Recent Posts
Are *Groups* of Story Tellers (Think: Ancient Followers of Jesus) More Likely to Preserve Traditions Accurately than Individuals?
This post will conclude my mini-thread trying to show that modern practices of story telling in the Middle East, during a community ritual called the haflar samar, in which groups of knowledgeable people ensure that stories are never significantly changed, has no bearing on the question of whether ancient stories told about Jesus were preserved accurately over time. Here I take on a bigger question, as addressed in in my book Jesus Before the Gospels: Does this group context for telling the stories ensure that they are accurate? Actually, modern psychological studies suggest that just the opposite is normally the [...]
Back in the Saddle Again…
I am now, alas, back from my two-weeks in Galapagos. Whoa.... And I'm getting back to business on the blog. Before leaving I placed a number of posts in queue and these have been published promptly. I'm now starting to deal with the comments that came in during my absence. This'll take a couple of days, but I will get caught up soon. For those of you who are Gold members, I've recorded the monthly hour-long Gold Q&A, soon to be released for your viewing/listening pleasure. For those of you who are not Gold members: this is one of the [...]
Do Modern Mideastern Story Tellers Show How the Ancient Traditions of Jesus Were Circulated?
In my previous post I discussed a seemingly-plausible explanation for how modern ways of telling stories in small communities in the Middle East today can show that the Gospels may well represent literal word-for-word depictions of what Jesus said and did. Here I show why in fact the theory does not work, as laid out in my book Jesus Before the Gospels (Harper, 2016) ****************************** As we have seen, Bailey argued that modern tellers in the Middle East today work in a small community context, where the stories of a village's past (its key figures, its main events) are circulated [...]
Did Jesus Believe The End Would Come Within His Lifetime? Platinum Post by Rizwan Ahmed
A post for Platinum members only from Rizwan Ahmed ****************************** “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Matthew 24:34, Luke 21:32) A little over a century ago, Albert Schweitzer, through his famous book “The Quest of the Historical Jesus”, revolutionized and reshaped our understanding of the historical figure of Jesus. He convincingly argued that Jesus should be best understood as an apocalyptic Jewish prophet. That is, a prophet who heralded the coming end of the world, in which God would intervene in history and finally bring about absolute justice and [...]
Do Modern Mideastern Customs of Story Telling Show that the Gospels Are Accurate?
I've been discussing modern explanations of how the traditions about Jesus found in the Gospels could in fact be historically accurate even if they were passed on by word of mouth over the years and decades before anyone wrote them down. The natural suspicion is that stories that get told and retold by different story tellers in different times and places year after year will change, somewhat significantly, and that some tales and sayings attributed to an important figure will be invented, with no historical basis at all. It happens all the time. It probably has happened to you. Someone [...]
More Problems with Thinking Jesus’ Followers Memorized the Stories about Him
In my previous post I began to explain the problems with the idea that Jesus' followers, like all good students of Rabbis in the Jewish tradition, were trained to memorize what he said and did, so that the Gospels provide us with reliable accounts of his life. This idea was most forcefully promoted by Swedish scholar Birger Gerhardsson and was popular for a while in scholarly circles. But it is widely seen today as problematic. Here is how I continue to explain some of the issues in my book Jesus Before the Gospels (HarperOne, 2016). ****************************** An even bigger problem [...]
My New Online Course on Paul and Jesus!
In case you haven't heard, I will be doing a live, eight-lecture online course comparing the theology of Paul and Jesus on May 27-28. The course is not connected with the blog -- it is part of my separate venture for a series I'm publishing called How Scholars Read the Bible. But I mention here because some of you may be interested. Even if you can't make the live sessions and Q&A, you can purchase the course to watch at your leisure. You can learn about it here: BartEhrman.com The course will consist of four lectures and one Q&A each [...]
Didn’t the Disciples Memorize Jesus’ Teachings and Accounts of His Life?
I've been talking about how scholars began to realize in the early 20th century that the stories of Jesus in the Gospels were based on oral traditions that the Gospel writers inherited decades earlier. But is that really a problem? Here's how I discuss the issue in my book Jesus Before the Gospels (HarperOne, 2016). ****************************** Many people, when they first consider the reality that the traditions in our Gospels must have circulated orally for decades before being written down, come up with a commonsensical response. Surely the sayings of Jesus, and the accounts of his life, were actually memorized by [...]
