BDEhrman, Author at The Bart Ehrman Blog - Page 51 of 204

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.

Armageddon in Biden and the Bible

On Thursday October 6, President Biden made an unusually scary statement, in response to Putin’s threat of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine: "We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis." He then added: “I don’t think there’s any such thing as the ability to easily (use) a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon.” Armageddon has long been on my mind. As many of you know, my next book, coming out on March 12, is called Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End. The book is obviously not about our current political-military crisis but about where the notion of Armageddon came from, how the view that it is very near has almost never done much good, but often created serious mayhem and harm, and why the conservative Christian understanding of it based on the book of Revelation is a complete misinterpretation. Biden wasn’t talking about that. But he was talking about how current events could indeed lead to cataclysmic disaster for the human race. [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:48-04:00October 23rd, 2022|Religion in the News, Revelation of John|

Little Known Aspects of The Golden Rule as Found in the Sermon on the Mount

Possibly the best-known teaching of Jesus is the Golden Rule, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Many people would consider this the very core of Jesus’ teaching, the one line that sums up his entire message about how people ought to behave and live their lives. And so it probably seems strange that there are scholars who doubt that he actually said it. Do they have good grounds for thinking so? In a later post I’ll consider a couple of the best arguments against thinking Jesus said it and then (spoiler alert!). I’ll explain why, in the end, I don’t find the arguments convincing. I think Jesus probably did say it, and even if he didn’t actually say it, I think it brilliantly encapsulates his message. In this post I’ll set up the discussion by explaining the first appearance of the words in any of our sources, i.e., the Gospel of Matthew. Before getting to the Gospel of Matthew, I should acknowledge that some of you might be thinking: of [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:48-04:00October 22nd, 2022|Public Forum|

What Does It Mean to Be an Active Research Scholar? Editing Scholarly Journals (And Why Is Peer-Review Important?)

Being a research scholar means a lot more than sticking your head in books and articles and churning out publications. Here I explain an area of pure volunteer work with little glory but lots of grind. ****************************** A Research Scholar's Editorial Work One aspect of the life of a professional scholar that may not be well known to the general public involves editorial work. For some scholars, this kind of work takes an enormous expenditure of time and effort, although much of the work, and many of the hours, are not transparent or evident to outsiders. I have done a lot of editorial work over the years, but I do not think that my case is at all exceptional. A lot of my colleagues have done less, but some have done a good deal more. Many scholars see editorial work as a major component of “service” to the discipline. Which means that, for the most part, it is really important but normally thankless! As is my wont I will use my own experience as a [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:48-04:00October 20th, 2022|Reflections and Ruminations|

Why Do Historians Treat Jesus Differently from Every Other Historical Figure?

I’m starting to think there must be a better way to explain to laypeople – and even to scholars – the best way we can show what the historical Jesus himself said and did. Since I was a graduate student I have done what every other budding New Testament scholar was doing: name the “criteria” that are used to show which elements of the Gospels are legendary and which are historical, explain their logic, justify them, and then use them. Now I’m starting to think that just ain’t the way to go. In case you don’t know, scholars use a set of criteria to decide what is authentic to the life of Jesus. The reason we need to do that is that we don’t have any audio or video recordings of his life, or stenographic accounts of his teachings, or highly reliable, fully documented, authoritative records of his activities. What we have are accounts written decades later (30-65 years later, at best), by people who did not know him, living in different parts of the [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:48-04:00October 19th, 2022|Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus|

More Interesting Topics in New Testament Studies. Other Writing Assignments for my Undergrads

Here are more intriguing topics in New Testament studies! This is part two of the writing assignments that I give to my undergraduate course, “Introduction to the New Testament.” Every week students write a two-page paper based on the instructions, and then in their small group discussions (recitations) they discuss their views, as guided by the graduate student Teaching Assistant. So hey, go at it yourself! But, once again, I won’t be grading yours…. Note: every student is required to participate in one of the three debates, on a two-four person teacm arguing either the affirmative of negative side of the resolution. They are expected to prepare together individually and as a group, and everyone on the team is required to give a formal statement (opening statement of their teams position and arguments for it, rebuttal of the other team's argument, or summary at the end) (NTHI = my textbook, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings) [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:48-04:00October 18th, 2022|Christianity in the Classroom, Teaching Christianity|

October Gold Q&A

Dear Gold Members, How tempus fugits when you're havin' fun! Time for our October Gold Q&A. Have a question? Give it a shot. It can be anything related to the blog. To enter your question on to the list: send it to Diane at [email protected] The DEADLINE for your question is this Friday, October 21 midnight (whenever midnight is where you live). I will record the session soon thereafter and we'll get it released by October 27 or so. Questions that are short and to the point (a sentence or two) are more likely to be chosen. And feel free to ask a tough one. Outsmart Bart! Bart

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:04-04:00October 17th, 2022|Public Forum|

Suffering, Evil, and the Range Effect Platinum Guest Post by Dennis J. Folds, Ph.D.

