Recent Posts
He Said It But He Didn’t Mean It. An Intriguing Interpretation of Jesus’ Teachings
Did early church leaders take Jesus seriously when he said that it was impossible to serve God if one was interested in mammon, or when he praised those who left literally everything (spouses, children, homes, jobs) to follow him, or when he said that it was “easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven”? Only a very few one-time rich Christians took him at his word and acted accordingly. Most did not. In one of the great interpretive ironies of history, most devout readers of [...]
Jesus and the Trolley Problem – Platinum Post by Douglas Wadeson MD
I'm pleased to post this new Platinum Post by Platinum member Douglas Wadeson for all you other Platinums. This one's a bit of a brain teaser. Good luck working it out. And may you never have to in practice! ****************************** In philosophy a standard thought experiment is the ‘Trolley Problem.’ There are variations, but the basic premise starts with a runaway trolley car that is heading down the track towards a group of five people. There is a switch in front of you which will divert the trolley to a sidetrack on which there is only one person. Should you [...]
December 2026 Gold Q&A
Gold and Platinum Members, our final Q&A of 2026 is upon us. Bart will be answering your questions live on Sunday December 6h at 3pm Eastern and we hope you'll join us. As always, during the first half of the Zoom session, Bart will answer your pre-submitted questions. Send yours to [email protected] no later than Thursday December 3rd so we can add it to the queue. During the second half, live attendees will be invited to take the floor and ask your question to Bart live. If you’d like to participate in the live Q&A: Prepare your question in advance [...]
Questions About the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Star of Bethlehem
Here are some more of the many intriguing queries I have recently received from inquiring minds inside the heads of Blog readers! QUESTION: On Friday evening, I was at Wheaton College for a presentation by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (famous Muslim apostate and public intellectual) and Darrel Bock of Dallas Theological Seminary. He quoted a verse, Matthew 28:19, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” I thought of you because I thought I learned on this blog that the only reference to the trinity in the NT was in one [...]
Critical Scholars Who Keep the Faith: Guest Post by Dale Allison
I frequently get asked how any highly-informed scholar of the Bible – knowing about biblical contradictions, historical mistakes, false claims, forged writings, and so on – could STILL be a committed Christian. I usually respond that it certainly is possible and that most critical scholars of the New Testament are in fact Christians. Some people then tell me they don’t believe it (they think scholars like that must just be fakin’ it) or that it just doesn’t make sense. So, I’ve asked a few top-level biblical scholars to explain how they themselves do it. How do they manage it, inside [...]
Advice About Money From a Different Universe
It should be dead easy to realize that guidelines for how to live and behave from one time and place may have almost no relevance to those living at other times elsewhere. For ancient sailors it may have made perfect sense that “Thou shalt not sail after dark” – when there were no such things as, say, navigation lights and radar. But to enforce it as a rule today? Or take actual legislation, such as requiring execution for witches or for disobedient children in the Hebrew Bible. Or think of standard mores, such as how partners are to engage with [...]
Outdated Religion and Modern Life
Can Jesus’ teachings on wealth and what to do with it have any relevance for a world that does not share his underlying assumptions/views/beliefs about religion and economics? That question is not relevant only for the uber-rich in our world (name your names; some of them, of course, claim to be ardent followers of Jesus), or just to those living fairly extravagant lives, or even to those who have more than enough to live comfortably. Just about everyone I come in contact with even below that level – and probably, though not certainly, everyone you do as well -- has [...]
Changing Times and the Question of Relevance
If you knew for a fact that the world was going to end on March 1, how would that affect your behavior? It’s worth thinking about. Not only because, well, hey: maybe it will! But also because that kind of thinking can help us decide how we should behave even if the world takes a lickin’ but keeps on tickin’. When I had my birthday three weeks ago, I did a little thought experiment. How would I change my life, if at all, if I knew for a fact I had only one more year to live, or five years, [...]
Expecting the End? Was Mark Written in Aramaic? And Was a Key Verse Added to John?
