Recent Posts
The Pastoral Epistle of 1 Timothy in a Nutshell
In this series providing summaries of each book of the New Testament “in a nutshell” I have dealt with three of the letters that claim to be written by Paul but probably were not: Colossians, Ephesians, and 2 Thessalonians. We now come to the three letters that are grouped together and called the “Pastoral Epistles,” 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. For reasons we will see, there is a wide scholarly consensus that these books were not actually written by Paul. Before addressing the issue of authorship, I’d like to note the ostensible distinctive themes and emphases of these books, [...]
In the Weeds with the Author of 2 Thessalonians
I thought it migh be interesting for readers who like on occasion to get down into the weeds of scholarship to see a more detailed argument for how the *similarity* of 2 Thessalonians to 1 Thessalonians suggests not that Paul wrote both of them but that a later author (of 2 Thessalonians) was imitating Paul's authentic letter (1 Thessalonians). Here's how I express the case in my book Forgery and Counterforgery (Oxford University Press). [Don't worry about the Greek: you can either just see the similar letters or look up the verses in your English translation]: 2 Thessalonians as a [...]
2 Thessalonians, The Modern State of Israel, World War III, and the Return of Jesus
An obscure verse in 2 Thessalonians may conceivably lead to World War III. OK, it sounds sensational and implausible, but hear me out. The following is taken from my book Armageddon (Simon & Schuster, 2023), edited for this occasion. ****************************** Evangelical Christians historically have believed that the Bible predicts the future, that many prophecies are being fulfilled in our day, and that they will continue to be fulfilled until the end comes when Jesus returns from heaven in judgment on the living and the dead. One thing that needs to happen is that the Temple in Jerusalem needs to be rebuilt. The [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
2 Thessalonians: Who Wrote It, When, and Why?
In my previous post I explained the major theses and emphases of 2 Thessalonians, and pointed out that in many ways it is very similar in its concerns and themes to 1 Thesssalonians. But I also said that it is commonly considered by scholars to be "Deutero-Pauline," that is, written by a later author only *claiming* to be Paul. How can we know? As I said there, the problem from a historian’s point of view is that someone who had decided to imitate Paul would no doubt try to sound like Paul. If both Paul and an imitator of Paul [...]
2 Thessalonians in a Nutshell
In this series of “nutshell” overviews of each of the books of the New Testament, we move now to one of the most intriguing instances of a book that claims to be written by Paul, but was apparently, instead, written by someone else who wanted his readers to think he was the apostle. 2 Thessalonians is an intriguing case because the book certainly sounds a lot like Paul’s other letters and does indeed appear to be a kind of follow-up letter to 1 Thessalonians. It also has numerous word-for-word similarities to 1 Thessalonians. It too, for example, is written by [...]
Interesting Questions from Readers (5/27/2025)
Here are some particularly sticky questions I've gotten recently, with expanded answers to share with all of you: QUESTION: Bart, what should we understand by “exousia” in I Cor 11.10? RESPONSE: Ah, right. A woman is to have an "authority" (exousia) on her head. It’s a confusing verse in a confusing passage. The verse: For this reason a woman ought to have authority over her head, because of the angels. It's sometimes translated "veil" though it clearly does not mean veil, per se. But in the context Paul is talking about why women should wear head coverings in [...]
1 Thessalonians and the Coming Rapture
One of the most intriguing passages of 1 Thessalonians is also both the most widely referred to (these days) and the most universally misread. It is the passage that conservative Christians cite to support the idea of the coming “rapture,” when Jesus will allegedly arrive from heaven to take his followers out of the world before the appearance of the Anti-Christ and the horrendous period of disaster and “tribulation” that must take place for seven years before the Final Day of Judgement. The “rapture” is one of the firmest beliefs of conservative evangelicals. And it is not found in the [...]
1 Thessalonians. For Further Reading
Here is a list of readings on 1 Thessalonians, most 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. I devote a fuller discussion of 1 Thessalonians (an entire chapter) 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 [...]
1 Thessalonians: Who, When, and Why
Now that I have given an overview of the major themes and emphases of 1 Thessalonians, I can say a few more things about what we know about its authorship, when it was written, and why. The book, of course, is always called “Paul’s” first letter to the Thessalonians but as you’ll notice, the opening verse indicates that it comes from “Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy.” And throughout the letter the first-person plural pronoun predominates “WE give thanks” “WE know” “OUR visit” and so on. So, was this a letter written by committee? If so…how does that work exactly? [...]
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 [...]
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] [...]