In this Platinum Guest Post for all you Platinums, Dennis Folds addresses one of the most consequential and intractable problems of human existence, with his own views of the matter. This is certainly to be controversial? Do you want to controverse? Feel free to make comments! *********************** The problem of suffering has plagued theologians for centuries, and continues to haunt thinkers today, including the prodigious progenitor of this blog. Its cousin, the problem of evil, similarly challenges religious scholars to explain how a just and loving God (JLG) could create a world in which people experience extreme suffering, especially when caused by the intentional (evil) actions of other people. Many conclude that JLG doesn’t exist, and if there is a God, it doesn’t have the attributes we wish it had. In this post I’ll argue that the experience of suffering and the perception of evil are inevitable consequences of biological consciousness, because of a psychological phenomenon called the range effect. As such, suffering and evil are insufficient reasons to reject all notions of a God. [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:48-04:00October 17th, 2022|Reflections and Ruminations|

Interesting Topics in New Testament. My Weekly Writing Assignments for Undergrads

Below is Part 1 of the handout I give them, the opening instructions and then the specific directions for each week’s paper. (Part 2 will do the same for the rest of the semester’s weekly sessions) So hey, go at it yourself! But, well, I won’t be grading yours…. (NTHI = my textbook, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings) INSTRUCTIONS FOR POSITION PAPERS Reli 104 For basic instructions on Position Papers (purpose, grading, etc.) see the syllabus. Please double-space your paper, in size 11 font, and submit it on “Assignments” before the recitation begins. NOTE: On occasion you will want to make a reference to a passage of the New Testament. There is a standard format for doing so. When referring to a biblical passages, first give the name of the book (or an abbreviation of it), then the chapter number, followed by a colon, and then the verse number. A semi-colon is used to separate one chapter and verse reference from another; a comma is used to separate [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:48-04:00October 16th, 2022|Christianity in the Classroom, Teaching Christianity|

Publishing in Academic Journals

The most obvious activity that professional scholars engage in is research, and the most obvious way research becomes known to a wider public is through publication. In some fields of inquiry (most of the sciences), the academic journal is the principal area of significant publication. In other fields (most of the humanities), academic books matter even more. But even in the humanities scholar typically publish in both venues. Books take a lot longer to write, but articles play an extremely important role both in disseminating knowledge – the results of research – and in providing grounds for a scholar’s academic tenure and promotion. The articles that scholars write – when they are writing as research scholars – are not the sort of thing that you would find in Time Magazine or Newsweek. Every field has its own set of academic, peer-reviewed journals (there are a large number in biblical studies in the U.S. and Europe); and every scholar who is active in his or her field or research publishes in them. These are not journals [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:48-04:00October 15th, 2022|Bart’s Biography, Teaching Christianity|

My New Podcast. Help! I Need Questions.

I am pleased to announce that I have indeed decided to start a Podcast (NOTE: this will not be replacing the Bart Ehrman Blog Podcast; it is a completely different beast, in which I am interviewed, as opposed to the already important [!] podcast, on which volunteers read my posts to encourage listeners to join the blog). And here, before starting, I need some assistance (see below). But first, let me give you a few of the details. It will be a weekly podcast, called Misquoting Jesus, with Bart Ehrman. It will cover many of the same sorts of things we do on the blog -- NT, historical Jesus, writings and life of Paul, the rest of the NT, all aspects of early Christianity such as non-canonical Gospels, the role of women, heresy and orthodoxy, Christianization of the empire, persecution and martyrdom, Jewish-Christian relations, and on and on. We will initially release several episodes (i.e. on the first day), and after that it will be one a week. It will always appear on a Tuesday, time [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:03-04:00October 14th, 2022|Public Forum|

I’ll Be In Denver November 17. Interested in a Blog Dinner?

