BDEhrman, Author at The Bart Ehrman Blog - Page 52 of 207

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.

Did Christ Save Everyone When He Descended to Hades?

In my previous post I started to discuss the famous doctrine of the “Harrowing of Hell,” where Christ is said to have descended to Hades after his death (since he was a human, after all, and when humans die, they go to Hades. Part of the reason for the doctrine, then, is that if he didn’t go, he wouldn’t have had all the human experiences); but he did not go there forever obviously (in this way he was *unlike* everyone else!) but as the son of God he went to bring his salvation to those who had died previously (who could not be saved by his death because it hadn’t happened yet.) I pointed out in the previous post that some theologians said that Christ went to Hades to preach to those who were there to give them the chance to repent (who wouldn’t want to get outta there?? Apparently some or lots?) but others claimed that he went to assert his raw power over his enemies to show who was Lord and King. These [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:35-04:00December 18th, 2022|Afterlife, Christian Apocrypha, Early Christian Doctrine|

Did Jesus Descend to Hell After He Died?

Someone on the blog recently asked me about the idea that after Jesus’ death, and before his resurrection, he “descended into hell.” This is an affirmation found in the Apostle’s Creed, and so continues to be recited by millions of Christians still today. But what does it mean? Throughout the history of the church it has usually been thought – by those who thought and/or affirmed such things -- that Jesus descended to the realm of the dead to provide salvation to some (all?) of the people there, to liberate them from their condemnation (which was impossible *before* then because salvation can only come when Christ died – in this view – and so not before. So when he died he went down to save some (or all) of those who were there, taking them from Hades to heaven. This notion has traditionally been called “The Harrowing of Hell.” But how did it work, exactly? And were did the idea come from? As it turns out, I devoted a chapter to the question in my [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:35-04:00December 17th, 2022|Afterlife, Early Christian Doctrine, Historical Jesus|

What Would the Apostle Paul Think of The Trinity? Platinum Guest Post by Joel Scheller

Now here's an intriguing question about early Christianity, posed and answered by Platinum Blog member Joel Scheller in a guest post for all you other Platinums. One way to put the question is this: Would the apostle-Paul have been considered an arch-heretic in the fourth century? A good case can be made! Read on. And think about contributing a post yourself, on any topic connected to the blog. Have an idea/thought? Get it out there! For now -- here's Joel's most recent contribution. He'll be happy to address your comments. ****************************** I find it interesting that so much Christian teaching is based on the Apostle Paul’s influence and yet the doctrine on the very nature of God for most Christians seems out of step with what Paul has to say on the subject. To start off with, The Nicene Creed was originally provoked by the question of how Jesus was God in relation to God the Father, with the inclusion of The Holy Spirit in the creed as almost an afterthought, and whose relationship in [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:34-04:00December 16th, 2022|Early Christian Doctrine, Paul and His Letters|

The Mind-Body Problem As My Personal Dilemma. What Do YOU Think?

Is there an I in me? For several years now, I have been increasingly fascinated by the brain as an organ, and by consciousness as a phenomenon. These are not topics you can figure out simply by taking some time to muse about them – although I strongly advocate taking time to muse about them and putting some effort into musing about them seriously. There are, of course, incredibly smart people out there with massive expertise who know and understand things beyond the ken of us mere mortals. But even they haven’t figured out the brain (or even close; but whoa do they know a lot about it). Or consciousness: even though, in this case, a number of people – usually philosophers – certainly claim they have, or at least that they *basically* have. It is worth reading what these folk have to say when they write simplified versions of their views in trade books designed for the rest of us who ain’t on their level. And these versions can indeed get us to think [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:35-04:00December 15th, 2022|Public Forum|

December Gold Q&A

It is time to schedule the Gold Q&A for December! My plan is to record it this weekend -- which means I need your QUESTIONS. So you have something to ask? It can be holiday related, non-holiday related, and anything-related-to-the-blog related. Go for it! I'm more likely to answer questions that are relatively short and to the point than those that go on for a long paragraph. So be concise, I'll try to be informative, and the world will be a happy place. To enter your question on to the list: send it to Diane at [email protected] The DEADLINE for your question is this Saturday, December 17 midnight (whenever midnight is where you live). As has become our wont, we will release the recording in both video and audio -- for Gold members only. I'm looking forward to it! Bart

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:35-04:00December 14th, 2022|Public Forum|

A Truly Great New Testament Scholar: E. P. Sanders in Memoriam
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A Truly Great New Testament Scholar: E. P. Sanders in Memoriam