I've received some heavy-duty questions recently, on diverse but interesting issues. Don't some Christians today seem to share Jesus' view of the coming end? Was the Gospel of Mark composed in Aramaic rather than Greek? And did a scribe insert what is now John 16:15 into the Gospel, so that it originally didn't have it? Here we go! ****************************** QUESTION: Recently I’ve been talking to my grandma, who is a Seventh Day Adventist, and it seems like their views of the afterlife are quite similar to the one of the historical Jesus. Are you at all familiar with their beliefs? [...]
The (Ir)relevance of Biblical Moral Teachings
Last week I was visiting Wittenberg University in Springfield Ohio to give a lecture and was given a tour of the impressive rare book room in the bowels of their library. Before my hosts and I were brought in we were instructed to wash our hands carefully, and informed that current protocol is NOT to wear gloves when touching ancient books. Whoa? Really? News to me. Back when I was particularly interested in ancient books and manuscripts in my graduate days and early career, it was definitely gloves, to keep any oil / dirt / whatever on the fingers from [...]
A Modern Scholar Who Also Argues Jesus Did Not Die on the Cross
In my previous post I mentioned a modern forgery that claimed Jesus never actually died on the cross. Some of those who read that will probably have immediately thought of a modern scholar who with great sensational flair and vigor argued precisely that: Hugh Schonfield in his once (and in some circles still) popular book The Passover Plot. I discuss that as well, but only briefly, in my book Forged (HarperOne, 2011). Here is what I say there – with an opening paragraph that sets it up by mentioning several other accounts with very interesting but completely fabricated claims. ****************************** [...]
Did Jesus Survive His Crucifixion? Depends Which Gospel You Read….
Is it possible Jesus never actually died, but survived the crucifixion -- and that's why his followers could claim they saw him afterward? Because they really did? I've been discussing a couple of the Gospels that have been forged in modern time either as hoaxes, or money-makers, or (usually) both. Here is one that deals with a question of Jesus faked death -- an issue people occasionally ask me about still today. This discussion is taken from the final chapter of my book Forged (Harper, 2011), slightly edited here. ****************************** Unlike some other modern forged Gospels, a particularly [...]
Ghosts in the Bible? Check Out This New Blog by Travis Proctor
How appropriate for today, October 31!! My one-time PhD student Travis Proctor, now teaching at Wittenberg University, and familiar to many of you because of the courses he’s taught for the Biblical Studies Academy, has started a very interesting new blog focusing on ghosts, spirits, hauntings, demons, and so on in the Bible. You may be interested in it! If so, check it out here: The Haunted Bible I’ve asked Travis for a blog post to describe it, along with a sample post -- and here it is, an introduction to The Haunted Bible and an example of what kinds [...]
Did Jesus Go to India and Tibet?
Among the questions I randomly get asked on occasion is if it’s true that Jesus went to India as a child or young man to consult with the Brahmins, or to Nepal to consult with Buddhists. I suppose the best answer would be: “It depends which Gospel you read.” If you read the New Testament Gospels – or in fact any writing of the New Testament, early Christianity, or Christianity down to modernity – the answer is, uh, no. So where do these ideas come from? Modern Gospel forgeries (see my previous post). Here’s one of the most (in)famous, as [...]
The Best Forgery Story of Modern Times (IMHO)
When people today tell me, or want to know if, Jesus travelled to India in his youth to learn the “wisdom of the East” or to Egypt to learn how to do “magic,” or any other rather exorbitant claim for a lower-class peasant born and raised in a small rural Jewish village, I tell them that the idea comes from one of the modern-day (usually 19th century) Gospel forgeries. Sometimes my informant/questioner tells me they don’t believe the book they read about it (or heard about it) was forged but was an authentic account of Jesus hidden by the authorities [...]
Did Mark Make Up the Idea Jesus Was a Carpenter?
