Recent Posts
Readers’ Questions and My Responses (11/2024)
I have received some more interesting questions in the comment section of the blog, and thought I should published them more broadly, along with my responses. Here goes! Question: What are your views on what Jesus is communicating in the ‘Whose Son Is the Messiah?’ story in the synoptics where Jesus references Psalm 110:1. Response: It’s a great passage (Mark 12:35-37). It occurs in the midst of a series of dialogues/controversies Jesus is having with his Jewish opponents in Jerusalem, in which Jesus repeatedly confounds and maligns them. In this one he does so by asking them a [...]
Special Webinar Announcement: Ehrman Blog Annual Appeal
As the holiday season begins, we want to share an opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the lives of those who need it most. Take a listen to this message from Bart to find out more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLeX5fH12hQ This December, the Bart Ehrman Foundation is launching our first-ever Annual Appeal to raise funds for an organization we have supported since our inception: Urban Ministries of Durham (UMD). UMD is an outstanding organization dedicated to providing food, shelter, and a pathway to stability for individuals and families facing significant challenges. Their mission deeply reflects our values, and we are honored to [...]
Jewish Disagreements About the Afterlife: Pharisees and Sadducees
In previous posts I have discussed the different Jewish sects that we know about from the first century, at the dawn of Christianity (Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Fourth Philosophy). In the post I indicated that (a) there were different understandings of the afterlife among them, but (b) there was a belief in a future resurrection of the dead attested in at least two of the groups: the Pharisees and Essenes. We don’t know what the eschatological views of the Fourth Philosophy were; possibly different Jews who wanted the violent overthrow of the Roman overlords had various expectations. We really don’t know. [...]
Jewish Sects at the Time of Jesus: The Essenes and the Fourth Philosophy
In my previous post I talked about two of the known Jewish sects from the days of Jesus in Palestine. The idea that there are specifically four sects comes to us from the late-first-century Jewish historian Josephus, whose many volumes of writings (e.g., on the Jewish War and on Jewish Antiquities – the latter a history of the Jewish people from biblical times up to his own day) are our principal source of information about Judaism at the time. In addition to the Pharisees and Sadducees, Josephus mentions the “Essenes” and a “Fourth Philosophy.” Here is a summary of what [...]
Jewish Sects in the time of Jesus: Pharisees and Sadducees
I am in a short thread discussing Judaism just before and at the time of Jesus. In that connections, I often get asked about the different Jewish sects in the period. So I'll devote two posts to the question, lifting the discussion from my textbook The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. ****************************** THE FORMATION OF JEWISH SECTS It was during the rule of the Hasmoneans, and evidently in large measure in reaction to it, that various Jewish sects emerged. As we have seen, the Jewish historian Josephus mentions four of these groups; the New Testament [...]
Judaism 200 Years Before Jesus: The Maccabean Revolt
I often get asked about what Judaism was like in the time before and up to Jesus. It's a vital question, since whatever else you might want to say about Jesus, he was definitely Jewish and the Judaism he was born into, raised in, and accepted was the Judaism of his time (not medieval and not modern!). Here' I'll say something about a major period in the history of the history of Judea over the four hundred years from approximately 540 BCE, when the Persians were in control, up to 63 BCE, when the Romans came in and took over. I’ve [...]
How to be Content with Life Even When It’s Rotten: The Stoic View
How can you be satisfied and content with life? Even when it seems rotten on the whole? With this post I conclude my thread on the ancient Stoic view of life and how to live it. Thus, Stoics understood that the way to live – and to live with eudaimonia (recall: that means a kind of “happiness,” in the sense of a full satisfaction and contentment about how one’s life) – was to focus on personal choice, freedom, and avoidance, choosing not to be disturbed by things we cannot control, even if everyone around us thinks that hardship, pain, and [...]