Interesting Questions from Readers
Here are three interesting questions I've recently received, and my attempts to answer.... QUESTION: I’ve been wondering about the passage in Romans where Paul expresses his fear about returning to Jerusalem on account of opposition because he wanted to take the money that he raised there before leaving for Spain. I used to couple this account with Paul’s final leg of his third mission out of Corinth back to Jerusalem, and there he indeed faces opposition Acts chapter 20 and then finds himself in Rome, in prison Acts 28? The passages seem to fit well together, but how? History, [...]
Colossians: For Further Reading
Here is an annotated list of books on Colossians, 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 specifically on Colossians. 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 [...]
The Book of Acts “At a Glance” and Controversial Questions
In addition to my nutshell summaries of each book of the New Testament, I have been providing a post that gives additional materials I present in my New Testament textbook. These 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.” Here they are now for the book of Acts. I hope the summary "at a glance" makes sense, and that you can nail the questions. BOX 17.8 The Book [...]
Did Paul Write That Letter? Getting Into the Weeds…
A few days ago I published a post trying to show why many critical scholars do not think Paul wrote the letter to the Colossians even though its author claims to be Paul. It's pretty easy to put the matter in simple, easy-to-understand terms for non-experts: all you have to say is that the writing style, theology, and presupposed historical circumstances don't match up with what we know about Paul otherwise. But, well, that's really not very convincing. It's just informative. So I provided a few of the details connected with writing style and theology, but tried to do it [...]
The Letter to the Colossians: Who, When, and Why?
Now that I have summarized the major themes and emphases of Colossians, I can talk about who wrote it, when, and why. The book, as we have seen, claims to be written by Paul. But there are good reasons for doubting it. In a number of ways, this letter does look very much like those that Paul himself wrote. The prescript written in the names of both Paul and Timothy, the basic layout of the letter, and the closing all sound like Paul; and a number of important Pauline themes are sounded throughout: the importance of suffering in this [...]
The Letter to the Colossians, in a Nutshell
We continue in this series that explains each book of the New Testament “in a nutshell” by turning to the letter to the Colossians. This is a book that claims to be written by Paul, but as we will see in the next post, there are very good reasons for thinking Paul himself did not write it, but that it was written in his name by a later follower claiming to be Paul. For now, we are interested in the letter itself, it’s major themes and emphases. I begin by trying to explain the book in 50 words. The letter [...]
Some Interesting Questions of the Week
I've started posting questions and responses from readers. Here's another set of particularly good ones. QUESTION: I recently read your book Jesus Interrupted and have become interested in your work. In it you discussed the potential forgeries contained in the Pauline letters and New Testament but it didn’t seem to mention much about the Old Testament. I noticed you did say that the New Testament was your specialty but was wondering if there was any evidence you were aware of that the Old Testament contains similar situations and which books. RESPONSE: Yes, my book was just about the NT, [...]
How Athens Made Me Rethink….
I am in Athens just now, heading out on a tour giving lectures on ancient Greek philosophers in relation to the teachings of Jesus and Paul. I came over a couple of days before the tour to spend some time looking around on my own, and had a lovely afternoon at the fantastic Acropolis Museum. Every time I come to Athens I think of my first time here, for several reasons, but one in particular. It was when I was struck by a realization about the relationship of the highly cultured, sophisticated Greek world and the rise of earliest Christianity, [...]
Some Intriguing Questions about Paul’s Letters
QUESTION: I was wondering how scholars look at situations like Galatians 2:6-10 , specially the part of the text that states “they added nothing to my message” or “all they asked is we should continue remembering the poor”. My primary question is do scholars like yourself believe that the early disciples & James/Jerusalem Church saw eye to eye with Paul on all matters? As a secondary, why does Paul go into disputes later in Galatians 2 if they agreed on everything as mentioned in Gal 2 earlier? The passage of “adding nothing to my message” makes it seem like Paul [...]
Is the “Christ Poem” of Philippians Really a Poem? When Did Jesus Really Become “Equal” With God?
This is my second and final post on the "Christ-poem" of Philippians 2. Many years ago when I talked about the poem, a reader (who apparently knew Greek!) objected that the poetic lines I suggested don't actually work. Below I'll give his question and my response. But then I'll move on to an even more important issue: how the poem understands who Christ was before he became human and after his resurrection. If Christ was divine before the incarnation, how could he be made more divine afterward? First, the question I received about whether this is some kind of poem. [...]
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 [...]
The Most Widely Discussed Passage of Philippians
To conclude this mini-thread on Philippians, which is part of my maxi-thread Nutshell Summaries of each of the books of the New Testament, I would like to provide two posts on the passage of this small book that is discussed by scholars (far) more than any other, the "Christ-poem" of 2:6-11, where Paul indicates that Christ was first a divine being in the heavenly realm who then came to earth as a human to die for the sins of others, and then was exalted to an even higher position than before, when God made him the Lord of All. It's [...]
