BDEhrman, Author at The Bart Ehrman Blog - Page 19 of 203

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.

The Gospel of Luke: For Further Reading

Now that I’ve devoted two posts to the major sine qua non of Luke's Gospel – one that lays out its major themes and emphases, the other that deals with who wrote it, when, and why, I can provide some suggestions for further reading, important works written by scholars for non-scholars. I have given brief annotations for each book a mention, to give you a sense of what it’s about and so help you decide which, if any, might be worth your while. I have divided the list into three sections: Books that provide important discussion of Luke in general or with respect to a particularly key topic Commentaries that give lengthy introductions to all matters of importance about the Gospel and then go passage by passage to provide more detailed interpretation (that’s where you can dig more deeply into “what does this particular word actually mean?”; “what is the real point of this passage”; how does this passage relate to what Luke says elsewhere in his Gospel or to what we can find in [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:31-04:00February 1st, 2025|Canonical Gospels|

The Gospel of Luke: Who Wrote It? When? And Why?

Everyone says that the Gospel of Luke was written by … Luke! Do we know if that’s true? Whether Luke or not, do we know when he wrote it? And why did he want/need to do so? Now that I’ve summarized the major themes and emphases of the Gospel we can delve into these equally interesting and important historical questions. For as long as anyone has named an author of this Gospel, it has been Luke, a gentile traveling companion of Paul thought to be a medical doctor. I’ll continue calling him “Luke” for the sake of convenience, even though I don’t think we can know who he was. Years ago on the blog (in January 2020) I devoted a series of posts to the question: Was Luke Luke (so to say)? There are a lot of issues to consider, including seemingly unrelated things, such as whether Paul actually wrote Colossians (!). The series ended with my wrap-up overview posted on January 19: So: Was Luke Luke?, in case you’re interested in digging deeper. I [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:45-04:00January 30th, 2025|Canonical Gospels|

The Gospel of Luke in a Nutshell

If you already have Matthew and Mark, why would you need Luke? Aren't they all the same? Nope. Next question: do you know these Gospels very well? If not, AOK: Keep reading! If so – see if you can summarize the themes and emphases of Luke in one sentence (say, 50 words) in a way that both highlights what it’s about and shows what is distinctive about its portrayal of Jesus. How’d that go for you? Here’s what I would come up with as a first go (I’ve never tried this before!) The Gospel of Luke portrays Jesus both as a Greco-Roman “divine man” – shown by his supernatural birth, astounding miracles, death, and exaltation – and as the final prophet sent by God to the Jewish people, who rejected him, fulfilling God’s plan for salvation to go to all the peoples of earth. It would take volumes to fill out this brief summary (many such volumes have been written! I’ll give suggestions for reading in a future post on Luke). Here I will try [...]

BDEhrman2026-01-30T13:53:37-05:00January 29th, 2025|Canonical Gospels|

Mark’s Messianic Secret

In my previous posts I have pointed out that the Gospel of Mark (unlike the other Gospels) portrays Jesus as trying to keep his messiahship a secret. He doesn’t allow the demons to identify him when he casts them out; when he heals people he strictly instructs them not to tell anyone; he teaches his disciples the “secret of the Kingdom” privately when no one else is around; he teaches the crowds only using parables precisely (Mark indicates) so no one can understand what he means. And he never publicly teaches about his own identity. This last point should be emphasized. Unlike other Gospels (see John 4:25-26!) Jesus never tells anyone publicly that he is the messiah. When he is acknowledged as the messiah by Peter in a private conversation with the disciples in Mark 8:29-30, Jesus orders them not to let anyone know. And then he starts teaching that as the messiah he has to be rejected and executed. That seems to be a complete contradiction of terms for Peter, who has just made [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:30-04:00January 28th, 2025|Canonical Gospels|

The Flukes of Life: How I Almost Never Became a Professor

This is now my 40th year of teaching at a university, 36 of the years at UNC Chapel Hill and 4 before that at Rutgers as a 28 year old. It very nearly didn't happen at all. Life is so strange. I was on the job market while I was writing my dissertation.. And even though there were job openings, I couldn’t get an interview to save my soul. Part of the problem was that my PhD was from a theological seminary, and a lot of the jobs were at secular institutions – state universities, private colleges, and the like. Most places simply don’t want to take a chance on someone who has been trained in a theological environment. Especially someone like me at the time. I had never set foot in a secular setting since high school! Starting when I was 17, I was at Moody Bible Institute (3 years), (Christian evangelical) Wheaton College (2 years), and then (Presbyterian ministerial training ground) Princeton Theological Seminary (7 years). Yikes! Even theological schools and Christian colleges [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:31-04:00January 22nd, 2025|Reflections and Ruminations|

Was (the author of) Matthew Really a Jew?
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Was (the author of) Matthew Really a Jew?