How Not To Be Bothered When Bad Things Happen: The Stoics
Here I continue trying to explain the ancient philosophy of Stoicism, and to show how it related to their views of ethics – especially with respect to questions of altruism. It is a little difficult for many moderns to get their minds around the Stoic idea that “reason” is a divine quality that infuses the world; it is possibly even harder to understand how this divine quality relates to the gods. Do they “have” it in greater quantity than us? Is Reason itself actually a distinct divine being of some kind? The problem is exacerbated by the Stoic writings themselves, [...]
Does this World Make Any Sense? The Ancient Stoics
From my earlier posts on altruism in the ancient world before Christianity, a number of blog readers have asked me to say some things specifically about ancient Stoics. Didn’t they urge altruistic behavior? Once again, the answer is, well, yes and no. This will take several posts to explain. Stoicism was by far the most widespread moral philosophy at the time of early Christianity. It was named not after its founder (as was, say, Platonism and Epicureanism) but after the place where he taught. The movement began in the wake of Aristotle, with the teachings of a teacher named Zeno [...]
Platinum Webinar for December: Topic TBD
Dear Platinum Members, It's time for our Quarterly Platinum Webinar. We have it scheduled for Thursday, December 5, 2023, at 8:00pm ET. The topic is TBD, but we will update you with that information ahead of the talk. For now, we wanted to give you the date, time, and link so you can mark it down on your calendar. As always, Bart will do a live presentation on the chosen topic and a Q&A session will follow the presentation. Here's the link to join on 12/5: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88666751578?pwd=SNxrJNrlD3elIHNrRkXzt4R5EmX9ej.1 We hope to see you there, but if you're not able to attend [...]
Intriguing Questions and Attempted Answers!
Here are a couple of the tricky and interesting questions I have received lately on the blog, along with my answers to them. They seem important enough to me to share more broadly for everyone’s benefit. As you’ll see, they cover a range of topics. ****************************** QUESTION: I was wondering if in Paul’s letters themselves, if there is any concept of Jesus worship like we see in the gospels? Many examples including the word proskuneo (προσκυνέω) where it is argued Jesus is being worshiped in the New Testament; are these present in Paul’s letters? MY RESPONSE: PROSKUNEO is [...]
December 2024 Gold Q&A – Get Your Questions Answered!
Hey Gold & Platinum Members, Bart will be recording the December Gold Q&A on Sunday December 1st at 4pm Eastern Time. Have any questions you've been eager to ask him? Ask anything related to the blog and Bart will do his best to answer. (Bonus points if you can stump him!) Send your questions over to Jen at [email protected]. DEADLINE: Get your question in by the end of the day on Wednesday 11/27 (whenever that is in your time zone). You are invited to join the recording of this session LIVE. Just use this Zoom link to join on Sunday [...]
Isn’t It Good Enough to Help Family, Friends, and Community?
I’ve been discussing Aristotle (really, it’s interesting!) and what he thought it took to be “happy” – not the giddy fleeting emotion but have a satisfying sense of contentment and fulfillment in life. For him, it means having the most “excellent” life you can and that requires being the most “excellent” person you can and that means having full amounts of the various kinds of human “excellences.” In English translations of Aristotle, "excellences" are usually rendered "virtues" (that's because our English equivalent of the Greek word he uses comes to us from Latin rather than the Greek, and the word [...]
How Can We Be Happy? An Age-Old Question.
In my previous post I began explaining why I’m calling the teachings of Jesus the “origins of altruism.” Aren’t people naturally altruistic to some extent? Didn’t ancient Greek (and then Roman) cultures – the context in which Christianity emerged -- understand how we ought to behave to others, and insist people needed to be “good to others”? I started to answer by discussing Aristotle (don’t worry, it’s not boring), and his point (if you have trouble buying this, read the post!) that what people *ultimately* want is not good friends and family, wealth, meaningful employment, material possessions, or a really [...]
