Over the past three months we have offered free temporary memberships to people who would like to belong to the blog but cannot afford a membership during this time of crisis.  We have had nearly three thousand people take us up on that offer, and many have expressed real, heartfelt gratitude. I would like to implement a similar program now but, with a different approach.  This may involve you.  From the beginning, none of the money from blog membership fees or direct donations has gone into any of our pockets; it doesn't even pay for operating expenses.  And it never will.  Everything that comes in goes directly out to charities dealing with those in serious need. I would like to be able to continue providing free memberships but do so without affecting the blog’s revenue – or even better, to increase it.  As many of you know, for a long time now, twice a year I have asked for donations for free one-year memberships for those who cannot afford one themselves.  That has been terrifically [...]

Every now and then I learn of someone on the blog who has a PhD  or is ABD in one of the related fields, such as New Testament, Early Christian Studies, Hebrew Bible, Early Judaism, Rabbinics, Roman Religion, Greek Religion, Ancient (Greek or Roman) History, Semitic Philology, etc. etc., and/or is teaching in one of those fields in a college or university. Are you one of them?  If so, please send me an email, at [email protected].  I'm interested in knowing what your research is and/or has been, and I don't know how else to contact you, other than this!

Some of you have expressed dismay that comments/questions you submitted on Randy Alcorn's book review of my book Heaven and Hell (from June 21) did not get posted.  So sorry.  There were some technical difficulties and problems on this end, and when they were resolved Randy found himself confronted with about a hundred comments, some of them with multiple points / questions, and it was more than a mere mortal could handle. Moreover, a number of the comments / questions were along the same lines.  So, instead of responding to each comment / question individually he has written two additional posts to explain himself and his position.  I will post these separately, though they are related to each other, the first one here today. I will also go ahead now and post your comments / questions that have come in from the beginning.  Randy will not be able to respond directly to them, but he appreciates very much your concerns and questions.  If you have questions / comments for me, instead of him, feel free to [...]

I have contacted everyone that has registered for Sunday's webinar on "Do We Have The Original New Testament?"  and sent an invitation to the Zoom webinar.  If you did register, but did not get the email or invitation, both sent out today (Thursday 6.25.20), please zap me an email, with the subject line YOU MISSED ME!!!

Last week I invited Blog Members who had published something to tell all of the rest of us about it.  Many have done so!  If you, too, would like to make your written work known, please read very carefully the instructions in the original post: https://ehrmanblog.org/have-you-written-something-you-would-like-to-advertise-on-the-blog/   Today I publish the first batch.   There are seven (a good biblical number) and of various kinds.   I chose these on very scientific principles: they were the first seven I received! Each one includes the name of the work, the author’s name, a description of what the piece  is, and a link that can show you how to get a copy.  I will post these periodically in batches of about this size.   *****************************************************************************   Manifest Insanity, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Think for Myself, by Diogenes of Mayberry (my author pseudonym; I am a member of the blog under my real name) https://www.amazon.com/Manifest-Insanity-Learned-Worrying-Myself-ebook/dp/B00GTJ3U3A/ref=la_B00GUB3ZEQ_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385104266&sr=1-1 An irreverent social commentary that traces the history of Judeo-Christian doctrines and how they have evolved over the centuries, impudently contradicting [...]

Have you published a book, an article, an essay, or a poem (or something else) -- either privately, or on the internet in some form, or with a journal/publishing company -- that you would like more people to know about?  Something you would like to share with other members of the blog?   I have decided to allow blog members to make their work known to others who might be interested. I will not be publishing the works here, or reprinting them.  I will be allowing blog members to write brief descriptions of what they have produced, with a link that allows other blog members to have access either to the work itself or to a site that describes it and/or allows them to access (or purchase) it.   For now this offer applies only to *written* materials (not artwork or other visual forms). This is how it will work.   First, requirements. You must be a member of the blog The writing needs to be related in SOME broad way with the interests of the blog. I [...]

Today is the LAST DAY to put in a bid to join my small webinar on "How We Got the New Testament"!  If you missed the post, here 'tis:  https://ehrmanblog.org/a-bart-ehrman-webinar-how-we-got-the-new-testament/ I will be taking bids until 11:59 pm this evening. After that you will find yourself in the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I have decided to hold a small and intimate webinar in order to raise money for the Bart Ehrman Blog.  Every penny that the webinar brings in will go directly to two of the blog’s charities, The Food Bank of Central/Eastern North Carolina and Doctors without Borders, split equally between them.  It will be held on Sunday May 31 at 4:00 pm.  It will last for an hour and fifteen minutes. The topic of the seminar will be “How We Got the New Testament.”  Among the topics to be covered will be: Who decided which books would be included in the New Testament?  Who gave them the authority to decide?  How did they decide?  What were their criteria?  When were their decisions finally made?  What do we know about the books that were left out?  And why didn’t these other books “make it”? I will say at the outset, here, that the answers are not what most people seem to suppose. In the webinar I will deliver a talk for about 40-45 minutes; the rest [...]

Some bad news, I'm afraid.  Yesterday I went to review and post the comments that had come in the previous day (April 6, between noon and midnight).  There was only one.  Normally there are 40-50.   Yup, something was wrong. Complicated story, but because of a weird technical difficulty involving the back-up system, the comments were sent into the stratosphere.  There were 42 of them.  If you made a comment then and saved it, please resubmit.  If you want to compose it again from scratch, do that.  If you don't want to bother, I'm so sorry.  In fact, I'm so sorry all around. This has obviously never happened before in our history.  We are working to make sure it will not happen again.  Apologies!!

We have a lot of new members joining us, some of them (new) paying members (Thank you very much!) and others who are taking advantage of our free two-month offer (welcome!!). We’re delighted to have you, and hope you enjoy the blog. Please spread the word! For newcomers, some information about a couple of additional features of the blog that you may not know about (and a reminder about these for everyone else); and then a couple of notes about protocol on the blog, including a couple of changes we are implementing.   IMPORTANT FEATURES First and foremost, I want to highlight the Bart Ehrman Blog Podcast. This is an amazing production – so amazing that I wish I had something to do with it. But it wasn’t my idea, it’s not something I do, and it is absolutely fantastic. An unusually energetic blog member came up with the idea: John P. Mueller. John dreamt up the podcast, designed it, implemented it, narrates it, produces it, and administers it. Check it out: https://ehrmanpodcast.libsyn.com/ Every week, [...]

As I indicated in my previous post, we had our eighth anniversary as a blog two days ago, on April 3.   How things have changed since started this little venture in 2012.   As I have said before, at the time I had no idea how the blog would work or go.   A friend had suggested the idea of a blog over drinks, and I thought it was crazy.  Who has time to do a regular blog?  Lots of people, I guess, since there are millions out there.  But I said: No Way.  So he suggested I do it for money.  I said, Money for a BLOG???   Plus, I told him, I was doing just fine, thank you very much.  But then he said, You could do it for charity.  BINGO. I thought about it.  Steven Ray contacted me out of the blue to see if I needed any website help.  I conferred with him about the blog idea, but it off for months and months, and finally toward the end of 2011 I thought I [...]