To Dr. Bock,

(1) There are significant differences between Ehrman and the Jesus Seminar. Most fundamentally, the Seminar fellows reject the notion of Jesus as an apocalyptic figure, whereas Ehrman considers this fundamental to his understanding of the historical Jesus. This is a major difference, one that your earlier remarks skip past in congregating the non-evangelicals under the same roof.

(2) The popularity of Ehman's books is due to his compelling personal narrative (and his accessible writing style). I think you miss this point by arguing with his examples.

Yes, he once viewed the Bible using the extra-biblical assumptions and frames preferred by evangelicals. He has since abandoned those in favor of historical-critical method (for lack of a better term -- yes, you and others use both historical and critical methods). Sure, there are plenty of books that have covered the same topics that Ehrman has, and just as many that offered evangelical counter-arguments.

But evangelicals have yet to offer a scholarly response by someone with an equally intriguing personal story. That's why, I think, his books end up on the NY Times best-seller lists, and those by his evangelical critics do not.

For whatever it's worth.