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What Did Jesus Say at the Last Supper?
Here is a seemingly simple but inordinately complicated question I received from a read on the blog: QUESTION: Although the gospel of Luke doesn’t have an atonement message, what are your thoughts about Acts 20:28: “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood”? This sure sounds like it has atonement implications. RESPONSE: When I got the question my idea was to give a direct and simple response. But I realized that would be neither [...]
Which James in Galatians? Platinum Guest Post by Gregory Hartzler-Miller
I'm pleased to publish this guest post by Platinum member Gregory Hartzler-Miller. It is dealing with a tricky issue with broad implications. Is there more than one James active in the early Jerusalem church? Which one is Paul concerned about? Check it out and see! ***************************** Which Mary? Which James? 8 theses for distinguishing two Jameses in Galatians based on clues from Mark By Gregory Hartzler-Miller, MATS "Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses (Μαρία ἡ Ἰωσῆτος) saw where his body was placed. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the James (Μαρία ἡ τοῦ [...]
What’s the Point? Hey, *IS* There a Point? The Book of Ecclesiastes
In a previous post I began talking about the distinctive views of the book of Ecclesiastes, one of the real gems of the Hebrew Bible, a book that refuses to accept easy answers or blithe truisms about life, but faces reality head on. No matter what we do or how we try to explain it away, life is short. Very very short. The author of course had no conception of what we know now about time in relation to lifespan. What would he say if he knew that the world (what we would call the universe — something about which [...]
Digging Deep into Afterlife Journeys
I don't recall *ever* having a podcast interview in which I was asked to go down seriously into the weeds of my scholarship as found in one of my scholarly books. But that happened in this interview, done on June 14, for the Christian Humanist Podcast. It's a serious podcast, where the perspective is Christian and the topics are intellectually meaty. The interviewer is a PhD in English literature and professor at Emmanuel College. He's a bright guy, who knows a lot, who read my book Journeys to Heaven and Hell carefully, realized clearly what both the scholarly issues and [...]
Blog Dinner. London. Tuesday, July 12. Interested?
We had to cancel the last proposed London blog dinner because of the rail strike, but now I'd like to make a second go of it, if anyone's interested. Possibly a pint in advance. Are you in the vicinity? Interested? If we can get 3-4 (and no more than 7) people together, I'd be happy to do it. It would be Tuesday, July 12, somewhere in central London. No obligations other than: Being a blog member Showing up Talking Paying for what you consume. If you're interested, do NOT reply here as a comment. Send me an email at [...]
A Skeptical View of Life … From the Bible!
To celebrate the tenth-year anniversary of the blog on this past April 18, I've been posting all the previous April 18 posts. This one is from 2020; in it I discuss one of my favorite books of the Bible, Ecclesiastes. The post was originally part of a series of posts on "Wisdom Literature" in the OT, as I indicate at the outset. ****************************** In my previous post I pointed to the “Wisdom” literature of the Old Testament (usually said to comprise Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes), suggesting that this is a good time for all of us to ingest some wisdom [...]
Yeah, Those Are Contradictions. My Response to Firth.
Matthew Firth came up with interesting responses to my examples of contradictions in the Gospels (in the previous post); here now I try to show how his explanations simply don't work. ****************************** Thanks, Matt, for your thoughtful comments on the four contradictions I discussed in my opening post. I agree – this form of debate is much better than the oral back-and-forths I’m used to on a stage in front of an audience, where it’s so easy to say something unwittingly that is completely stupid or wrong. With this format I’m able to think about it a bit before saying [...]
There Are No Contradictions in the Gospels! The Response by Matthew Firth
As promised, this is Matthew Firth's (2019) response to my post (the previous one) in which I try to show several places in the Gospels that contain contradictions. Firth does not see a contradiction in any of the five examples I cited, and explains why, contrary to first appearance, the accounts are completely in line with each other. Read him carefully and see what you think (To make sense of his reply you may want to see what he is responding to in the previous post, but ... hey, follow your heart.) ****************************** Thank-you very much, Bart, for your opening [...]
