Recent Posts
Jesus’s Salvation, Self-Identity, and Birth: Key Questions from Readers
Here are three questions I've received recently on Paul's views of Christ, Jesus's view of himself, and the marital status of his mother. QUESTION: What is your opinion on Paul’s Greek, translated as “Faith in Jesus” vs “faith of Jesus” (the faithfulness of Jesus in God’s plan?) There are a few verses this comes up in, including gospel material. (I don’t know Greek, and I’m not a linguist or scholar, and I have basically no idea what I’m talking about. However, I’m told through literature and scholarship that the Greek seems to be able to go either way.) Do [...]
Do You Really Mean That? Antisemitism.
Some really important words tend to become more vague and generalized to the point where they don’t mean what they used to. A lot of times that’s fine – doesn’t create a lot of problems. Other times, it makes it hard for us to know what each of us is talking about. Or it makes it easy to use a word as a tool, on the assumption that people will not know that it doesn’t mean what it used to. I showed how that is true of the terms “consciousness,” and “socialism” in the previous post. Now I turn to [...]
A Blog Dinner in Denver, CO on November 19. Interested?
Happy news! Jen Olmos and I will both be in Denver this November for the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, and we'd love to get together with some fellow blog members while we're there. So, we're thinkin' Blog Dinner on Thursday, November 19? Wanna come? For those who haven't attended one of these before, the idea is simple: a small group of us gets together for a good meal, good conversation, and a chance to meet one another in person. We can talk about the Bible, early Christianity, the blog, or whatever else comes to mind. No agenda, [...]
Do You Really Mean That? Consciousness and Socialism
I’m not a professional linguist, but it does seem to me that language tends to get more casual, sloppy, and imprecise over time, that words that once had a very specific meaning often become more generalized and widely applied to things that are similar but not actually the same. On one level that’s probably fine – it’s just naturally what happens when millions of people in different contexts use words and phrases billions of times. But the downside is that without some modicum of precision we can’t communicate well and are more easily misunderstood; people often think we mean something [...]
The Ten (more or less?) Commandments and the Code of Hammurabi
Here I continue my thread on interesting aspects of the Hebrew Bible not known to most people I meet at a cocktail party. (OK, I never talk about the Hebrew Bible at a cocktail party. But if I did, I’m pretty sure this would never come up.) Everyone knows about the “Ten Commandments.” Even Christians who think the Law of Moses no longer is binding on them (because, they say, Christ “abolished the law”) (which isn’t true, but it’s what they say) claim that the Ten Commandments are valid (it’s usually not clear why these apply but the other laws [...]
The Origins of God’s Personal Name and of the Feast of Passover
In the current thread (threading in and out of other posts on other things) I have been discussing some of the most interesting features of the Hebrew Bible by (re-)presenting side boxes found in my book The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press). I continue the thread here with discussions of two distinct issues that have a key commonality, “where something originated.” The first part resumes an earlier post where I explained God’s actual name (“Yahweh” in Hebrew spelled with the four letters YHWH and called the “Tetragrammaton” – a name that was so holy [...]
Important Questions About Jesus, Paul, and the Gospels
I continue to receive significant questions from readers on key issues connected with the study of the New Testament. Here are three of them with my responses: QUESTION: Wouldn’t you agree that Jesus’ teaching is deeply rooted in Israel’s prophetic tradition, where judgment and restoration regularly unfold in stages rather than as a single, instantaneous event? Historically, these stages often span decades or centuries. If Jesus located his ministry within that prophetic narrative, why think there’s a contradiction between announcing an imminent judgment on Jerusalem and envisioning a kingdom whose growth and worldwide restoration would take time? The Gospels [...]
Health, Wealth, and the Prosperity Gospel
In the 1960s my grandmother was a big believer in faith-healer (and later prosperity-preacher) Oral Roberts. Like many millions of others, she watched him on television and listened to him on radio, fully convinced he had the power of God to heal the sick. My father was dubious and found her faith a bit frustrating. He asked her, “Mom, if you think he can heal you, why don’t you go get healed?” She had very serious rheumatoid arthritis and was confined to a chair for the last seven years of her life. I never heard her respond. But even as [...]
How to Justify a Lie
Yesterday I began to discuss the one Christian forger who got caught red handed who then tried to get off the hook. Well, bend over backwards to make himself look innocent. We've been seeing a lot of that these days. It goes way back. Humans are humans. Here is my assessment of the situation, highlighting my obscure little academic point: in the ancient world, readers simply did not like or approve of this kind of behavior, lying about who you as an author really were (they called these kinds of books, by the way "Pseudoi" -- Greek for "Lies"). On [...]
Caught Red-Handed! An Unrepentant Christian Forger
I have long argued that contrary to what you may hear a lot of people say (especially New Testament scholars!), the act of writing a book in someone else's name (e.g., claiming to be Paul, or Peter, or John, knowing full well you weren't [!]) was NOT regarded as an acceptable practice in the ancient world but was classified as a kind of lying. Scholars who think otherwise argue that the authors were not doing anything duplicitous. There are different ways scholars have made this argument, but the basic line is pretty much the same, that everyone knew that pseudepigraphy [...]
