Public Forum Archives - Page 51 of 89 - The Bart Ehrman Blog

The Marvels of Media Attention

My first trade book – that is, book written for a general audience, instead of for fellow scholars (academic monographs) or college students (textbooks) -- was 19 years ago now, Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium. I think it’s safe to say that when I wrote the book, I knew virtually *nothing* about writing a trade book. My editor at Oxford University Press urged me to write it and I reluctantly agreed. I was reluctant because I did not want to write for a general audience. At that time I wanted to spend my life writing scholarship for scholars. But I thought, well, why not – I’ll give it a shot. But it was to be a one-off, not a career. I didn’t really know the difference between trade books and scholarly monographs, except when it came to audience. I realized that I would not be writing for experts like the guy in the office next to me, but for lay folk like the guy across the street. I suppose that was pretty much [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:40:35-04:00March 21st, 2018|Book Discussions, Public Forum|

Fresh Air Interview Tuesday March 20

I have just recorded an interview with Terry Gross for Fresh Air -- scheduled to air tomorrow, Tuesday March 20. It's (mainly) on my book The Triumph of Christianity. We recorded for an hour and a half, so hopefully they'll figure out how to edit out the most boring bits!

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:40:35-04:00March 19th, 2018|Public Forum|

Ehrman & Licona: Are the Gospels Historically Reliable? Part 1

A month ago, on February 21 I had a public debate with Mike Licona at the Bailey Performance Center at Kennesaw State University on the topic: Are the Gospels Historically Reliable? Ratio Christi and KSU History Club hosted the event. Moderator was Dr. Brian Swain, a historian of Mediterranean antiquity on the faculty there. You can probably guess the two sides we took in the debate. The crowd was largely on his side, which made for a very interesting evening. As I think you'll see, even though Mike and I disagree on most things, we have a good, friendly relationship. It was a long evening -- lots of back and forth, with a Q & A with the audience to follow. At times it got, well, animated. Here is part 1. I'll post the second part next week. Part 1: Please adjust gear icon for 720p High-Definition. - Mike Licona is the author of The Resurrection of Jesus, Why Are There Differences in the Gospels and Evidence for God.

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:40:20-04:00March 18th, 2018|Bart's Debates, History of Christianity (100-300CE), Public Forum, Video Media|

My Upcoming Writing Plans: The Afterlife and the Afterlife

As some of you know, I sometimes try to work on two books at once. I’ve actually tried *writing* two books at once, but doesn’t work too well. (Writing part of one one day and part of the other another. Yuk!) But I can be doing research and planning two books at once, if they are on a related topic – one a popular book for a general audience and the other a scholarly book for academics. That’s what I did about ten years ago now for my books Forged (trade book for general readers) and Forgery and Counterforgery (hard-hitting scholarship decidedly not for general readers). Last summer I mentioned on the blog that I was thinking about doing that again, and now it’s for real – I’m doing it. I wasn’t sure if I would because I needed to get a sabbatical from teaching to pull it off. But I have now learned that I’ve been given a fellowship for all of next year at the National Humanities Center and so I will be [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:40:20-04:00March 8th, 2018|Book Discussions, Public Forum|

Reading The Triumph of Christianity at Quail Ridge Books

On Tuesday February 13, 2018 at 7:00pm, I had a book reading based on my new book "The Triumph of Christianity: How A Forbidden Religion Swept the World" at Quail Ridge Books located in Raleigh, North Carolina. I read excerpts for about 30 minutes, then took questions. Here it is, for your viewing pleasure or amusement! Please adjust gear icon for 720p High-Definition: To see all my posts, 5-6 times a week, join the blog! It doesn't cost much, gives a lot, and raises money for charity. So why not?

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:40:20-04:00March 4th, 2018|Book Discussions, Public Forum, Spread of Christianity, Video Media|

My Interview with Michael Shermer

On Sunday, February 18, 2018, I did a podcast interview with Michael B. Shermer, a well known author on issues related to science and religion (the one I most recently read: The Science of Good and Evil), based on my new book: The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World. The interview is part of the Science Salon series, number eighteen. Dialogues are hosted by Michael Shermer and presented by The Skeptics Society, in California. Dr. Michael B. Shermer holds a graduate degree in experimental psychology. He is a historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and editor-in-chief of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. Shermer engages in debates on topics pertaining to pseudoscience and religion in which he emphasizes scientific skepticism Among other things in this interview we discuss the modern atheism movement, religion and politics, the intractable problem of evil, the early understandings of Jesus (how could he be both man and God?), the beliefs of ancient pagans about the gods and [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:40:19-04:00February 23rd, 2018|Book Discussions, Public Forum, Spread of Christianity, Video Media|

Beginning the Triumph of Christianity

I’m in Washington D.C., where I just now gave my first “book talk,” a reading from part of my new book The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World, at the wonderful bookstore, “Politics and Prose.” The book is officially published on Tuesday! And for those interested, this is how I begin the Preface, on a personal note before getting to the matter at hand. *************************************************** In my junior year of college I took a course in English literature that made me understand for the first time how painful it can be to question your faith. The course introduced me to poets of the nineteenth century who were struggling with religion. Even though I was a deeply committed Christian at the time, I became obsessed with the work of the great Victorian poet of doubt, Matthew Arnold. Nowhere is Arnold’s struggle expressed more succinctly and movingly than in that most famous of nineteenth-century poems, Dover Beach. The poem recalls a brief moment from Arnold’s honeymoon in 1851. While standing by an open [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:40:01-04:00February 11th, 2018|Book Discussions, Public Forum, Spread of Christianity|

What Is My Best Book for a General Audience?