I will be in Denver for the annual Society of Biblical Literature Meeting, starting a week before Thanksgiving. Anyone out that way interested in a blog dinner, Thursday November 17? Possibly a drink t in advance. Somewhere near the Convention Center. Are you in the vicinity? Interested? If we can get 3-4 (and no more than 7) people together, I'd be happy to do it. 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 me an email at [email protected]. Hope it happens!

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:03-04:00October 13th, 2022|Public Forum|

Getting the PhD in New Testament Studies

I continue here my series from long ago about what it's like to be a research scholar at a research university. In this post I described what it takes to get the qualifications in the first place. (The only thing I would probably change today, ten years after writing this post, is that university positions in the humanities are so difficult to find these days that you REALLY REALLY need to love doing the graduate work, because in many cases it will not lead to a career option. Still... it *does* happen!), Here's how MY PhD in New Testament Studies happened. ****************************** I sometimes get asked what it takes to become a professional scholar in the field of New Testament/Early Christian studies. The answer, in short, is the same as for any academic discipline. It takes years of intense training. My own training in the field of New Testament studies was nothing at all unusual, but rather was fairly typical for someone in the field. What is unusual is that I knew that I wanted [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:48-04:00October 13th, 2022|Bart’s Biography, Teaching Christianity|

How Serendipity Changed My Life: The Apostolic Fathers

I decided that it might be fun to talk about how serendipity completely shaped my academic career, maybe doing a post now and then on the topic. I seem to have had more than my share of fortuitous moments that have changed my life in ways I never would have expected. When I just now sat down to do a first post on it, I suddenly seemed to remember I did that once. And lo and behold, I did! Over ten years ago. So I'll start with this one and toss a new one in every now and then. Here's what I said before: ****************************** It seems that much that has happened in my professional life has been because of serendipity. Back when I was a believer, we called it Providence. (!) It’s how I got my first job at Rutgers in 1984; how I got my current position at UNC in 1988; how I got asked to write something other than a technical study involving the Greek manuscript tradition of the New Testament – [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:47-04:00October 12th, 2022|Bart’s Biography, Book Discussions, Proto-Orthodox Writers|

What’s It Like to Teach PhD Seminars?

In a previous post I discussed what it's like to teach undergraduates at a research university. Now I discuss teaching PhD seminars. Again, these posts are from some years ago; some details are different now, but the essence is, not eternal, but at least, till now, pretty much the same. ****************************** In addition to my undergraduate classes, I teach one PhD seminar each semester. We have a small but terrific graduate program in the Department of Religious Studies. Students admitted each year are the cream of the crop. Most of them come to us already with both an undergraduate and master’s degree, and we admit students (maybe 7-10 a year) in a range of fields: Islamic studies, Religion in the Americas, Asian Religions, Religion and Culture, Medieval and Early Modern Studies, and Ancient Mediterranean Religions. My area is Ancient Mediterranean Religions, which comprises religions of the Ancient Near East, Hebrew Bible, Graeco-Roman Religions (i.e., “pagan” religions), ancient Judaism, and early Christianity (which includes the New Testament). We have probably 35 or so applicants a year [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:47-04:00October 11th, 2022|Bart's Critics, Teaching Christianity|

Did the Israelites Practice Human Sacrifice? Platinum Guest Post by Joel Scheller

Now HERE is an eye-opening Platinum post, by Platinum Member Joel Scheller for all you other Platinum members to chew on. What do you think? Remember: you too can offer a guest post -- with the chance of it being voted to be published on the entire blog. It doesn't have to be erudite and massively learned: just anything you're thinking of about the Bible, Christianity, or, well, most anything else related. If you don't know if what you have in mind is relevant, zap me a note to ask; if you know it is, write it and send it along! For now, well, check out this provocative one! *********************** What do you think about BBQing your children? When I look back at the raising of my two, fine sons I remember times when the option was probably not off the table. But in all seriousness, there is nothing more repulsive to people than to think of such a thing. Certainly, a believer in the God of our bible would find such a notion [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:48-04:00October 10th, 2022|Hebrew Bible/Old Testament|

