I am very pleased to announce a free, two-lecture course that I’ll be doing on March 30, 2-4pm EST, called Did Peter Hate Paul? Check it out: bartehrman.com/peterandpaul
This is part of my now two-year-old venture, Bart Ehrman Courses Online, which is not directly connected with the Blog, though it is indirectly connected to it by virtue of the facts that (a) these online courses cover the kinds of things y’all are almost certainly interested in (since you are, after all, members of a blog that deals with them all the time) and (b) I do ’em both. You can find a full list of all my courses at Online Courses by Dr. Bart Ehrman – 10% Off First Course! And note: you can get a discount on every course by using the code BLOG5
But no discount needed this time! Unlike most of my online courses, though, this one is FREE. Wanna come? You can join me live, no cost, for the two lectures, to be followed by a live Q&A. By coming, you’ll get a recording of the event at no additional cost for your life-time use, with no requirement that you use it for your entire life….
And if you want just the recording — not to show up live — go to the same site and make a request. It’s all yours!
Here is a fuller description of the course and a partial list of some of the things I’ll be talking about.
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Our earliest description of the opening decades of the Christian movement, the Acts of the Apostles, portrays Peter and Paul in complete harmony with one another, on the same page on every issue, up and down the line. Other early Christian writings take the opposite view, showing the two most prominent apostles of early Christianity at loggerheads. Which view is right?
Peter himself did not leave us any writings: 1 and 2 Peter were probably written in his name by later authors, and the Gospel of Peter, the two Apocalypses of Peter, and other writings in his name are later forgeries. But we do have writings of Paul, and in one of them, the letter to the Galatians, he describes a vitriolic disagreement with Peter leading to a public confrontation. Nowhere does he indicate that it was resolved.
Readers of Galatians today almost always misunderstand what the dispute was about. More than that, those who assume that these two key figures of early Christianity must have worked closely in tandem sweep the controversy under the carpet; and on the other end of the spectrum, many more skeptical readers argue there was no common ground between the “Jewish” Christianity of Peter and the “Gentile” Christianity of Paul.
In this course we will be looking closely at all the key evidence for the relationship of Peter and Paul including scarcely-known early Christian writings not included in the New Testament. We will explore what each text has to say about the matter, consider which ones suggest a “coverup,” and in the end wrestle the crucial historical question: “Did Peter Hate Paul?”
Check it out here: bartehrman.com/peterandpaul
This course is completely free – both for those who choose to attend the live remote lectures and those who request a recording. It will consist of two lectures of 30-40 minutes each, followed by a live Q&A. The following are among the questions we will be addressing:
- Did Peter insist that Gentile followers of the Jewish Jesus needed to become Jews? That men they had to be circumcised? That both men and women needed to keep kosher food laws (no more ham!), observe sabbath, and follow the other laws of Moses?
- Did Paul insist, on the contrary, that if Jews came to believe in Jesus they had to abandon the law of Moses?
- When Paul described his public altercation with Peter, why did he not report that he succeeded in backing Peter down? Are we to assume that everyone (else) thought he lost?
- Why does Acts go out of its way to show that Peter and Paul were in complete harmony? Does it seriously alter historical reality to make its point?
- Is it possible that 1 and 2 Peter (in the New Testament) were forged by a later author claiming to be Peter precisely to show that he embraced Paul and his teaching?
- Why do some later writings, written in the name of Peter, portray Paul as the arch-heretic whom Peter calls “my enemy”?
- And finally, was the split between the two apostles described in Galatians, permanent? Did Peter and Paul, until their dying days, embrace radically different views of what it meant to follow Jesus?
Again, it’s two lectures; March 30, 2-4 pm EST; more information and registration is here: bartehrman.com/peterandpaul
G’day Bart
Have you bought a new microphone? On this weeks pod I can’t be the only one who thinks your voice sounds very different compared to other YouTube videos and podcasts I’ve heard/seen you on
Others have commented. I had a cold.
Hi, Bart!
What does Jesus mean in Matthew 11:25-30 ?
[25] At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;
— What are the hidden things? Why hide them from the wise?
[26] yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. [27] All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
—What does it mean that only the Son knows the Father and vice-versa and anyone to whom the Son chooses?