Was Jesus Literate or Illiterate? A Platinum Post by Omar Abur-Robb
For Platinum members, from Platinum member Omar Abur-Robb: ****************************** Was Jesus literate or Illiterate omr-mhmd.yolasite.com Scholars are in difference regarding whether Jesus was literate or not, and I would like to explore this subject. Most of the people who lives in Galilee at the time of Jesus were peasants, and most of the peasants were poor, and most of the poor peasants were illiterate. Therefore, we can conclude that Jesus was illiterate. But the above conclusion was based on a “null hypothesis”. “Null hypotheses” are statements of probability. So ... Let Sam be one of the people who lived [...]
Stories of Jesus Passed on By Word of Mouth. When Scholars First Took Oral Traditions Seriously.
I'm discussing how scholars came to realize that Mark our earliest Gospel is not simply a nuts-and-bolts, unembellished, accurate report of what Jesus said and did. This kind of scholarship reached a kind of climax about a century ago with a group of scholars called "form critics." To make sense of what they said and why they said it, I need to start where I left off yesterday -- and so I'll repeat the end of yesterday's post to get us a running start on today's, taken from my book Jesus Before the Gospels (HarperOne 2016). ****************************** Where did the stories found [...]
Does Mark Present the Bare-Bones Facts about Jesus’ Life?
In my previous post I showed how scholars in the 19th century came to think that our shortest and evidently-least-embelished Gospel Mark gave the accurate account of Jesus ' life, so that any reconstruction of what Jesus really said and did simply could simply assume that Mark provides the essential information. But is that right? It eventually came to be seen as wrong. Here's how I discuss the matter in my book Jesus Before the Gospels (HarperOne, 2016). ****************************** The problem with Mark is that it is so terse that there are huge gaps in the narrative. It is hard to [...]
Was Levi of Alphaeus the “the Beloved Disciple”? Platinum Post by Gregory Hartzler-Miller, MATS
****************************** Was Levi of Alphaeus the "the Beloved Disciple"? A Redaction Critical Approach Since the discovery of the Gospel of Peter, scholars have speculated about the missing words after the mention of "Levi of Alphaeus" in the final sentence, which breaks off. The sentence reads, "But I, Simon Peter, and my brother Andrew, having taken our nets, went off to the sea. And there was with us Levi of Alphaeus whom the Lord [blank]," (Tr. Raymond Brown). How should we fill in the blank? Could it be "whom the Lord [loved],"? Many scholars have wondered whether this mention [...]
How Can We Get Behind “False Memories” of Jesus to the Historical Facts?
I'm discussing how in both the ancient and modern worlds people have constructed "false memories" of who Jesus really was. In this post I give a brief explanation of how scholars became increasingly aware of the problem and, for a time, thought they had found a solution: Mark's Gospel is the unembellished version and so we need to stick mainly with that! How'd they come up with *that* one? And is it true? This is taken from my book Jesus Before the Gospels (HarperOne, 2016). ****************************** Throughout the history of scholarship, especially since the nineteenth century, scholars have realized that Christians [...]
Did Early Christians “Invent” Memories of Jesus?
I've been talking about how we remember things -- or misremember things, or make up memories of things -- as a way of getting to the question of how, in our heads, we think about what Jesus said and did. This is all part of my larger project that came incarnated (inletterated?) in my book Jesus Before the Gospels. As I point out early in the book, we remember most things just fine, but we also often get things either partially or completely wrong. Memories can be frail, faulty, and false. And not just our individual memories, but also the “memories” [...]
Jesus’ Resurrection: A Challenging Hypothetical. Guest Post by Ryan Fleming
And now *here* is an interesting way to think about whether someone was raised from the dead! This is a Platinum Guest Post by Ryan Fleming. It is begging for responses. What do you think? ****************************** A short story: Suppose you are a French-resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II. One of your countrymen, Jacques, is unbeknownst to you, a Nazi spy. He openly supports passivism towards Nazi authority, keeps the peace, and even promotes paying taxes to the Nazis. Periodically you see Jacques in the company of a Nazi officer. You and your fellow countrymen become suspicious, [...]