Categories on the Blog
Click on a category for the full archive, arranged by date.
- 2 Thessalonians: For Further Reading June 10, 2025
- Time to Vote: Help Choose the Next Platinum Post! June 9, 2025
- 1 Thessalonians in a Nutshell May 31, 2025
- June 2025 Gold Q&A May 30, 2025
- The Death and Afterlife of Jesus: A Historical Reconstruction Part II – Guest Post by Platinum Member Mark Reichert May 16, 2025
- Philippians: For Further Reading May 13, 2025
- The Death and Afterlife of Jesus: A Historical Reconstruction Part I – Guest Post by Platinum Member Mark Reichert May 12, 2025
- May 2025 Gold Q&A May 9, 2025
- Interpolations and Textual Variants in the New Testament April 17, 2025
- Two Fundamental Questions: How Do You Date a Manuscript and How Do you Know the Meaning of a Word? April 2, 2025
- The Gospel of Matthew: For Further Reading January 19, 2025
- The Hobby Lobby, the Museum of the Bible, and Incredible Academic Fraud December 11, 2024
- The Low-Down on That First-Century Gospel of Mark December 10, 2024
- Final Reflections on Mummy Masks and Manuscripts December 8, 2024
- A True Expert Speaks About Mummy Masks and Papyri December 7, 2024
- Can We Defend Destroying Mummy Masks? December 5, 2024
- When Modern Christians Came to Think “The End is Near” December 10, 2023
- American Support of Israel: A (Widely) Unknown Part of the History December 9, 2023
- Armageddon in Biden and the Bible October 23, 2022
- When Did Jesus Die? Dating Jesus’ Death by the Earthquake October 9, 2022
- 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
- Did Christians Invent the Idea of “Atonement” / “Vicarious Suffering”? January 7, 2025
- How to be Content with Life Even When It’s Rotten: The Stoic View November 26, 2024
- How Not To Be Bothered When Bad Things Happen: The Stoics November 24, 2024
- Does this World Make Any Sense? The Ancient Stoics November 23, 2024
- Isn’t It Good Enough to Help Family, Friends, and Community? November 20, 2024
- How Can We Be Happy? An Age-Old Question. November 19, 2024
- What Do You Really Want in Life? And How is that Related to Altruism? November 17, 2024
- Were Matthew and Luke Plagiarists? February 13, 2024
- Could Moses Have Been Thutmose, the Overseer of Borderlands? Platinum Post by Serene November 11, 2024
- And Yet Other Apocrypha: 2 Maccabees and Others, Including Psalm 151! October 13, 2024
- Still More Books of the Apocrypha: Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, and Baruch October 12, 2024
- Some More of the OT Apocrypha: the Letter of Jeremiah, Additions to Daniel, and 1 Maccabees October 10, 2024
- Some of the Old Testament Apocrypha: Tobit, Judith, and Additions to Esther October 9, 2024
- Introducing the Old Testament Apocrypha October 8, 2024
- Major Contradictions (and Other Problems) in the Old Testament September 15, 2024
- Two KINDS of Originals. How Do We Know We Have Either? May 8, 2024
- Another Reason for Thinking Jesus Called Himself the Messiah November 12, 2024
- Why Should We Think Jesus Called Himself the Messiah? November 10, 2024
- Albert Schweitzer and the Apocalyptic Jesus November 9, 2024
- What Would an Apocalyptic Jew (Jesus!) Mean By Calling Himself Messiah? November 7, 2024
- Can We Know What Jesus Said About Himself? November 6, 2024
- Would the Resurrection Make Anyone Believe Jesus Was the Messiah? November 2, 2024
- More About My Book “Did Jesus Exist” September 25, 2024
- My Book “Did Jesus Exist” (an answer to the mythicists) September 24, 2024
- Luke and John “At a Glance” and Controversial Questions May 14, 2025
- Is Paul One of Matthew’s Enemies? April 24, 2025
- Proof that Luke Used Matthew? And Interpolations in Luke about the Virgin Birth. April 19, 2025
- Dating Manuscripts and Understanding Mark: Readers’ Questions March 11, 2025
- The Gospel of Matthew. Are You Interested in a More Extended Discussion? February 27, 2025
- All Four Gospels in One Nutshell February 25, 2025
- John Versus the Synoptics: How Does Jesus Raise the Dead? February 23, 2025
- The Gospel of John: For Your Further Reading February 22, 2025
- How Many of Those Early Christians Could Read? September 10, 2024
- Women and Gender: Early Christianity in a Patriarchal World August 6, 2024
- Ancient Ways of Interpreting Scripture August 3, 2024
- What If Another Christianity Had Won? July 17, 2024
- More Lost Christianities July 16, 2024
