Public Forum Archives - Page 9 of 89 - The Bart Ehrman Blog

Should We Keep “Slaves” in the New Testament?

I’ve been talking about Paul’s view of slavery, in light of the book of Philemon; this seems to be a good time to talk about a very big issue connected with translating the New Testament from Greek into English. It may seem fairly straightforward, but in fact it is incredibly thorny: what English word is best to use for the Greek word that refers to a person who is owned by another and compelled (on every level) to do what the owner requires? It’s “slave,” right? How can it be complicated? Let me put it in a bigger picture. For a very long time I’ve been interested in the question of how to translate ancient texts, such as the Greek New Testament, into modern languages. Early in my scholarly career my interest was piqued by the work I did as a graduate student working as a research grunt for the translation committee for the New Revised Standard Version. My Doktorvater, Bruce Metzger, was the chair of the committee and he asked me, [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:12:34-04:00July 6th, 2025|Paul and His Letters, Public Forum, Reflections and Ruminations|

Paul’s Letter to Philemon: For Further Reading

Here is a list of readings on Philemon, all of which are relevant to all the undisputed Pauline epistles, with a couple of commentaries specifically on this significant, short letter. One benefit of serious commentaries is that they always begin by discussing major critical issues in understanding a book: authorship, date, historical context, major themes, disputed issues, and so on. ****************************** Aune, David. The New Testament in Its Literary Environment. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1987. Includes a superb discussion of the practices of letter writing in Greco-Roman antiquity as the social context for Paul’s epistles. Beker, J. Christiaan. Paul the Apostle: The Triumph of God in Life and Thought. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980. A sophisticated and astute discussion of the apocalyptic character of Paul’s theology and its various forms of expression in different situations that the apostle confronted. For advanced students. Bruce, F. F. Apostle of the Heart Set Free. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1977. A full study of Paul’s life and teachings by a major evangelical Christian scholar. Dunn, James D. The Theology of Paul the Apostle. Grand Rapids, [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:12:34-04:00July 5th, 2025|Public Forum|

Reader Survey Webinar Registration

As part of our ongoing effort to improve the Ehrman Blog (including a major redesign to enhance the site and user experience) we recently invited members to participate in a comprehensive reader survey. If you completed the survey, we have a special thank-you just for you: You’re invited to attend a live webinar with Bart on Sunday, July 13 at 1pm Eastern. Bart will give a brand-new lecture titled: What I’ve Learned After 4,000 Blog Posts: Why the Bible Still Surprises Me, followed by a Q&A with attendees. To attend, you must register in advance using the same email you used to complete the survey: User Survey Webinar Registration Note: Please register with the same email address you used to complete the user survey. All registration requests will be validated against our list of completed user surveys. If you are not able to attend live, but would like to view the lecture, please send an email to [email protected] after the event and the recording will be shared with you. We look forward to seeing you [...]

jennao2025-09-10T13:12:34-04:00July 4th, 2025|Public Forum|

The Letter to Philemon in a Nutshell

I come now to the final Pauline letter of the New Testament, Philemon. If you recall, Paul’s letters are ordered by length; this is by far the shortest, a real one-pager. Given it’s brevity, I’ll be dealing with its major themes and emphases and the questions of Who, When and Why in just this one post. First, a 50-word summary: Paul’s letter to his former convert Philemon concerns Philemon’s slave Onesimus, who has fled from his master, possibly with stolen goods, found Paul in prison, converted, and begged him to intervene on his behalf-- which Paul does by urging Philemon to receive his slave as a fellow believer, without punishment. Here is how I discuss the letter in my book The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings (Oxford University Press), edited a bit. ************* The letter to Philemon is a little gem hidden away in the inner recesses of the New Testament. Merely a single page in length, the size of an average Greco-Roman letter, it is the only [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:12:33-04:00July 2nd, 2025|Public Forum|