The Father and the Son. A Platinum Post by Omar Abur-Robb
A Platinum post for fellow Platinum members from Omar Abur-Robb: ****************************** The Father and the Son omr-mhmd.yolasite.com When and how the people of the Christian faith started to refer to God as “The Father”? Jews today refer to God as Adonai, Hashem, or Elohim. Karaite Jews do refer to God as Yahweh, but the Rabbinic Jews don’t use this name as they regard it sacred. But (to my understanding) there are no Jews (Karaite or Rabbinic) who refer to God as “The Father”. Also (to my understanding) there are no Jews in history who have referred to God [...]
How Can We “Remember” Someone (say, Jesus) We Never Knew?
A number of readers on the blog have objected to my understanding of memory, specifically to what a memory is, that is, to what constitutes a memory. As a rule, these readers have argued – some with considerable force and conviction! – that a “memory” is a mental recollection of something that one has personally experienced. Let me cite one of the more closely reasoned expressions of this alternative view by one of my respondents, before explaining my view and why I have it. COMMENT: Bart, I think people might be confused by your definition of false memories. In the [...]
In What Sense is a Made-Up Story about Jesus a False *Memory*??
In the past, when I've said that the Gospels sometimes contain “false memories” of Jesus people have objected: these may not be memories at all, but simply stories the Gospel writers made up for their own reasons. In that case Jesus isn’t being “remembered” in these ways. Someone’s just making up stuff. In response to that view, let me make two points. The second will be the most important, but first things first: in most cases I don’t think there is any way to know whether a non-historical tradition in the Gospels is something that the Gospel writer inherited from [...]
Dr. Bart D. Ehrman, Apostle to the Atheists. A Platinum Post by Robert Droney
Here is a Platinum guest post by Robert Droney where he objects (rather vigorously) to my self-identification as a "Christian atheist." As always, he has a reasoned set of arguments! I won't be replying here, but, well, what to *you* think? And remember, you too can write a Platinum guest post for other Platinum members, with the possibility of it being posted to the entire blog. If you have one, or just an idea of one, let us know; zap an email to [email protected] ********************************* I think that most people and are familiar with Saul’s conversion story. Saul was a [...]
Blog Announcement: Comments!
Just so you know! Tomorrow I'm heading to the Galapagos and will not have reliable wifi for about a week. That WON'T affect the blog posts -- I've got them all lined up and ready to roll. BUT, I won't be able to respond to comments. But feel free to make them at will. I will get to them when I return from the land of Darwin to the land of AI. And maybe I should start using AI to respond to comments, for the sake of all involved! (But never fear: it ain't gonna happen.)
Creation Stories of the Ancient World (Part 2): An Ancient Egyptian Account
Was the account of creation found in Genesis comparable to (or even borrowed from?) other ancient accounts in scattered throughout the world at the time? Last month my colleague Joseph Lam, an expert in the Hebrew Bible and the languages and literature of the Ancient Near East provided us with a guest post about some of the creation stories found outside Scripture in non-Israelite cultures -- stories in circulation before the ones written in Genesis (https://ehrmanblog.org/creation-stories-of-the-ancient-world-part-1-on-enuma-elish-and-genesis-1-guest-post-by-joseph-lam/) Here now is a second and equally interesting post dealing with stories from ancient Memphis Egypt (not Tennessee!)! This is the topic of his lecture [...]
May Gold Q&A: Submit your questions!
Dear Goldies, Our monthly Gold Q&A is coming upon us. DEADLINE for your question(s): this coming Friday, May 19, midnight your time. Interested in anything I can deal with? Now's your chance: Ask away! I'm more likely to answer questions that are relatively short and to the point than those that go on for a long paragraph. So be concise. I'll answer as the spirit leads. To enter your question on to the list: send it to Diane at [email protected] My plan is to record the session sometime over the few days after that. I will probably send out [...]
Does Understanding “Memory” Have Any Bearing on the Study of the Historical Jesus?
