BDEhrman, Author at The Bart Ehrman Blog

About BDEhrman

Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he has served as the director of graduate studies and chair of the Department of Religious Studies.

Is Capitalism Anti-Christian?

It is dead easy to attack the fundamental principles and historical practices of capitalism on religious, and particularly Christian, grounds. A system that thrives on self-interest and personal gain, that leads to massive exploitation, to the subjection of entire indigenous populations to colonial powers, to enormous economic and social inequalities, that celebrates greed and focuses entirely on wealth and power – is this anything like the teachings of Jesus? The Jesus who told his followers not even to be concerned even about what to eat and drink, to sell what they have and give to the poor, to bypass material comforts now for eternal life in God’s glorious kingdom later, to serve others instead of dominate them, to give rather than receive, to be willing to lay down their lives for those in need? Among the various shifts in my life, toward the end of college and on into seminary I moved away from the conservative social/political perspectives I was raised with to embrace far more liberal views – the need for social [...]

BDEhrman2026-08-17T11:44:10-04:00August 22nd, 2026|Reflections and Ruminations|

Martyrs, Forgers, and Textual Scholars: Intriguing Questions From Readers

Here are some spot-on questions from readers with (spotty?) attempts to answer from me.... QUESTION: (Note: this is a question about my views on how early Christians appealed to their martyrs as evidence of the truth of the Christian message in order to convert outsiders. The question is specifically based on the book called “the Martyrdom of Polycarp,” our earliest account of a Christian being tried and martyred for his faith) Your integrated model, developed over this series, is becoming clearer: hell provides urgency, miracles provide credibility, and martyrdom functions as miracle in human form. That is a coherent and serious historical account. But reading Polycarp’s response to the proconsul, I find myself pausing. The proconsul threatens him with fire. Polycarp answers calmly. He does not sound like a man under pressure making a difficult calculation. He sounds almost expectant, as if death is not the worst thing that could happen to him, but something closer to a threshold he is ready to cross. Your model explains well why that composure was persuasive to [...]

BDEhrman2026-08-17T11:44:00-04:00August 20th, 2026|Reader’s Questions|

Flipping a Coin. Cephas and Peter: One Person or Two?

I have recently finished republishing a series of posts from years ago that explored the tradition that Peter and Cephas were in fact two different people. Anyone who is not interested in the Bible would not care, of course, but then again, no one like that would be on the blog! For those who are both interested and familiar with the New Testament, the idea is unusual and odd – a bit of a bombshell, actually, since it is normally assumed that these are two names for the same disciple of Jesus, Simon son of Jonah, nicknamed “Cephas” (an Aramaic term that means “rock”) by Jesus. When the term “Rock” was translated into Greek by later story tellers, they simply used the Greek term “Petros,” which gets transliterated into English as “Peter.” No problem, right? Well for 99.99% of the readers of the NT over the centuries, right. No problem. But for roughly .01% of us there is a problem, as I have outlined in the previous posts. I showed that there was [...]

BDEhrman2026-08-09T22:01:12-04:00August 19th, 2026|Paul and His Letters|

Other Suggestions That Peter and Cephas Were Two Different People
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Other Suggestions That Peter and Cephas Were Two Different People

Paul and His Letters

Other Suggestions That Peter and Cephas Were Two Different People

I have been reposting a thread from years ago about whether Peter and Cephas, almost universally "known" to be the same person (Peter is his Greek name; Cephas is the Aramaic equivalent) may in fact have been two different people with the same name. I pulled all this from an article I wrote over back when I was young and foolish: "Cephas and Peter," Journal of Biblical Literature, 109 (1990) pp. 463-74. It stirred up some controversy and some occasional animosity among colleagues. But most, when they'd see me at a conference, would ask: "Were you serious?" Ha! I would usually tell them I was serious, but that at the end of the day I'm not 100% sure either way. And that's still true. But I make the best argument I can in the piece. Here's a bit more of it, a bit in the weeds, but with some of the more boringly academic elements removed. ****************************** The evidence of Paul (that they were two different people) has not been exhausted by this consideration of [...]

