April 2026 - The Bart Ehrman Blog

Was Jesus the Incarnation of an Angel? Anniversary Post #13

A lot of people had trouble agreeing with the view I set out in this post from April 2025; most reading it now probably will still. But I stick by it! So here is Anniversary post #13. For many years I was puzzled by Paul's Christology--his views of Christ. All the various things he said about it didn’t seem to add up to a coherent whole to me, even though I thought and thought and thought about it. But I finally found the piece that, when added to the puzzle, made it all fit together. I think now I can make sense of [pretty much] every Christological statement in Paul’s letters. This not because I myself finally figured it out, but because I finally read some discussions that actually made sense, and saw that they are almost certainly right. Here’s what I say about it in How Jesus Became God. ****************************** Many people no doubt have the same experience I do on occasion, of reading something numerous times, over and over, and not [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-28T11:23:23-04:00April 30th, 2026|Early Christian Doctrine, Paul and His Letters|

An Amazing Fragment of a Lost Gospel: Anniversary Post #12

Did Jesus tell Peter that his "sheep" (followers) did not need to worry about being torn to shreds by the wolves (persecutors), since, well, when they were, they'd be dead anyway? Celebrating our 14th anniversary of the blog (starting April 2012), I have been posting 14 favorite posts from previous Aprils. This one is from April 2024, on one of my all time favorite Gospel fragments that may be from the otherwise-partially-known Gospel of Peter. It records an intriguing conversation between Jesus and Peter, if nothing else... ****************************** One of the most captivating tiny fragments of a lost Gospel discovered in modern times came from a trash heap excavated from the ancient city of Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, one of many thousands of manuscript fragments found there, some of them Christian but most of them non-Christian (most of which were non-literary texts, that is, personal letters, land deeds, divorce certificates, bills of sale, etc.). Did this fragment come from Gospel of Peter? The "Gospel of Peter" we have today, which was discovered in 1886, is, unfortunately, [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-24T10:32:49-04:00April 29th, 2026|Early Christian Writings (100-400 CE)|

Active Pastors Who Have Lost Their Faith: Anniversary Post #11
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Active Pastors Who Have Lost Their Faith: Anniversary Post #11

Public Forum

Active Pastors Who Have Lost Their Faith: Anniversary Post #11

Here's a post that covers a topic many of you may have wondered about, others of you have asked me about, and yet others of you may never have much thought about! Pastors in the pulpit who are no longer believers. Whoa. This is Anniversary Post #11, from April 2023. ****************************** Are you curious about Christian Pastors who have lost their faith? You may not know this, but if you’re in a Christian church – whether it’s a traditional Roman Catholic church, Episcopalian, Southern Baptist, Independent-Bible-Thumping-Fire-and Brimstone-Fundamentalist – your priest/pastor may be losing his/her faith, or already lost it. And yet still be in the pulpit. There are some times when you might suspect something was up. Other times, you’d have no clue. I’ve been there, on both sides of that equation. I won’t talk about the loss of faith on the part of pastors who were preaching in front of me every week. But I can say something about myself, in the pulpit, desperately trying to hold on to my faith, and seeing it [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-24T10:28:14-04:00April 28th, 2026|Public Forum|

The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus: Platinum Post by Douglas Wadeson, MD

Now here's a post on an intruiging topic involving an amusing tale that roughly no one has heard of. But Platinum Member Doug Wadeson has looked into it: here we can all learn something of interest.... ****************************** I have spent most of my life going to various churches and yet I never heard the story of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. Have you? It is an old Christian tale which is set in the year 250 CE (AD). However, I first learned of it in the Qur’an! Muhammad makes reference to the story in chapter (sura) 18 entitled The Cave. Muhammad often borrows stories from the Jews and Christians, so it is not unusual for him to use this story as well. I’ll get to his version in a bit. Here is the story as cited in the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913: --- The story is this: Decius (249-251) once came to Ephesus to enforce his laws against Christians — a gruesome description of the horrors he made them suffer follows — here he found [...]