Canonical Gospels, Public Forum

Was (the author of) Matthew Really a Jew?

My previous posts were dealing with the themes and historical context of the Gospel of Matthew, along with a list of suggested readings for those who want to go deeper. I would like to go deeper myself by returning at greater length to one of the most puzzling features of Matthew, its relationship to Judaism. To begin with, I suggested in my post "Who, When, and Why" that the author himself was Jewish. I want to explore that at some greater depth here. The first thing to say is that not all New Testament scholars have thought so. Au contraire. One of the premier scholars of the NT and the historical Jesus is John Meier. Before he began his massive multi-volume study of the historical Jesus, called A Marginal Jew, he was principally known as an expert on the Gospel of Matthew. Meier’s view was that Matthew was not actually Jewish. One of his pieces of evidence is very interesting and has always struck me as rather amusing. It is this. In Matthew 21 we [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:30-04:00January 21st, 2025|Canonical Gospels, Public Forum|

The Gospel of Matthew: Who, When, and Why?

In my previous post we took the first step in understanding the Gospel of Matthew, grasping its major themes and emphases. It is also important to situate the book in its own historical context. For that we need to know something about the author, the approximate time he was writing it, and why he appears to have taken on the task. In short: Who, When, and Why? We start with the “who.” Our oldest full manuscripts of the Gospel call it “According to Matthew.” These manuscripts date from around 375 CE, and so were created about three hundred years after the book was in circulation. We wish we had earlier manuscripts to help us gauge when it was first called this. This designation (“according to Matthew”) is obviously not the original title. When I write a book, I don’t title it “According to Bart.” I give it a title. Whoever wrote this book either gave it a title that is lost (that seems unlikely), or simply published it anonymously (which happened a good deal in [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:29-04:00January 18th, 2025|Canonical Gospels, Public Forum|

The Gospel of Matthew in a Nutshell

Are you familiar with the Gospel of Matthew? If not, read on! If so, try to summarize its distinctive portrayal of Jesus in one sentence. (of say, 50 words or so max). If you really can’t, then again, read on! If you give it a try, check to see that you have both described it accurately and shown how it is distinctive among the other Gospels. Here’s a sentence that I might try if I were given the assignment: Matthew portrays Jesus as the miracle-working messiah who fulfilled the predictions of Scripture, taught the correct understanding of the Law of Moses, insisted his followers keep it by living lives of love, came to be rejected by his own people, but died for others before being raised from the dead. Hey, that’s exactly 50 words! Now let me expound a bit by discussing the most important aspects of Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew is often considered the “most Jewish” of the Gospels because of its repeated emphasis that Jesus is the Jewish messiah, sent from [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:29-04:00January 16th, 2025|Canonical Gospels|

Rambling Meditations on What It Means to Exist…. What Do You Think?

I sometimes feel like a pestiferous terrier who goes after someone’s ankles and just won’t stop. There are some issues (among the “Big Questions”) that I repeatedly come back to and just can’t let drop. I suppose that’s because they seem both really important and completely incapable of being figured out. Hence my occasional return to them on the blog. I’ve mentioned before that I have a daily meditation practice, which does wonders for my stress levels and mental/emotional/psychological well-being, though it does sometimes leave me puzzled.. This morning I did one of those “go deep into your mind” sessions where you just dig deep into your conscience and try to understand who/what you are as a living being. As often happens when I do that, I once more again came up against the issue of what “I” can possibly be. I feel like “I” am somehow located in my brain. And I don’t think that “I” will exist once my brain (along with the rest of my body) dies, since it’s quite [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:29-04:00January 15th, 2025|Reflections and Ruminations|

The New Testament Gospels in a Nutshell

Before I can talk about the Gospels individually, I need to say something about them as a group. How would YOU summarize the most important things to say about the Gospels in a single sentence? Try it. See how you do. There are roughly 34 million ways to put it. Here’s one of them. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the four Gospels of the New Testament, are our earliest surviving accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God sent for the salvation of the world. And now to unpack that in a single post: The term “Gospel” translates a Greek word (EUANGELION; from which we get the word “evangelist”) that literally means “Good News.” Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are Gospels because they narrate Jesus’ life not only to provide information about what he said and did, but also to proclaim the authors’ faith that he was the messiah sent from God to bring salvation to those who accept his message. Scholars have long realized these books are not [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:29-04:00January 14th, 2025|Public Forum|

What Is The New Testament? Can You Actually Say?

