It is difficult for me to know what really “works” on the blog.   On the whole, most things seem to work well: as I’ve reported recently, the blog continues to grow.   We are working toward 7000 members (but I very much want that in six figures!) and this past year we raised on average over $420 a day for charity.  That’s a lot of dosh.  All to the good. But I’m concerned about the quality of the blog and whether it is doing what you yourself want it to.   I have only two ways of knowing: the rather crude rating system we use for blog posts and the feedback I get. The rating system could probably be improved, but I’m not completely sure how.   Of course each post isn’t read by 6700+ members every day, but even so, I typically will get somewhere between 5 and 10 people rating a post.  That much is helpful (especially if there is a consistent trend), but it’s not a lot to go by, nothing anywhere statistically significant. The [...]

Do you OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW want a free one-year subscription to the blog (because, for various reasons, you, or the one you know, cannot afford it)?   I STILL HAVE FREE MEMBERSHIPS TO GIVE OUT.   Please ask or encourage someone you know to ask. Here is the original announcement from a couple of weeks ago, with instructions about how to obtain one. ***********************************************************   Thanks to the incredible generosity of members of the blog, I am happy to announce that there are a limited number of free one-year memberships available.   These have been donated for a single purpose: to allow those who cannot afford the annual membership fee to participate on the blog for a year.   I will assign these memberships strictly on the honor system: if you truly cannot afford the membership fee, but very much want to have full access to the blog, then please contact me. Do NOT reply here, on the blog, as a comment.   Send me a separate email, privately, at [email protected].   In your email, let me know your situation [...]

I occasionally get asked what I’m “working on,” and it seems like January 1 is a good time to lay out my research goals/directions for the year.  As some of you know, a couple of years ago I decided to cut back and become less busy with research.  That lasted a couple of months.  But, well, it was a *nice* couple of months.  Now I’m back in over my head – but enjoying that immensely as well. I have four major research goals (at this point) for the coming year. Finish The Invention of the Afterlife. This is the trade book (that a few of you have read in draft!) that deals with the question of where the ideas of heaven and hell came from.  As I’ve mentioned before, 72% of Americans believe that there is a literal heaven, a place for blessed souls after death, and 58% in a literal hell, a place of torment for sinners.   The thesis of this book is that heaven and hell – as places of eternal reward and [...]

Here on this New Year’s Eve I would like to reflect for a minute on the last calendar year of the blog, our seventh year of operation. By nearly any metric, I would say it has been a very good year indeed. For just about all the users of the blog, of course, the primary interest is to read what scholars say about the subject areas that we cover, which are narrow, in one sense, in that they deal almost exclusively with the area of early Christianity (with some discussion of cognate fields, such as Hebrew Bible, early Judaism, Greco-Roman world, Roman religion, and so on).  But in another sense they are very broad, as the blog covers a range of subfields all of which entail scholarship produced by specialists who, in many instances, work in one small subfield or another.  (My best friend in graduate school, upon graduation, used to say that her expertise was on Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapters 9-11.   And she meant it!) And so the blog covers, among other [...]

Thanks to the incredible generosity of members of the blog, I am happy to announce that again this year there are a limited number of free one-year memberships available.   These have been donated for a single purpose: to allow those who cannot afford the annual membership fee to participate on the blog for a year.   I will assign these memberships strictly on the honor system: if you truly cannot afford the membership fee, but very much want to have full access to the blog, then please contact me. Do NOT reply here, on the blog, as a comment.   Send me a separate email, privately, at [email protected].   In your email, let me know your situation (why you would like to take advantage of this offer) and provide me with the following information: 1)      Your first and last name. 2)      Your preferred personal email. 3)      Your preferred user name (no spaces). 4)      Your preferred password (should be 8 or more characters, no spaces). The donors will remain anonymous, but here let me publicly extend my heartfelt thanks [...]

In years past, when I’ve solicited donations to provide free year-long blog memberships to people in need, who really would love to be on the blog but simply cannot afford it because of personal circumstances, I’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support.  For one reason or another that has not happened as much this year.  There have been a number of you who have donated, and for that I’m deeply, deeply grateful.  But the numbers are serious down – so much so that I asked my assistant Steven Ray if the post went out as normal or if there was some kind of glich. No glich.  It’s just one of those years.  But I want to mention it again, a second time, just in case anyone was primed for a nudge.  I’ll be announcing the possibility of free memberships to those who need them in three days, and do not want to have a situation where there are dozens of needy and eager potential blog members that I/we cannot accommodate. So if you can [...]

It is already December (sigh....) and we are now blasting from one holiday to the next.  For the occasion, I want to open up a holiday giving option that can help out people who really want to be on the blog but cannot afford the membership fees. As many of you know, for the past five of years, thanks to a number of generous donors, we pulled this off in a big way.  It has happened in two stages.   It started off when two anonymous donors proposed that they provide some funds to pay for memberships for a few people who wanted to be on the blog but because of personal circumstances, could not afford the membership fees.   I put out the offer on my Facebook page, asking if anyone was in that boat, and within twenty minutes I had thirty requests –all from people who were eager to join but simply did not have the means to do so.  I had to shut down the offer nearly as soon as I made it.   [...]