New Interview on Agnosticism
Last week, Bart joined Mindy Todd on The Point for a fascinating conversation about agnosticism. The discussion also featured insights from scholar of religion Stephen Prothero and Reverend Nell Fields of the Waquoit Congregational Church. If you’re curious to hear what Bart and the other guests have to say on the topic, you can listen to the full conversation here: The Point with Mindy Todd – Agnosticism
What Do You Really Want in Life? And How is that Related to Altruism?
Some readers have wondered why I’m calling my book “The Origins of Altruism: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West.” (At least I’m calling it that at this point). Are you saying Jesus invented altruism? What?? Hasn’t every ethical teacher from the very beginning stressed that we have to balance “what we want” with “what would be good for another”? And isn’t that always part of religion: behaving well toward others as a kind of divine mandate? Answer: well, yes and no. This will take a few posts to explain. As it turns out, and [...]
Brief Reflections on Time and the Meaning of Life. What Do You Think?
For a long time I’ve thought a lot about time. Usually about how I don’t have enough of it, how I wish I had more of it, how I can use what I have most efficiently, how I can possibly get done what I have to do and … And, over the past couple of years, I’ve begun to think more about how all that (on one level) is nonsense and just creates anxiety and stress. My change began when someone (urgently) recommended me to read Paul Loomans' book Time Surfing (easily available to purchase online). I wasn’t sure about [...]
How Do We Explain Human Moral Codes: So Similar Yet So Different?
Here is another selection from the draft of my book, which, at this still early point, I am calling The Origins of Altruism: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West. This bit is the introduction to my chapter 6, which deals with how the early Christians began to change and soften Jesus' ethical teaching soon after his death.I'm calling the chapter: "Transforming the Ethics of Jesus: Moral Discourse in Early Christianity.' Let me know what you think. ****************************** Many codes of human ethics are widely shared across time periods and cultures and yet so many [...]
How I Begin My Book on Jesus, Ethics, and Altruism
I’ve decided to excerpt a few bits of my book that is now in draft, to see what you think. Here’s how I’m planning to being it (the start of the Introduction) ****************************** Most people I know are moved by news of tragedy. A terrible earthquake, a drought, a famine, a flood, displaced people, innocent victims of military aggression, -- we feel pity for those pointlessly suffering and feel a desire, even an obligation, to help, for example by donating to disaster relief. Almost never do we know the people in need; they are complete strangers, often in far-off lands, [...]
Another Reason for Thinking Jesus Called Himself the Messiah
I now can mount a second argument for why Jesus almost certainly called himself the messiah during his lifetime. Remember: by that I do not mean that Jesus wanted to lead a military rebellion against the Romans to establish himself as king. On the contrary, I think Jesus was not a supporter of a “military solution.” Jesus was an apocalypticist who believed that God himself would take action and do what was needed – overthrow the evil ruling authorities in a cataclysmic show of power and destroy all that was opposed to himself, and so bring in a good, utopian [...]
Blog Fundraiser: The Origins of Altruism Pre-Publication Manuscript Sneak Peek
I'm just about finished (finally) with a reasonably polished draft of my next book, The Origins of Altruism: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West. I would like to turn the moment into a fund-raising opportunity for the blog. Unlike our other fundraisers, where we suggest a donation amount but accept whatever a participant can pay, for this one we are asking for a set amount. This will obviously not be for everyone. If it’s something you don’t want to be involved in, no fears! The book itself will eventually be published and you can read [...]
Could Moses Have Been Thutmose, the Overseer of Borderlands? Platinum Post by Serene
Here is a creative proposal for the true identity of Moses by Platinum Member Serene. She has a daring thesis! What do you think of it? Tell us your response and your views! And remember: you as a Platinum member not only get access to all Platinum posts written by other Platinums, but you also can write some yourself! You don't have to be thoroughly well-versed in the field to write one! Do you have any thoughts or ideas or curiosities you would like others to see and respond to? Send us a post!! ****************************** Egyptologist Jan Assman writes, "Three [...]