- The Arch-Heretic of Them All? Simon of Samaria — Guest Post From Dr. David Litwa June 25, 2024
- The New Book I’m Writing About Altruism: Putting It In a Nutshell June 22, 2024
- An Early Christian Advocate of Licentious Living? Carpocrates — Guest Post by Dr. David Litwa June 18, 2024
- Proof That Historical Narratives (not just myths) Constantly Change in Oral Cultures February 18, 2024
- Religion and the Wrecking Ball of Truth November 22, 2022
- Can’t We Just Get Rid of Some of the Books of the Bible? October 25, 2022
- Did Ancient Writers Use Secretaries? September 1, 2022
- How Many People Were Literate in Antiquity? August 31, 2022
- You Don’t Think Peter Wrote 1 and 2 Peter? August 9, 2022
- 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
- Was the Apocalypse of Peter Originally Considered Part of the New Testament? October 6, 2024
- My Book on Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene August 17, 2024
- Lost Christianities July 14, 2024
- More Lost Scriptures July 13, 2024
- Lost Scriptures July 11, 2024
- Other “Unknown” Sayings of Jesus April 13, 2024
- Ever Hear of an Agraphon? An “Unwritten” Saying of Jesus? April 11, 2024
- What We Knew about the Gospel of Peter Before We Had the Gospel of Peter April 6, 2024
- Do Church Fathers Show What the Authors of the NT Actually Wrote? November 8, 2022
- How Serendipity Changed My Life: The Apostolic Fathers October 12, 2022
- 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
- Competing Interpretations of Scripture in the Early Church August 4, 2024
- What If Another Christianity Had Won? July 17, 2024
- Lost Christianities July 14, 2024
- The Arch-Heretic of Them All? Simon of Samaria — Guest Post From Dr. David Litwa June 25, 2024
- An Early Christian Advocate of Licentious Living? Carpocrates — Guest Post by Dr. David Litwa June 18, 2024
- A Bizarre “Gnostic” Religion: The Naassenes – Guest Post by Dr. David Litwa June 11, 2024
- Paul’s *THIRD* Letter to the Corinthians? A Very Interesting Forgery March 6, 2024
- The Two Gods of Marcion and the Forgeries in the Name of Paul March 5, 2024
- The Conversion of the Emperor Constantine August 27, 2024
- Was Christianity Bound to Take Over the Ancient World? August 24, 2024
- Who Was The Last Non-Christian Emperor of Rome? September 14, 2022
- 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
- The Gospel according to Mel (Gibson) September 21, 2023
- The Life of Brian and Jesus: Was Jesus Really Buried on the Day of the Crucifixion? July 11, 2023
- More on the Life of Brian and the Historical Jesus July 9, 2023
- The Life of Brian and the Historical Jesus July 8, 2023
- 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
- Trying to Make Scholarship Interesting November 2, 2022
- More Interesting Topics in New Testament Studies. Other Writing Assignments for my Undergrads October 18, 2022
- Interesting Topics in New Testament. My Weekly Writing Assignments for Undergrads October 16, 2022
- Publishing in Academic Journals October 15, 2022
- Getting the PhD in New Testament Studies October 13, 2022
- What’s It Like to Teach PhD Seminars? October 11, 2022
- What Serious Research Projects Can Undergraduates Do in Early Christianity? October 5, 2022
- What’s It Like to Teach at a Research University? October 4, 2022
- Jesus, the Law, and a New Covenant (Lecture) September 18, 2024
- A Debate with Peter Williams on Textual Variants June 16, 2024
- Jesus in Illuminated Manuscripts and Legends: Video Post December 7, 2023
- The Life of Brian and Jesus: Was Jesus Really Buried on the Day of the Crucifixion? July 11, 2023
- The Life of Brian and the Historical Jesus July 8, 2023
- Don’t Wanna Be Left Behind? An Upcoming Lecture on the Rapture! April 10, 2023
- 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
- How Athens Made Me Rethink…. May 20, 2025
- Two Fundamental Questions: How Do You Date a Manuscript and How Do you Know the Meaning of a Word? April 2, 2025
- The Flukes of Life: How I Almost Never Became a Professor January 22, 2025
- Rambling Meditations on What It Means to Exist…. What Do You Think? January 15, 2025
- Did Jesus Come to Bring Peace? December 30, 2024
- Being Consistently Critical (In the Good Sense) December 28, 2024
- How to be Content with Life Even When It’s Rotten: The Stoic View November 26, 2024
- How Not To Be Bothered When Bad Things Happen: The Stoics November 24, 2024