Here now is the second post by Paula Fredriksen, William Goodwin Aurelio Professor of Scripture, emerita, at Boston University, on her new book Ancient Christianities: The First Five Hundred Years. As you'll see, it is smart, interesting, and accessible.  You can find it most anywhere you buy books. ****************************** It’s an awkward fact, for those of us who have advanced degrees in the study of ancient  religion, that antiquity had no word for, and arguably no concept of, “religion.” Religio in Latin  meant something like “obligation” or “reverence.” Our modern definition of religion rests on a  foundation set in the Enlightenment. Religion, now, indexes conviction, the intellectual assent  and psychological and emotional commitment to a proposition: one believes “sincerely” or  “strongly.” Distinguished from the secular world, religion is embodied in doctrine-defined  institutions, which one can move into or out of. For all these reasons, modern religion rests  preeminently in the domain of the individual. If we reconfigure our definition to mean “relations between gods and humans,” a stark  contrast jumps out: ancient “religion” was [...]

I was very excited when I learned that Paula Fredriksen, one of top scholars of early Christianity of our generation, was producing an introduction to the development of Christianity over its first five-hundred years.  I frequently get asked by reader where they can go for an competent and readable overview of the major issues, and, well, there simply has not been a single source to suggest.  Her book came out a few months ago, and it has lived up to its billing.  It's called Ancient Christianities: The First Five Hundred Years, and you can get it most anywhere. I've asked Paula to give us some sense of the book, and she has graciously provided three posts on it.  Here is the first.  As you'll see, it is intriguing and not what many readers will expect! ****************************** People often speak of “the triumph of Christianity” as if “Christianity” were one single,  uniform thing from the mission of Jesus on through to the conversion of Constantine – and,  indeed, on into our own day. They see Jesus and [...]

In case you missed the announcement, I'm doing a one-hour webinar on whether your beloved pet will be joining you in the heavenly realm  when you've both passed of your respective mortal coils.  It's this Sunday, March 23, 1:00, remote.   All info below. It's a fundraiser for my department, to help grad students in their programs to be trained as researchers and teachers.  A worthy cause!  The Robert Miller Fund is one that I myself started some years ago, to provide assistance for grad students needing to present papers at conferences and similar needs.  It's an increasingly important cause for those of us committed the spread of knowledge about religion in the generation to come. Here's the fuller announcement (with video).   Register: https://unc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9Oxg0DBJQ_2WiyHKO7Elsw Donate: https://give.unc.edu/donate?f=105550&p=aasf https://vimeo.com/1063322255/1f0e8c4faa?share=copy Will I See Fido in Heaven? The Afterlife of Animals in Buddhism and Christianity Do our pets go to heaven? Do they have souls? Can we talk about the salvation of a pet? What about reincarnation, can our pets come back as other animals, or even as people? This [...]

I'm very excited to announce that I will be doing a new course on April 6, on the resurrection narratives of the New Testament, called "The Other Doubting Thomases: Did Jesus's Disciples All Believe in the Resurrection?" The course is not connected to the blog, but may well be of interest to all you blog members!  For more information and registration, go to https://www.bartehrman.com/the-other-doubting-thomases/   Early bird pricing goes till March 23, and note: you can get a blog discount by using the code BLOG 5 Of course everyone assumes the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus did believe in the resurrection, and the New Testament certainly says so in places.  But there are other passages that raise significant questions, that to my knowledge are almost never considered by scholars let alone other readers.  Why is it that even in the passages that describe Jesus' resurrection -- nearly all of them in the Gospels and Acts -- we are told that some of the disciples "doubted."  What was there to doubt?  Especially if Jesus was right in [...]

  In case you didn't catch this the first time, I'd like to invite anyone who is interested and able to come with me on an amazing trip this summer, in just two months. Space is  limited – so if you’re interested, check out the brochure I provide below at the bottom of the post. It will give you all the details you would need to know, and I’m happy to address any questions you have. Here is what I say about the trip in the description. ************************* The Greek Islands are some of my favorite places on earth. I’ve been on a number of occasions, and this Thalassa Journey is taking me there again. Wanna come with me? We will be island-hopping to some of the most scenic sites in the world – stunningly gorgeous landscapes and seascapes, incredibly beautiful villages and towns, museums, monasteries, churches, and archaeological sites: some of the oldest remnants of western civilization. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this trip. Some of the places we’ll be [...]