Onan the Barbarian: How an obscure Bible character affected reproductive rights. Platinum Guest post by Douglas Wadeson MD
I'm pleased to post this intriguing contribution by your fellow Platinum member and Medical-Doctor- Not-Afraid-to-Talk-About-Onanism-In-a-Public-Forum Doug Wadeson. Hey, it saves *me* the inconvenience of having to post on it! Seriously, it's a very interesting discussion. Doug will be happy to address your questions and comments. I hope you too will consider submitting a post! If you're interested, let me know. ****************************** As background, there was an ancient custom that if a man died without children then his brother was expected to marry the widow and have children with her so that the brother’s family line would not die out. This [...]
Gospel Contradictions: My Debate with Rev. Matthew Firth
To celebrate our 10th year anniversary from April 18, I'm reposting all my previous (ten) April 18 blog posts. Now I'm up to 2019. In that year I agreed to do a blog debate with a fellow named Matthew Firth, an Anglican rector who studied theology at Oxford University. Firth had challenged me to a debate on whether the Gospels contain contradictions, and offered to donate $1000 to the blog if I managed to convince him. That, of course, was a bit of a joke, since there's no way on God's green earth that someone with his mind made up [...]
Gold members Q&A for June
Dear Gold Members, It's that time again. Time for the Gold Q&A for June -- a perk of your membership! Do you have any questions you'd like to ask, on anything related to the blog? Ask away, and I'll do my best to answer. To get your question on the list: zap a note to Diane at [email protected] DEADLINE for your question. Midnight (your time) on Saturday, June 25. I will record the Q&A that weekend, and it will be available, if all goes to plan, by Thursday, June 30. Fire away! Bart
Check Out this Play in NYC!!
Are you in NYC or at least planning to be in October or November? There is a new play called “The Unbelieving” that you should check out! It is a dramatization of a real-life phenomenon that most people don’t know about: pastors who have left the faith but are still active in ministry. There’s more of these religious professionals than you might imagine. Here is the brief description of the play on the show’s website (here: http://Shows | www.59e59.org) Show Info By Marin Gazzaniga Directed by Steve Cosson In the classic tale of religious conversion, finding God holds the promise of a [...]
The Invention of Charity: My Prospectus for the Book
I have started drafting a prospectus for my next book on Christian charity, as I have discussed recently on the blog. At this early stage, I am giving it (at least in my head) the tentative title: The Invention of Charity: How Christianity Transformed the Western World. In this post I’ll show how I’m *thinking* about starting the prospectus (which will have no bearing on how I, later, start the book). Before I do so, I should explain how the process works. My last three trade books have been with Simon & Schuster, and as a (standard) part of my [...]
An Interesting Interview on Journeys to Heaven and Hell
I don't recall ever doing any podcast interviews before on any of my academic books since, well, they are written for scholars rather than the general public and few podcasts target scholars (at least early Christian scholars!) per se. But I've had a couple on my recent book Journeys to Heaven and Hell, and I think it's because the topic really is interesting to more than scholars. Here's one that helped bring out some of the intriguing material I cover, with an interviewer -- Mike Delgado -- who both knows his stuff and knows what is interesting. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU9enCbE7SM&ab_channel=delgadopodcast
My book: Literary Forgery and Counterforgery in Early Christianity!
I have been posting all ten of my April 18 posts from previous years in celebration of the ten-year anniversary of the blog on April 18 of *this* year. Here now is a post from 2018 that focused on a book I had written years before that! The book I've always thought was my best piece of scholarship. Enjoy! ****************************** I am in Houston for a few days, giving talks at Rice University on the use of literary forgery in early Christianity. To prepare for the talks I decided to read through my 2013 book Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use [...]
Are Christian Apologists Just Being Dishonest? What Do YOU Think?
