I'm going to be off to Waynesville next week  for some time away from the hustle and bustle of my normal routine (actually, now that I think about it, what *is* bustle?), to work on the next book.  And I've decided, HEY, time for a Blog Dinner!  Anyone want to come?   It's a chance to shoot the breeze with others about whatever strikes your fancy. Wednesday, February 7, 6:30 pm, place TBD (in Waynesville). The table will be limited to 8 (so we can actually all talk), so that means me and 7 others. The only requirements for attendance to the dinner would be that (a) you are a blog member; (b) you pay your own way – both getting to the event and your meal itself.  Otherwise:  no expense, no requirement, and no expectations, apart from having a scintillating evening together. If you want to come and know for sure you can, zap me a note ([email protected]). Do so right away: if past experience is any guide, the table will fill rather quickly.   I [...]

How dispensible is Religious Studies to the mission of a modern university? To the mutual chagrin of the faculty colleagues in my department, we recently learned that the chancellor of one our affiliate schools, UNC Greensboro, was considering closing down their own very fine Department of Religious Studies ( the UNC "system" has 16 public universities, over which there is a President; each university has its own Chancellor as its chief executive officer). We have signed petitions in support of the department, and several of us have written letters to explain our support. I thought it might be interesting for blog readers to see mine, since it explains why I consier Religious Studies (as a discipline) significant for university education.  There's a lot more that I could say, of course, but that would take a book, not a letter. In any event, we are hopeful that the message gets through, since all of us understand how imporant the academic study of religion is, especially in our times. ******************************   January 23, 2024   Dear Chancellor [...]

A major part of the success of the blog is the corps of faithful volunteers who do a variety of tasks, some to make the blog much better and some to make it even possible.   The only perk that volunteers get, in addition to knowing they've helped advance the spread of biblical knowledge to a wider audience and raised significant funds for charity in doing so, is a monthly webinar with me on a topic of their choice.  Those are a blast.   But for the most part, volunteers volunteer because they believe in the cause and are unusually generous human beings. We need another volunteer, someone who is qualified to file our state and federal taxes. We are, as you know, a non-profit, and our long-devoted and highly-capable books-person has recently had to bow out from the position.  We need someone with experience in this kind of thing.  Anyone with experience will not find ours a tough-case.   You interested? If so, please email us at [email protected] to let us know, and tell us a bit about [...]

Like many of you, I'm fascinated by how ancient people understood the world / universe -- the "cosmos" -- and by what modern cosmologist who actually do the science say about it.  Only rarely can someone speak confidently about both topics, wildly different as they are.  So I'm pleased to publish this Platinum guest post by Charles Hawkins, which discusses cosmology in antiquity and modernity and the transition betwixt them, all in relation to the NT.  In ONE post!  I hope you enjoy it!  Charles will be happy to hear your reactions. ****************************** Understanding cosmology, that is, our view of the structure of the Earth and its place in the universe, is an essential part of understanding the writings of both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian documents of the New Testament.  More importantly, this understanding is a key (there are others) to working out how if at all these writings can be relevant to our era.  Members of this blog may well be aware of much of what follows, but I’ve thought for some [...]

      I'm getting pumped about/for my new online course on the Gospel of Matthew, this coming weekend (Feb 3-4), and want to make sure you know about it before ... well, the End is Near.   I have the lectures all drawn up, the Powerpoints made, and now it's just a bit of fine tuning before we go live.  If you haven't signed up, but think you might be interested, check it out here:  https://ehrman.thrivecart.com/matthew/ The course will be eight lectures, four on Saturday and four on Sunday.  I'll be covering tons of stuff I've never discussed on the blog or, as it turns out, in any public lecture.  Go figure.  Those who sign up for the course will have life-time access to it (we'll publish it with Suggestions for Further Reading, Questions for Reflection, and so on, and participants will receive it automatically). Please remember, you can get a discount on the course by using the code BLOG5.   A portion of the proceeds of the course will be donated to the blog.   Here are [...]

Another travel opportunity has come up for me this summer, a tour of some of the Greek Islands on June 10-20.  These are some of my favorite places on planet earth.  I'll be giving lectures, enjoying the sites, and hanging out with the folk who come. Needless to say, this will be really good.  If it's in the range of your possibilites, check it out. Below you'll see a brochure with all the details.  Here's what I say about it there: ************** We will be island-hopping to some of the most scenic sites in the world – stunningly gorgeous landscapes and seascapes, incredibly beautiful villages and towns, museums, monasteries, churches, and archaeological sites: some of the oldest remnants of western civilization. Some of the places we’ll be going will be new for me.  For many years I’ve wanted to visit Andros, unusually dramatic and filled with interesting villages, monasteries, and churches.  And Naxos (where Dionysus, the Greek god of wine was born.  Take note!), boasting significant ancient remains, old Christian churches, and impressive Venetian architecture: [...]

My next book will be dealing with how the teachings of Jesus transformed the understanding of what it meant to live a good life and to be a good person in the Western world.  One of the most important areas I'll be focusing on is Jesus' emphasis on going out of one's way to help those in need -- not just family and friends, but even complete strangers.  What we think of as privately funded charities, governmental support of the needy, and individual assistance for those we hear about virtually didn't exist in the pagan/polytheistic world of the Roman empire before then.   It exists big time now, and it almost certainly would not have happened apart from the influence of Jesus' followers, as Christianity became the dominant religion of the West and transformed culture, society, and government.  And now this commitment to help others in need seems rooted in our DNA (well, obviously not in all of us!), whether we identify as Christian or not.    The original motivation for the Bart Ehrman Blog was [...]