What exactly is the New Testament? If someone standing behind you in a long line in the grocery store should lean over and out of the blue ask: “Hey, can you tell me what the New Testament is”, what would you say? (This happens to you every day, right?) This person wants it in one sentence. Well – come up with something. What would you say? (Try to formulate something before reading any further.) I’m not sure what I would say, but I would have a ton of options in my head, depending on what I thought she wanted really to know and on what kind of mood I was in (probably a foul one, if I’m in a long line). But among the options, here would be a relatively decent one: “The New Testament is the collection of twenty-seven books thought to be written by the apostles of Jesus that came to be considered Christian Scripture.” If she wants either clarification or more information, I or you could go from there. [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:29-04:00January 12th, 2025|Public Forum|

Seats Still Available! Blog Dinner in Tampa this Friday (January 17)

In case you didn't see the announcement the first time! There are still some seats that can be filled for my blog dinner this week in Tampa, if you're interested. Here is the original post: I will be in Tampa next week and would like to do a Blog Dinner on Friday, January 17, with any blog members who happen to be around or can, well, get around. Probably around 6:30 or so for drinks to start (for whoever is interested in quenching thirst before satisfying hunger), and location TBD. You interested? I'll limit the table to 8, me and the perfect number 7. 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're interested, do NOT reply here as a comment. Send along an email at [email protected]. Hope some of you can come!

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:30-04:00January 11th, 2025|Public Forum|

Do You Understand the Entire New Testament? Announcing My New Blog Thread

Most readers of the blog are interested – either passionately, intently, deeply, moderately, or somewhat – in, well, the New Testament. But many do not actually know much about it as a whole. You may well be the exception! But hey, all of you are exceptional. My view is that anyone who claims to be a New Testament aficionado should be familiar with the basic contents of each book and know the essential facts about it – both its major themes / emphases and its basic historical context – when it was written, by whom, and for what reason. On the most basic level, that would mean being able to state what any of the 27 books is about in ONE SENTENCE. How many of you can summarize the major themes and emphases of the Gospel of Luke in one sentence? Or, well, 2 Thessalonians? 1 Peter? Ephesians? My guess is: very few indeed. Or how many can explain what we know about the author of any of these books (without looking it up!)? Exactly. [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:28-04:00January 11th, 2025|Public Forum|

Other Critical Approaches to the New Testament (by Prof. Shaily Patel)

Most of my textbook approaches the New Testament from a historical and traditional literary point of view. But there are many other approaches that one can take to the Bible or any other writing. In recent decades other theoretical forms of analysis have developed and fruitfully employed by scholars. I decided to say something about these theoretical approaches in my book so students would be informed about them, even though I do not employ them in the book itself. Since critical theory is not my long suit, I asked my then graduate student and now Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Virginia Tech, Shaily Patel (who is deeply familiar with various kinds of theoretical discourse) to write up a short summary for me. Here is the Excursus she produced, now in the textbook. ****************************** Methods of Ideological Criticism By Shaily Patel So far in this book, we have examined a number of different critical methods for studying the writings of the New Testament, all of them firmly committed to a traditional [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:28-04:00January 9th, 2025|Public Forum|

Getting the Bible Digitally (by Jeffrey Siker)

In my textbook, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings (now in the 8th ed., co-authored with Hugo Mendez), another feature I rather like are several "excursuses" on key issues I chose not to deal with in the text itself. A couple of these were written by other scholars in the field, including this important one on Digital Bibles by my friend and occasional blog-contributor Jeff Siker. Jeff is on the blog, and will be willing to answer any questions you have. ****************************** The changing technology of writing and reading has always played a major role in the transmission and interpretation of the New Testament; from papyrus rolls to parchment codices to Gutenberg’s printing press; and, finally, to our modern digital age. We are still learning how a digital screen, rather than a printed book, affects the way we read and understand. This applies to the Bible more than any other book, since no other has held (and continues to hold) the special place of the Bible within Christian tradition and Western [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:28-04:00January 8th, 2025|Public Forum|

Was Mark the First Gospel? Evidence for “Markan Priority”

