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December 2022 Gold Q&A
December Gold Q&A
November Gold Q&A
Dear Gold Members, First I'd like to apologize for a mess-up on the monthly Gold Q&A's. It was not until a few days ago that I learned the October one had not been posted. (Don't hesitate to tell me sooner next time!) That was a complete snafu. We collected your questions and I recorded the Q&A and then there was a communication breakdown. I was out of the country and something fell through the cracks; we're not sure what or where, but we're taking steps to make sure it doesn't happen again. So, sorry 'bout that. The October Q&A is being posted now -- hopefully by tomorrow. The November Q&A is a different matter. I have had a family emergency over the past couple of weeks that took me out of action (not just blog action!). But I'm now able to get back on with life as we know it. But that's why the November Q&A is and will be late. On the upside -- you'll get TWO Q&A's in December! And there's another bit [...]
The Birth of the Trinity – Platinum Webinar September 2022
Dear Platinum Members, Apologies for getting to this in something less than tout de suite! But here it is, our webinar on the Birth of the Trinity, for those of you weren't able to come and ... for those of you who were! Below is the video:
An Intense Back and Forth on Key Issues
I recently had a very interesting interview for a podcast called "Global Skeptics." We had only about 20 minutes and so we agreed to do it rapid-fire. This was one of the best Bam-Bam-Bam interviews I've ever done -- great and wide-ranging questions from a variety of perspectives. Here it is!
Did you know that Gold Members can get the full audio feed in their favorite Podcast Player?
Most of you probably know that gold members have access to the audio version of each post, but did you know that gold members can subscribe directly to the feed in their favorite podcast player? This is a convenient way to keep up with the blog. Your podcast app will notify you when there are new posts available, and it can be set to automatically download them for later listening such as in the car or while out for a walk. It will keep track of which posts you have listened to already so you can easily find new content. If you are interested in trying it out, first make sure you are a subscriber at the Gold (or Platinum) level. Then, just follow the instructions here!: How to Subscribe to the Bart Ehrman Audio Feed
An Unusual Interview with an Ex-Muslim, Informed, Atheist
Now *this* isn't the kind of interview I get asked to do every day! Hanny Seylim is a former Muslim who split his time growing up between Egypt and Ireland (a parent from each) and now lives in Melbourne. For his podcast, Critical Faculty, he interviews all sorts of critical thinkers in numerous different fields (physics to NT!). Hanny knows a *lot* about early Christianity and wanted to interview me about my work. I think this one is unusually good. Enjoy!
My Response To Conservative Critics. An Interview on the MythVision Podcast
Derek Mythvision Podcast Last month I did a long and detailed interview with Derek Lambert, the person who started and runs an interesting podcast called MythVision Podcast. Derek is unusually well informed about the New Testament and he has deep and penetrating questions about my positions/views in some of my popular books, especially in light of what a very conservative evangelical apologist John McLatchie has been saying about my, well, sloppy ignorance. I had never heard of McLatchie before, but that's not unusual. There are over two billion Christians in the world and I've never heard of most of them. Still, not that many of them assault my intelligence without telling me directly (e.g. in an email) that I'm an idiot. Still, maybe he's right about everything. That's the nice thing about human intelligence. You yourself have it, and you can make up your own mind. In any event, here's the interview. The bit with McLatchie kicks in part way through, but the whole thing is about important topics that I've dealt with in my [...]
What We Know Today About Religions and the Afterlife (in the US): Platinum Guest Post by Sharon Friedman
I am pleased to be able to publish this Guest Post by one of our Platinum members Sharon Friedman. Sharon has been a blog member for some five years. Here is an intriguing post with some statistics to make you ponder and reflect on a topic near and dear to many of us. If you have questions comments, go ahead and make them! Many thanks Sharon. ***************************** Often on the blog, people ask Bart “what did Christians or Jews think about some topic?” It’s definitely difficult or impossible to know that about the past. We do know something about what they currently think. Fortunately, groups like the Pew Research Center and NORC at the University of Chicago ask people religious questions. Let’s look at that source of information for insights into our discussion of the afterlife, specifically what do Christians, Jews and Muslims currently think about heaven and hell? Pew does a Religious Landscape Survey about once every 10 years or so. It’s chock full of information. There is a crosswalk between belief in heaven [...]
Interested in Going to Rome with Me?
As we are all so painfully aware, almost all travel holidays this past year were canceled. But now many tour companies are optimistic that by late spring or early summer, with widespread vaccination internationally, travel will resume. We will know eventually! I have been asked to do a special tour to Rome and Southern Italy, June 4-14, 2021, (THIS June!) to give lectures on the relationship of Christianity and traditional Roman religions and cultures in the early centuries CE: “Christians and Pagans.” I’ve agreed to do it, and will go ahead with it, of course, only if it is completely safe. The tour company, Thalassa, is terrific; it will be a small and intimate group and we will have tons of time to talk, discuss, and hang out together. They are now accepting registrations for the trip. Below is a poster for it, with a link for more information. Here is part of what I say about my lectures. When Christianity arrived on the world stage in the first century AD, Rome and the [...]
Fifty Ways to Forge a Gospel
Last month I attended a small conference on the early Christian apocrypha (that is, the Gospels, epistles, Acts, and Apocalypses from early Christianity that were not accepted into the canon of Scripture) at York University in Toronto. The special topic for the conference was the use of forgery in early Christianity, and I was asked to give the keynote address. This is a topic, of course, I have been long interested in. I spent several years working on my (rather long) scholarly monograph on the topic: Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics; and in the process or writing that book for fellow academics, I wrote a shorter and simpler account for popular audiences: Forged: Writing in the Name of God. Why the Bible’s Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are. Among other things, in my talk I stressed that people in the ancient world considered forgery to be an act of literary deceit, a form of lying. I really don’t think there should be much question [...]