A number of people have recently asked me virtually the same question about about my debates with conservative Christian apologists: In my opinion, when these people say things that don’t seem to make any sense, are they being dishonest, or do they genuinely believe what they say? (I'll give my opinion and then ask yours.) I’ll give an example from an event that some people have asked about. It was an “apologetics conference” hosted by an evangelical group; the attendees were almost entirely committed evangelical Christians. Normally at this kind of event, the organizers only have representatives of their own [...]
Blog Dinner in London? Interested?
I'm heading over the pond today and would like to do a blog dinner if anyone's interested. Possibly a pint in advance. Are you over there? Interested? If we can get 3-4 (and no more than 7) people together, I'd be happy to do it. It would be next Thursday, June 23 (2022!), somewhere in central London. No obligations other than: Being a blog member Showing up Talking Paying for your meal. If you're interested, do NOT reply here as a comment. Send me an email at [email protected] Hope it happens! I may be able to do another one [...]
Why Not Just Believe in a *Different* Kind of God?
Several people have asked me recently about why, when I left the faith, I didn't simply start to believe in a different kind of God. I had come to think there was not an all-powerful, loving, and active God in the world simply because, after lots of reading, arguing, and thinking, I could no longer explain all the pain and misery in the world. But why would God have to be all-loving, all-powerful, and active? Why not believe in a different kind of God? I dealt with this question on the blog some years ago, and would like to revisit [...]
Time Again: Vote on your favorite Platinum Post
Dear Platinum members, That time again — an opportunity for you to vote on one of our Platinum guest posts, to see which one will be posted on the blog at large. Take a look — they’re all terrific. To vote, just send a quick note to Diane at [email protected] Your deadline: this Saturday, June 18, midnight your time. And remember — you’re always welcome to submit a post yourself. Anything connected to the blog that strikes your fancy that you’d like others to read about? Any ideas/thoughts you’d like to have disseminated and discussed? Here’s your chance. Just zap [...]
Another Historical Scholar’s Understanding of the Resurrection
I am reposting the ten blog posts made on April 18 (or thereabouts) in celebration of our tenth anniversary of the blog. Here now is a particularly important one from 2017; at the time I was working on my book How Jesus Became God and thinking hard about how to understand the early Christian claims that Jesus had been raised from the dead. ****************************** One of the first books that I have re-read in thinking about how it is the man Jesus came to be thought of as God is Gerd Lüdemann’s, The Resurrection of Christ: A Historical Inquiry (2004). [...]
Interested in Joining Me on a Tour To Tuscany?
Now HERE is a happy announcement. I will be giving lectures on a tour to my favorite place in the known universe, Tuscany, on October 21-29, 2022. That is, in less than five months. WHOA! Wanna come? It will be a small group (no more than 18 folk, I should think), we will be spending time in Florence (which has more culture per square foot than anywhere in the cosmos); Siena (which I like even better); and surrounding towns/villages (that take your breath away). In addition to the lectures, I'll be hanging out with the people who come, day and [...]
And Did Paul Write 2 Thessalonians?
In my last post I discussed whether Paul wrote the letter of Ephesians, whose author claims to be Paul, and explained why scholars widely think that in fact it was someone else. I discuss all the Pauline "forgeries" of early Christianity (including the six in the New Testament) in my book Forged. Here I thought it might be useful to consider a second example that involves a different set of problems: the "Second letter to the Thessalonians." Again, this is taken from my book Forged (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2012). ****************************** As a conservative evangelical Christian in my late teens and early [...]
Controversial Me….
I am having a ten-week long celebration of our ten-year anniversary, from this past April 18, by reposting all the previous April 18 posts, one a week. Many of them I'd forgotten about. This one is about how weird it is to me that people think I'm controversial.... (As usual, I'm a bit tetchy about it!) ****************************** In this post I am going to take a bit of time out to do some self-reflection. An issue I’ve been puzzling over for some time is the fact that people keep referring to my work as “controversial.” I hear this all the [...]
Did Paul Write “Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians”?