How We Know the World Was Created in 4004 BCE…

In my Bible Intro, I included a number of "boxes" that deal with issues that are somewhat tangential to the main discussion, but of related interest or importance. Here's one of the ones in my chapter on Genesis, in connection with interpretations that want to take the book as science or history. For a lot of you, this will be old news. But then again, so is Genesis. ****************************** In 1650 CE, an Irish archbishop and scholar, James Ussher, engaged in a detailed study of when the world began. Ussher based his calculations on the genealogies of the Bible, starting with those in the book of Genesis (which state not only who begat whom, but also indicate, in many instances, how long each of the people thus begotten lived) and a detailed study of other ancient sources, such as Babylonian and Roman history. On these grounds, he argued that the world was created in 4004 BCE — in fact, at noon on October 23. This chronology became dominant throughout Western Christendom. It [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:12:19-04:00June 25th, 2025|Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Public Forum|

Acts of the Jewish Christians: Rethinking Their Role in the First Jewish-Roman War – Platinum Post by Rizwan Ahmed

“[T]hey went after the high priests. It was against them that the main rush was made, and they were soon caught and killed. The murderers, standing on their dead bodies, ridiculed Ananus..they threw out the dead bodies without burial.” (Josephus, “The Jewish War”) When the question arises whether early Jewish Christians participated in the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (66–73 CE), the standard answer is typically negative. The tradition, preserved by early Christian sources such as Eusebius, holds that the Jerusalem church fled to Pella in the Transjordan region before the siege began, an act often interpreted as a sign of the community’s political neutrality and prophetic foresight. Yet a closer examination of the historical context complicates this picture. The Jesus movement emerged in a volatile environment: Roman-occupied Judea and Galilee, where messianic expectations, social unrest, and anti-imperial sentiment were pervasive. In this setting, it is difficult to imagine that all Jewish followers of Jesus, particularly those outside Jerusalem or aligned with more nationalist currents, remained uninvolved in the conflict. There is also a striking [...]

jennao2025-09-10T13:12:33-04:00June 23rd, 2025|Public Forum|

2 Thessalonians: For Further Reading

Here is an annotated list of books on 2 Thessalonians, most of them relevant to all the Deutero-Pauline epistles (that is, the letters that are assigned a “secondary” standing in the New Testament collection of Paul’s letters because scholars doubt they were actually composed by Paul himself) with a couple of commentaries that deal with 2 Thessalonians. One benefit of serious commentaries is that they always begin by discussing major critical issues in understanding a book: authorship, date, historical context, major themes, disputed issues, and so on. ****************************** Beker, J. Christiaan. The Heirs of Paul: Paul’s Legacy in the New Testament and in the Church Today. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress, 1991. A clear assessment of the theology of the Deutero-Pauline, especially in light of the views embodied in the undisputed Paulines. Ehrman, Bart D. Forged: Writing in the Name of God—Why the Biblical Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are. San Francisco: Harper One, 2010. An account of the phenomenon of literary forgery (pseudepigraphy) throughout the early Christian tradition that asks how and why a [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:12:17-04:00June 10th, 2025|Public Forum|

Time to Vote: Help Choose the Next Platinum Post!

Dear Platinum Members, Let’s call this a humble moment of accountability: we’ve fallen behind on something important. As many of you know, one of the special privileges of Platinum membership is the opportunity to submit guest posts to the blog — and then, every four submissions, we open it up for a Platinum vote. The post that gets the most votes is published to the entire blog for all members to enjoy and comment on. In theory, this happens every time we get four new Platinum posts. In reality... we now have a backlog of over a dozen. That means we’re multiple rounds behind on voting. But never fear — we’re setting things right starting now. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be rolling out a new vote every couple of weeks until we’re all caught up. After that, we’ll return to our regular rhythm. Today, we begin with the first group of four. These posts were published in chronological order, and we’re asking you to choose one to be featured on the main blog. Please [...]

