Required and Recommended Textbooks for the MBTS Scrolls and Scripture Workshop.

The debate on Thursday night between Ehrman and Evans would be worth that price, but other significant scholars will be speaking on Friday and Saturday on the reliability of the Scriptures.

The following information is from the MBTS Website:

MBTS to host The Scrolls and the Scriptures Conference

posted in Articles, on Feb 12, 2010 by Staff

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary will host a debate and lecture series called The Scrolls and the Scriptures Conference here on April 1-3 in the chapel auditorium. The theme of the conference is, “The Bible as Artifact: Who Wrote It and How Was It Preserved.”

The event will kick-off on April 1 at 7 p.m. with a debate between Dr. Craig A. Evans from Acadia University and Dr. Bart D. Ehrman of the University of North Carolina. Both professors are experts in the field of biblical studies, which include the Dead Sea Scrolls and textual criticism. The focus of the debate will center on the reliability of the biblical accounts of the resurrection.

“People want, and need, to know the truth about the Bible’s origin and reliability,” said Dr. Jerry A. Johnson, Vice President for Academic Development and Academic Dean at Midwestern. “This conference addresses that need on both the popular and the scholarly level. From Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, to James Cameron’s so-called ‘Coffin of Jesus,’ the average person is aware of new claims that supposedly undermine the biblical record.”

Johnson continued, “The conference features scholars of international renown who will reveal that recent archaeological discoveries and biblical research actually confirm our confidence in the Bible as God’s Word.”

Featured lecturers during the conference’s plenary sessions on April 2-3 include Larry Hurtado and Paul Foster from the University of Edinburgh, Paul Wegner from Phoenix Seminary, Daniel Wallace from Dallas Theological Seminary, Peter Flint from Trinity Western University, Stanley Porter from McMaster Divinity College, and Midwestern’s Steve Andrews and Ron Huggins.

The event is open to the public and admission to the conference is free. Two hours of academic credit are available for $100. To register contact our Student Development office at 816-414-3733 or e-mail jspencer@mbts.edu.

Conference Schedule

MIDWESTERN BAPTSIT THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

The Scrolls and the Scriptures

The Bible as Artifact:

Who Wrote it and How was it Preserved?

Thursday, April 1

7:00-9:00pm Debate between Evans/Ehrman

Friday, April 2

8:00-9:00 Papias of Hierapolis: A Supremely Important Unreliable Witness to the New Testament Ron Huggins

9:15-10:15 Digitally Preserving the Word of God: The Work of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts  Daniel Wallace

10:30-11:30 The Library at Qumran and Books that must be checked out  Peter Flint

11:30-1:00  Lunch

1:00-2:00 Bold Claims, Wishful Thinking, and Lessons about Dating Manuscripts from Papyrus Egerton 2 Paul Foster

2:15-3:15 What Do We Know and How Do We Know It? Reconstructing Christianity from its Early Manuscripts?  Stanley Porter

3:30-4:30 What Earliest Christian Manuscripts Show us About Their Readers Larry Hurtado

4:30-6:30 Dinner

6:30-7:30 Current Trends in Old Testament Textual Criticism Paul Wegner

7:30-8:30  Ancient Text or Modern Hoax? Why I have doubts about Secret Mark  Craig Evans

Saturday, April 3

8:00-9:00  The Oldest Hebrew Scriptures and the Khirbet Qeiyafa Inscription  Steve Andrews

9:15-10:15 The Great Isaiah Scroll and the Interpretation of Isaiah at Qumran Peter Flint

10:30-11:30 Panel Wrap up

A not so well known resource for biblical and archaeological studies is the quarterly magazine Biblical Illustrator published by LifeWay Christian Resources. This is a shame because the articles are written by experts in the field and provide good background material for the Bible and its world.

I have written several articles for the magazine, including one on Gilgal that will appear in next summer’s edition. Go to the link to order a personal subscription or one for your church and Bible study teachers. The articles coincide with the Bible study curriculum of LifeWay, but they are very useful for personal study. 

LifeWay has several downloadable indexes to the Biblical Illustrator based on topic, scripture, and article title, etc. Biblical Illustrator is also indexed online in the Southern Baptist Periodical Index. Subscription rates for the SBPI are available, but check with your library; it may already carry the Index.

The editor, G. B. Howell does a great job in organizing each issue. The photographs, charts and illustrations are superb. I had the opportunity to serve as an archaeological consultant with G. B. on an extensive trip to Israel and Jordan. He ran me ragged searching for all of the out-of-the-way places, not normally mentioned or often visited.

LifeWay also sells the magazine on a CD-Rom called the Biblical Illustrator Plus. The CD includes the current issue in PDF format plus 200 pages of addtional material, including 50-70 articles from their archives. The CD is an excellent resource as well.

Although I don’t know him personally, Rick Mansfield wrote up his view on the Biblical Illustrator in his blog back in 2006. The links on his page are old and do not work.