[28] “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
—What is the rest Jesus gives? What is he referring to by yoke and burden? Why is he calling himself gentle and humble?
v. 25: the teachings Jesus is delivering v. 26 Jesus has an unusually close relationship with God who is the only one who fully knows who he is and because God has revealed himself to jesus, he is the only one who fully knows who God is. v. 28 Those who follow Jesus will find spiritual peace in the midst of a life of chaos and pain. And yup, it always does seem a little odd for someont to talk about their own humility! (But in this case, I don’t think this entire passage goes back to Jesus himself. It — the passage — has long been known to scholars as the “Johannine Thunderbolt,” because unlike the rest of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, here Jesus sure sounds a lot like he sounds in the (very different) Gospel of John, and it just comes outta nowhere.
My second question on this post:
Where does the idea of a personal relationship with Jesus come from? What is the biblical reference?
Well, I suppose people could refer to all sorts of passages from the Psalms to the Gospel of John to Rev. 3:16. But I’m afreaid I dn’t know the origins of the phrase, though it became popular only in modern times (though of course medieval mystics and others thought they had a personal relationship; but in conservative Xn circles in modern times it has been emphasiezed as necessary for salvatoin.)
What a bonanza for us bloggers!!! Thanks, Professor Ehrman.
Was Peter of Mary? What was Peter holding in Leonardo’s painting of Last Supper. Peter was next to Beloved Disciple or Mary in image lol. Dr. Ehrman, I really am baffled by the Bacchus painting by Leonardo. Bacchus, originally Saint John the Baptist. Why was it turned into Bacchus AFTER John. Did Leonardo mean that Bacchus was here after John. Why did Leonardo affiliate Bacchus with John the Baptist the Son of Zechariah any way? In my faith Bacchus was the son GOD, with all capital letters. Zeus is GOD in my faith. Btw, were just blogging and healthy conversations. At the same time helping those in need with donations.
good questions! I don’t know about Leonardo’s painting in detail.
In my last post, this overpowers the possibility of Simon being Jealous of Mary. Jesus writes them a letter LOL
(114) Simon Peter said to him, “Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life.”
Jesus said, “I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Letter to Mary from Simon
Letter to Simon from Mary
Simon to Mary
For not life
Jesus myself
Her to male
She become spirit
Males
Woman Make
Will Kingdom
Kingdom
Will make woman males (males being precived more perfect back then)
Spirit become she
Male to Her
Myself Jesus
Life not for
Mary to Simon
This is a tangential question about Peter and the gospel accounts:
My understanding is that Peter appears to be the MAIN figure to have been both a part of Jesus’ ministry when he was alive and the continued ministry after his death. Apart from John, and James, the son of Zebedee, the remaining disciples seem to fade into the distance with mostly only legendary accounts of their ministries (how much were they really around after the death of Jesus? Does Acts mention the other disciples just for credibility?). James, the brother of Jesus seems to have rejected his ministry until post resurrection so I’m guessing he wasn’t following Jesus around and listening to his teaching.
When we talk about ideas or sayings that go back to the historical Jesus, do you think these traditions would have almost certainly come through Peter due to his prominence in the early church and since he seems to be the most outspoken of the remaining disciples? Is Peter the main source for what Jesus may have actually said? If the gospels do rely on each other heavily, is Peter the common source?
I know this is a convoluted question but I hope the essence comes through. Thanks.
No, it’s a great question! And no, I don’t think the stories put in circulation about Jesus after his death can be derived from a single source. Dozens of people would have heard Jesus. (The NT says thousands! But, well, I don’t think that can possibly be right.) Soon after his death it appears that at least 15-20 people (very soon) came to think he had been raised from the dead. They would have all told stories, which were passed along, confirmed by others, disconvirmed by yet others, told in various versions and varioius ways, and so on. I don’t think there can be a single smoking gun.
Dr Ehrman:
In your past writings [I think], U mentioned the original disciples who walked with Jesus voices were defeated by St Paul’s camp.
My logic is St Paul wrote well enough & in the fashion that the Roman cardinals could accept vs any other writings [such as Gnostic].
The OT was proofread by the HS, the NT was accumulated by Religious hierarchy [think Sanhedrin].
Thank U for your hard work. & I am absolutely convinced as my “Christian background” otherwise comes wholly from EU-USA, which ever nation was global superpower. Rome or other Italian city-states, Germany, France, UK …
Very tainted.
I was living in China when Shanghai, Beijing went from 40 years behind San Francisco, to 50 years ahead of San Francisco Bay Area [infrastructure].
And I held on to Andrew Murray perfect living & I can certainly say God did not Bless China as what I learned growing up in USA-GOD bless America.
Or as Glenn Beck said at Liberty Commencement that God [Jesus] wrote the Declaration of Independence & Constitution with his Pinky
Looking forward to your further generosity to us!