I have just finalized the deal.  I will be giving lectures on an amazing trip to Greece and Turkey this coming June, 2019, with a company called Thalassa Journeys.  The theme is centered around the journeys of the apostle Paul, and is called "St. Paul in the World of Late Antiquity: Civilizations and Faiths in Transition." For the trip we go to some of the key places in Paul's missionary work:  Thessaloniki, Philippi, Ephesus (staying on the Isle of Samos!), Patmos (connected of course with John the author of Revelation, rather than Paul: but it's in the area and is an important site!), Athens, and Corinth.    On the trip I'll be lecturing on various aspects of Paul's travels and teachings, and will be hanging out, of course, with other travellers the whole time.   The itinerary and planning all look truly great.  You interested? If so, CLICK HERE to download the brochure.  I think you'll agree, it looks terrific.  Anyone connected with the blog (or anyone else who sees this who can claim to be a [...]

On November 15 I will be in Denver in order to give a talk (the following morning) at the Biblical Archaeology Society Fest (see https://travelstudy.bib-arch.org/seminars/21st-annual-bible-and-archaeology-fest).   Would anyone be interested in joining a "Blog Dinner" that evening (Thursday November 15)?  It would be a chance to get to know each other and talk about matters of mutual interest. The only requirements for attendance would be that (a) you be a blog member; (b) you pay your own way – both getting to the event and your meal itself.  Otherwise, there is no expense and no requirement.   You don’t even have to feel obliged to say much! If you can and want to come, zap me a note – not here on the blog, but to my email [email protected].  Do so right away: if past experience is any guide, the table will fill rather quickly. I am looking for a minimum of three and maximum six people to come.  If/when the table is filled, I will put another announcement on the blog; if I don’t get more than a [...]

As you may remember, I am hosting a dinner for a few members of the blog on my home turf, in Durham NC, on Monday Sept. 24.   One of the people who had originally planned on coming has had a conflict and has to back out.  So I have one more opening at the table.  If you are interested in coming -- the first to respond gets the seat!  Please contact me not here on the blog, but via email at [email protected]    The only requirements are that you be a member of the blog, that you show up willing to talk, and that you pay for your own meal.

Dear Members of the Blog, We have had a long-standing policy on the blog – going back to its inception – of avoiding any kind of proselytizing activity that promotes or urges (on others) particular religious views of any kind.  Some comments I receive are borderline, and it is hard to know where the *hard* line actually ought to be.  But I’m afraid I have grown lax in the enforcement of the rule.  It is perfectly fine on occasion for you (or anyone) to say what you/they really think about religion – since, after all, the blog does focus on (early) Christianity.  So an occasional non-proselytizing comment is AOK.  But I have decided, in light of the objectives of our mutual endeavor, to return to the original intention and not post comments that are inappropriately designed to urge particularly religious views. I hope you understand!   We all know that there are gazillions of other avenues on the Internet for anyone to push their personal religious choices and try to convert others.  If you are inclined [...]

Table is full for the Sept. 24 blog dinner in Durham.  Many thanks to all responded, and apologies to those who didn't make it this time.  There will definitely be a next time!

I would like to host two dinners for anyone on the blog who would like to attend.  My idea is to have at least three, but no more than seven, people at each one.  This would be a chance for some direct, personal contact with me and with each other, to have some good food, good drink, and good conversation for a couple of hours.  I will have no agenda – simply talking about things (presumably related to the issues addressed on the blog) that people want to talk about. The only requirements for attendance would be that (a) you be a blog member; (b) you pay your own way – both getting to the event and your meal itself.  Otherwise, there is no expense and no requirements.   You don’t even have to feel obliged to say much! After the table is filled, I will put another announcement on the blog; if I don’t get more than a couple of takers then I’ll reschedule it for another time.   If you can and want to come, [...]

Thanks to the incredible ongoing generosity of members of the blog, I am happy to announce that there are still a limited number of free one-year memberships available.   These have been donated for a single purpose: to allow those who cannot afford the annual membership fee to participate on the blog for a year.   I will assign these memberships strictly on the honor system: if you truly cannot afford the membership fee, but very much want to have full access to the blog, then please contact me.   Do NOT reply here, on the blog, as a comment.   Send me a separate email, privately, at [email protected].   In your email, let me know your situation (why you would like to take advantage of this offer) and provide me with the following information: 1)      Your first and last name. 2)      Your preferred personal email. 3)      Your preferred user name (no spaces). 4)      Your preferred password (should be 8 or more characters, no spaces).   The donors will remain anonymous, but here let me publicly extend my heartfelt [...]

I will be doing several speaking gigs hither and yon in the coming fall.   These are the ones that are set in stone, if all goes to plan.   All of them are open to the public, but may require tickets.  I’ve included websites when I have them.   I ope to see some of you at them.  I’d like to schedule a blog event at the ones that will be in the States, if possible, probably a lunch or dinner.  But I’ll let you know!     September 8 Smithsonian Associates, Washington DC Four Great Controversies in Early Christianity https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/four-great-controversies-in-early-christianity   Description of Seminar The growth of the Christian church from a tiny sect of Jesus’ close followers to a major world religion was not smooth and seamless. Christians faced controversy on every front—externally with both pagans and Jews and internally with various Christian groups holding diverse theological views struggling for dominance. Bart Ehrman, a leading authority on early Christianity, the New Testament, and the life of Jesus, explores four major controversies encountered by the early Christians, [...]

  I have made an executive decision involving rules for comments on the blog.  I have received complaints from blog users about some of the comments.  I think we all (the thousands of us!) are doing well when it comes to being polite and reasonably generous with one another, unlike a lot of other sites.   But some of the comments are distracting, either because there are so many of them from one person or because they are excessively long. The comment section of the blog was never intended to be a forum for people to develop at great length their personal views about something – that is, it was never to be a blog for other people who have always wanted their own blog.  It was meant to be a place where people could interact with fair concision both with me directly and with one another, where people could be open to new ideas and thought, where people could express themselves succinctly and to the point and give and gain new ideas. I don’t want [...]