January 2018 - Page 2 of 2 - The Bart Ehrman Blog

My Long Favorite Pauline Letter: Philippians

There is one other book in the New Testament that may be a cut-and-paste job, and as it turns out, it is another one of Paul’s letters, Philippians. Philippians was for a long time my favorite Pauline letter, back in my late teens when I was first starting to read the Bible. It contains the first verse I ever memorized: “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (1:21); and it is the first book that, a couple of years later, I committed completely to memory, word for word. Little did I know, back then, that some scholars think it is in fact two different letters of Paul’s that have been spliced together. The evidence of there being two letters in Philippians is not as clear and compelling as in the case of 2 Corinthians, and I suspect, but do not know for a fact, that the *majority* of scholars hold to the “integrity” of the letter. In this case, the word integrity has nothing to do with “honesty.” It is the [...]

BDEhrman2020-04-03T01:39:39-04:00January 5th, 2018|Paul and His Letters, Public Forum|

January Dinner Full!

I'm pleased and sorry to say that the table for the Blog dinner in Naples Florida on January 24 is now full! Sometimes people cancel, however, so if you would like to be put on a waiting list, I am happy to do that. I'm looking forward to meeting those who have signed up. For all others -- next time!!

BDEhrman2018-01-04T11:12:51-05:00January 4th, 2018|Public Forum|

February Dinner Full!

I'm pleased and sorry to say that the table for the Blog dinner in D.C. on February 9 is now full! Sometimes people cancel, however, so if you would like to be put on a waiting list, I am happy to do that. I'm looking forward to meeting those who have signed up. For all others -- next time!!

BDEhrman2018-01-04T03:12:41-05:00January 4th, 2018|Public Forum|

Speaking Engagements and Blog Dinners for January and February

Here is a first-of-the-year update on my speaking schedule. If you happen to be in the area where I’m giving a talk – come! For two of the events (Jan. 24 in Naples Florida; Feb. 9 in D.C.) I’d like to organize a small Blog Dinner, if anyone will be there. Blog Dinner? Wednesday January 24, Naples Florida. See the event below. Is anyone interested in having dinner, either because you’ll be attending the event or because you just happen to be around? My idea is to have 3-5 people and to eat good food, drink good drink, and talk about anything you feel like talking about for a couple of hours. The dinner will have to start late, 8:30 pm or so (I think), since I’ll be flying in only after my morning-long seminar. If you’re interested, let me know via email, at [email protected]. The first five to reply get the lucky award. If there aren’t two or three interested, we’ll put it off for another time. There is THIS proviso though: I [...]

BDEhrman2020-04-08T13:23:44-04:00January 3rd, 2018|Public Forum|

Is 2 Corinthians FIVE Letters?

In my previous post I tried to show why most critical scholars think that the letter of 2 Corinthians is actually two different letters that have been spliced together. When I was back in graduate school, I learned – to my surprise – that there were scholars who thought that in fact 2 Corinthians was made up of five different letters, all spliced together. At first that struck me as a bit crazy, but as I looked at the evidence I began to see that it made a good bit of sense. I’m not completely committed to that idea, but I’m inclined toward it. My sense is that this is the view of a sizeable minority of critical scholars, but I have no data, only anecdotal evidence, to back that up. In any case, what matters more is what you yourself might think of it. I won’t be giving the evidence in full, but here is how I lay it out for students to consider in my textbook on the New Testament for undergraduates. To [...]

BDEhrman2020-04-03T01:39:47-04:00January 2nd, 2018|Paul and His Letters, Public Forum|

Did Romans Allow Jews to Bury Crucified Victims? Readers’ Mailbag January 1, 2018

Here on the first day of the new year, I was digging around on the blog and I found a post that I *meant* to make a couple of months ago that I never did. Don't remember why! But here it is. It is from the Readers' Mailbag, and about a very interesting and controversial issue: would the Romans have allowed anyone to bury Jesus the afternoon on which he was crucified? I think not, even though I'm in the decided minority on that one. Here's the post: ****************************** QUESTION: In Josephus's Jewish Wars he states:: “Nay, they proceeded to that degree of impiety, as to cast away their dead bodies without burial, although the Jews used to take so much care of the burial of men, that they took down those that were condemned and crucified, and buried them before the going down of the sun.” It looks like (to me) that the Jews were allowed to bury the crucified before sunset – how do you interpret this passage? RESPONSE: I dealt [...]

BDEhrman2022-07-03T16:17:06-04:00January 1st, 2018|Early Judaism, Greco-Roman Religions and Culture, Historical Jesus, Reader’s Questions|

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My Long Favorite Pauline Letter: Philippians

January Dinner Full!

February Dinner Full!

Speaking Engagements and Blog Dinners for January and February

Is 2 Corinthians *FIVE* Letters?

Did Romans Allow Jews to Bury Crucified Victims? Readers’ Mailbag January 1, 2018

Is 2 Corinthians FIVE Letters?