Public Forum

A Truly Great New Testament Scholar: E. P. Sanders in Memoriam

I am dedicating this blog post to the memory of E. P. Sanders, one of the truly great scholars of the New Testament in modern times, who died November 21, 2022, age 85. I was heavily influenced by his scholarship, already during graduate school, and I always considered him as the kind of massively learned and rigorous scholars that all of us should strive to be. He more or less single-handedly revolutionized three major areas of New Testament studies, in times when virtually no one had a huge impact on *any* area. In my view he was the most influential NT scholar of our time. Ed was born in Texas and did his PhD at Union Theological Seminar under one of the greats of the previous generation, W. D. Davies, who was himself unusually erudite scholar who focused on understanding the historical Jesus and the Gospels in light of ancient Judaism – a VERY difficult field to master. Ed started out with religious leanings, but as he advanced in his education he moved toward a [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:35-04:00December 14th, 2022|Public Forum|

What about Forgeries IN the New Testament? Is it Possible?

I’ve been talking about some of the early Christian forgeries, books that Christian authors published claiming to be apostles when they were … someone else. Could we have such things actually in the New Testament? That is the topic I discuss in my book Forged (HarperOne: 2011). I give extensive arguments and evidence throughout the book, but here is the opening gambit. ****************************** There are thirteen letters in the New Testament that claim to be written by Paul, including two to the Thessalonians. In the Second Letter to the Thessalonians we find a most intriguing verse, where the author tells his readers that they are not to be led astray by a letter “as if by us” which indicates that the “day of the Lord” is almost here (2 Thess 2:2). The author, in other words, knows of a letter in circulation claiming to be by Paul, which is not really by Paul. This other letter allegedly teaches an idea that Paul himself opposes. Who would create such a forged letter? Obviously someone who wanted [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:18-04:00December 13th, 2022|Early Christian Writings (100-400 CE), Forgery in Antiquity|

Forgeries in the Names of the Apostles: Some of the Most Interesting

As I pointed out in my previous posts, taken from the Preface of my book Forged (HarperOne, 2011), we still have numerous forged documents that emanated from the early church, numerous Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses (these are the four literary genres of the New Testament) all of them claiming to be written by apostles. Many of these non-canonical books are fascinating and still worth reading.[1] I’ve talked about a number of them on the blog before, but here it may be worthwhile to give a quick summary of some of them. Among the Gospels, for example, there is an account allegedly written by Peter, which gives a detailed narration of the resurrection. This is striking because – most readers have never noticed this – the New Testament Gospels do not narrate the resurrection. They do say that Jesus was buried, and they indicate that on the third day his tomb was empty; but they do not narrate the account of him actually emerging from the tomb. There is such an account in the Gospel [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:18-04:00December 11th, 2022|Early Christian Writings (100-400 CE), Forgery in Antiquity|

Writing Forgeries to Show the Truth

In my previous post I pointed out a major problem that confronted the earliest Christians, as I discuss in the Preface to my book Forged (HarperOne, 2011). From the beginning the followers of Jesus insisted that they had the “truth” and that it was only by accepting the “truth” about God as revealed by Jesus that anyone could have salvation. But they disagreed on what the truth was. There were numerous widespread views already in the earliest years of Christianity about who Jesus was, what his death meant, how one was to have salvation, whether one had to keep, or begin to keep, the Jewish law, and about lots of other things. How was one to get around these problems? The obvious answer presented itself early on in the Christian movement. One could know what the apostles taught because they left writings behind. These authoritative authors produced authoritative teachings. And so, the authoritative truth could be found in the apostolic writings. Even though this might sound like a perfect solution to the problem, the solution [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:18-04:00December 10th, 2022|Forgery in Antiquity, History of Christianity (100-300CE)|

Are You Interested in an End-of-the-Year Donation Opportunity? Blog Challenge Grants!!

Many of you are now thinking about your end-of-the-year giving plans. Here’s an option I would like to ask you to consider. The Blog has received two challenge grants that between them total $25,000. That is to say, to meet the challenge, we need to raise $25,000 ourselves. When/if we do so: whammo – that’s $50k. The funds must come in, or be pledged, by December 31. For us to meet the goal we will need lots of small donations (a dollar counts!), a number of good-sized donations (pick an amount), and several very sizeable donations. One of the reasons I’m *especially* keen on this opportunity is this. As of now we have distributed $425,000 to our charities THIS YEAR. That is by far the best we have ever done. Last year was our record year, with a total for the year of $340,000. But now we are close to a ratherremarkable milestone: $500,000 in one year. Them’s newsworthy numbers. I’d LOVE to be able to do it. And oh boy would our charities love [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:35-04:00December 9th, 2022|Public Forum|