When Did Jesus Die? Dating Jesus’ Death by the Earthquake

Finally, a scientific dating of Jesus' death. I was trolling through old posts and came across this one. Whoa! Really? ****************************** Geologists claim now that they have established the date of Jesus’ death. It was April 3, 33 CE. Here was the headline: Jesus 'died on Friday, April 3, 33AD', claim researchers, who tie earthquake data with the gospels to find the date http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2149750/Jesus-died-Friday-April-3-33AD-claim-researchers-tie-earthquake-data-gospels-date.html For those who don’t know, the date of Jesus’ death has long been in dispute. The reality is, we are not sure when Jesus was executed (i.e., what year). It almost certainly happened during a Passover feast during the reign of Pontius Pilate as the Prefect of Judea. His rule lasted between 26-36 CE. All of our early Gospel accounts agree that the crucifixion happened on a Friday. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, this Friday was the day after the Passover meal was eaten and so, technically, it was still “Passover Day (see Mark 14:12). According to John the Friday was the day before it was eaten – on the day [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:47-04:00October 9th, 2022|Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus, Religion in the News|

Would I Be Personally Upset if the Mythicists Were Right (That Jesus Never Existed)?
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Would I Be Personally Upset if the Mythicists Were Right (That Jesus Never Existed)?

Historical Jesus, Mythicism, Reader’s Questions

Would I Be Personally Upset if the Mythicists Were Right (That Jesus Never Existed)?

Ever since I wrote my book Did Jesus Exist (where I argue that, well, yeah--whatever else you say about him, however much legend you think is in the Gospels, there certainly was a historical figure, Jesus), I have had people ask me if I have an axe to grind on this one or if it would be personally painful or professional ruinous to admit that the "mythicists" -- those who claim that Jesus is a *complete* myth (never existed) were right. I don’t address this in the book, and I think it is a terrific question! The reason I do is this. I think every historian of religion who makes a case for one thing or another needs to be queried: what is at stake for you in the matter? Did Jesus Exist, Historically? For example, I have participated a number of public debates with conservative evangelical Christian scholars who have wanted to insist that they can PROVE, historically, that Jesus was raised from the dead. Now I should state with vigor and emphasis – [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:47-04:00October 8th, 2022|Historical Jesus, Mythicism, Reader’s Questions|

A Major Forgery in the Hebrew Bible? Guest Post by Platinum Member Dennis Folds

Members of the blog at the Platinum level have the opportunity to publish posts (just) for other Platinums, and after a number of these appear, the members vote on which should be posted on the blog itself. Here is the most recent winner, an insightful and intriguing Platinum guest post by Dennis Folds. Many of you on the blog are interested in Christian pseudepigrapha (= forgeries), especially those in the New Testament. But what about the Old Testament? Now *here* is a bold thesis! Read it and remark! Being allowed to publish these posts is a very nice perk of the Platinum level of membership. Another is that I do a a special platinum webinar every three months. Are you interested? Check out the various membership tiers and the perks that come with them all: Register - The Bart Ehrman Blog. And now, check out the post! ****************************** Jeremiah Versus the Deuteronomist Forger Dennis J. Folds, Ph.D. Given the interest in potential forgeries of NT books and other early Christian writings, I’d like to [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:47-04:00October 6th, 2022|Forgery in Antiquity, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament|

What Serious Research Projects Can Undergraduates Do in Early Christianity?

Here I continue to discuss some of the things professors in the humanities do in research universities -- in part. I'm telling this from just my own perspective, but I'd say that most of what I say could be said by nearly anyone in a similar position. This is how I explained this aspect of it before. ****************************** In addition to my regular teaching, I often get asked to direct Independent studies – where an undergraduate student will pursue a research project of his or her own choosing, something that normally is not taught in a regular class that we offer – and senior honors theses. I rarely am able to do an Independent Study, I’m sorry to say, as I have so many other demands on my time. But some of my colleagues are able to do several a year. I do occasionally direct honors theses, though, especially when a student looks especially promising as someone who may be able to go on and do graduate work in the field. The honors thesis is [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:35-04:00October 5th, 2022|Teaching Christianity|

What’s It Like to Teach at a Research University?

I continue here with my reflections on what a research scholar at a research university actually *does*. This post covers the most important part of the work. The main job of a professor, of course, is to teach. (!) Different colleges and universities have different requirements and expectations for their faculty. At many small colleges, professors teach four or even five courses a semester. Rarely can a person teach that much and still produce substantial (or much of any!) research, so that professors in those contexts are usually handicapped when it comes to publishing scholarship in the form of books and articles. But many of them are in the job because they mainly LOVE teaching. So do I. But I'm in a different situation. Large research universities expect their professors to be at the cutting edge of scholarship, and so the teaching requirements are lighter (since the research demands are so much heavier). Faculty in research schools can never get tenure or promotion (or raises!) if they do not regularly and extensively publish in their [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:59:47-04:00October 4th, 2022|Bart's Critics, Teaching Christianity|

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