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Video: Does It Matter If Jesus Was Married?
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Video: Does It Matter If Jesus Was Married?

Historical Jesus, Public Forum, Video Media

Video: Does It Matter If Jesus Was Married?

As I think I've indicated on the blog before, on January 23, 2014 there was an interesting discussion, on stage, between Karen L. King (Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School), Mark Jordan (Distinguished Professor at Washington University, Saint Louis; he is returning to Harvard next year), and me on the topic "Does It Matter if Jesus Was Married?" The discussion was hosted by the Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in the Beam Music Center, Doc Rando Hall, UNLV. The Black Mountain Institute is an International Center for Creative Writers and Scholars. The event was moderated by the former President of UNLV, Carol Harter, who did a very fine job indeed keeping us all on target and on topic. The basic underlying question was: what would a married Christ mean for the theology, practices, and politics of Christian traditions as they grapple with changing times? I did manage to say a few words about the prior question: *Was* Jesus married? The Black Mountain Institute was motivated to invite us [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:24:30-04:00February 26th, 2014|Historical Jesus, Public Forum, Video Media|

Snake-Handling and the Gospel of Mark

Here is something to break up a bit my thread on the Gospel of Mark, studied from a literary-historical perspective (to be resumed in my next post). This current post is related to Mark but it’s well, different. There was a recent CNN report that some of you may have seen. I include it here, below, with the link to the site at the bottom. This practice in some southern circles (especially in the Appalachians) of handling deadly snakes as part of a worship service is based on the saying of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel, after his resurrection, where he tells his disciples that those who come to believe in him will be able to speak in foreign tongues (as happens in Pentecostal churches, e.g.), that they will be able to handle deadly snakes, and if they drink any poison, it will not harm them. Offhand, I don’t know what in additional to snake-handling churches, we don’t have poison-drinking churches. Maybe we do? I’m sure someone on the blog can tell me. In any [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:24:15-04:00February 20th, 2014|Canonical Gospels, New Testament Manuscripts, Public Forum, Religion in the News|

Similarities and Differences: The Synoptic Problem

In yesterday’s post I mentioned my New Testament class, and that one of the main lessons I’m trying to convey in it is that each of the Gospels has to be read for what *it* has to say. This requires the reader to bracket information that is conveyed in some other Gospel (or that they’ve heard before elsewhere), to see what the meaning of this particular text is. That shouldn’t be such a hard idea to grasp. If I write a book about Jesus, I don’t expect or want my readers to read my book in light of what some other author said (say, Reza Aslan or Bill O’Reilly), interpreting my views in light of the other person’s views, as if my views, as I state them, are not enough or sufficient. And yet people regularly read the Gospels as if Mark must mean the same thing that John does, or that this passage in Matthew makes best sense in light of that other passage in Luke, and so on. We don’t do that [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:24:14-04:00February 12th, 2014|Canonical Gospels, Public Forum, Teaching Christianity|

Video: Illuminated Manuscripts and Legends about Jesus

I was asked to speak at the Getty Museum, in the Harold M. Williams Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on Thursday, September 22, 2011 during the exhibition "In the Beginning Was the Word: Medieval Gospel Illumination." Illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages are significant for the literary texts they preserve. But they are also important, historically and culturally, for their illustrations of the life of Jesus and other figures associated with him. These artistic representations tell tales of their own, and the visual stories are not always found in the corresponding texts. A careful examination of these images shows clearly and convincingly that medieval artists were familiar not only with the stories of the canonical Gospels but also with many noncanonical apocryphal tales of Jesus. The apocryphal stories, in some instances, were understood to be "Gospel truth" on par with accounts found in Scripture. In any event, here is the lecture that I gave: Please adjust gear icon for 720p High-Definition: Details on the "In the Beginning Was the Word: Medieval Gospel Illumination" 2011 [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:24:13-04:00February 4th, 2014|Christian Apocrypha, Public Forum, Video Media|

Ramtha Again: The Question-Answer Session

Here is the second part of my talk at the Ramtha School of Enlightenment. It is a question-answer session that I had with the attendees, and for my money, it was the best, most interesting part of the evening. Since we had abundant time -- well over an hour -- I was able to give the questions full, drawn out answers, virtually mini-lectures in themselves, on an enormous range of issues that came up. The questions dealt with intriguing topics on the whole. Many of my answers are not what the questioner wanted to hear. And it is interesting to see what the crowd reaction to my answers was (usually very positive -- effusive at times; but it is clear that I am the odd-person-out in this group as, well, you would surely expect!). At some points I get very personal and talk not just about my scholarship but about my beliefs and understandings of the world. In any event, I hope you enjoy listening to this as much as I enjoyed participating in [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:43-04:00January 22nd, 2014|Christian Apocrypha, Public Forum, Video Media|

