Just HOW WRONG can Bart Ehrman be about Acts and Paul's epistles?

Bart Ehrman claims that the author of Acts wasn’t a companion of Paul, though (says Ehrman) he wants his readers to think that he was. But Ehrman also questions whether the author of Acts read Paul’s letters, though he dates Acts as late as A.D. 85. If the author of Acts didn’t have access either personally to Paul or to Paul’s letters, how do we account for the many astonishing, detailed, but casual agreements between Acts and Paul’s letters? I actually agree that the author of Acts wasn’t basing his work on Paul’s letters. He didn’t need to. He was a personal companion of Paul.
Here I examine in detail just some of the detailed correspondences between Paul’s letters of I and II Corinthians and Romans, on the one hand, and Acts 19-20, on the other hand. The author of Acts knows where Paul was planning to travel at a highly specific moment in his life and where he did travel after that-in meticulous detail. But he doesn’t seem to be copying this information from Paul’s letters. How is that possible if he’s a fiction-writing bumbler with little concern for truth, as Ehrman claims?
Here are the points I make in outline, with references:
--Paul was in Ephesus. I Cor. 16:8-9, Acts 19
--He was with Aquila and Priscilla. I Cor. 16:19, Acts 18:19, 24-26
--He had already sent Timothy to Greece (Achaia). I Cor. 4:17, Acts 19:22, 20:4
--By way of Macedonia. I Cor. 16:10, Acts 19:22
--After staying in Ephesus for a little while (I Cor. 16:8-9, Acts 19:22), Paul was going to go to Greece himself following the same route through Macedonia. I Cor. 16:5-7, Acts 19:21.
--Paul did follow this route from Ephesus through Troas to Macedonia and so into Greece. II Cor. 2:12-13, II Cor. 9:2-4, Romans 16:1-2, Acts 20:1-2.
--After that, Paul intended to travel to Jerusalem. (I Cor. 16:3) Romans 15:25-26, Acts 19:21. (According to Acts he actually did so.)
--After going to Jerusalem, Paul intended to travel to Rome. Romans 15:23 & 28, Acts 19:21. (According to Acts in the end he went to Rome as a prisoner, which probably wasn’t what he had in mind.)
Massive thanks to David Yuen of Digital Pizzazz for his help with the subtitling, the map, and the editing on this video. Couldn't have done it without him!
Check out some recent videos at Testify in answer to Bart Ehrman’s claims of contradiction and for more evidence for Acts:
• Strong Evidence the Au...
• Paul's Conversion: Doe...
• Does Acts Contradict 1...
• More Evidence Luke Was...
• Crazy Evidence for the...
And check out my book Hidden in Plain View:
www.amazon.com...
And don’t forget the amazing book by William Paley on this topic, the Horae Paulinae. It’s free!
books.google.c...
Map image used by permission from DeWard Publishing.