BDEhrman, Author at The Bart Ehrman Blog - Page 90 of 208

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 Jesus Think He Would Be the Judge of the Earth?

In order to answer a very specific question about how Matthew uses the phrase “son of man” for Jesus, I have had to discuss what the phrase generally means in the Gospel and whether it is a phrase that Jesus actually used. I am arguing that he did use it. That one of the ways he used it was to refer to the judge of the earth who was coming from heaven to destroy God’s enemies and set up a kingdom here (down here, on earth). And here is the big surprise. My argument is that when he talked about the future cosmic judge, he was *not* talking about himself. In my last post I talked about the criterion of dissimilarity. Now I want to show how it relates to this specific problem/issue. Among the various sayings about the Son of Man on the lips of Jesus are some that would not have been put *on* his lips by his followers. (The ones where he is talking about himself obviously *could* have been put on [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:25-04:00August 13th, 2020|Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus|

How Do You Know If Jesus Said That?

In this thread I'm discussing whether Jesus ever used the term "Son of Man"' and if so, if he used it to refer to a future cosmic judge of the earth; and if so, whether he talked about *himself* as that one. My answers are yes, yes, and no. I answered the first two questions in previous posts. I will now begin to answer the third, i.e., to show why I don't think Jesus called or thought of himself as the coming Son of Man who was to arrive from heaven on the day of judgment To do this I need to reintroduce into the blog a historical criterion that scholars use to determine what Jesus actually said, given the fact that we certainly have records of him saying things that he certainly didn't say. Even if you think Jesus said everything recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, how would you know if he said the things found in *other* Gospels such as the Gospel of Thomas? You would need to have some way [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:25-04:00August 12th, 2020|Historical Jesus|

A Bit of a Shocker: Jesus and the Son of Man

In my previous post I began to talk about the phrase “the Son of Man” in the New Testament, in response to a question about Matthew 16:13-16. (See that post!) I will get around to answering the question itself eventually, but for now I’m discussing the use of the phrase “Son of man” generally in the Gospels. Yesterday I pointed out that Jesus uses it a lot, in a variety of ways. Some scholars have claimed that since prior to Jesus, within Judaism, it was not a “title” for a person (that is, like “Son of God” or “Messiah” or “Lord” or “King” etc.), then it could not be a title when Jesus uses it. I responded by saying that doesn’t make any sense, since the phrase *is* used as a title in the Gospels, so *someone* had to be the first to use it that way, and in principle there is no reason to say it could not have been Jesus. Now I want to argue that Jesus did use it as a title, [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:25-04:00August 10th, 2020|Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus|

Who Is the Son of Man? From the Blog Readers’ Mailbag

I have received a rather difficult question from a blog member, involving how the Gospels understand and portray Christ in relationship to one another. Here is the question – or series of tightly interrelated questions – followed by the beginnings of an answer. This one's gonna take several posts. QUESTION: In Mark 8:27-28 Jesus asks his disciples “Who do people say that I am?” and they reply that different people think he is “John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets” Jesus then follows up with the key question: “But who do you say that I am?” and Peter replies: “You are the Christ.” When Luke tells the story Luke keeps the verbal back and forth almost the same, although when Peter replies he is a bit more specific: “The Christ of God.” (Was there another kind of Christ?!) Matthew’s version is a bit different though. Jesus ask, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” The disciples reply in much the same way (although in addition to John the Baptist and [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:25-04:00August 9th, 2020|Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus, Reader’s Questions|

The Opening Section of the Gospel of Judas

Here is the first bit of the Gospel of Judas from the translation of my colleague Zlatko Pleše in our book The Other Gospels. After this bit here, the Gospel gets very strange, at least to most modern readers. But as you can see, it is really interesting. The first paragraph is the explanation of where we got the text from; then the translation of the opening scends, and after that I give the bibliography for further reading that we cite in our book. ************************************** Our translation is based on the Coptic text of Rodolphe Kasser, and Gregor Wurst, eds. The Gospel of Judas: Critical Edition. Washington, DC: National Geographic, 2007. New portions of the Gospel appeared in 2006, when the one-time owner of the manuscript declared bankruptcy and his remaining antiquities collection was turned over to a bank in Ohio; included in this collection were numerous small fragments of the Gopsel of Judas. These have been photographed and they have begun to be studied; for our translation of the account here we have [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:05-04:00August 7th, 2020|Christian Apocrypha, Early Christian Writings (100-400 CE), Heresy and Orthodoxy|

What is the Gospel of Judas About?