Video: The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot Part 1

This past November I flew to Yelm, Washington, outside of Seattle, to deliver a lecture on the Gospel of Judas Iscariot at the Ramtha School of Enlightenment. When I had been invited to give the talk the year before, I frankly had never heard of the Ramtha School of Enlightenment. In fact, when I was invited, I was told that the school was called The Gnostic School of America -- and so I naturally thought that it was some kind of college made up of west-coast-modern-day-Gnostics who saw themselves standing in line with the ancient Gnostics. Such people do exist! But that is not what this school is. The School of Enlightenment was founded by a woman named JZ Knight, and it is named, obviously, after Ramtha. In case you don't remember who that was, let me tell you. Ramtha was a philosopher-warrior who lived 35,000 years ago, who, with his 2.5 million soldier army, conquered most of the known world at the time, including the island of Atlantis. JZ channels him. (In one of [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:43-04:00January 16th, 2014|Christian Apocrypha, Public Forum, Video Media|

My New Testament Pop Quiz

Last semester I posted here on the blog the pop quiz I gave on the first day of the semester to my class on Jesus in Scholarship and Film. As you may have noticed in my post yesterday, I also give a quiz to begin my New Testament class, which I started teaching yesterday. If you were on the blog five months ago, and have a very good memory, the quiz will look very familiar. About half the questions are the same. I give a quiz on the first day – before I’ve taught the students anything – both in order to break the ice while having some fun together and in order to teach a few things, as I give the answers after they have taken a stab at them. I’ll say a few things about what I try to accomplish with that in my next post. I told the students yesterday that if anyone got at least nine of the eleven answers correct, I would buy them dinner at the Armadillo Grill. [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:55-04:00January 10th, 2014|Public Forum, Teaching Christianity|

My New Testament Syllabus

The new semester started today. Here I am, 58 years old, and still organizing my life around semesters…. In any event, I’m teaching my regular two-course load this semester. My undergraduate class is the Introduction to the New Testament that I teach every Spring, with 240 students; my graduate seminar is a graduate level course basically about the same thing, covering (at a graduate level) the major issues in New Testament studies and the history of the discipline, all with an eye toward pedagogy (i.e., how to teach this material to undergraduates). It will have about ten students. I’ll have more to say about each course anon. For now, here is my syllabus for the undergraduate class, for your amusement and reading pleasure. INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT Reli 104 Spring, 2014 Instructor: Dr. Bart D. Ehrman Teaching Assistants: Candace Buckner, Brian Coussens, Shaily Patel, Nathan Schradle Course Description This course is designed to help you (a) learn about the New Testament writings and the history of earliest Christianity and (b) develop [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:55-04:00January 9th, 2014|Public Forum, Teaching Christianity|

Looking Ahead to 2014 on the Blog

I’d like to take the opportunity of the New Year to look ahead with you on matters related to the blog. My idea for this post is to tell you what my goals for the coming year are and what challenges we are (or that I am) facing, and then to ask a couple of questions from you, the members, about how best to proceed. Goals and Challenges I have several different goals for the blog this coming year. Financial. This past year, as I indicated in my past post, we pulled in $61,000. That is a significant increase over the previous year. I would like to keep the increase going, and have as a target $70,000 for 2014. This will obviously mean acquiring significantly more members; keeping the members we have; and hopefully increasing the number of donations from people who are already members. On that final point, there are some people who generously give everything from $25 and up. I appreciate more than I can say, from each and every one of your [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:43-04:00January 2nd, 2014|Public Forum|

End of the Year Blog Reflection

Here at the end of the year, on this New Year’s Eve, I’m reflecting on the blog and how it has gone over the past 12 months. I’d say this has been a fantastic year. Every now and then (like, every ten minutes) I wonder if it is really worth all the time and effort. I’ve continued to post five or six times a week (usually six), and each post is about 1000 words long. But in addition, I need to approve all the comments that come in, and respond to the ones that have asked for a response. Altogether it takes about an hour of my day. On one hand, that doesn’t seem like much – hey, it’s only an hour! On the other hand, I already don’t have enough hours in the day. We need longer days and more days in the week! I’ve often wished there could be some kind of trade-off system, where people who are bored with nothing to do, for whom the hours and days drag on and [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:43-04:00January 1st, 2014|Public Forum|

Free Memberships All Claimed

I very much regret to report that all the free memberships that have been available by the generous donors who are already members on the blog have already been given out. So please do not send in a request if you have not received one. Hopefully we will be able to make more available in the future. Thanks again toall the donors. Your response was heartwarming. And to the recipients, I hope you enjoy the blog!!