In my earlier posts I began to discuss my book, Jesus Before the Gospels, which deals with how understanding how "memory" works can contribute to our assessment of the Gospels stories about Jesus. Long before starting the book I had been intrigued the question of how eyewitnesses would have remembered the Jesus' life, and how the stories about Jesus may have been shifted and altered and invented in later times based on faulty or even false memories. Those questions led me to be interested in memory more broadly. Memory is an enormous field of research, just within cognitive psychology. I [...]
Was Matthew Attacking Paul?
On my podcast this past week (Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman) someone asked me if I thought any of the Gospels of the NT were influenced by Paul. It's an interesting question that I should post on (my view: Mark, maybe; Luke, unexpectedly and oddly not; John, I doubt it; Matthew?) Ah, Matthew. As it turns out, I think Matthew shows a rather obvious and ironic connection with Paul. Did he know Paul's writings? I have no idea. Did he know about Paul? Same, no idea. Did he oppose a major feature of Paul's gospel message? Sure looks like it!! [...]
The Road From the “Duo of Philo” to the “Trinity of Nicaea” A Platinum Post by Omar Abur-Robb
I am happy to post this guest post to Platinum members by fellow Platinum member Omar Abdur-Robb. The trinity is a complicated issue in early Christianity, closely related to Greek philosophical thought (it's not just some idea someone came up with once....). Here Omar explores a key aspect of how it may have happened. Remember: you too can post a platinum guest post! Simply send your submission to [email protected] ****************************** The road from the "Duo of Philo" to the "Trinity of Nicaea" Omar Abur-Robb omr-mhmd.yolasite.com There is a clear relationship between the early Greek Christianity and the Greek metaphysical [...]
Categories on the Blog
Click on a category for the full archive, arranged by date.
- Back in the Saddle Again… May 27, 2023
- Did Jesus Believe The End Would Come Within His Lifetime? Platinum Post by Rizwan Ahmed May 26, 2023
- My New Online Course on Paul and Jesus! May 23, 2023
- Didn’t the Disciples Memorize Jesus’ Teachings and Accounts of His Life? May 23, 2023
- Was Jesus Literate or Illiterate? A Platinum Post by Omar Abur-Robb May 22, 2023
- Was Levi of Alphaeus the “the Beloved Disciple”? Platinum Post by Gregory Hartzler-Miller, MATS May 19, 2023
- Did Early Christians “Invent” Memories of Jesus? May 17, 2023
- Jesus’ Resurrection: A Challenging Hypothetical. Guest Post by Ryan Fleming May 16, 2023
- An Intriguing Anti-Jewish Variant: Did Jesus Pray “Father forgive them”? February 9, 2023
- Anti-Jewish Alterations of the New Testament Writings? February 8, 2023
- New Testament Manuscripts That Reveal Later Theological Controversies February 7, 2023
- New Testament Manuscripts as Windows into Early Christian History February 5, 2023
- Do All Modern Translators of the New Testament Translate the Same Greek Text? January 17, 2023
- Famous Passages that Are Not Original: How Do Modern Translators Deal with Them? January 12, 2023
- Problems with the King James Version: What Were the Translators Translating? January 11, 2023
- Can We Trust the Bible? The First Published (as opposed to Printed) Greek New Testament January 10, 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
- Why Was the World Created in 4004 BC? July 1, 2019
- The Hobby Lobby, Biblical Manuscripts, and Academic Scandal June 25, 2019
- Can Christianity Be Seen as “Objective” Truth? Modern and Ancient Views. December 8, 2022
- The Other Virgin Births in Antiquity December 7, 2022
- Jesus’ Teachings on Love and Salvation September 15, 2022
- Is There Anything “Religious” about “Ethics”? September 11, 2022
- Love. How I’ve Shifted the Focus of My Book on Charity. September 10, 2022
- Did the Apostles Use Secretaries to Write their Books? September 4, 2022
- 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
- Creation Stories of the Ancient World (Part 2): An Ancient Egyptian Account May 11, 2023
- Yahweh and Moses. Platinum Guest Post by Omar Abur-Robb April 7, 2023
- You Have No Right To Question Why You Suffer. What??? March 18, 2023