I recently received this question for the Mailbag, dealing, roughly, with my own personal feelings about my “best” work. QUESTION: A mailbag question that I am not sure I have read your thoughts on; what do you feel is your best published work for lay people and why? Just curious! RESPONSE: Ah, this is a difficult question to answer. The books you write are kind of like your children: you love each and every one of them with every ounce of your being! And you’re not supposed to have favorites. OK, but people do. So there are three ways I look at this issue. One is, what is the book that is most useful for lay people? Another is: what is the book that most laypeople themselves have found most useful? And yet other is, what do I myself think is my very best book for lay people? I’ll try to answer all three. Before I do, I need to be clear that I’m talking now only about my trade books for a [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:40:00-04:00January 28th, 2018|Public Forum, Reader’s Questions|

Pre-order Triumph of Christianity and Get Some Serious Perks!!

Preorder Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World, and get significant perks! The book will appear in book stores on February 13. But if you order it online before that, whether a member of the Bart Ehrman Blog or not, you can receive some hefty discounts. FIRST: anyone who buys the book in advance online (e.g., at Amazon, or Barnes and Noble, or wherever) who is NOT already a member of the Bart Ehrman Blog will be given a FREE one-month trial membership, with full access to the posts, past and present. SO, if you are not a member – go for it! If you are a member: tell everyone you know: a FREEBIE! SECOND: for everyone, blog member or not: if you buy the book in advance online,, by special arrangement with the Great Courses (previously called The Teaching Company), you will be able to order any of my (eight) courses for an 80% discount. 80%! These are the courses I’ve done for the Great Courses: The New Testament The Historical [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:39:46-04:00January 15th, 2018|Public Forum|

Request for Help! Your Favorite Podcasts.

One month from today -- on Feb. 13 -- my new book will be published. As many blog members know, over the years I have written (in broad terms) three kinds of books: academic books for hard hitting scholars in my fields of interest; college-level textbooks for undergraduates; and trade books for a broader audience of interested (and interesting!) people. This new book The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World will be the thirty-first book I’ve published, my fifteenth trade book. Among those fifteen books, by far the best selling one has been Misquoting Jesus. In my personal opinion, the best (in terms of overall quality) was probably How Jesus Became God. But (we all have our favorites), I think The Triumph of Christianity is even better, the most important, and the best conceived, researched, and written. But, again, that’s just me. It is very difficult for any book, no matter who wrote it or in what circumstances, to make a difference and to become a best-seller. Every author (whether they [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:39:46-04:00January 13th, 2018|Public Forum|

Accessing the Bart Ehrman Blog Podcast

I neglected in my previous post to mention how you can actually *access* the weekly podcast! If you go to iTunes and type in "Bart Ehrman" it is the top podcast to appear and individual episodes appear as well. Or, just click here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bart-ehrmans-sunday-sermon/id1265249890

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:39:46-04:00January 12th, 2018|Public Forum|

My Greek New Testament Course

For the first time in forever I am teaching a new course -- one I've never taught before -- at UNC, a class for classics students (and others who already know Greek) on the Greek New Testament. It is obviously a very small class (6 or 7 students); to be in it students have to have already had at least a couple of years of Greek. So the class is not teaching the rudiments of Greek grammar, but it assuming knowledge of that. We are reading/translating/analyzing lots of Greek in the class; learning about "textual criticism" (how to establish the oldest wording of the text given all variations among the manuscripts); and acquiring the skills to read and analyze actual manuscripts (the hand written copies of the New Testament, as opposed to the printed editions of the Greek). For anyone interested in the details and the play-by-play, here is the syllabus I handed out yesterday: ************************************************************************************* NEW TESTAMENT GREEK Religion 409 / Greek 409 Spring 2018 Instructor: Dr. Bart D. Ehrman Course Description This [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:39:46-04:00January 12th, 2018|Public Forum, Teaching Christianity|

The Blog Podcast

As most of you may be aware, the “Bart Ehrman Blog Podcast” began six months ago. John Mueller, who has been a blog member for many years but doesn’t comment much, reached out to me last summer and offered to create the it. His idea for the podcast was simply to read some of my posts, each week. He hoped that the podcast would attract more people to the blog, which in turn would increase membership in the blog, which in turn would raise more money for the charities supported by the blog, which in turn would help eradicate poverty, hunger, and homelessness, and hence, he would feel good about himself because he did his part to help the World and the Universe as we know it. John gave me an offer he hoped I “couldn’t refuse.” He offered to set up the podcast, fund it, choose what is read each week, narrate it, publish it, keep me updated on its numbers, and scrap it at a moment’s notice if I so requested. My obligation [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:39:46-04:00January 11th, 2018|Public Forum|

Can Historians Be Neutral?