jennao2025-09-10T13:12:18-04:00June 9th, 2025|Public Forum|

1 Thessalonians in a Nutshell

I now move on in my “New Testament in a Nutshell” series to the letter of 1 Thessalonians, which for-roughly-ever has been one of my favorite books of the New Testament. It is not one of the most widely read as a rule, but I think it is both unusually important and interesting. For one thing, it is the first letter of Paul that we have and, therefore, the very first piece of Christian writing of any kind that we have. That in itself makes it unusually significant in my view. THE earliest words from any Christian! Whoa. When I taught Greek at Princeton Theological Seminary (some millennia ago) this was the book we had beginning students first translate once they had all the important elements of Greek grammar down. It’s not excessively hard Greek, but it is challenging for first-timers, and it’s the kind of book that if you read carefully – as you have to do when you’re basically going one word at a time trying to figure out the Greek – you [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:12:02-04:00May 31st, 2025|Paul and His Letters, Public Forum|

June 2025 Gold Q&A

Hello Gold & Platinum Members, It’s that time again—Bart’s monthly Q&A is just around the corner! Have a burning question about the history of early Christianity? Curious about a blog post or topic we’ve covered recently? This is your chance to ask Bart directly. He’ll respond to as many member-submitted questions as possible during a one-hour, Gold & Platinum members-only recorded session. The next Q&A will be recorded live on Sunday, June 22 at 1pm ET. Can’t make it? No problem. A full recording will land in your inbox shortly afterward. To submit a question, just email Jen at [email protected] by the end of the day Thursday, June 19—no matter where in the world you are. We can’t wait to hear what you’re wondering about! Zoom Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89470277770?pwd=9mrbO1OeGBlKaT6mCb0muBU45mnZD0.1 Meeting ID: 894 7027 7770 Passcode: 540933

jennao2025-09-10T13:12:17-04:00May 30th, 2025|Public Forum|

The Death and Afterlife of Jesus: A Historical Reconstruction Part II – Guest Post by Platinum Member Mark Reichert

Here now is Platinum blog member Mark Reichert's second part of his two-part reflections in which he offers his own reconstruction of what might have happened after the crucifixion. So what do I think really happened? There is no way to know for sure but I can put together a story that seems plausible and makes sense to me. I believe Jesus and his following traveled to Jerusalem for Passover during the governorship of Pontius Pilate. How large a following I do not know though enough for it to be considered a “following.” Once there, he came to the attention of Roman and/or Jewish authorities in a negative way. Either he said, or someone accused him of saying, that he was “King of the Jews.” I highly doubt the account in Mark that states Jesus was bound by Jewish priests and elders and brought before Pilate. This would be like Palestinian authorities turning a Palestinian man over to the Israeli army for execution, unlikely to happen. If Jewish authorities had a problem with Jesus, they [...]

jennao2025-09-10T13:11:59-04:00May 16th, 2025|Public Forum|

Philippians: For Further Reading

Here is an list of readings on Philippians, most of the books relevant to all the undisputed Pauline epistles, with a couple of commentaries specifically on this significant, short letter. One benefit of serious commentaries is that they always begin by discussing major critical issues in understanding a book: authorship, date, historical context, major themes, disputed issues, and so on. I devote a fuller discussion of Philippians in my textbook, Bart Ehrman and Hugo Mendez, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 8th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2024), ch. 20. That’s a good place to start for a fuller exposition of what I have given here in my nutshell posts. If you have an earlier edition of the book, it will be pretty much the same, except for the expanded bibliography. ****************************** Aune, David. The New Testament in Its Literary Environment. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1987. Includes a superb discussion of the practices of letter writing in Greco-Roman antiquity as the social context for Paul’s epistles. Beker, J. Christiaan. Paul the Apostle: [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:11:59-04:00May 13th, 2025|Public Forum|