jennao2026-04-23T10:07:06-04:00April 27th, 2026|Public Forum|

A Letter Written by Jesus!? Anniversary Post #10

I sometimes get asked if Jesus ever wrote anything. Well, it depends whom you ask. As it turns out, we do have a couple of ancient writings claiming to be written by Jesus himself. Here is the most famous one that we still have that I blogged about in April 2022, as our Anniversary Post #10. ****************************** In an earlier post I talked about whether Jesus could read, and came up with the definite answer: Maybe. That brought to mind a related question: could Jesus write? And do we have any ancient works that claim to be written by him? Answer: Yes indeed. The most famous (among scholars anyway) is a one-time famous correspondence between Jesus and a king who lived in Edessa in Syria named Abgar. I translated it for the book I published (on all earliest Christian Gospels) with my colleague Zlatko Plese, called The Other Gospels. Here is what I say there about the letters (the one from Abgar to Jesus, then his response); at the end of the post [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-20T22:34:30-04:00April 26th, 2026|Forgery in Antiquity, Historical Jesus|

Anniversary Post #9: Misquoting Misquoting Jesus

Nothing is more frustrating than writing a book and having people -- friends and foes -- misread and misunderstand it and think it's about something it's not. (OK, I think I just lied. There are more frustrating things. It was more frustrating when the the "f" and "b" keys on the keyboard on my laptop stopped working. I had to copy and paste the letters in for weeks) (Well, actually, now that I think about it, there are lots more frustrating things. But still...) That's the topic of my post done in April 2020, which I give here as one of my favorites, Anniversary Post #9, on misunderstandings of my book Misquoting Jesus ****************************** Misquoting Jesus is my most widely read book. And I continue to be a bit amazed and dismayed at how widely it is misunderstood. The book was meant to deal with one very specific issue connected with the New Testament, and people who have read it – let alone the people who have not – often assume it’s about some *other* [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-20T22:29:42-04:00April 25th, 2026|New Testament Manuscripts|

May 2026 Platinum Webinar Announcement

One of the benefits of being a Platinum member of the blog is an invitation to attend Bart’s quarterly lectures. These lectures offer an opportunity to go deeper into topics that don’t always make their way into regular posts and to pick Bart's brain on the topic during the Q&A. The next lecture will be on the Gospel of Thomas. It's a text that has long intrigued scholars and readers alike. Bart is looking forward to diving into it with you. Details: Date: Sunday, May 24, 2026 Time: 3:00 pm Eastern Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82670328885?pwd=OLFAJwJltQl36WUOsTBgP0BX33XvA9.1 Meeting ID: 826 7032 8885 Passcode: 725078 As always, I will send the replay out after the event for those who cannot make it live. Hope to see you there! - Jen

jennao2026-04-23T22:54:10-04:00April 24th, 2026|Public Forum|

Different Words, VERY Different Theologies, and Understanding Which Words They Were. Readers’ Questions

Here are several recent questions I have received that are oddly (and by serendipity) closely related to each other and connected with knowing the New Testament writings said and meant. QUESTION: Don’t you think NT scholars need to stop calling people raised from the dead back to mortality “resuscitations” (e.g., those in 1 Kgs, 2 Kgs, various NT scenes, and Hellenistic traditions)? These aren’t resuscitations (from an almost dead state), they are real “resurrections” from a truly dead state! NT scholarship has co-opted the word “resurrection” to mean raised from the dead back to immortality, but that’s not what that term means, it just means raised from the dead. In truth, Jesus was both resurrected AND made immortal, and one needs to explain why Jesus’ followers thought both of these things about Jesus. RESPONSE: I'd say it's tricky to come up with words that have the precision the ideas do. The virtue of reserving "resurrection" for the idea of being "raised to immortality" (that is, be brought back to life never [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-20T20:43:01-04:00April 23rd, 2026|Public Forum, Reader’s Questions|

Bad Bible Jokes. (And do you have any?)