If Jesus was not a carpenter – I have my doubts – can we think of a reason Mark may have wanted to say he was (Mark 6:3).? I’ve never seen this discussed before, but I can indeed imagine a reason. Recall the setting. In the opening chapters of Mark, Jesus has been preaching, healing, casting out demons, doing other miracles, and gathering crowds. Then in chapter six we come to this: 6 He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 On the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard [...]
Casting Doubt on Jesus as the Carpenter…
As a late teenager deeply committed to Christianity and invested in debate – making arguments, evaluating evidence, convincing skeptical judges – I was naturally drawn to Christian “apologetics,” the attempt to demonstrate the truth claims of Christianity based not on faith but on proof. And so, like others in that boat at the time, and like many still today (often still using the same arguments we did), I had at my ready disposal numerous “proofs” for the existence of God, the fulfillment of prophecy, the divine nature of Christ, his (actual, physical, historical) resurrection from the dead, and the full [...]
What’s Wrong with Being a Carpenter??
In my previous post I tried to show why the evidence that Jesus was a carpenter before beginning his public ministry is thin at best. It is found only in Mark 6:3 (“isn’t this the carpenter?”), which is changed in Matthew (to “son of the carpenter”) and Luke (to “son of Joseph”). John doesn’t have the passage and doesn’t say anything about Jesus being a carpenter, nor do any of the other books of the New Testament, nor any other early Christian writing at all, apart from those that are getting it from Mark. This raises three questions that may [...]
Next Platinum Lecture on November 14th
Platinum members, as you know, one of the benefits of your subscription is a quarterly lecture by Bart followed by a Q&A. These lectures provide an opportunity to dig deeper into a particular topic and offer an opportunity to ask your questions to Bart directly. mark your calendars for our next Platinum lecture, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday November 14th at 2pm Eastern. The topic for this quarter's lecture is: The World Jesus Was Born Into: What Do We Know about Nazareth? Can't make it live? I'll send the recording out to all Platinum members shortly after [...]
Was Jesus a Carpenter? The Surprisingly Thin Evidence.
Was Jesus a carpenter? Nearly everyone assumes he was – not just the two billion Christians but also the other billions who have ever thought or heard about it. And they have done so for 2000 years. As it turns out, the evidence for it is very thin. I just came to think seriously about this recently. I’ve been doing a lot of reading and reflecting on what it would be like to grow up and live in a place like Nazareth, a small rural village of maybe fifty small houses that together accommodated maybe 400-500 people altogether. Archaeologists have [...]
Supernatural “History.” Church Fathers. Atonement. Gospel Sources. All Sorts of Questions!
I continue to receive great questions from folk and continue to try to answer them. Here is a wide range on key issues for anyone interested in the informed study of the New Testament. ****************************** QUESTION: Do critical scholars agree that miracles and the supernatural are outside the purview of the historical process? If so, can you present the evidence to that effect? Is this what is taught in post grad history schools outside evangelical institutions? RESPONSE It doesn't take much evidence. Read any historical account of, say, WWII, the Civil War, the French Revolution; the presidency [...]
An Even Stranger View of Eternity in the Book of Revelation
In my previous post I pointed out that there seems to be an irony in the teachings of Jesus about the coming Kingdom of God. On one hand, it seems like it should be a completely utopian place where there are no longer any enemies of God or animosity and strife among humans, a return to the glory days (maybe literally only days) of the Garden of Eden. On the other hand, Jesus will be the “king” and his twelve disciples will be “co-rulers” in this kingdom. But why will they need a king and rulers? There is only now [...]
The Irony of Jesus as the King of the Coming Kingdom
Jesus believed there would be levels of reward in the coming Kingdom of God, as I began to show in my previous post. Could there be any problems, though? Any unruliness? Any need for discipline and judgment for people who did something illicit or harmful? Could or would people sin in the Kingdom of God? These are tricky questions that Jesus never addresses directly in the canonical Gospels. I never even thought about them or realized they could be problems until, well, something like two weeks ago. My assumption since I became a sentient human being has always been that [...]
