July 2024 - Page 2 of 2 - The Bart Ehrman Blog

How Can We Possibly Know a Scribe’s Intentions? My Most Important Theoretical Reflection
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How Can We Possibly Know a Scribe’s Intentions? My Most Important Theoretical Reflection

Book Discussions, New Testament Manuscripts

How Can We Possibly Know a Scribe’s Intentions? My Most Important Theoretical Reflection

Can we know what a scribe intended to do when he changed the text? Is it actually possible to know what anyone INTENDS? Isn't that technically impossible, unless we get into their minds somehow? I had to deal with this issue in the Orthodox Corruption of Scripture and there I laid out the theoretical premises I have/had, to allow me to say that a scribe intended to change a text. It's a view that most readers completely overlooked, including a bunch of my critics. *********************** Intentionality as a Functional Category The other theoretical claim that I made in Orthodox Corruption involved the broader concept of what it means to describe a scribal alteration of the text as “intentional.” I have been deeply interested in the question of “intention” for many years, as a philosophical problem (there is considerable philosophical discourse on it, of course), an issue in literary interpretation (especially since Wimsatt and Beardsley’s famous “Intentional Fallacy”), and, naturally, as it relates to scribes. Most textual critics have unproblematically talked about scribal changes being either accidental [...]

BDEhrman2024-07-10T12:29:21-04:00July 9th, 2024|Book Discussions, New Testament Manuscripts|

Free Lecture on Paul’s Life and Letters, Thursday (July 11)

I will be giving a free remote lecture this Thursday, July 11, at 1:00 pm EST. You're welcome to come! Sorry 'bout the time -- but I'm in England and so it'll be early evening here. The lecture is designed to be a lead-in to the annual New Insights into the New Testament (NINT) conference that will be happening on September 21-22. The conference will feature ten speakers who will each give a 50-minute talk with Q&A, all on topics (of speaker's choice) connected with the life and letters of Paul; the talks will all be geared to a general audience at about the level we address things here on the blog and in my online courses (www.bartehrman.com). The speakers are some of the top Pauline scholars in the cosmos. We haven't announced the conference yet, but will soon, with instructions about how to register etc. Whoever registers for it will receive a recording of my Thursday lecture for free. In it I will be presenting basic background into Paul to help get everyone up [...]

BDEhrman2024-07-08T14:27:37-04:00July 8th, 2024|Public Forum|

The Evolution of Jewish Monotheism–Platinum Post By Daniel Kohanski

Were ancient Israelites and then later Jews actually monotheists? What would that actually even mean? Did their belief in the gods/God change over time? Here is an intriguing and informed discussion by Platinum blog member Dan Kohanski. What do you think? ****************************** The Evolution of Jewish Monotheism[1] Monotheism—the idea that there is one and only one divine Being in the universe—is the underlying foundation of Judaism. Jews reaffirm this twice a day by reciting the Shema, the basic statement of the Jewish faith: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." This belief is said to have started with Abraham and established for all by Moses at Sinai as one of the Ten Commandments: "You shall have no other Gods besides Me" (Ex. 20:3). But is this really the way it happened in history, even in Biblical history? I suggest that the idea of monotheism evolved only gradually among the ancient Israelites, and even after it was generally accepted by their descendants the Jews, it was not completely so until Roman [...]

Diane2024-07-07T15:21:01-04:00July 8th, 2024|Public Forum|

Are Scribes of Texts Actually Authors?

In my overview of the responses to my book The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture in the Afterword I wrote of the 2nd edition, I began to address some major questions. In the book I argued that scribes of the New Testament intentionally changed the text in places in order to make it more orthodox in its theology or to circumvent its use by "heretics" who had other views. That raises a question: are scribes who change the text to make it say something different actually *authors* instead of mere copyists? Here's how I discuss the issue at the beginning of my Afterword. ************************ I see no need here to restate the original thesis of The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture. There is one issue connected with it, however, that has not been clear to some of its readers that does need to be addressed. In the book I never claimed and certainly never meant to claim that the majority of all textual variants in the tradition were “intentional” (a term I will be discussing [...]

BDEhrman2024-07-12T08:16:36-04:00July 7th, 2024|Book Discussions, New Testament Manuscripts|

The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, 2nd edition

I get asked a lot about my various books, and I often mention one of my books when no one has asked (you may have noticed). It occurred to me that it might be useful for me to present some blog posts on what each book is about. Probably my best known academic book was The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture (Oxford University Press, 1993). Twenty years after it was published I was asked to do a second edition, in which I would explain where the thing had originally come from (in my head) and what had happened in the field since it's original publication. Here is the Afterword to the 2nd edition (slightly edited) where I try to explain why I wrote it and what I was trying to accomplish with it. (It includes reflections on an alleged "original text" of the New Testament). ******************************* The following sketch is intended to reflect on what has been achieved in the field of New Testament textual criticism since I first published The Orthodox Corruption of [...]

