Did Jesus Exist?

A quotation from Bart Ehrman's Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth:

Because of where I teach, almost all of my students come from conservative Christian backgrounds and already have both a vested interest in and a firm set of opinions about the subject matter. That makes biblical studies unlike almost any other academic discipline in the university, and it is why courses in the field are perfect for a liberal arts education. Students who take courses in other areas of the humanities... do not usually hold fixed ideas about the subject. As a result, they simply are not shocked by what they learn.... [Their] opinions [about biblical studies] can be challenged in class, and when they are, students are forced to think. Since one of the goals of a liberal arts education is to teach students how to think, courses in biblical studies are perfect.