A Head-Scratcher in the Sermon on the Mount: Who Gets Into the Kingdom?
There is a passage in the Sermon on the Mount that is crucial for understanding Matthew’s portrayal of Jesus, as I’ve taught for years, without, though, being able to get my mind around it completely. It doesn’t seem consistent with itself. Here’s Matthew 5:17-20 in the New Revised Standard Version (Updated Edition): 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law [...]
November 2026 Gold Q&A
Gold and Platinum Members, our November Q&A is coming up. Join Bart live on Saturday November 7th at 3pm Eastern as he answers your questions. Bart will spend the first half of our Zoom session answering your pre-submitted questions. Send yours to [email protected] no later than Thursday November 5th so we can add it to the queue. Then we’ll open things up. During the second half, you’re invited to come on the microphone and ask Bart a question live. If you’d like to participate in the live Q&A: Prepare your question in advance Keep your question to roughly 20 seconds [...]
Categories on the Blog
Click on a category for the full archive, arranged by date.
- Anniversary Post #3: My Response to an Ill-Tempered Richard Carrier April 12, 2026
- Anniversary Post #1: Defending Misquoting Jesus April 9, 2026
- Can We Trust You When You Say “Most Scholars” Think Something? May 3, 2025
- A Really Scathing Review of My Book on Suffering March 31, 2024
- Making the Gospels Say What You WANT Them To Say March 30, 2024
- Dealing With Reviews of My Books By People Who (Apparently) Haven’t Read Them March 28, 2024
- But Your Own Teacher Bruce Metzger Didn’t Think That! November 21, 2023
- Why Do Some (Many?) Scholars Not Treat the Bible Like Other Ancient Sources? August 26, 2023
- Caught Red-Handed! An Unrepentant Christian Forger September 16, 2026
- My Odd Situation, Writing this Book… August 27, 2026
- Anniversary Post #5: Why I Was Reluctant to Write The Triumph of Christianity April 15, 2026
- My Next Book: Creating the Bible — How We Got the Canon of the New Testament September 7, 2025
- Jesus as God in the New Testament October 24, 2024
- Oral Traditions and the Dates of Our Gospels October 23, 2024
- Suffering. Is It Really Worth Talking About? Doesn’t the Bible Give the Right Answer? October 20, 2024
- The Problem of Suffering? So What’s the Problem? October 17, 2024
- Critical Scholars Who Keep the Faith: Guest Post by Dale Allison November 11, 2026
- The (Ir)relevance of Biblical Moral Teachings November 4, 2026
- Do You Really Mean That? Antisemitism. September 26, 2026
- Do You Really Mean That? Consciousness and Socialism September 24, 2026
- Health, Wealth, and the Prosperity Gospel September 19, 2026
- The Perpetual Virginity of Mary (and related topics) September 13, 2026
- Interesting Questions on the Teachings of the NT September 9, 2026
- Modern Appearances of Jesus September 8, 2026
- Does the Book of Hebrews Indicate Jesus Ever Came To Earth? A Response to Richard Carrier. July 26, 2025
- Did Jesus Exist? Why I Don’t Enjoy Reading the Mythicists July 12, 2025
- More About My Book “Did Jesus Exist” September 25, 2024
- My Book “Did Jesus Exist” (an answer to the mythicists) September 24, 2024
- Nazareth in the Time of Jesus: the Archaeological Record December 27, 2023
- Did Nazareth Even Exist? December 21, 2023
- Would I Be Personally Upset if the Mythicists Were Right (That Jesus Never Existed)? October 8, 2022
- Richard Carrier: A Fuller Reply to His Criticisms, Beliefs, and Claims about Jesus April 25, 2022
- He Said It But He Didn’t Mean It. An Intriguing Interpretation of Jesus’ Teachings November 14, 2026