Here's an important question I received recently from a blog member: Someone told me that “I should never listen to you” because you say Paul did not write six letters of the New Testament, even though the letters start with the claim he did: "Paul, an Apostle of Christ to the Church at ….." This person's main issue was: what is the evidence Paul did not write Ephesians? Your thoughts. Response This is an issue I dealt with directly in my book Forged: Why The Biblical Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2012). Here's what I [...]
An Even More Unusual Story of What Happens to the Rich…
In my last post I began to discuss Jesus’ parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus from Luke 16) and I mentioned there is a very similar tale in ancient Egyptian lore, about a man named Setne and his adult son Si-Osire. In the story the two of them are looking out the window of their house and see the coffin of a rich man being carried out to the cemetery with great honors. They then see the corpse of a poor beggar carried out on a mat, with no one attending his funeral. Setne says to his son: “By [...]
Categories on the Blog
Click on a category for the full archive, arranged by date.
- Digging Deep into Afterlife Journeys June 29, 2022
- Blog Dinner. London. Tuesday, July 12. Interested? June 28, 2022
- Yeah, Those Are Contradictions. My Response to Firth. June 26, 2022
- Gold members Q&A for June June 22, 2022
- Check Out this Play in NYC!! June 22, 2022
- An Interesting Interview on Journeys to Heaven and Hell June 19, 2022
- Blog Dinner in London? Interested? June 15, 2022
- Why Not Just Believe in a *Different* Kind of God? June 15, 2022
- What Did Jesus Say at the Last Supper? July 2, 2022
- Teeth Will Be Provided April 10, 2022
- Do Textual Critics Have to be Radical Skeptics? Guest Post by Kurt Jaros March 31, 2022
- Faith and Inerrancy, In My Case — Did the “Young Ehrman” Get it Wrong? March 19, 2022
- The “Young Ehrman’s” Faulty Understanding of Inspiration March 18, 2022
- How Would We Know If We Found an “Original” Manuscript? February 26, 2022
- Did My Shift in Thinking Destroy my Own Views? Guest Video Post #4 by Kurt Jaros January 13, 2022
- Evangelical Support for Misquoting Jesus: Kurt Jaros, Guest Post #3 December 26, 2021
- Time Magazine Cover Story on Lost Christianities. Kind Of…. November 9, 2021
- The Remarkable Story of Masada: Guest Post by Jodi Magness May 27, 2020
- Academic Fraud at the Highest Levels May 24, 2020
- Startling and Disturbing Development Involving Manuscripts at the Museum of the Bible October 15, 2019
- Why Was the World Created in 4004 BC? July 1, 2019
- The Hobby Lobby, Biblical Manuscripts, and Academic Scandal June 25, 2019
- An Official Copy of Jesus’ Death Sentence: Another Forgery? May 27, 2019
- Homosexuality and the New Testament. Guest Post by Jeff Siker. March 4, 2019
- The Invention of Charity: My Prospectus for the Book June 21, 2022
- An Even More Unusual Story of What Happens to the Rich… June 7, 2022
- What the Earliest *Christians* Thought About Wealth May 26, 2022
- Shouldn’t the Upper Classes Help the … Upper Classes? May 25, 2022
- Does Wealth Make You More … Virtuous? May 24, 2022
- Fabulously Rich But Not Attached to the Lucre (?) May 19, 2022
- The Ancient Argument for Getting Rid of All Your Wealth May 18, 2022
- Revelation and Ancient Views of Dominance April 5, 2022
- What’s the Point? Hey, *IS* There a Point? The Book of Ecclesiastes June 30, 2022
- A Skeptical View of Life … From the Bible! June 28, 2022
- Onan the Barbarian: How an obscure Bible character affected reproductive rights. Platinum Guest post by Douglas Wadeson MD June 24, 2022