I have said some things about the Gospel of Judas in my previous posts, but not much, really, about what is actually in it. You can find a translation, done by my colleague Zlatko Pleŝe, in the volume we co-edited and translated: The Other Gospels: Accounts of Jesus from Outside the New Testament. We also give the following Introduction to the text; I will give the rest of the Introduction and a bibliography, and a bit of the translation itself, in the next post. *********************************************************** The Gospel of Judas is the most recently discovered Gospel to be published, and is arguably the most important and intriguing Christian text to appear since the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library in 1945. Details of the discovery and the mishandling of the manuscript by antiquities dealers are provided in the exhaustive account of Herb Krosney. The manuscript containing the Gospel preserves three other gnostic works as well: the “Letter of Peter to Philip,” known in a slightly different version from the findings at Nag Hammadi; the [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:05-04:00August 5th, 2020|Christian Apocrypha, Heresy and Orthodoxy|

Sethian Gnostics and the Gospel of Judas

Soon after scholars had a chance to examine the Gospel of Judas it became clear that it embodied a form of early Christian Gnosticism known as "Sethian." Most descriptions that you find of Gnosticism are simplistic and do not actually reflect the mind-boggling complexities of the texts that embody it, to the extent that even if you master the basic descriptions you find, it is very hard to make sense of any of the texts. That is certainly true of the Sethian writings! To say they are gloriously confusing is a serious understatement. They involve myths filled with wierd names and intricacies of relationships and events that are hard to explain in the abstract. But hey, you gotta try! And if you don't have much space to do so, well, you do the best you can. Here is how I explain Sethian Gnosticism in my book After the New Testament , 2nd edition. (The book is actually an anthology of early Christian texts writings all kinds, and I include selections from three key Sethian texts.) [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:05-04:00August 4th, 2020|Early Christian Writings (100-400 CE), Heresy and Orthodoxy|

Will “All Israel” Be Saved? Really? Guest Post by Jason Staples

Here now is the third and final post by Jason Staples connected with his dissertation and now to be published book on what Paul meant that “All Israel will be saved.” It’s a big issue. Isn’t Paul the apostles of the “gentiles”? Doesn’t he attack Jews and Judaism? Doesn’t he think God rejected them because they rejected him? What could Paul mean by this? Jason argues that Paul does not mean what scholars have long argued and regular ole lay folk have thought he meant (there are lots of opinions!). As you’ll see, it’s a major issue with lots of ins and outs, but a huge payoff. Jason will again be happy to respond to questions and comments. - Jason A. Staples is the author of The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism: A New Theory of People, Exile, and Israelite Identity. *********************************************** Post 3: Did Jesus Fail to Restore Israel? Paul’s Solution to the Problem The two previous posts have discussed why scholars have found Paul’s statements about Israel’s [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:05-04:00August 3rd, 2020|Jews and Christians in Antiquity, Paul and His Letters|

Apology to the Blog

I need to apologize to blog members. Yesterday I posted a link to the Christian ministry that deals with people with disabilities, and I have received a complaint that the link includes a statement of faith that forcefully condemns gay sex and gay marriage. By posting the link it may appear that I and/or the blog, concur, support, or even accept any such view. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m afraid I did not do due diligence by reading through the doctrinal statement before posting the link. That’s not a good excuse. Mea culpa. Apologies to all those who were offended.

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:05-04:00August 3rd, 2020|Public Forum|

What Is Gnosticism?

I have been talking about how I came to learn about the Gnostic Gospel of Judas, the most significant Christian document discovered in modern times (since the 1940s). Now I want to explain what the Gospel is. I have just called it a "Gnostic" Gospel, and so to begin I need to say something about what Christian Gnosticism was. It is a fascinating topic, but widely misunderstood. The reading-public-at-large was *somewhat* introduced to it in the 1950s with the publication of the Gospel of Thomas (which scholars today are reluctant to label "Gnostic," as it turns out); but it became much more widely known in the 1970s when Elaine Pagels published her blockbuster, The Gnostic Gospels. She too has changed her views on lots of things (including the Gospel of Thomas), but her book is still a terrific read. I assign it to my undergrads. I talk about Gnosticism in a number of my books. The following is some of the basic information from my textbook on the New Testament. In the next post I'll [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:05-04:00August 2nd, 2020|Heresy and Orthodoxy, History of Christianity (100-300CE)|