BDEhrman2026-08-11T16:23:40-04:00August 18th, 2026|Paul and His Letters|

Did Paul Know that Peter and Cephas were Two Different People?

Very few readers have ever noticed that even though almost everyone (including the Gospel writers) assumes that Peter and Cephas are simply names for the same person (Simon Peter, Jesus's disciple), Paul -- our only author from antiquity who knew Peter indicates he was not the same person as Cephas. WHAT? In my previous post I gave the evidence that in the early church there were writers who maintained that Cephas and Peter were *not* the same person, despite what is explicitly said in John 1:42. Some readers may point out that these later Christian authors *may* have differentiated between the two (saying they were not the same person, even though they were) for a very clear and certain reason: in Galatians 2 Paul confronts “Cephas” and blasts him for not understanding the Gospel. Could there have been a major rift between the two most important apostles of early Christianity (Paul and *Peter*)? Surely the apostles were more unified than *that*! Well, if Cephas was not the same person as Peter, it is a much, [...]

BDEhrman2026-08-09T14:39:27-04:00August 16th, 2026|Paul and His Letters|

Paying Your Religious Dues: The Studied Indifference of Jesus

I have been arguing that that are many political and social issues that many of us care deeply about that, surprisingly, Jesus apparently did not. Another passage that illustrates Jesus relative indifference to governmental policies and economic systems is his discussion with Simon Peter about paying the “temple tax,” a story found only Matthew (17:24-27). They have come to the town of Capernaum and some collectors of the “two drachma” temple tax ask Peter if his teacher pays the tax or not. Peter replies that he does, but when he goes back home, Jesus talks to him about it, asking whether kings tax their own children or only other people. Peter naturally replies that children of the king don’t pay taxes, only others. Jesus agrees: the ruler’s “children” are exempt from taxes – implication being that God’s children should not have to pay for the running of God’s house any more than a king’s children pay for the running of his palace. Jesus indicates that, even so, they should “not give offense” and [...]

BDEhrman2026-08-09T21:40:51-04:00August 15th, 2026|Historical Jesus|

Were Peter and Cephas the Same Person?

In Galatians 2 Paul describes a serious blow up that he had with "Cephas" over the relationship of Jews and Gentiles in the church. Major conflict. Possibly never resolved. Throughout history this event has usually been cited to show that Paul and Peter had very different views of things. But what if the Cephas Paul attacked was not Peter but someone else? A couple of weeks ago I gave a webinar on “Cephas and Peter” for members of the Biblical Studies Academy (my for-profit business that produces on-line courses, etc., not connected with the blog). I had written an academic article with that title many years ago, some time back in the Pleistocene age, arguing that contrary to what everyone thinks and says, they may not have been the same person. That there were two people with that name, not just one (despite what John 1:42 explicitly states). It was a rather, uh, controversial issue and I had to look up the details of a number of the arguments I used; in doing so I [...]

BDEhrman2026-08-13T22:53:12-04:00August 13th, 2026|Paul and His Letters|

Problems of Suffering and Why Gospels Started Being Written: Questions from Readers

Here are some excellent questions I've received from readers of the blog that I'd like to share with y'all, along with my attempts at responding.... QUESTION: Do you think that the presence of mass suffering is not necessarily an argument against the existence of God, but rather an argument against the existence of a loving God? If so, what would a loving God be expected to do regarding suffering? Or at what point does the amount of suffering become incompatible with the existence of a loving God? I’m curious how you would define divine love in this context and what implications that definition would have for the problem of suffering/evil. RESPONSE: I think the problem of suffering becomes a serious objection to “God” when the suffering is so intense, so widespread, so gratuitous, so random, and so horrible (as it has been from the beginning of human existence) that one can no longer believe a God is in charge. And so I'd say it's an argument against a God who is both [...]

BDEhrman2026-08-06T16:04:05-04:00August 12th, 2026|Reader’s Questions|

What Did Jesus’s Violent Action in the Temple Actually Mean?
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What Did Jesus’s Violent Action in the Temple Actually Mean?

Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus

What Did Jesus’s Violent Action in the Temple Actually Mean?

Several aspects of Jesus’s actions in the temple – the so-called “Cleansing of the Temple” – have long puzzled scholars. As I indicated in the previous post, in all four Gospels – with some important differences among them – Jesus enters the temple compound, is angered by what he sees, overturns the tables of those who are changing Roman currency for temple currency to allow people to purchase sacrificial animals, drives out those who are selling (and even buying) the animals, prevents (in one account) anyone from carrying anything needed for the sacrifices though the temple, and forcefully declares that the temple is to be “a house of prayer for all the nations” but that “you have made it a den of robbers” (quoting Isaiah 56:7). Most critical scholars agree that this cannot be construed as an attack on Judaism per se, since Jesus was thoroughly Jewish and stood in the line of Hebrew prophets who opposed the activities of the temple. But that’s where the puzzlement begins to arise. The temple was built on [...]

BDEhrman2026-08-09T21:28:30-04:00August 11th, 2026|Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus|

Blog Dinner in NYC, September 1. Interested?

I will be in NYC on Tuesday, Sept. 1, for an extremely important academic engagement (aka, the U.S. Open....). I'll be hosting a blog dinner for any blog members who would be interested. Yup up for it? I’ll probably start around 6:00 pm for drinks with whomever wants both to quench thirst and cha, and then head over to dinner (with both quenchers and non-quenchers) at 7:00 or so. Location TBD -- but somewhere relatively interesting and easy to get to. My plan (subject to whimsical change) is to limit the table to 10. For those who come there are no obligations other than: Being a blog member Showing up Talking Paying for whatever you ingest. (Whatever you exgest is free.) If you’d like to join me and a group of other blog members for an evening of interesting discussion of areas of mutual interest, simply send along an email at [email protected]. (NB: Please do NOT reply here as a comment). Hope you can come!

BDEhrman2026-08-10T13:42:46-04:00August 10th, 2026|Public Forum|

Prophetic Condemnations of Jews Within Judaism Before Jesus

Over the past few decades scholars have become loathe to label Jesus’s actions in the Temple (Mark 11:14-17; also in the other three Gospels) with the traditional phrase “The Cleansing of the Temple.” One reason is the hateful afterlife of this phrasing, because it makes it sound as if Judaism at its very heart was foul, dirty, unclean, and vile, and Jesus is the one who purified it. In other words, this phrase can be/has been taken to mean that God hates Jews and their religion and sent Jesus in order to show the true path of holiness. The social and political implications of that view are stunning. They stand at the root of horrible acts of violence over the centuries leading to the Holocaust. The problem, however, cannot be solved simply by insisting that Jesus was a Jew and was not at all opposed to the worship of the Jewish God. That is completely true, of course. He was Jewish in every way conceivable, as were his followers. But that does not [...]

BDEhrman2026-08-06T20:53:07-04:00August 9th, 2026|Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Historical Jesus|

Gist and Exaggeration: Jesus and the Cleansing of the Temple

It is virtually impossible to disentangle religion and politics when studying ancient sources:, they were not separate entities but tightly interwoven aspects of the same entity, involving questions of authority, who wields it, how they should wield it, and how these “authorities” are “authorized.” Kings could be gods, and vice versa. Priests were governmental officials and vice versa. Laws were divinely sanctioned. Opposition to the state meant opposition to the gods who supported it and opposition to the state gods meant opposition to the state. That’s why Jesus’s “religious” views that God was soon to bring in a new kingdom and appoint him its ruler was seen as a “political” offense leading to his execution for insurrection. It is also why his so-called “Cleansing of the Temple” was not only a religious statement but also a threat to the established order. The event is recounted in all four of our Gospels, again with important differences in detail (particularly in John), but with the same gist. Mark provides our earliest account (Mark 11:15-17). The day [...]