I am happy to report that I have now, finally, finished my manuscript on the ethics of Jesus and have sent it in to my editor for her to peruse and suggest edits.  Phew!!  This one seems to have been a “Slow Train Coming.”  Huge relief. I’ve changed the title I’ve been giving it for the past couple of years.  I very much liked what I had: “The Origins of Altruism: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West,” but my editors in the end weren’t thrilled with it.  They liked the subtitle, but didn’t think the title was catchy enough.  I disagreed, but eventually (kicking and screaming) came to see their point.  I’d always felt like I’d have to defend it anyway – since the book is emphatic that Jesus did NOT invent altruism!!  But that was part of the catch, I thought.  In any event, even though a lot of people liked it, others were ambivalent. So I’ve changed it.  So far the editors like the new title, but [...]

These "In a Nutshell" posts on the books of the New Testament are obviously meant to provide quick, concise, and accurate information about each of the books of the New Testament.  Many of you may be interested in longer expositions.  To that end, you may be interested in the far more extensive discussions that I give in the various lecture courses that I've done on some of them for the venture I started a couple of years ago, Paths in Biblical Studies (unconnected with the blog). I particularly enjoyed the eight-lecture one I did  on the Gospel of Mark  (50 minute lectures; two Q&A's; and additional materials provided).  You can find it here:  Unknown Jesus. Blog members get a discount with the code Blog5. Whether you want to get the course or not, I thought it would be valuable to explain what I cover there, lecture by lecture.  And so here is a summary, along with questions for reflection that some should be able to answer if they've listened to the lecture. Lecture [...]

I'm going on a cruise this summer and it looks like a complete winner.  I've made a video explaining it and inviting people to consider coming, including where to call/email to get more info.  Hope some of you can consider it! https://vimeo.com/1060335268/95523b1f33?share=copy

Register: https://unc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9Oxg0DBJQ_2WiyHKO7Elsw Donate: https://give.unc.edu/donate?f=105550&p=aasf https://vimeo.com/1063322255/1f0e8c4faa?share=copy Will I See Fido in Heaven? The Afterlife of Animals in Buddhism and Christianity Do our pets go to heaven? Do they have souls? Can we talk about the salvation of a pet? What about reincarnation, can our pets come back as other animals, or even as people? This new webinar from UNC Chapel Hill explores these questions by bringing together experts on Christianity and Buddhism to compare how these religions view animals. Please join us for a conversation about the religious lives of the most beloved members of our households, our pets (and other animals, too)! This engaging webinar will feature Barbara R. Ambros, an internationally recognized expert on Buddhism and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies, and Bart Ehrman, a leading scholar of early Christianity and James A. Gray Professor of Religious Studies. Together, they will explore, compare, and discuss the fascinating perspectives these two distinct religious traditions offer on animals and the beyond. The suggested donation is $10. 100% of your gift goes the Robert Miller Graduate [...]

Now that I’ve devoted two posts to the major sine qua non of the book of Acts – one that lays out its major themes and emphases, the other that deals with who wrote it, when, and why, I can provide some suggestions for further reading, important works written by scholars for non-scholars.   I have given brief annotations for each book to give you a sense of what it’s about and so help you decide which, if any, might be worth your while. I have divided the list into three sections: Books that provide important discussion of Luke in general or with respect to a particularly key topic Commentaries that give lengthy introductions to all matters of importance about the book of Acts and then go passage by passage to provide more detailed interpretation (that’s where you can dig more deeply into “what does this particular word actually mean?”; “what is the real point of this passage”; how does this passage relate to what Luke says elsewhere in his two-volume work or [...]

I don’t think you can disprove the existence of God.  And I don’t think you can prove it.  There are some things that by their very nature are not susceptible of proof, at least at this stage of our knowledge, including some things that theoretically exist or not.  If you want to insist that one of the universes within the multiverse is an exact replica of ours down to the very molecule – so that my cosmic double is typing these very words the moment I am – I have no way of proving it or disproving it. (some will argue it's likely, esp. if there is an infinite number of universes – in which case in another one of them my cosmic virtual double is typing these words but changing one of them; and in another….) Even so, that kind of thing could in theory be proven or disproven if human knowledge expands geometrically in the future, since we would (probably) be talking about a physical entity that exists.  But when it comes to [...]