- Who Buried Moses? Platinum Guest Post by Lou Suarez May 31, 2022
- Concerns for the Poor in the Jewish Tradition May 28, 2022
- Was The Messiah Supposed to Be Born of a Virgin? May 1, 2022
- Why Paul Persecuted the Christians April 30, 2022
- Matthew’s Fulfillment Citations April 7, 2022
- Another Historical Scholar’s Understanding of the Resurrection June 14, 2022
- Lazarus and the Rich Man: What To Do with Wealth June 5, 2022
- Concerns for the Poor in the Jewish Tradition May 28, 2022
- The Plausibility of the Fourth Gospel: The Sayings of Jesus. Guest Post by Dennis Folds May 6, 2022
- Why Romans Crucified People and Who Was Crucifixion Reserved For? May 1, 2022
- Was The Messiah Supposed to Be Born of a Virgin? May 1, 2022
- Pilate Released Barabbas. Really?? April 30, 2022
- The Plausibility of the Fourth Gospel: The Chronology of Jesus’s Ministry. Platinum Guest Post by Dennis Folds April 29, 2022
- What Did Jesus Say at the Last Supper? July 2, 2022
- There Are No Contradictions in the Gospels! The Response by Matthew Firth June 25, 2022
- Gospel Contradictions: My Debate with Rev. Matthew Firth June 23, 2022
- Lazarus and the Rich Man: What To Do with Wealth June 5, 2022
- Concerns for the Poor in the Jewish Tradition May 28, 2022
- My Debate With Roman Catholic Apologist Jimmy Akin May 10, 2022
- The Plausibility of the Fourth Gospel: The Sayings of Jesus. Guest Post by Dennis Folds May 6, 2022
- Was The Messiah Supposed to Be Born of a Virgin? May 1, 2022
- The Invention of Charity: My Prospectus for the Book June 21, 2022
- You Mean Everyone (Except the Truly Destitute) Needs to Give? But How Much? June 2, 2022
- A Christian NDE and the Problem with Being Filthy Rich June 1, 2022
- What the Earliest *Christians* Thought About Wealth May 26, 2022
- Did Christians Invent Charity? May 17, 2022
- Demons and Christians in Antiquity: Guest Post by Travis Proctor May 12, 2022
- What Is the Didache & When Was the Didache Written May 1, 2022
- The Massive Diversity of Early Christianity. My Book: Lost Christianities November 6, 2021
- A More Serious (Specific) Problem with the NRSV Translation October 3, 2021
- Was Christ So Divine That He Was Not Human? The “Antichrists” of 1 John March 16, 2021
- How the Trinity Got Into the New Testament: Part 2 January 9, 2021
- Did Some *One* Forge the Writings of “John”? Guest Post by Hugo Mendez May 19, 2020
- Problems with Thinking the “Letters of John” in the NT are Forgeries? Guest Post: Hugo Mendez May 18, 2020
- Are the Gospel and Epistles of John *Forgeries*?? Guest Post by Hugo Mendez May 12, 2020
- Was There One Author Behind the Four Johannine Writings? A Community? Guest Post by Hugo Mendez May 11, 2020
- WAS there a Community behind the Gospel and Letters of John? Guest Post by Hugo Mendez May 5, 2020
- A Christian NDE and the Problem with Being Filthy Rich June 1, 2022
- Thomas’s Trip to India and the Problem of Wealth May 31, 2022
- An Eyewitness Account of Jesus’ Crucifixion! March 16, 2022
- Young Jesus with the Brahmins in India! March 13, 2022
- God’s Mercy and Justice: The Opening of a Chapter in Journeys to Heaven and Hell November 10, 2021
- Was Peter Crucified Upside Down? September 21, 2021
- Blog Zoom Lecture This Saturday: Jesus as a Young Boy! June 2, 2021
- Was Paul Peter’s Enemy? May 4, 2021
- What Is the Didache & When Was the Didache Written May 1, 2022
- Platinum Webinar! March 8. Why Is the Apocalypse of Peter Not in the New Testament? February 25, 2022
- How I First Learned About the Gospel of Judas Iscariot July 20, 2020