BDEhrman2026-08-06T21:41:48-04:00August 8th, 2026|Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus|

Render Unto Caesar: Jesus’s Indifference to Human Governments and Economies

In this thread have been arguing that Jesus was decidedly a revolutionary: he despised the current system (government) (both Roman and Jewish) and hoped for/anticipated its complete overthrow. But he was not in support of rebellion. That seems a bit odd, since most revolutionaries are precisely trying to incite either a violent or peaceful coup for a new system to be put in place. Jesus was different precisely because of his apocalyptic views: governments were necessarily human institutions, the humans in power were part of a cosmic-wide network of evil and corruption, and the powers ultimately in control (above their human minions) could not be dismantled by human effort. Only an intervention of God would resolve the world’s plight, and he would do so not through human initiative but in an act of divine judgment, to be brought by a cosmic figure, the Son of Man. What mattered for Jesus was not one government or another; one governmental policy or that, this corrupt official or that, a particular systemic problem or another – [...]

BDEhrman2026-08-02T16:25:32-04:00August 6th, 2026|Public Forum|

Was Jesus’s Crucifixion One Big Mistake?

In my previous post I indicated that, looked at in one way, the crucifixion of Jesus was one big mistake. The ruling authorities knew that he considered himself the future ruler of Israel, the messiah, and so they condemned him for insurrection. But Jesus wasn’t in favor of insurrection. He was predicting something much bigger, a cosmic intervention by God. He personally posed no threat to Roman rule. Once I wrote that, it occurred to me – in a rather tangential and possibly irrelevant way – that there actually were early Christians who taught that Jesus crucifixion was One Big Mistake but in a different, unconnected, way. Or rather different ways. So in this post I move us onto a tangent before returning to my thread in the post that follows. Here are two of the most intriguing attempts to explain that the rulers made a BIG mistake when they crucified Jesus. Or when they thought they did. ****************************** Basilides is one of the early Gnostic figures mentioned by the late-second century [...]

BDEhrman2026-08-02T16:16:13-04:00August 5th, 2026|Early Christian Writings (100-400 CE), Heresy and Orthodoxy, Historical Jesus|

The Triumphal Entry and Jesus’s Mistaken Identity
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The Triumphal Entry and Jesus’s Mistaken Identity

Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus

The Triumphal Entry and Jesus’s Mistaken Identity

Even though the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem almost certainly could not have happened as described (see previous post), they clearly contain some elements of historical truth. This is often the case with the Gospels and with other historical narratives that have come down to us from antiquity. The task of the historian is to determine what is invention, what exaggeration, and what is (more or less) historical. With respect to the historical elements, the following seem reasonably secure (even some of these, of course, can be debated, but in my judgment the evidence for them is overwhelming): Jesus did come from Galilee to Jerusalem to celebrate a Passover Feast, sometime around 30-33 CE (the year is much debated); While there he preached his message to anyone who would listen (it seems unlikely it was “the masses” but it could well have been small crowds); He offended the local Jewish authorities; At the end of the week they arranged to have him arrested; He was turned over to the governor Pontius Pilate; [...]

BDEhrman2026-08-02T14:39:06-04:00August 4th, 2026|Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus|

The Implausibility of the Triumphal Entry

It is precisely the intricate and complete intertwining of (what we would call) “religion” and “politics” in the ancient world (see my previous post) that explains why Jesus’ forthright views about God and understanding of himself as God’s spokesperson let to his arrest and execution, as well as, ironically, his indifference to the governmental and cultic status quo. His revolutionary views and yet indifference can be illustrated by his two incendiary actions near the end of his life and, oddly, his two discussions of taxation. I will deal with the first of his two actions, typically designated the “Triumphal Entry,” in two posts. The Triumphal Entry refers to Jesus’s coming into Jerusalem on the occasion of the Passover Feast riding on a colt (according to Mark and Luke) or a small donkey (according to John) or both a colt and a donkey (at the same time! According to Matthew), to the acclamation of the crowd of Jewish pilgrims, who welcomed him as the one who was bringing in the Kingdom to Israel (Matthew 21:1-9; Mark [...]

