Loading...I am pleased to announce that I will be doing a six-lecture online (recorded) course called: “In the Beginning: History, Legend and Myth in the Pentateuch. Part 1. The Book of Genesis.” This will not be in connection with the blog per se, but there is an important connection worth noting for blog members (see below).
The plan is to make this course the first installment of a rather long series of courses that I am calling, “How Scholars Read the Bible.” (The next six-lecture course – no surprise! – will be the rest of the Pentateuch after Genesis). Each lecture in this course, and the ones that follow, will be thirty minutes of length.
We will later be announcing the release date of the course (it will probably in February). But I want to let you know about it now, so that it can be on your radar screen. And because there is a special opportunity connected to it. I will be delivering the lectures to a live audience (remotely), and anyone who purchases the course will be allowed to watch the live presentation with the added benefit of two live Q&A sessions (which will not be included in the course package itself when published.)
If you are interested in learning more about the course and how to register for it: go to the site that we have just started on my courses: https://www.bartehrman.com/courses/
Here is the deal for blog members. If you decide to come to the live lecture, we will use your registration fee FOR THE BLOG, to go to the blog’s operating expenses. All you will need to do is let us know that you have made the purchase, and BINGO, the fee will go to the blog.
I will be doing TWO recording sessions: Sunday January 30; 12:30-3:00 (lectures 1-3) and Sunday Feb. 6 (lectures 4-6), from 3:00-5:30 pm. For each session I will deliver the three lectures in sequence (with a short break between each for me to catch my breath) and then, after the third, have a 30 minutes Q&A with participants.
Are you interested? It is easy to register. Again, it is https://www.bartehrman.com/courses/ . As a blog member, if you will notify us, we will direct your fee to go to the blog’s operating expenses. Just send a quick note to [email protected] .
PLEASE NOTE: If you are a blog member and have ALREADY PURCHASED A REGISTRATION, let us know so we can direct the fee accordingly.
Here are the six lectures I’ll be giving. Interested? Check out the site for registration details.
- Mysteries and Meanings of the Pentateuch.
The five books of the Pentateuch are foundational not just for the nation of Israel and the history of Judaism but for the history of civilization in the West. Yet they are rarely read, even more rarely understood, and often simply dismissed. This lecture shows why these accounts continue to be intriguing and can in fact be hugely important, even for readers who don’t “believe” them.
- Myth, Science, and How it All Began.
Many people today – even internationally esteemed scientists – try to reconcile the creation myths of Genesis with the claims of science. This lecture shows why the endeavor is not only futile but also misguided. These are not scientific accounts, as can easily be shown. But when understood as “myths” they can illuminate important understandings of the world, and so are still worth our attention and reflection.
- Did Genesis Borrow Its Stories from Other Cultures?
Among the most surprising and influential findings of modern archaeology are ancient texts produced before the book of Genesis that narrate older forms of many of its stories – especially its accounts of creation and the worldwide flood. How do we explain such works as the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Enuma Elish? And how does their existence affect how we assess the uniqueness of the biblical narratives and their importance?
- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph: History or Legend?
Some of the greatest stories of antiquity come to us from the book of Genesis, in its delightful accounts of the ancestors of Israel: Abraham and Sarah; Isaac and Rebecca; Jacob and Rachel (and Leah and his other paramours); and Joseph and … Asenath? Some of these are relatively well known (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat!), others not (Asenath?). What can we say about these accounts as historical records? If they are more legendary than historical, should they simply be dismissed as unimportant?
- The Bible and Morality? Case Studies from the “Patriarchs”
Most of the billions of Christians in the world believe – and many insist – that their moral views come from the Bible, with its stress on monogamy, sexual restraint, truthfulness, non-violence, and fairness. But what about the stories of Genesis that describe (promote?) their opposites: polygamy, sexual license, deceit, brutality, and injustice? Are these simply to be overlooked when considering “the biblical” views of morality?
- Who Wrote the Pentateuch?
For most of Jewish and Christian history, Bible readers have assumed that Moses himself wrote the first five books of Scripture, the Pentateuch. Scholars since the nineteenth century, however, have maintained otherwise. How do the stories of the first book, Genesis, help us decide the matter? If Moses did not write them, who did? Were there multiple authors? When did they write? And how would we know?
Suggested Reading
John Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, 3rd ed. (Fortress Press), 2018. This is an introduction to the entire Bible with a superb discussion of Genesis and the critical problems it presents.
Michael Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction, 3rd ed. (Oxford University Press), 2017. Another strong introduction from a critical perspective, widely used in colleges and universities.
Bart Ehrman, The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press), 2017. Not as in-depth but possibly more accessible to lay readers, covering the major critical issues in the study of Genesis and the rest of the Pentateuch.
Stephanie Dalley, Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others (Oxford University Press, 2015). A very nice collection and translation of myths from other cultures that predate the writings of Genesis.
Prof Ehrman,
Exciting!!!
Please, any considerations to the earlier suggestion for some certification for participants?
We’re thinking about it! And maybe doing even a bit more. Keep checking back. It won’t be right away, but we may be able to get it worked up in a month or so.
How in God’s name can you write AMAZING books, amazing posts for the blog, prepare voluminous, fascinating online courses and have a daily job AND read daily all these books and articles and what have you, while, at the very same time, there’s ESPN and this unprecedented climactic duel between LeBron James and Kevin Durant is something I just can’t wrap my brain around. I’m trying to read one chapter and it takes me a whole afternoon with all these distractions. I’m in awe, really! Huge RESPECT!