Evangelicals Who Make the World A Better Place. Guest Post by Robin Jones

One of my biggest complaints against a lot of deeply committed evangelical Christians I know, and know about, is that they don't live and act like Christians. They go to battle for issues not even addressed in their own Scriptures as if they were the most important things in the mind of God, and they completely ignore the moral imperatives Jesus himself did promote: active concern and love for those who are in need, whether they are of our own ethnic background, gender, country, socio-economic class, creed, or ... anything else. House the homeless, feed the hungry, help the outcast, work for the oppressed. But every now and then I am surprised by some Christians whose faith drives them to fulfill the commands of their own gospel in a humble and helpful way Many of these people do not toot their own horn; they go about silently doing amazing things for those in need. I was 17 when I met Robin Jones. We were first year students at Moody Bible Institute. She was sparky, outspoken, [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:05-04:00July 31st, 2020|Public Forum|

A Very Odd Story about the Baby Jesus

Over the past few days I have been working on my syllabus for the graduate seminar I will be teaching this term, on Early Christian Apocrypha -- that is, other Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses that did not become part of the New Testament. As chance would have it, I was also just now browsing through some old blog posts, and came across this one, posted on this date seven years ago. It is about one of the most historically influential and downright interesting Gospels from outside the New Testament. In the Middle Ages, this book was sometimes *treated* as Scripture: it inspired a good deal of Christian art, for example, and provided people with "information" about Jesus' birth and what happened before it. So I thought I should post it again. Here it is: ********************************** In my graduate class on non-canonical Gospels, we typically analyze the Proto-Gospel of James (which scholars call the Protevangelium Jacobi -- a Latin phrase that means “Proto-Gospel of James,” but sounds much cooler….). It is called the “proto” Gospel [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:05-04:00July 29th, 2020|Christian Apocrypha|

When Paul Says “Israel” Does He Mean “The Jews”? Guest Post by Jason Staples

Last week I posted the first of three interesting discussions by my erstwhile student Jason Staples, PhD in New Testament, currently teaching at North Carolina State University. Here is the second post, with an even more challenging thesis that runs counter to what scholars have long said, but for which he makes a compelling case. His fuller discussion will be found in the book he has coming out from Cambridge Press at the end of the year. Jason will be happy to address your comments and questions. - Jason A. Staples is the author of The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism: A New Theory of People, Exile, and Israelite Identity. *************************************** Post 2: Why Does Paul Switch from Talking about ‘Jews’ to ‘Israel’? My last post looked at how Paul’s statements about Israel’s ultimate salvation in Romans 11 seem to contradict what he says elsewhere about the equality between Jews and gentiles (non-Jews) and surveyed several ways scholars have tried to reconcile that tension. But that post concluded by calling [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:05-04:00July 28th, 2020|Jews and Christians in Antiquity, Paul and His Letters|

Seeing the Gospel of Judas for the First Time

In a couple of posts last week I talked about how I came to learn about the discovery of the Gospel of Judas through a phone call from a representative of National Geographic who wanted me to be on the team that established its authenticity, back in the fall of 2004. I let her know that I wouldn't be of any use in authenticating the thing, but I could talk about its historical significance. I had agreed to find a Coptologist to come along to Switzerland and she was to find a scientist to perform a Carbon-14 dating. When we hung up, I called Stephen Emmel, and American who teaches in Muenster Germany, one of the world's leading Coptologists. I asked him if he had heard that National Geographic thought they had their hands on the Gospel of Judas? He had indeed heard a rumor and was dying to see it. I said I was too. Hey, wanna fly to Geneva? Before going, I learned a great deal more about the text and its discovery. [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:04-04:00July 27th, 2020|Christian Apocrypha|

Why Do Are So Many Textual Critics Evangelicals? Readers’ Mailbag.

Here’s a good question about why so many New Testament textual critics (those who study the manuscripts of the New Testament) are evangelical Christians. QUESTION: Bart, is it fair to say that many textual critics chose their field of expertise out of a passion to find out just what did God really say? I’ve no axe to grind here, just wondering what you’ve observed working with so many in the discipline. It’s definitely something I considered ever since a street preacher pointed out my shiny new NIV had relegated Acts 8:37 to a footnote. RESPONSE: I need to begin by explaining what the questioner means by “textual critic,” so we are all on the same page. Many people – including scholars in non-literary fields – think of “textual criticism” in very broad terms as the “detailed study of texts” – that is, the systematic attempt to interpret a literary text from a scholarly point of view, or to compare texts with one another to see their similarities or differences, or to point out [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:04-04:00July 26th, 2020|New Testament Manuscripts, Reader’s Questions|