BDEhrman2026-07-31T10:22:53-04:00August 2nd, 2026|Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus|

Religion, Politics, and Resistance in Jesus’ Day

To condemn, oppose, and defy the current order is not necessarily the same as, or even a stage toward, urging its reformation. Jesus certainly condemned, opposed, and defied the ruling authorities of his day. But he did not propose (or support) an agenda to reform the system. He believed God would destroy both the system and those who ran and supported it. He would then set up a new order. He didn’t need either urging or assistance. Roughly speaking there were two sets of ruling authorities in Jesus’s time and place, what we today would differentiate as “political” and “religious.” The differentiation would have made little sense to Jesus or to anyone else in the Roman world. Romans, Jews, and everyone else saw these two realms (that since the Enlightenment have been differentiated) as closely intertwined and interdependent. There were not even words in Greek, Latin, or Aramaic that clearly designated what we today call “politics” and/or “religion.” That is because everyone (who supported the status quo) understood the ruling authorities and their [...]

BDEhrman2026-07-30T22:20:29-04:00July 30th, 2026|Public Forum|

Thoughts on Jesus and Activism. What Do You Think?

Here are some random thoughts I’ve been … thinking, while contemplating Jesus’s views of political and economic systems. They are not definitive thoughts, but explorations. What do you think? I would welcome your comments (on this post I probably won’t be answering questions, just observing responses). Normally when someone opposes a political or economic situation, they want it to be reformed. We should move to a state-supported health care system; we should get rid of the electoral college; we should abolish the House of Lords; we should close the borders; we should … whatever, ad infinitum. It has long been interesting to me that (some) people who propose a radical transformation of current systems nonetheless (sometimes) fully participate in them to their own benefit. For many years one of my close friends was an avowed, deeply committed Marxist who kept true to his principles by refusing to contribute to the Christmas fund for the office staff (since that would involve clandestinely acknowledging and supporting the system that accepted the reality of the proletariat). [...]

BDEhrman2026-07-28T12:14:51-04:00July 29th, 2026|Public Forum|

Jesus the Pacifist
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Jesus the Pacifist

Historical Jesus

Jesus the Pacifist

I was raised thinking Jesus was completely relevant for our own current affairs, that his teachings were directly relevant for governmental policies and social agendas, that he had preferred methods of political rules, definite ideas about competing economic systems, and strong opinions about governmental priorities. To no great surprise, growing up in Kansas in the 1960s and early 1970s, I simply assumed his teachings provided divine support for Capitalist Democracy. I don’t think so any longer. It’s not that I think he preferred Marxist Socialism, as has been sometimes argued by academics and their eager followers, or … well, any other modern political-economic system. My view is somewhat (though in a different way) more radical. I don’t think he cared. It will take a while to explain this. But I want to argue, as intimated in my previous post on Jesus’ “Indifference” that Jesus’s concerns were not strictly speaking political (in the ways we think of politics) or economic. His priorities lay elsewhere. This will take several posts. To begin with, I need to start [...]

BDEhrman2026-07-21T08:50:22-04:00July 28th, 2026|Historical Jesus|

The Indifference of Jesus

How concerned was Jesus about the social, economic, cultural, and political issues that are so vitally important to us and occupy so much of our mental space? The answer is surprising. First some (probably unexpected) background. As a Jewish peasant in early first-century rural Aramaic-speaking Galilee, Jesus would not have known about Greek Stoics or their philosophical views. He nonetheless appears to have shared a perspective with them, one that is a bit unexpected. Like them, he was completely indifferent to a number of issues most people find deeply relevant and important, including fundamental questions connected with governmental policies and religious practices. Stoics insisted that a person’s happiness depended on maintaining an internal state of peace and calm, undisturbed by external events and circumstances. There are only so many things that a person can control in their life. Those are the things they should focus on. Anyone who worries about things over which they have no control creates unnecessary stress and anxiety. So it is best to distance yourself, simply not to be [...]

BDEhrman2026-07-22T06:14:20-04:00July 25th, 2026|Historical Jesus|

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