and the great resistance to trusting the heart of God who wants to offer consolation and hope.
Henri J. M. Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership (New York: Crossroads, 1989), 24.
Banish the thought that someone missed to message because they stumbled on the grammar or misspellings they find in the Greek manuscript copies. I hope the Dr. Ehrman can get past this in his personal life.