I’m visiting my daughter and her family up in New Hampshire just now, and the 16 year-old is reading A Children’s Bible, a novel by Pulitzer Prize finalist Lydia Millet, for her English class. But it’s filled with biblical allusions from the book of Genesis and elsewhere, so over dinner last night I decided it was time to tell some Bible jokes. You hear a lot of these if you go to Bible college, trust me. And maybe otherwise! Here are four of the classics. Do you have any? Let’s hear ‘em. Where is baseball first mentioned in the Bible? “In the Big Inning” Where is tennis first mentioned in the Bible? “Joseph served on Pharaoh’s court” Who was the first constipated person in the Bible? “Cain. Because he wasn’t Abel.” (I didn’t tell this last one because I thought it probably required to much background/knowledge to be funny) (I’m assuming it’s funny…): Who was the smallest person in the Bible? There are a variety of possible answers. The wrong ones would [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-20T20:36:01-04:00April 22nd, 2026|Public Forum|

Anniversary Post #8: When Is a Contradiction Not a Contradiction?
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Anniversary Post #8: When Is a Contradiction Not a Contradiction?

Canonical Gospels

Anniversary Post #8: When Is a Contradiction Not a Contradiction?

How can you debate about whether there are contradictions in the Bible if you don't agree on what contradictions are? In this Anniversary POst #8, taken from April 2019, I deal with this issue. At the time we were doing a blog fundraiser involving a debate between me and an Oxford-trained theologian named Matthew Firth, who insisted the Gospels have no contradictions of any kind. I, well, disagreed with this view. What ensued was a multi-post back and forth that you can still see (either go posts from o April 2019 or do a word search for Firth). Here is my preliminary post about the issue of "contradictions," exploring what the term means and does not mean, in my view. ****************************** As many of you know, Rev. Matthew Firth, an Anglican rector trained in theology at Oxford, will soon be participating on the blog in a fund-raising event, for which many of you, bless your souls, have already donated. This will entail a debate with me over whether there are contradictions in the Gospels. The [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-17T10:51:47-04:00April 21st, 2026|Canonical Gospels|

Does God Care What We Wear? A Platinum Post by Douglas Wadeson, MD

I'm pleased to provide this guest-post by Doug Wadeson to all you fellow Platinum members (only), on a topic of perennial interest to anyone who prefers to wear clothes. And remember, you TOO can provide a post on any topic you're interested in connected with the blog. You don't need to be an expert! Simply any thoughts, ideas, interests you have will work. Have any? Go for it! ****************************** In a recent Platinum Post I examined the food regulations in Judaism, Christianity and the Qur’an. Muhammad mostly agrees with the Jews about food, except for camel (Moses: Nay! Muhammad: Yay!). My contention is that God has far more important things to worry about than food. But what about clothing? Does God care what we wear? If you see a man wearing a yarmulke (or kippah) on Friday night it’s a pretty fair bet that he’s a Jew. If you see a woman wearing a hijab it’s a pretty fair bet that she is Muslim (unless it’s just a pretty scarf). Some Christian sects also require [...]

jennao2026-04-16T09:48:57-04:00April 20th, 2026|Public Forum|

Celebrating our 14th Anniversary! Check Out the Unusual Q&A!