- Jesus and the Trolley Problem – Platinum Post by Douglas Wadeson MD November 13, 2026
- December 2026 Gold Q&A November 13, 2026
- Did Jesus Survive His Crucifixion? Depends Which Gospel You Read…. November 1, 2026
- Ghosts in the Bible? Check Out This New Blog by Travis Proctor October 31, 2026
- Did Jesus Go to India and Tibet? October 29, 2026
- Casting Doubt on Jesus as the Carpenter… October 25, 2026
- Next Platinum Lecture on November 14th October 23, 2026
- Did Mark Make Up the Idea Jesus Was a Carpenter? October 27, 2026
- What’s Wrong with Being a Carpenter?? October 24, 2026
- Was Jesus a Carpenter? The Surprisingly Thin Evidence. October 22, 2026
- Did Jesus Believe in Equality? You Might Think So…. October 11, 2026
- Was Mary Magdalene the Actual Founder of Christianity? October 8, 2026
- Peter and Mary Magdalene Going Toe to Toe October 7, 2026
- Did Judas Iscariot Actually Exist? Or Was He “Made Up”? October 3, 2026
- Important Questions About Jesus, Paul, and the Gospels September 20, 2026
- Eyewitness Accounts of Miracles March 14, 2026
- A New Proof of the Resurrection. What Do YOU Think? March 10, 2026
- Fundamentalist Apologists, Christian and Mythicist July 13, 2025
- More on the Initial Debacle on First-Century Mark (in relation to the Dead Sea Scrolls) July 20, 2024
- The Debacle Over the First-Century Copy of Mark July 18, 2024
- Toe-to-Toe with Evangelical New Testament Scholar Peter Williams: Can We Trust the Gospels? June 19, 2024
- A High-level Intellectual with an Infuriating “Solution” to Why There is Suffering May 7, 2024
- A Self-Evaluation of My Self-Debate: Is the Book of Acts Historically Reliable? March 24, 2024
- What’s Wrong with Being a Carpenter?? October 24, 2026
- Was Jesus a Carpenter? The Surprisingly Thin Evidence. October 22, 2026
- Two Years that Transformed the World of Biblical Studies. July 14, 2026
- A Common But Lousy Argument That We KNOW What the NT Originally Said: Anniversary Post #14 May 5, 2026
- Anniversary Post #9: Misquoting Misquoting Jesus April 25, 2026
- Anniversary Post #1: Defending Misquoting Jesus April 9, 2026
- Has Luke Gotten Rid of the Idea That Jesus Died for Your Sins? February 19, 2026
- The Controversy Over Jesus’ Last Supper in Luke (Did He Speak of Dying “For you”?) February 18, 2026
- Questions About the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Star of Bethlehem November 12, 2026
- Expecting the End? Was Mark Written in Aramaic? And Was a Key Verse Added to John? November 5, 2026
- Supernatural “History.” Church Fathers. Atonement. Gospel Sources. All Sorts of Questions! October 21, 2026
- Jesus’s Salvation, Self-Identity, and Birth: Key Questions from Readers September 27, 2026
- Important Questions About Jesus, Paul, and the Gospels September 20, 2026
- Interesting Questions on the Teachings of the NT September 9, 2026
- Martyrs, Forgers, and Textual Scholars: Intriguing Questions From Readers August 20, 2026
- Problems of Suffering and Why Gospels Started Being Written: Questions from Readers August 12, 2026
- Unpacking 1 Enoch, the Apocryphal Writing Quoted by Jude October 1, 2025
- 1 Enoch: The Scripture Quoted by Jude September 30, 2025
- Why Wasn’t Peter’s Apocalypse Included in the New Testament? September 9, 2025
- The Transformation of Paul’s Teaching: The Apocalypse of Paul July 15, 2025
- Paul’s Vision of Heaven and Hell July 10, 2025
- What About People Who Come Back From the Dead in the Hebrew Bible? April 17, 2024
- More on Sheol: Was it an Actual Place? April 16, 2024
- What Is Sheol in the Hebrew Bible? April 14, 2024