Scholars almost always say that Mark was the first Gospel and that Matthew and Luke were both copying it. But why should anyone think so? Is there any evidence or is it just one of those scholarly whims that everyone repeats because it's what they've always heard? I continue here with my explanation of the evidence from my book The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 7th ed. (Oxford University Press). I am using the 7th edition instead of the more recent 8th that was co-authored with my colleague Hugo Mendez because he and I disagree on some things connected with the Synoptic Problem and the chapter was rewritten significantly as we compromised over our differences. But we're still talking to each other! :-) **************************** For the past century or so, three arguments have proved widely convincing for establishing Mark’s priority to Matthew and Luke. Patterns of Agreement. Since the main reason for thinking that the Gospels share a common source is their frequent verbatim agreement, it makes sense to examine the [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:46-04:00January 8th, 2025|Canonical Gospels|

Blog Dinner in Tampa Fl. Friday January 17. You Interested?

I will be in Tampa next week and would like to do a Blog Dinner on Friday, January 17, with any blog members who happen to be around or can, well, get around. Probably around 6:30 or so for drinks to start (for whoever is interested in quenching thirst before satisfying hunger), and location TBD. You interested? I'll limit the table to 8, me and the perfect number 7. 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're interested, do NOT reply here as a comment. Send along an email at [email protected]. Hope some of you can come!

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:07:58-04:00January 8th, 2025|Public Forum|

Did Christians Invent the Idea of “Atonement” / “Vicarious Suffering”?
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Did Christians Invent the Idea of “Atonement” / “Vicarious Suffering”?

Early Judaism, Greco-Roman Religions and Culture

Did Christians Invent the Idea of “Atonement” / “Vicarious Suffering”?

My textbook, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings is now out in its 8th edition, co-authored with my colleague Hugo Mendez. One of my favorite features of the book since I first wrote it in the mid 90s is the use of side-bar “boxes” that deal with issues that are – to me – particularly interesting but not directly related to what I’m talking about in the chapter. As a rule I use these boxes to deal with highly relevant but more “human-interest” kinds of things. For a long time I’ve thought about the Christian idea that Jesus’s death was a “vicarious atonement” for sins. It’s an unusual view, when you think about it. Why does God need someone else to die for you to forgive what you’ve done? Can’t he just forgive you? In one of the boxes in the book I point out that Christians were not the first to come up with the idea. Here’s what I say there in a box in my chapter 16. ****************************** [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:28-04:00January 7th, 2025|Early Judaism, Greco-Roman Religions and Culture|

Was There No Room in the “Inn” or in the “Guestroom”? And Doesn’t Caesar Augustus Himself Describe His Census? More Questions from Readers

Here are some more particularly interesting and significant questions I've received from readers, with answers for all here to check out. QUESTION: Dr. Ehrman: I find it interesting how the understanding of the Greek translation might affect such a crucial NT story. Also, it is in Luke’s narrative that we get the “no room in the inn” comment. I have read one commentary that the Greek original literal translation is more like “the travelers shelter was not for them”. Do you have any thoughts on the Greek original of Luke 2:7? RESPONSE: It's a tricky Greek word (KATALUMA) that could mean either "inn" or "guestroom." It is found in only two other places in the NT, Mark 14:14/Luke 22:11 (Luke has copied Mark's verse verbatim) where Jesus is clearly referring to a room, not an inn. In Luke 2:7, though, the context appears to suggest "a place where travelers stayed" rather than "a particular room in a house" since, having not found a “place” to stay in it (the KATALUMA) they [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:13-04:00January 5th, 2025|Reader’s Questions|

Was Jesus from “Israel”? Did Jesus “Pre-exist”? Answers to Readers Questions

I’ve received a number of interesting and important questions from readers over the past couple of weeks, and would like to devote a couple of posts to airing my answers to everyone. QUESTION: I have a question for Bart. Every year right before Christmas we get numerous claims that Jesus was a Palestinian or a Palestinian Jew. As far as I know it’s not true but if you have academic evidence it’s true I will change my mind. RESPONSE: It's a tricky business. The areas of Galilee, Samaria, and Judea were together renamed "Palestine" in 135 CE. In Jesus' day they were called by their separate names. They were not called "Israel." In two of the Gospels, Jesus is born in Bethlehem of Judea; does that make him a Judean? Normally yes. But he is raised and ministers in Galilee. Does that make him a Galilean? Normally yes. Today we usually refer to both areas as Israel, as it was originally called. Should he be called an Israelite? That term was [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:10:13-04:00January 4th, 2025|Public Forum|

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