As you may know, this month we are celebrating fourteen years of the blog's existence. The actual anniversary took place back on April 3rd, and to mark the occasion, we did something a little different. Instead of a lecture or formal Q&A, we hosted a live cocktail hour built entirely (okay, well mostly) around hypotheticals. We discussed the kinds of questions that are too playful for a classroom but still rooted in real historical thinking. I offered a few answers to get us started, but the real fun was hearing yours. It turns out that even the most offbeat questions can open up genuinely interesting ways of thinking about the past. If you missed it, here’s the full recording. https://vimeo.com/1182051051/8bf9b050b7?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

BDEhrman2026-04-12T12:53:57-04:00April 19th, 2026|Public Forum|

Anniversary Post #7: Doing a Graduate Degree in Early Christian Studies

It doesn't seem like it should be that hard to get a PhD in New Testament/Early Christianity, right? It ain't quantum physics! How hard can it be? This is an issue I addressed in April 2018, which I present here as my Anniversary post #7. ****************************** I often get questions from people who have been in a career for a while who want to know if it is feasible for them to go back to school and get a PhD in my field of New Testament/Early Christianity. In most cases it is not feasible at all, simply because it is way too complicated and involved -- and takes way more time than one would think. I teach one undergraduate and one graduate course a semester. Teaching undergraduates is a passion of mine. I love doing it. These are nineteen-year-olds who are inquisitive, interested, and interesting. I enjoy lecturing to a crowd like that, figuring out what can make complicated material intriguing and compelling, keeping them attentive, helping them understand such important topics. [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-23T23:20:44-04:00April 18th, 2026|Teaching Christianity|

Anniversary Post #6 Is Mark’s Seemingly Simple Gospel Unsophisticated?

On the surface, Mark's Gospel seems straightforward and simple, a kind of nuts-and-bolts account of Jesus' life from his baptism to the empty tomb. But is it just that? Here is my Anniversary post #6 celebrating our 14th Blog anniversary, taken from April 2017, where I dealt with this issue in response to a reader's question: ****************************** This post focuses on the literary artistry of the Gospel of Mark – is it a fairly unsophisticated account of Jesus’ life and death? The question itself will require a bit of set-up and explanation. In an earlier post I argued that Mark’s Gospel almost certainly ended in chapter sixteen at verse 8. Jesus has been crucified, dead, and buried. On the third day some women go to his tomb to anoint his body more appropriately for burial, but when they arrive the tomb is already opened, Jesus’ body is not in it, but a young man is, who asks them if they are looking for Jesus of Nazareth. He then tells them that he has [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-14T10:34:30-04:00April 16th, 2026|Canonical Gospels|

Anniversary Post #5: Why I Was Reluctant to Write The Triumph of Christianity

My book The Triumph of Christianity was (by far?) the most difficult book I've written for a general audience (difficult to write, not to read). And it was the most learned in many ways, as well as the one I learned most from by writing it, because of the range of informatoin I had to deal with. Here is my Anniversary Post #5, published in 2016, before I was fully committed (that is, under contract) to write it, explaining why I knew it would be unusually hard. ****************************** When my agent Roger and I decided that we might want to explore the possibility of going with a different publisher, the first step was to come up with a book proposal to shop around. For ten years or so I had been wanting to write a particular book, but had always put it off because it had seemed like such a MAJOR undertaking. I came to think that this was the perfect time to pursue it, to propose doing a new book on a completely new [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-09T15:49:21-04:00April 15th, 2026|Book Discussions, Spread of Christianity|

Anniversary Post #4: Why Gospels Matter Even Where They Are Not Historical
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Anniversary Post #4: Why Gospels Matter Even Where They Are Not Historical

Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus

Anniversary Post #4: Why Gospels Matter Even Where They Are Not Historical

If the Gospels are not historical, why should they matter?? Here is my anniversary post from April 2015; in it I expostulate on the importance of the Gospels even if they are not historically accurate, and challenge the idea that history is all that matters. (It's longer than my typical post.) It is taken from the ending of my book Jesus Before the Gospels (HarperOne) based on feedback / pushback I was getting from some readers, and explains why "memory" is just as important (more?) as history. ****************************** Like most authors, I get a lot of email from people who have read my books. I find one of the comments I repeatedly receive somewhat puzzling and even disheartening. To explain it, I need to provide a bit of background. When I discuss historical understandings of the New Testament and of the historical Jesus, I frequently refer to the problems of our sources. The Gospels were written decades after Jesus’ death by people who were not eyewitnesses and had probably never laid eyes on an eyewitness. [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-14T10:29:15-04:00April 14th, 2026|Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus|