Did Paul Really Think “All Israel Will Be Saved”? Guest Post by Jason Staples

One of the most thorough dissertations I’ve directed in recent years was by Jason Staples, called “Reconstituting Israel: Restoration Eschatology in Early Judaism and Paul’s Gentile Mission.” It might be difficult for a lay person to figure out what it’s about from the title, but it was on a really significant topic that I think most any reader of the New Testament would see is important. It involves the Apostle Paul’s views of Jews, Judaism, and the nation of Israel. The goal of the dissertation was to explain what Paul meant when he said that in the end, “All Israel will be saved” (Romans 11). Huh? What’s that mean exactly? There are lots of options that have been proposed over the years, and none of them “obviously right.” The question drove Jason to an even more basic question, which almost no one has thought to ask, let alone provide a comprehensive answer to: what does Paul mean by “Israel”? Jason defended his dissertation at the end of 2016. It was large! The first [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:04-04:00July 24th, 2020|Jews and Christians in Antiquity, Paul and His Letters|

When I Learned the Gospel of Judas Had Been Discovered

As I said in my last post, after receiving an out-of-the-blue query about the Gospel of Judas I looked it up to refresh my memory: it was allegedly a book used by a group of Gnostics named the Cainites, a book that told the story of Jesus from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, his betrayer – not in order to malign Judas but, evidently, to celebrate his deed, since it was (somehow) to Jesus’ advantage. Soon after reading up on the Gospel (there was very little to read about it, since we didn’t have it; all we had were some comments in the writings of church fathers who opposed it, principally Irenaeus), I received a second phone call, this one from a person at National Geographic, asking what I knew about the Gospel of Judas. I obviously realized that something was up. So I told her what little we knew about the Gospel as probably a Gnostic text. In my mind, I wasn’t sure – before this – that the text actually *ever* existed. Some [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:04-04:00July 22nd, 2020|Christian Apocrypha, Early Christian Writings (100-400 CE)|

Christianizing the Old Testament and the Museum of the Bible: Guest Post by Jill Hicks-Keeton

Here now is a final guest post on the Museum of the Bible by Jill Hicks-Keeton, one of the two editors of the recent book that contains a number of evaluative essays by a range of scholars. Her title asks the driving question of her post and her first word answers it! Many thanks to Jill and her co-editor Cavan Concannon for providing these three posts. If they have sparked your interest -- check out the book! Jill will be happy to respond to your comments and questions. - Jill Hicks-Keeton is the editor of The Museum of the Bible: A Critical Introduction, and the author of Arguing with Aseneth: Gentile Access to Israel's Living God in Jewish Antiquity. *************************************************************** Can the Bible Organize History? By Jill Hicks-Keeton No—but the Museum of the Bible makes an intrepid, though misguided, effort. By its very name, the Museum of the Bible must privilege certain literature: texts that became biblical. The institution is structurally organized around the category “Bible.” Yet, as readers of this blog will already [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:04-04:00July 21st, 2020|Book Discussions, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Public Forum|

How I First Learned About the Gospel of Judas Iscariot

Over the past few weeks I’ve had a thread dealing with Judas Iscariot and another thread dealing with claims from the second century that Christians were highly immoral (sexual reprobates, murderers, and cannibals). Or at least that some Christian heretics were. As it turns out, these two threads are closely related in a way one would not expect – at least in a way I never expected until I got involved with the “Gospel of Judas” that was discovered in recent times. I posted on this many years ago but it would be interesting to do so again. This will take several posts. I begin with how I first found out about the Gospel of Judas, back when experts in early Christianity knew virtually nothing at all about a Gospel of Judas. In the Fall of 2004 I was in my study minding my own business (well, talking with a graduate student) when the phone rang. It was a woman named Sheila, whom I had known for years. Sheila had sponsored a number of archaeological [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:04-04:00July 20th, 2020|Christian Apocrypha, Early Christian Writings (100-400 CE), Heresy and Orthodoxy, Proto-Orthodox Writers|

Why Would An Atheist Teach the Bible? Readers’ Mailbag

I often get asked why I would be interested in teaching biblical studies if I’m an atheist; sometimes the question is a bit hostile, along the lines of “What would *you* know? You don’t even believe in it”! Or “Why should anyone listen to you if you’re just trying to disprove the Bible?” At other times the questions seem fairly genuine. Recently, for example, I’ve gotten these two: QUESTIONS: Why do you bother continuing to teach any aspects of Biblical studies since you have decided that you are an atheist-agnostic? In short, what is the point? Can you explain something to me? Why should I send my son to study in your department when you don't believe the book which your program is built on? RESPONSES: At first I thought these were hostile, but I corresponded with both of the people and I don’t think they were. Let me answer them separately. The first one is easier, though I get it a lot. It seems a puzzle to so many people that anyone [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:50:04-04:00July 19th, 2020|Public Forum, Reader’s Questions, Teaching Christianity|

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