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:43-04:00December 29th, 2013|Public Forum|

Still a Few Free Memberships for those Who Need Them

There are still a few free memberships to the blog available to those who need them, thanks to the incredible generosity of others. 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, please: 1) Let me know your situation and; 2) Provide me with the following information: a) Your first and last name. b) Your preferred personal email. c) Your preferred user name (no spaces). d) Your preferred password (should be 8 or more characters, no spaces). The donors will remain anonymous, but here let me sincerely thank them once again for such kind and generous donations to help others in [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:43-04:00December 27th, 2013|Public Forum|

2009 Debate With Mike Licona: Can Historians Prove the Resurrection of Jesus?

I've decided to take a day or so off from my discussions of Reza Aslan's Zealot, both for my sanity and yours. Here, for a bit of variety, is a video of a debate that I had a few years ago with Mike Licona on the topic or whether historians can *prove* that Jesus was raised from the dead. Mike thinks the answer is "yes"; I think the answer is "no way." It's important to note: the debate was *not* about whether Jesus was raised from the dead. The debate was about whether historians can *prove* that he did (if he did). Mike Licona has burst onto the scene as a conservative Christian apologist. He did a master's degree at Liberty University (that's Jerry Falwell's place) and then a PhD in New Testament at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. Someone may be able to correct me on this, but I *think* that is the kind of degree where instead of taking PhD seminars and so on, as at an American university, it [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:28-04:00December 26th, 2013|Bart's Debates, Historical Jesus, Public Forum, Video Media|

Free Memberships for those Who Need Them

Thanks to the incredible generosity of other 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, please: 1) Let me know your situation and 2) Provide me with the following information: a) Your first and last name. b) Your preferred personal email. c) Your preferred user name (no spaces). d) 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 for such kind and generous donations [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:43-04:00December 24th, 2013|Public Forum|

Aslan Zealot: A Deeper Evaluation of the Thesis Itself

I have not completed my evaluation of Reza Aslan’s popular, interesting, and well-written account of Jesus, Zealot. To this point I have merely tried to show that despite his claims (e.g. in the Fox News interview) of being an expert who is qualified to write such a book, he is not an expert – in the ancient world, in the New Testament, in the Gospels, or in the historical Jesus. When I began this discussion I understand that a lot of readers thought that I was just being snooty and dismissive by pointing this out; but in my subsequent posts I’ve tried to show why being an expert really does matter. Someone who is not an expert makes mistakes – lots of mistakes, and often serious mistakes. And the problem is that the person doesn’t even know it. I don’t think Aslan knowingly wrote anything he didn’t think. The problem is that he doesn’t know the field well enough to know where there are gaps in his knowledge, or where he has accepted incorrect [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:42-04:00December 21st, 2013|Historical Jesus, Public Forum|

A Holiday Blog Idea

As many of you know, thanks to a couple of generous donors, I was able to give out some free memberships to people who very much 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, 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 otherwise. I had to shut down the offer nearly as soon as I made it. This has made me suspect that there are a lot more people out there like that. And so an idea has hit me. Why not do more of the same? Would any of you be willing to donate one or more memberships during this holiday season? Each new (year-long) membership would cost $24.95 – so let’s just say $25. You could donate to the blog any increment of $25 that you want – so if you want to give one [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:42-04:00December 20th, 2013|Public Forum|

Free Memberships Already Taken

I very much regret to report that all the free memberships that have been available by a generous donor have already been given out. So please do not send in a request if you have not received one. Hopefully we will be able to make more available in the future. Thanks again to the anonymous donor: and to the recipients, I hope you enjoy the blog!!

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:42-04:00December 18th, 2013|Public Forum|

A Limited Number of Free Memberships Available

Thanks to the incredible generosity of a member 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 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 donor wishes to remain anonymous, but here let me publicly extend my heartfelt thanks for such a kind and generous donation to help [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:42-04:00December 18th, 2013|Public Forum|

About the Blog and Two Clarifications about Reza Aslan’s Zealot

Yesterday I resumed my posts on Reza Aslan’s best-selling hit Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, and plan to have several more posts on it, as I explain what I like about the book and about what problems I see in it. But I need to take care of a couple of other concerns first, before launching into a direct discussion. The first has to do with this blog. A number of people on my facebook page have expressed frustration that the only way to get my comments is to join the blog, which costs money. I completely understand the complaint, but need to explain why I am doing things this way (apologies for old-timers for whom this is old-news). I do this blog for a lot of reasons, but by far and away the most important and pressing is to raise money for charity. That is the raison-d’être of the entire enterprise. If this endeavor was not making significant money to help the hungry and the homelessness, I simply wouldn’t [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:27-04:00December 13th, 2013|Historical Jesus, Public Forum|

Video: Ehrman & Evans 2012 Debate – Part 2

A couple of weeks ago I posted a debate that I had with Craig Evans, an evangelical Christian New Testament scholar. That debate was held at Saint Mary's University in Nova Scotia. The next night we had a second debate -- on the same topic (!) but in a different location, at Acadia University, where Craig currently teaches in the Acadia Divinity College. The topic, again, was "Does the New Testament Present a Historically Reliable Portrait of Jesus." I was hesitant to post this debate on the blog, since it's on the same topic as the other one. But I watched it and saw that I actually make my case differently this time, as does he. So, what the heck -- you can start watching it and if it sounds like old hat, you can stop! But in a way it's interesting how we changed our presentations, in no small measure because we had heard the night before what they other guy was going to argue.... Please adjust gear icon for 720p High-Definition: See first video [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:23:14-04:00December 5th, 2013|Bart's Debates, Historical Jesus, Public Forum, Video Media|

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