How much are the blog’s annual operating expenses? Who currently pays them?
They’re probably aroundn $40,000 a year; I’m happy to look them up if you reall want to know. For the first eight years, when they weren’t that high (!), I paid for them myself out of pocket. Now we have a separate fund-raising arm of the blog, a group of donors who give directly to operating expenses and fund-raising events that I undertake for the blog. I still chip in too, but it’s gotten too big for me to do on my own.
Are the lectures American Eastern Standard Time?
Yup.
Hi Dr Ehrman!
What are your thoughts on the Penguin classics book: The Apocryphal Gospels?
Is it very different form your own book on the topic?
Thank you!
I’m afraid I’m not familiar with it. Who edited it?
I just looked it up and see that it’s Simon Gathercole. I had never heard of him but then I found two “Unbelievable” podcast debates between him and you, which are always great!! Not sure that I’ll be buying his book before yours though (maybe I’m a little biased!)
Oh yes, he’s a bona fide scholar. We disagree on a lot, but he’s also a reallygood guy.
In the post
My Pet Peeve: Simplistic Answers to Explain Suffering
January 5, 2022
Several bloggers have noticed that in your answers in some previous blogs, your picture does not appear, but it is another person.
And I noticed that in your answers at the post – April 29, 2020 What are the Epistles of John.
It’s not you because you’re older now, it’s another man!
thanks. we’re looking into it.
I am really looking forward to this series. Will there be a recording for those unable to attend “live?”
Yes, if you purchase the course you’ll get a recording whether you can make to to the live event or not. In fact, not just a recording but the entire course (with added benefits to the lectures themselves)
Wonderful! Thank you.
Good project, Sir !
But, hmmm, “Scholars since the 19th century” — ?
Spinoza, in the 17th century, was perhaps the first scholar to bring up the problem of Moses not being the author of the Pentateuch, no?
~eric. MeridaGOround dot com
I’m new but I took your course on Lost Christianities from the Teaching Company years ago. I am now going back over Jesus (as an atheist I am looking at the man) and my reading of John is that it might have been written by James the Just since it has so many references that only a family member would know. The other question is that the 114 saying by Thomas is doubting Thomas since both have the name Didymus. In addition, I wonder if Jesus and possibly James the Just before he became a rabbi, took training with the Essenes. So many of Jesus’ thoughts appear to match what Josephus and Philo wrote about the Essene culture. Any thoughts about these things?
Cordially, Dr. Diane Holloway Cheney
Since most of the material in John is probably not historical, I suppose it’s not necessary for a relative to have written it. Yes Didymus Thomas: Didymus means twin in Greek; Thomas means twin in Aramaic. In some early Syriac traditions it was thought that this was jesus’ own twin brother: in fact an identical twin!
Hello Dr. Ehrman,
It is so great that you make all these video courses, thanks.
What do you think of making courses for the online platform Coursera where the participants can do work, have a passing grade, and earn a certificate. I have seen that the University of North Carolina already have some courses there.
That’s not going to be our model at the outset, but we are talking about providing certificates; getting a pssing grade would require papers and examinations, and I don’t see how that would be possible (since I’d have to grade them!)
Are these recordings associated with The Great Courses/Wondrium at all?
No, no connection at all.
Hi Dr Ehrman!
So if I’m understanding this, does that mean that the money spent buying the course will be taken off of the blog fees? So it’s essentially free if you were planning on remaining a blog member for months to come?
Thank you!
No, I’m afraid not. The fee will go to pay for the expenses of the blog, so people from teh blog who pay for the course will be supporting the work of the blog with their fee.
Just to be sure, will these lectures be on the Great Courses (Wondery) as I already subscribe to that.
Nope, these are completely unrelated.
Is there any evidence that the writers of luke and acts of the Apostles used Josephus?
These day’s a lot of scholars are convinced he did. They tell some of the same stories (e.g. the death of Herod) and the argument is that Luke used Josephus.
That would put Luke-Acts into the early decade or two of the second century.
Hi Dr Ehrman!
Love your books. I am currently reading Lost Christianities.
Concerning your Jan 30 and Feb 6 events, do we need zoom or a similar app ?
You don’t need to have Zoom, no. If you sign up we’ll send you a link and you just need to click on it.
So I’m confused or just don’t know, is it that these stories were written down 50- 60 yrs after the events happened that their writing about, and then what a thousand yrs later these books were put together into the NT that we have now.
My lectures will be on the book of Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament. I’ll be talking about the dates of the events in it (it starts with creation and then Adam and Eve) and the dates of the sources (which were centuries after the final events it narrates, the life of Joseph)
I just listened to the first three lectures! Fantastic (as usual)!
Near the end you mentioned planning to continue this style of series, covering the entire Bible from start to finish, in future lectures. For a long time now, I’ve been looking for an easier way to digest something like the “The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries” on the gospels. I have the first one (chapters 1-8) on Mark, but it’s definitely slow reading.
It would be great to have a video series from you that does a similar thing (greatly abridged) but in video/audio form, especially with your knack for doing commentary in such interesting, informative and engaging ways. Any chance of doing something really in-depth for each gospel? Maybe section out a single gospel into say six 30 minute lectures and really deep dive into the literary and textual criticism of each section of a single gospel? I know for the Synoptic gospels, there could be a bit of repetition in material, but seeing how the same story changes meaning depending on the perspective of the author would be so interesting!
Yes, that would be interesting and good to do down the line. For this particular series of courses I’m covering highlights. Later I could go into depth on various books. Good idea.