Why Should We Think Jesus Called Himself the Messiah?
This thread is about whether Jesus considered himself to be the Jewish messiah. My view is that Yes, he did. But he meant something very specific by that, and it is not what most people (Christians and non-Christians) today mean by it. Recall what I have tried to show thus far. There were various expectations of what the messiah would be like among Jews of Jesus’ day – a political ruler over Israel, a great priest who ruled God’s people through God’s law, a cosmic judge of the earth who would destroy God’s enemies in a cataclysmic act of judgment. [...]
Albert Schweitzer and the Apocalyptic Jesus
In the current thread I’m trying to establish that Jesus believed he was the messiah. I have pointed out that his followers would not have considered him the messiah because they believed he had been raised from the dead (since the messiah was not supposed to die and rise again) unless they had already considered him the messiah prior to his death. But that, of course, does not mean that Jesus *himself* thought he was the messiah. And so we have to look for evidence from Jesus’ life that indicates that this is what he thought about himself, and my [...]
Jerusalem Through the Ages! Interested in an Expert Discussion?
Are you interested in the amazing and important history of Jerusalem, from the ancient world till today? I am! I am pleased to announce a special event being put on by my Department of Religious Studies. a panel discussion of the new book by my colleague Jodi Magness: Jerusalem Through the Ages: From Its Beginnings to the Crusades. It will be on Sunday November 17, 1:00, remote via Zoom. I will be moderating the discussion. Many of you will know about Jodi. She is one of the world's leading experts on the archaeology of ancient Israel, and has been my colleague [...]
Categories on the Blog
Click on a category for the full archive, arranged by date.
- Special Webinar Announcement: Ehrman Blog Annual Appeal December 1, 2024
- Jewish Disagreements About the Afterlife: Pharisees and Sadducees December 1, 2024
- Jewish Sects in the time of Jesus: Pharisees and Sadducees November 28, 2024
- Platinum Webinar for December: Topic TBD November 21, 2024
- Intriguing Questions and Attempted Answers! November 21, 2024
- December 2024 Gold Q&A – Get Your Questions Answered! November 20, 2024
- New Interview on Agnosticism November 18, 2024
- How I Begin My Book on Jesus, Ethics, and Altruism November 13, 2024
- Misquoting Jesus and My Fall From Fundamentalism August 11, 2024
- Why I Wrote Misquoting Jesus August 8, 2024
- Interested in Textual Criticism? Probably My Most Useful (Edited) Book August 7, 2024
- 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
- How Can We Possibly Know a Scribe’s Intentions? My Most Important Theoretical Reflection July 9, 2024
- Are Scribes of Texts Actually Authors? July 7, 2024
- The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, 2nd edition July 6, 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
- 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
- Plagiarism! Was It Condemned in the Ancient World? (Is Matthew Guilty of It?) February 11, 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
- Oral Traditions and the Dates of Our Gospels October 23, 2024
- The First Ancient Christian List of the Books (allegedly) of the New Testament October 5, 2024
- Paul and the Anachronistic Origins of Early Christianity – Part 2 by Dr. Robyn Faith Walsh September 22, 2024
- Paul and the Anachronistic Origins of Early Christianity – Part 1 by Dr. Robyn Faith Walsh September 21, 2024
- How Scholarship Changed My Life August 10, 2024
- Toe-to-Toe with Evangelical New Testament Scholar Peter Williams: Can We Trust the Gospels? June 19, 2024
- How Can We Even IMAGINE an “Original” Text of the Gospels? May 9, 2024
- Making the Gospels Say What You WANT Them To Say March 30, 2024
- 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 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
- 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
- Brief Reflections on Time and the Meaning of Life. What Do You Think? November 16, 2024
- How Do We Explain Human Moral Codes: So Similar Yet So Different? November 14, 2024
- Why CAN’T the Hard Problems Have Simple Answers? October 22, 2024