I received a number of responses to my post this past week on whether Jesus would have received a decent burial on the day of his crucifixion. One of the most interesting responses was not so much about what I said or thought, but about a much broader question: how can one evaluate arguments over such controversial subjects without being entirely biased and subjective at the outset? It’s worth talking about. Here’s the question: QUESTION: Re: the burial of Jesus or not: Do you have any suggestions for how to be objective regarding issues like this? Maybe it would help to first figure out where the burden of proof should be. Does historicity demand something like clear and convincing evidence that something happened–so that any significant doubts require rejection of the supposed incident? Or just that one thing is more likely to have happened than another? RESPONSE: I won’t here deal with the particular issue of Jesus’ burial, but with the broader issue of how one remains “neutral” or “disinterested” when trying to [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:39:46-04:00January 7th, 2018|Public Forum, Reader’s Questions, Reflections and Ruminations|

My Long Favorite Pauline Letter: Philippians

There is one other book in the New Testament that may be a cut-and-paste job, and as it turns out, it is another one of Paul’s letters, Philippians. Philippians was for a long time my favorite Pauline letter, back in my late teens when I was first starting to read the Bible. It contains the first verse I ever memorized: “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (1:21); and it is the first book that, a couple of years later, I committed completely to memory, word for word. Little did I know, back then, that some scholars think it is in fact two different letters of Paul’s that have been spliced together. The evidence of there being two letters in Philippians is not as clear and compelling as in the case of 2 Corinthians, and I suspect, but do not know for a fact, that the *majority* of scholars hold to the “integrity” of the letter. In this case, the word integrity has nothing to do with “honesty.” It is the [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:39:46-04:00January 5th, 2018|Paul and His Letters, Public Forum|

January Dinner Full!

I'm pleased and sorry to say that the table for the Blog dinner in Naples Florida on January 24 is now full! Sometimes people cancel, however, so if you would like to be put on a waiting list, I am happy to do that. I'm looking forward to meeting those who have signed up. For all others -- next time!!

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:39:46-04:00January 4th, 2018|Public Forum|

February Dinner Full!

I'm pleased and sorry to say that the table for the Blog dinner in D.C. on February 9 is now full! Sometimes people cancel, however, so if you would like to be put on a waiting list, I am happy to do that. I'm looking forward to meeting those who have signed up. For all others -- next time!!

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:39:45-04:00January 4th, 2018|Public Forum|

Speaking Engagements and Blog Dinners for January and February

Here is a first-of-the-year update on my speaking schedule. If you happen to be in the area where I’m giving a talk – come! For two of the events (Jan. 24 in Naples Florida; Feb. 9 in D.C.) I’d like to organize a small Blog Dinner, if anyone will be there. Blog Dinner? Wednesday January 24, Naples Florida. See the event below. Is anyone interested in having dinner, either because you’ll be attending the event or because you just happen to be around? My idea is to have 3-5 people and to eat good food, drink good drink, and talk about anything you feel like talking about for a couple of hours. The dinner will have to start late, 8:30 pm or so (I think), since I’ll be flying in only after my morning-long seminar. If you’re interested, let me know via email, at [email protected]. The first five to reply get the lucky award. If there aren’t two or three interested, we’ll put it off for another time. There is THIS proviso though: I [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:39:45-04:00January 3rd, 2018|Public Forum|

Is 2 Corinthians FIVE Letters?

In my previous post I tried to show why most critical scholars think that the letter of 2 Corinthians is actually two different letters that have been spliced together. When I was back in graduate school, I learned – to my surprise – that there were scholars who thought that in fact 2 Corinthians was made up of five different letters, all spliced together. At first that struck me as a bit crazy, but as I looked at the evidence I began to see that it made a good bit of sense. I’m not completely committed to that idea, but I’m inclined toward it. My sense is that this is the view of a sizeable minority of critical scholars, but I have no data, only anecdotal evidence, to back that up. In any case, what matters more is what you yourself might think of it. I won’t be giving the evidence in full, but here is how I lay it out for students to consider in my textbook on the New Testament for undergraduates. To [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:39:45-04:00January 2nd, 2018|Paul and His Letters, Public Forum|

Year in Review 2017!

2017 has now come and, as of tonight, gone. For some of us it has been a very good year, for others a very bad one. Probably for most of us it has been mixed. For the blog, it has been very good indeed. So here are some of the important results! First, some background. As many of you know (some of you were actually here back then), we started this blog endeavor in April 2012. So we’ve been going at this for five years and nine months. The original purpose of the blog was to raise money for charity. Rather than using my somewhat limited culinary skills and even more limited time by volunteering for a local soup kitchen, I decided that I could use my scholarly skills more productively by starting a membership-only blog. Everyone thought I was crazy. This is the INTERNET!!! You can’t make people *pay* for it! I ignored all the advice and scorned all the warnings and tried it anyway. My original thought -- fool that I was – [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:39:45-04:00December 31st, 2017|Public Forum, Reflections and Ruminations|

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