The Bible possesses so much controversy. Some say that God personally breathed life into the words in the Bible. Others say that the Bible was solely written by man in a form to control others. There are also stories about contradictions and parts of the Bible are missing as in The Dead Sea Scrolls. Whatever your thoughts are on the Bible, the ultimate goal is to study the Word for yourself and to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal things to you by enhancing your understanding of the words on the pages. Author The Gatekeeper has helped to address some of the issues that professor and scholar Bart D. Ehrman had refuted in the words and the teachings of the Bible. Ehrman, who once was a devout believer, is now an atheist after he began his quest to get closer to God. His work Misquoting Jesus, amongst other works, has believers on edge. Silencing the Skeptics is designed to bring back and enhance the enlightenment of the Word. The author has painstakingly taken some of the scriptures, words, passages and verses to help explain what Ehrman may consider a contradiction or lacking in explanation. It's like a carefully matched chess game of precision and strategic prowess in how The Gatekeeper is making its case.

The Bible is so controversial that I no longer try to prove its meaning. Just like a math or science problem, all one can do is solve the equation by displaying the steps to the answer. To make someone else try to understand how you arrived at the solution is an individual process. Revelation and knowledge are individual things. The Bible in its original form was created in another language and I believe that some manipulation had to occur in order for the words to be written in a way that the reader can follow and understand. While this may be true, nothing beats a relationship with God and the Word. Some people can see things clearly while others are unable to. Just like there's a God, there is a demonic force in existence as well which explains a lot of the trouble that fills the Earth. Understanding has a lot to do with what the wine is poured into. Is the wine poured into an old, moldy and tattered wine skin or a slightly battered but well-kept and continually repaired wine skin. I'm hoping that, through this book, those readers who, like Ehrman, have some questions or feel detached due to contradictions in the Bible can find some answers here.

Silencing the Skeptics: Gospel Contradictions Resolved: The Ultimate Open Challenge to Bart Ehrman by The Gatekeeper is a compelling work that addresses the seeming contradictions of the Bible, notably, the four Gospels; contradictions that have provided ample material to critics, cynics, and detractors of the core message of the Gospels - a subject of contention. To anyone familiar with the scriptures, it isn’t strange that there are statements and situations that provoke apparently contradictory answers from Jesus. In this book, which the author claims to not be a Christian apologetic, readers are gradually led into the context of what may be contradictory in the four Gospels when compared, each against the others, and the contradictions within the books authored by the same evangelist.

From the very beginning, the author warns that: “This book will not be your typical “us”(Christian apologists) against “them” (skeptical Bible critics) defense of the scriptures. In fact, there will be much presented here that will challenge both of those opposing factions.” He — I can’t tell if it’s a “he” or a “she” because of the anonymity of authorship— shows great mastery of the scriptures and readers are left in no doubt that this is a well-researched work, masterfully articulated and so brilliantly organized it will be delightful to read. It’s a book for seekers of truth and those who want to establish the veracity and validity of the Scriptures.

How does one understand the paradoxes of the Scriptures? How can a reader reconcile the fact that Jesus would admonish his followers not to do something and then advise them to do just the opposite in a short while? Isn’t it contradictory when we read about Luke recording that one of the crucified thieves had faith in Christ, as opposed to Matthew and Mark saying that both criminals reviled Him (Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23)? Such are questions the author answers, and he does so with an authority that only results from one who knows his facts and one who has done his homework pretty well. Silencing the Skeptics is written in an easy-to-read style and readers can quickly follow the logical trend of the author’s arguments. The analysis of scriptural texts, the power of logic, and the simplicity of expression are elements that make this work a compelling read, but what sets it apart is the path to the truth that it proposes. A must-read for anyone seeking the light of the Gospel.