People often ask me what my favorite “Jesus Movie” is, and they  almost never expect my answer.  For me it’s hands down.  A clear forerunner.  A movie most people have never heard of, but in my opinion, the best of all time: “Jesus of Montreal.”   This is not just my favorite Jesus movie of all time but one of my very favorite movies of any kind of all time. Want to watch it and then have a discussion about it with me? This will be our first ever Blog Movie Club event (BMC)! The main event, the discussion with me, will be on Sunday, January 22, 4:00-5:30 pm EST. The Movie Club viewing will not be that day, but before; and you have two (well three!) massively convenient options.  You can: Watch it on your own at your leisure. Join other blog members in watching it simultaneously in silence, with a brief introduction and discussion afterward (without me) led by movie club organizer and blog member Lance Boyer, on January 14, 8:00 pm; Join other [...]

We are five days from Christmas and twelve days from the New Year.  At about this time for nearly every December of the blog's existence I have opened up a holiday giving option that can help out people who really want to be on the blog but cannot afford the membership fees. In most years we we have been able to give out something like 70-80 gift memberships.  To qualify to receive one, a person had to send me their contact information and to tell me a bit about their circumstances, why they could not afford membership fees (I don't pry: I just want a general idea).  I provided gift memberships only to people who really needed them.  Some of the stories have been heart-breaking.  Luckily, virtually everyone who contacted me has been able to be given a gift membership. I will post on my social media (Facebook and Twitter) as well as on a public post here, the availability of memberships.  I will give out as many as we have.  Would you like to [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]