- Creation Stories of the Ancient World (Part 1): On Enuma Elish and Genesis 1 Guest Post by Joseph Lam March 16, 2023
- Does God Punish Those Who Do *Right*? March 15, 2023
- Job and His “Friends.” With Friends Like These… March 14, 2023
- Is the God of Job Worthy of Worship? March 11, 2023
- The Story of the Righteous Job and His Righteous God March 9, 2023
- Are *Groups* of Story Tellers (Think: Ancient Followers of Jesus) More Likely to Preserve Traditions Accurately than Individuals? May 28, 2023
- Do Modern Mideastern Story Tellers Show How the Ancient Traditions of Jesus Were Circulated? May 27, 2023
- Do Modern Mideastern Customs of Story Telling Show that the Gospels Are Accurate? May 25, 2023
- More Problems with Thinking Jesus’ Followers Memorized the Stories about Him May 24, 2023
- Didn’t the Disciples Memorize Jesus’ Teachings and Accounts of His Life? May 23, 2023
- Stories of Jesus Passed on By Word of Mouth. When Scholars First Took Oral Traditions Seriously. May 21, 2023
- Does Mark Present the Bare-Bones Facts about Jesus’ Life? May 20, 2023
- How Can We Get Behind “False Memories” of Jesus to the Historical Facts? May 18, 2023
- Do Modern Mideastern Customs of Story Telling Show that the Gospels Are Accurate? May 25, 2023
- More Problems with Thinking Jesus’ Followers Memorized the Stories about Him May 24, 2023
- Didn’t the Disciples Memorize Jesus’ Teachings and Accounts of His Life? May 23, 2023
- Stories of Jesus Passed on By Word of Mouth. When Scholars First Took Oral Traditions Seriously. May 21, 2023
- Does Mark Present the Bare-Bones Facts about Jesus’ Life? May 20, 2023
- How Can We Get Behind “False Memories” of Jesus to the Historical Facts? May 18, 2023
- Did Early Christians “Invent” Memories of Jesus? May 17, 2023
- Was Matthew Attacking Paul? May 9, 2023
- A Scandalous Discovery of a Scandalous Gospel? April 25, 2023
- Is The Rapture in the New Testament? March 23, 2023
- Wait, Was Jesus Married? Guest Post by Kyle Smith February 21, 2023
- Is Christianity a Cult of the Dead? Guest Post by Kyle Smith, PhD February 16, 2023
- An Intriguing Anti-Jewish Variant: Did Jesus Pray “Father forgive them”? February 9, 2023
- Anti-Jewish Alterations of the New Testament Writings? February 8, 2023
- Evidence of Forgery. More Reasons the Martyrdom of Polycarp Was Not Written by Someone There February 1, 2023
- Writing Forgeries to Show the Truth December 10, 2022
- 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
- How the Trinity Got Into the New Testament: Part 2 January 9, 2021
- The First Actual Account of the Resurrection (Hint: It’s Not in the New Testament) April 9, 2023
- Did Christ Save *Everyone* When He Descended to Hades? December 18, 2022
- An Equally Strange View of the Crucifixion August 11, 2022
- The OTHER Apocalypse of Peter (Stranger still…) August 10, 2022
- Another Book by “Peter” That Could Have Become Scripture July 31, 2022
- A Book That Nearly Became Scripture: The Apocalypse of Peter July 28, 2022
- And Then My NEXT Book Project: How Did We Get the Canon of the NT? July 27, 2022
- A Christian NDE and the Problem with Being Filthy Rich June 1, 2022
- 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
- The OTHER Apocalypse of Peter (Stranger still…) August 10, 2022
- 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
- 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
- Did Constantine Outlaw the Pagan Religions? April 29, 2018
- The Conversion of Constantine February 12, 2018
- 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
- 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
- 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
- “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
- “Death is nothing to us.” What Do YOU Think? April 27, 2023
- Gold Q&A LIVE! (And Recorded) Tuesday April 11 April 10, 2023
- How Does An Author Write a Bestseller? April 10, 2023
- What Does God Think of Surrogacy? Platinum Guestpost by Imran M. Usmani March 31, 2023
- Is Suffering a “Problem” for Believers? February 22, 2023
- What New Testament Do New Testament Translators Translate? January 7, 2023
- Infamous Typos in the King James Bible January 5, 2023
- The King James Bible: Some Intriguing Word Choices January 4, 2023