Is It A Sin To Be Transgender? Platinum guest post by Douglas Wadeson MD

Fellow Platinum Blog member Doug Wadeson, MD, is not afraid to take on the difficult questions. Here's one I've never thought of posting on! And one that is as important as it is interesting. As you know, these guest posts are by Platinum members for Platinum members; and occasionally we vote on one to be posted to the entire blog. If you too want to come up with one -- go for it! But for now, here's Doug's post on transexualism and the Bible. He will be happy to respond to your comments. ****************************** I recently read of a horrible incident in which a political candidate in Santa Rosa county, Florida, suggested that doctors who assisted with gender reassignment of young people should be hung from trees.[1] Reportedly this comment was greeted with applause from the audience rather than outrage. Applause for the suggestion of lynching someone? Seriously? Unfortunately, the negative, even hateful attitude toward transgender people and gender reassignment often comes from those claiming to be Bible-believing Christians. Does the Bible say that having gender [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:01:19-04:00December 9th, 2022|Sex and Sexuality in the Bible|

Can Christianity Be Seen as “Objective” Truth? Modern and Ancient Views.

In a previous post I pointed out that for over the past century modern evangelical and fundamentalist Christianity has been unusually focused on knowing the “objective” truths that can be “proved” about Christianity. In recent times, some have argued evangelical Christianity has become far more focused on social and cultural issues than theological doctrines (when someone says that this is not the evangelical Christianity your grandfather knew, they are apparently talking about me….). And I think that’s true. But even so, apologetics is still BIG in that tradition, and it is almost always based on objective evaluation of the truth. One could argue that this evangelical obsession with religious truth was matched by the commitment to truth in the earliest years of Christianity. Historically, this is one of the features of Christianity that made it distinctive among the religions of antiquity. Most people today don’t realize that ancient religions were almost never interested in “true beliefs.” Pagan religions – by which I mean the polytheistic religions of the vast majority of people in the ancient [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:18-04:00December 8th, 2022|Early Christian Writings (100-400 CE), Greco-Roman Religions and Culture|

The Other Virgin Births in Antiquity

On December 14 I will be giving a one-off remote lecture, with Q&A, called "The Other Virgin Births in Antiquity." This will not be connected with the blog per se, but with my other venture in which I produce online courses and lectures (BEPS: Bart Ehrman Professional Services). You can learn about the lecture here: https://www.bartehrman.com/other-virgin-births-in-antiquity/ Jesus is decidedly conceived by a virgin in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. This is better called a "virginal conception" -- and in my course I'll explain the difference between the ideas of virginal conception; virgin birth; perpetual virginity; and immaculate conception. All very different ideas! BUT, for the sake of convenience, I'll simply refer to Jesus' conception and birth as "the virgin birth." Since, oh, I don't know, the 19th century I guess, there have been people who have claimed that virgin births were common in the ancient world. You find that claim widely today still among those who call themselves "mythicists" -- those who think Jesus didn't exist but was just a myth. One of the most common [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:19-04:00December 7th, 2022|Greco-Roman Religions and Culture, Historical Jesus|

Our Platinum Webinar: The Infancy Gospels!

Dear Platinum Members, Remember (or if you didn't hear about it the first time, then "member!"): We have our December webinar THIS THURSDAY, Dec. 8, at 8:00 pm ET. I've decided to do something related to Christmas but in an indirect way, a talk on the apocryphal Infancy Gospels. Or at least two of them: The Infancy Gospel of Thomas (not to be confused with the Coptic Gospel of Thomas), which tells tales of the mischievous Jesus from ages 5-12, allegedly written by his brother Thomas; and the Proto-Gospel of James, which tells stories about Jesus' *mother* and her miraculous birth and life, to explain why she was fit to bear the Son of God, allegedly written by his brother James. These are two impeccable authorities: Jesus' own brothers. What could go wrong? I hope you can come. I'll give the talk and then have Q&A. CAn't wait! Here’s the link: https://unc.zoom.us/j/97717226646?pwd=VG1rOFBDcnppV1FNQktJejZsVVZsZz09 Any questions or concerns, let me know!

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:35-04:00December 7th, 2022|Public Forum|

Is Judaism Legalistic? Misunderstanding the Law of Moses

In my upcoming course "Finding Moses" I'll be discussing the final four books of the Pentateuch (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) (for more information, see: Finding Moses – Online Course Covering the Historicity of the Pentateuch - Bart D. Ehrman - New Testament Scholar, Speaker, and Consultant (bartehrman.com). Apart from the opening chapters of Exodus, these books are not well known to most Christians, even those on fairly good terms with the New Testament. I've known many a reader who was determined to read the entire Bible from beginning to end, but who quit early into Leviticus. In part that's because these books are both hard to understand and difficult to see as interesting when not explained. A huge chunk of them is made up of the laws given to Moses (almost the entire second half of Exodus, all of Leviticus, a good chunk of Numbers, and most of Deuteronomy). How can reading a bunch of antiquated laws be interesting? Of course, many (MANY!) Christians just love to cherry pick these laws in order to [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:19-04:00December 6th, 2022|Hebrew Bible/Old Testament|

Is The Exodus a Myth?