The Death and Afterlife of Jesus: A Historical Reconstruction Part I – Guest Post by Platinum Member Mark Reichert

Today, Platinum blog member Mark Reichert offers the first part of a compelling two-part reflection on one of the most well-known—and debated—stories in history. It’s part historical reconstruction, part personal inquiry, and entirely worth the read. According to the Gospel of Mark, the Jewish preacher Jesus was crucified by Roman Governor Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem the day before the Sabbath (Friday) during the holiday period of Passover. After about 9 hours on the cross Jesus “gave up the ghost.” The Roman centurion in charge of the crucifixion said “truly this man was the son of God.” A supporter and onlooker, Joseph of Arimathaea, asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. After consulting with the centurion, Pilate relented and Jesus was removed from the cross. Joseph then took the body, wrapped it in linen and laid it in a tomb carved out of rock and blocked with a stone. Early in the morning following the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and two other women came to anoint his body. They found the stone removed and the body of [...]

jennao2025-09-10T13:11:59-04:00May 12th, 2025|Public Forum|

May 2025 Gold Q&A

Dear Gold & Platinum Members, Mark your calendars—our monthly Gold & Platinum member Q&A is here!It’s your chance to ask Bart anything related to the blog’s deep dive into early Christianity. He’ll tackle as many of your questions as possible in an exclusive, hour-long session. This month’s Q&A will be recorded live on Wednesday, May 28 at 2pm ET.Can’t join us live? No worries—the full recording will be sent straight to your inbox afterward. If you’ve got a question, send it along to our CEO, Jen Olmos, at [email protected] by end of day Monday, May 26th (whatever time zone you’re in is fine). Zoom link for this session: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84148923573?pwd=ZLvLEeWHMFJR3gjxcvjYJql9cXrTsz.1 Meeting ID: 841 4892 3573 Passcode: 862655 Short, to-the-point questions will be given priority. Please try to limit your questions to a few sentences at most. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

jennao2025-09-10T13:12:00-04:00May 9th, 2025|Public Forum|

Matthew and Mark “At a Glance” with Controversial Questions

It occurred to me that another nice resource for this “Nutshell” Series might be some of the additional materials I present in my New Testament textbook for each of the books I discuss. Two separate items I provide there are (a) rapid fire summaries of each book that I call “At a Glance” and (b) a set of study questions that challenge students to take a position on key aspects of the book, that I call “Take a Stand.” I’ll present these on the blog in the same canonical sequence as I’ve provided the Nutshell posts. Here they are for the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. The Gospel of Matthew AT A GLANCE Matthew’s Gospel was written in Greek, around 80–85 c.e. Its author, later thought to be the tax collector mentioned in Matthew 9:9, in fact left his identity anonymous; he must have been a Greek-speaking Christian, probably from outside Palestine. Among his sources were Mark, Q, and M. By studying his additions, omissions, and alterations of Mark (i.e., by doing [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:11:59-04:00May 8th, 2025|Public Forum|

Christ’s Preexistence in Galatians (Was Jesus an Angel?)
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Christ’s Preexistence in Galatians (Was Jesus an Angel?)

Paul and His Letters, Public Forum

Christ’s Preexistence in Galatians (Was Jesus an Angel?)

I've been posting on Paul's letter the Galatians, and thought that I might point out a way that the letter completely changed my understanding of Paul, years ago now when I was doing research for my book How Jesus Became God. I have to admit, that for many years I was puzzled by Paul's Christology--his views of Christ. All the various things he said about it didn’t seem to add up to a coherent whole to me, even though I thought and thought and thought about it. But I finally found the piece that, when added to the puzzle, made it all fit together. I think now I can make sense of [pretty much] every Christological statement in Paul’s letters. This not because I myself finally figured it out, but because I finally read some discussions that actually made sense, and saw that they are almost certainly right. Here’s what I say about it in the book. ****************************** Many people no doubt have the same experience I do on occasion, of reading something numerous [...]