Anniversary Post #3: My Response to an Ill-Tempered Richard Carrier

Here is the third post in my series celebrating our 14th blog anniversary, a post from each of our 14 past years. This is the one I've chosen from April 2014; it's another one that involves a response to a rather spirited attempt to show that I'm an idiot. I tried not to respond TOO much in kind, but, well, I guess it is a bit feisty.... ****************************** Sometimes I think that if I’m “getting it from all sides,” I may be doing something right. The religious conservatives seems to be up in arms about my book How Jesus Became God – both conservative evangelical Protestants and conservative Roman Catholics like the Very Reverend Robert Barron. In fact, as I’ve said, I do not think anything in the book is inimical to Christian faith, unless it is completely committed to a view of the infallibility of the Bible and its full, historical accuracy. The Christianity I admire is not like that. But I get it from the non-religious left as well. Yesterday a [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-09T15:35:55-04:00April 12th, 2026|Bart's Critics, Historical Jesus|

Anniversary Post #2: Why Were the Gospels Written Anonymously?

Here is the second of my "Anniversary Posts" given in celebration of the fourteenth year of the blog. Unlike the snarky first in the series, this one is meant to be strictly informative, on an issue that I regularly get asked about by people who come to realize that the Gospels were not originally circulated in the names we now know them by. But they weren't called something else. They were anonymous. But why? Here was my answer from April 2013, and it's pretty much what I think now in April 2026! ****************************** It is always interesting to ask why an author chose to remain anonymous, never more so than with the Gospels of the New Testament. In some instances an ancient author did not need to name himself because his readers knew perfectly well who he was and did not need to be told. That is almost certainly the case with the letters of 1, 2, and 3 John. These are private letters sent from someone who calls himself “the elder” to a church [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-09T15:15:49-04:00April 11th, 2026|Canonical Gospels|

Anniversary Post #1: Defending Misquoting Jesus

Here I begin my 14-post "anniversary" series with the very first post that appeared on the blog (April 3, 2014). Recall: this thread will consist of 14 posts from each of the 14 years of the blogs life, one per year, 13 of them from ... April of that year. (Not this year's, since if you follow the blog, they are still fresh in your mind. This first one is rather telling. Among other things, it tells how much more thin-skinned, snarky, and combative I was in the days of my youth (fourteen years ago!). Hey, go for the jugular! Even so, since it was post #1, it simply has to start the thread. ****************************** Probably more than any of my other books, Misquoting Jesus provoked a loud and extensive critique from scholars – almost exclusively among evangelical Christians, who appear to have thought that if readers were “led astray” by my claims in the book (in many instances, these critics pointed to claims that in fact I never claimed!) they might be [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-09T15:10:39-04:00April 9th, 2026|Bart's Critics, New Testament Manuscripts|

Celebrating The Blog’s 14th Anniversary! Do You Have a Favorite Post?

Want to help celebrate the beginning of year 15 of the blog? Choose one of your favorite posts (even if you started, say, last week) for us to revisit (see belowe for details) We celebrated our 14th anniversary on April 3 (this year, 2026). Whoa. Never saw that coming. We're gonna keep celebrating for a while. First I should say that this longevity entails some interesting numbers. We have had 4300 posts (most by me; but some by guest scholars and occasionally Platinum members); on average that means about six a week. These posts have generated about 165,710 comments from readers, so around 228 per week; and about 55,000 of those are my replies to questions, so about 75 per week. OK then. More important, we have raised a boatload of money for our charities, nearly $3.5 million since we started; with the last three years being by far the best for our, nearly $1.5 million combined. The vast chunk of that has come from membership fees -- that is, from your generous decision to [...]

BDEhrman2026-04-08T10:06:51-04:00April 8th, 2026|Public Forum|