BDEhrman2024-07-12T08:13:50-04:00July 6th, 2024|Book Discussions, New Testament Manuscripts|

July Gold Q&A: Your Turn

Summertime, and Gold Q&A time! I'll be recording another Q&A for all Gold & Platinum members soon, so here's your chance to take advantage of this perk. Send me whatever question has been nagging at you (blog-related, of course!). Short, to-the-point questions of general interest are most likely to get answered. Send an email to Diane at [email protected], and she'll compile all your questions for me. DEADLINE: Please get your question in by Friday of next week (07/12/2024) at midnight (whenever midnight is in your time zone).

Diane2024-04-09T14:46:06-04:00July 5th, 2024|Public Forum|

Does God Have Chromosomes? Guest Post by Douglas Wadeson, MD

What happens when a modern physician starts asking difficult questions of familiar biblical stories? Here is one answer: an intriguing post covering a topic that will not have occurred to most of us. Let's think about how a Virgin Birth works when (now, unlike antiquity) we have a pretty good idea of how Births work in general. If God made Mary pregnant through the spirit, what does that have to say about the nature of Jesus' at the biological level and, well, the chromosomes of God? This Platinum guest post is delivered to us courtesy of Platinum member Doug Wadeson. As I've mentioned, Platinum members can publish posts for other Platinum members, and they then vote on one to go to the blog at large. Doug won *twice* recently, so here's the second one. I have to admit, HERE is something I never thought of before! But I don't know, does it sound controversial to you? ****************************** Does God Have Chromosomes? Dr. Ehrman has many posts discussing the technical difficulties of the two birth stories [...]

Diane2024-06-29T13:18:20-04:00July 4th, 2024|Public Forum|

Did People Have Time for Jesus? – Guest Post from Platinum Member Doug Wadeson, MD.

There is nothing better than a guest blog post that flat-out disagrees with me! And here we have one. Is it plausible that Jesus could have had large crowds gathering together to hear his preaching in rural Galilee? I say: Not really. Platinum blog member Doug Wadeson says: Oh yes! As you may know, blog members on the Platinum Tier are allowed to write posts for other Platinum members. (Nice perk! If you're not a platinum member: take a look at it and see if you're interested. Just click JOIN [even if you belong already] and scroll to Platinum Tier and see). Every few weeks other Platinum members vote on which recent Platinum post should be posted on the blog at large. Doug's won the prize. Here's his post. What do you think? ****************************** On those few occasions when I have challenged something Dr. Ehrman has said he can usually shoot me down pretty quickly based on his range and depth of knowledge. But I am going to try again. Dr. Ehrman has suggested [...]

Diane2024-06-29T13:13:46-04:00July 3rd, 2024|Public Forum|

Platinum Webinar July 6

Platinum members, it's time for our quarterly Platinum webinar, where Bart and just Platinum members get together on Zoom. Because Bart is in a far time zone, we'll have to start early--1:00 PM EDT (check your time zone). This time, Bart's topic will be "How Can Historians Discuss the Miracles of the New Testament?" Of course, there will be time at the end for questions...be prepared! Zoom link: Platinum webinar July 6, 1:00 PM EDT But don't worry--we'll record the webinar and post for all Platinums to watch, so no problem if you can't participate live.

Diane2024-07-02T15:16:22-04:00July 2nd, 2024|Public Forum|

Finishing and Publishing My Dissertation
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Finishing and Publishing My Dissertation

New Testament Manuscripts, Reflections and Ruminations

Finishing and Publishing My Dissertation

This is the third and final post I'll do on my dissertation on the Gospel quotations in the writings of Didymus the Blind, advised by the great New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger. Different dissertation advisors have different approaches to supervising a dissertation. Some are extremely hands on, to the point of working over every thought and every sentence. Not too many are like that, because if they were, they would never do anything else with their life. Plus, the idea is for the student to figure it out and get good at it. That takes some trial and error. Other advisors go for the big picture and like to talk over the big ideas. Others basically don’t give a rip how the dissertation is coming along – they want to see it at the end, and when it’s done, they’ll tell the student whether it’s good enough or not. Others … well, there are lots of other approaches. Metzger took an approach that other students may have found frustrating, but that was absolutely [...]

BDEhrman2024-07-04T10:39:17-04:00July 2nd, 2024|New Testament Manuscripts, Reflections and Ruminations|

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