BDEhrman2026-01-29T15:05:35-05:00April 29th, 2025|Paul and His Letters, Public Forum|

Is Paul One of Matthew’s Enemies?

In this "nutshell" series summarizing each book of the New Testament, I have now done both Matthew (the first book, canonically) and Galatians (the ninth). If you've paid heed to both sets of posts (or as I say to my students, "If you've been awake and sober this semester....") you will notice they have, well, a slightly different take on whether followers of Jesus should keep the Jewish law. Slightly different? OK, well, let's ask it this way: if the author of Matthew and Paul were locked in a room and not allowed to emerge until they hammered out a consensus statement about the relevance of the Jewish law for followers of Jesus, would they ever have emerged? Or would archaeologists discover their skeletons still in a joined in a death grip? To refresh your memories: Paul certainly had opponents in his lifetime: "Judaizers," as scholars call them -- that is, Christian teachers who maintained that followers of Jesus had to follow the Jewish Law: Men were to be circumcised to join the people [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:11:43-04:00April 24th, 2025|Canonical Gospels, Paul and His Letters, Public Forum|

Galatians: For Further Reading

Here is an list of readings on Galatians, most of the books relevant to all the undisputed Pauline epistles, with a couple of commentaries specifically on Galatians. One benefit of serious commentaries is that they always begin by discussing major critical issues in understanding a book: authorship, date, historical context, major themes, disputed issues, and so on. I devote a fuller discussion of Galatians in my textbook, Bart Ehrman and Hugo Mendez, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 8th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2024), ch. 20. That’s a good place to start for a fuller exposition of what I have given here in my nutshell posts. If you have an earlier edition of the book, it will be pretty much the same, except for the expanded bibliography. Here is an annotated bibliography of books that will deal with Galatians ****************************** Aune, David. The New Testament in Its Literary Environment. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1987. Includes a superb discussion of the practices of letter writing in Greco-Roman antiquity as the social context [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:11:43-04:00April 23rd, 2025|Public Forum|

Interpolations and Textual Variants in the New Testament

In my previous post I indicated that among the five letters that may have been cut and pasted together to make up 2 Corinthians is one that some scholars suspect Paul did not write. If not, how did it get in 2 Corinthians with fragments of letters he did write? To remind you: this is what I said about it there: The paragraph found in 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1 seems odd in its context. The verse immediately preceding it (2 Corinthians 6:13) urges the Corinthians to be open to Paul, as does the verse immediately following it (7:2). But the paragraph itself is on an entirely different and unannounced topic: Christians should not associate with nonbelievers. Moreover, there are aspects of this passage that appear unlike anything Paul himself says anywhere else in his writings. Nowhere else, for example, does he call the Devil “Beliar” (v. 15). Has this passage come from some other piece of correspondence (possibly one that Paul didn’t write) and been inserted in the midst of Paul’s warm admonition to [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:11:42-04:00April 17th, 2025|New Testament Manuscripts, Paul and His Letters, Public Forum|

2 Corinthians: For Further Reading

This annotated list of readings on 2 Corinthians will look very familiar to those of you who have looked carefully at the list for 1 Corinthians I gave earlier. That is because many books deal with both together, either on their own or as a part of a broader discussion of Paul and his letters. I devote a fuller discussion of 2 Corinthians in my textbook, Bart Ehrman and Hugo Mendez, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 8th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2024), ch. 20. That’s a good place to start for a fuller exposition of what I have given here in my nutshell posts. If you have an earlier edition of the book, it will be pretty much the same, except for the expanded bibliography. Here is an annotated bibliography of books that will deal with 2 Corinthians. ****************************** Aune, David. The New Testament in Its Literary Environment. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1987. Includes a superb discussion of the practices of letter writing in Greco-Roman antiquity as the social context for Paul’s [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:11:42-04:00April 15th, 2025|Paul and His Letters, Public Forum|

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