In my upcoming course on Finding Moses I will be discussing some of the most important features of the foundation of Judaism -- in particular, the Exodus and the giving of the Jewish Law, both connected directly in the Hebrew Bible with Moses (8 lectures, given live with Q&A on Dec. 10 and 11: Finding Moses – Online Course Covering the Historicity of the Pentateuch - Bart D. Ehrman - New Testament Scholar, Speaker, and Consultant (bartehrman.com) These are hugely important events for all of world history (without them, we wouldn't have Judaism, Christianity, or Islam: so imagine what the world would be like otherwise!). And it is very much worth studying what we know about them, both as literary narratives of the Hebrew Bible and in relation to what actually happened historically. I'm giving here just a taste of the sorts of things I'll be covering in the course. One key question for historians, of course, is "what really happened"? (There are lots of other questions and issues too -- we'll be covering a [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:19-04:00December 4th, 2022|Hebrew Bible/Old Testament|

Are There Contradictions in the Pentateuch?

Yesterday I began a short thread dealing with problems in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament, as a kind of foreshadowing of the sorts of things I'll be covering in my online course of eight lectures, that I'll be giving live, with Q&A, on December 10-11; again, if you're interested, you can find out about the course here: Finding Moses – Online Course Covering the Historicity of the Pentateuch - Bart D. Ehrman - New Testament Scholar, Speaker, and Consultant (bartehrman.com) The course will be a followup to my earlier one on Genesis (called "In the Beginning"). Many of the same problems that I have discussed on the blog and in my course about Genesis apply to the other books of the Pentateuch as well. For many of us, some of the most interesting ones involve contradictions among the various narratives. I talk about that a bit in my book The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction. Here's some of what I deal with there, edited here and there [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:19-04:00December 3rd, 2022|Hebrew Bible/Old Testament|

Other Virgin Births In Antiquity! A New Online Lecture, with Q&A

I am happy to announce that I will be presenting and recording a Chrismas-season lecture "Other Virgin Births in Antiquity," on December 14, 8:00-9:30 ET. The lecture is not connected with the blog per se, except in sofar as y'all as blog members may well be particularly interested. You can find out about it, along with other lectures and courses that are available here: Online Courses by Dr. Bart Ehrman (10% Off First Order): This is how I'm describing the lecture in my announcement of the course in other venues. *************** Other Virgin Births in Antiquity Bart D. Ehrman Jesus of Nazareth was not the only miracle-working Son of God known to the ancient world. Others were also said to heal the sick, cast out demons, control the weather, raise the dead, and ascend to heaven. But were any of these others born of a virgin? Search the Internet and you’ll find a definitive answer: Yes. But ask an expert who has actually studied the ancient sources and … and what will you learn? That [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:34-04:00December 2nd, 2022|Public Forum|

Do We Have the Original Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)?

On December 10 and 11 I will be giving my eight-lecture remote course on "Finding Moses: What Scholars Know about the Exodus and the Jewish Law." This was supposed to happen a month earlier, but life got in the way and we had to postpone it. The course is not connected to the blog per se, it is part of my other outreach program the Bart Ehrman Professional Services (BEPS), which hosts public courses and lectures. To find out about the course and others like it, here's the address: Online Courses by Dr. Bart Ehrman (10% Off First Order) The course is one of a long series that I've started on the entire Bible, both Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament) and NT. My expertise, of course, is mainly NT and early Christianity; but all the way back in graduate school (about the time the book of Isaiah was written) my secondary field of training was Hebrew Bible, and I taught Introduction to Hebrew Bible at both Rutgers and UNC. Some years ago when I [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:19-04:00December 1st, 2022|Hebrew Bible/Old Testament|

So Which Text is Original?? My View of 1 Thessalonians 2:7

I am about ready to wrap up my discussion of the textual problem of 1 Thessalonians 2:7. When recalling his time with the Thessalonians, when he had worked hard not to be a burden with any of them, did Paul indicate that he and his missionary companions had become "as infants, as a nurse tending her children" or that they had become "gentle, as a nurse tending her children." It is not an obvious decision, whether you think the change was made accidentally or on purpose. (If you think it *is* obvious, look at the preceding two posts). It seems like it might go either way. I myself have an opinion on the matter (textual scholars tend to have opinions); but I"ll hold off on that for a minute. First: some of you might be wondering--which of these readings do the best surviving manuscripts actually suggest? Is one of the readings ("infants" or "gentle") better attested than the other? Which reading do our oldest and best manuscripts have? Here, as it turns out, the [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:00:18-04:00November 30th, 2022|New Testament Manuscripts, Paul and His Letters|

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