- Slurs Against Religious Opponents and Makin’ Stuff Up July 15, 2020
- How Did We Get *These* 27 Books in the New Testament? October 4, 2019
- When Were Matthew and Mark First Seen as Scripture: Guest Post on Papias by Stephen Carlson June 10, 2019
- Papias and the Writers of the New Testament: Guest Post by Stephen Carlson April 25, 2019
- A Papias Mystery: What Was the Book He Wrote? Guest Post by Stephen Carlson April 12, 2019
- Did Heretics’ Texts Describe Their Incestuous Rituals? April 13, 2022
- Fabrication, Forgery, and Accusations of (Heretical) Christian Licentious Rituals! April 12, 2022
- The Massive Diversity of Early Christianity. My Book: Lost Christianities November 6, 2021
- Two Live Lectures on Sunday: The End is Near! April 20, 2021
- Was Marcion a Gnostic? April 13, 2021
- The Earliest Views of the Trinity (Long after the New Testament) April 11, 2021
- How Can the Father and the Son Be the SAME? Can Your Father Also Be Your Son? April 10, 2021
- Are God and Christ the SAME Person? April 8, 2021
- The Council of Nicaea and The Resulting View of Christ May 2, 2021
- Constantine and the Christian Faith: My Fourth Smithsonian Lecture May 2, 2019
- When Christianity Became the “Official” Religion of Rome May 2, 2018
- Making Rome Pagan Again May 1, 2018
- The Beginning of the End of Paganism April 30, 2018
- Did Constantine Outlaw the Pagan Religions? April 29, 2018
- The Conversion of Constantine February 12, 2018
- Did the Council of Nicaea Take Away Reincarnation and Give us the Bible? January 8, 2017
- Bart Ehrman discusses the Apocalypticist July 27, 2016
- Violent Opposition to the Romans in the Days of Jesus (or Brian)? June 30, 2014
- Brian and the Apocalyptic Jesus Part 3 June 29, 2014
- Brian and the Apocalyptic Jesus Part 2 June 28, 2014
- Brian and the Apocalyptic Jesus Parts 1 June 27, 2014
- Day Two of Jesus and Brian June 25, 2014
- Day One of Jesus and Brian June 24, 2014
- The Life of Brian Conference June 23, 2014
- Why I Am Not A Christian: Is Bart Ehrman a Christian? April 2, 2022
- My Final Exam This Semester! The Birth of Christianity. November 28, 2021
- MORE Assignments on the Birth of Christianity September 5, 2021
- Student Papers for “The Birth of Christianity” September 4, 2021
- Pop Quiz on Early Christianity September 1, 2021
- My Syllabus for “The Birth of Christianity” August 31, 2021
- Two More Answers from My Pop Quiz September 2, 2020
- Does Basic Information about the NT *Matter*? My Pop Quiz August 30, 2020
- The Book of Genesis, the White Jesus, and Debating the Resurrection: Interview with Seth Andrews April 14, 2022
- An Intense Back and Forth on Key Issues March 8, 2022
- “In the Beginning” (Part 2) March 6, 2022
- In the Beginning: Myth, Legend, and History in the Book of Genesis (Part 1) March 5, 2022
- An Interview about Heaven and Hell: American Freethought Podcast July 21, 2021
- Where Did the Trinity Come From? The (Briefer) Video Version March 9, 2021
- My Interview About Jesus for “The Dagger Squad” February 23, 2021
- A Recording of My Webinar on Heaven and Hell January 24, 2021
- Are Christian Apologists Just Being Dishonest? What Do YOU Think? June 16, 2022
- Why Not Just Believe in a *Different* Kind of God? June 15, 2022
- The Problem with “Time Management” May 21, 2022
- I’m Puzzled about Time. Is there a “Present”? May 11, 2022
- The Book of Genesis, the White Jesus, and Debating the Resurrection: Interview with Seth Andrews April 14, 2022
- Christian Pastors Who Have Lost Their Faith April 9, 2022
- O Frabjous Day, Callou Callay April 5, 2022
- Why I Am Not A Christian: Is Bart Ehrman a Christian? April 2, 2022