Pins, Gates, and Why Jesus Was Not a Capitalist
Let’s suppose Jesus was indeed a carpenter. Where did he get his wood? I’m assuming he didn’t pick it up at Lowe’s or Home Depot…. Pondering that question has helped me think in more granular detail about why it makes no sense to talk about Jesus in relation to modern economics. It’s easy, of course (and completely right), to say in principle that Jesus could not be a capitalist because there was no such thing as capitalism then (or socialism, or marxism, or pick your ism). But it’s useful to think in a bit more detail about it. Why couldn’t [...]
The Perpetual Virginity of Mary (and related topics)
In my post yesterday I made an off-the-cuff reference to the Catholic doctrine that Mary was a "perpetual virgin," and indicated I'd explain more about that and related issues in a later post. This is the post! When talking about the births of both Mary and Jesus (and related topics involving sex and conception) there are a number of terms that are often confused (especially, but not only, by those who are/have been most connected to Christianity through the Protestant tradition). Immaculate Conception. This doctrine is *not* about Jesus’ mother conceiving as a virgin; it is about Mary’s *own* mother [...]
Jesus the Carpenter?
It seems to be virtually impossible for modern people to imagine what it was like for someone to live in radically different contexts – say, Jesus, in rural Galilee 2000 years ago. It’s very difficult even for scholars who know a bit about his world. Lots of things never occur to us though. At least to me. Since I was roughly nine years old I “knew” that Jesus was a carpenter. It never occurred to me until roughly three months ago to ask what that actually may have entailed. And I’ve been reading scholarship on Jesus for over fifty years! [...]
October 2026 Gold Q&A Announcement
Gold and Platinum members, we've set the date and time for our next monthly Gold Q&A. It's happening on Monday October 12th at 7pm Eastern. As usual, Bart will take the first 30 minutes to answer presubmitted questions. You are invited to submit your questions ahead of time to [email protected]. For the second half of the call, you're invited to raise your hand and ask your question live. We've had some especially great questions these last few months, so come up with your best! October Q&A Info: When: Monday October 12th, 2026 at 7pm Eastern Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81400681523?pwd=hO5f5EPxAD9fkLE2NmfOqsHfqB8nOR.1 Meeting ID: [...]
God’s Actual Name and Another Account of the Flood
Was “Yahweh” actually the personal name of the God of Israel? And how do we explain that the world-destroying flood of Genesis 6-9 (the story of Noah) comes in so many other versions from antiquity written long before the book of Genesis appeared? I have been doing a thread on interesting features of the Hebrew Bible from my textbook, The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press). Here I address the two issues of God’s name and the flood, both of them accounts found in the second book of the Pentateuch, Exodus. ****************************** BOX 4.1 THE [...]
Interesting Questions on the Teachings of the NT
I continue to get very good questions about all sorts of things we deal with on the blog. Here are a few that have come in recently. QUESTION: In a recent episode of your Misquoting Jesus Podcast I understood you to say that despite many errors and contradictions in the bible no doctrine is affected because it can always be found elsewhere in the text. I always believed that this was in fact not the case regarding the Trinity. If 1 John 5:7-8 does not truly belong in scripture, as I have heard claimed, I thought that there is [...]
Modern Appearances of Jesus
I sometimes get asked why the Blessed Virgin Mary (allegedly) appears to people all the time but not Jesus. As it turns, out, we may not hear about them as much, but there are appearances of Jesus that are recorded, some of them quite striking (here I'm not talking about in dreams but in waking life). I talk about it in my book How Jesus Became God (HarperOne) Here's what I say there, slightly edited.. ****************************** Jesus’ Appearances in the Modern World And consider the modern appearances of Jesus. Some of these are documented by Phillip H. Wiebe, in his book [...]
Committed Apologists and Serious Historians
Not to be the dog across the street who won’t stop barking all night, but…. Here is another post on committed Christian apologists who insist they are doing serious history. To ward off a misunderstanding: It is absolutely possible for a Bible-believing conservative evangelical to be a university-level, academically-gifted, peer-review-publishing, respected-in-the-field geologist. BUT, it is not possible for her to be a university-level, academically-gifted, peer-review-publishing geologist if her views of geology are influenced by her Bible-believing conservative evangelical faith. To wit: if she tries to publish an article in an academic journal arguing that the earth really is [...]
Two Intrigues About Noah’s Flood
The Flood of Noah is one of the most familiar stories of the Bible. But even those who know it well often don’t think about how it actually envisions the world (or rather, universe) or know about comparable stories from other (even more ancient) Near Eastern cultures (though some will know about the Epic of Gilgamesh). If you are among that crowd, here is the post for you! These are two more side-boxes from my book The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press), slightly edited here. ******************************* BOX 3.4 THE THREE-STORIED UNIVERSE [...]
Angels Seducing Women and the Rite of Circumcision: Two Peculiarities of Genesis
Was Noah’s flood meant to destroy the giants born to women seduced by angelic beings? And what exactly was the point of circumcision? I continue here my discussion of Hebrew Bible points of interest by sharing two more of the side-boxes found in my book The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press). These are both taken from my chapter on the book of Genesis. ***************************** BOX 3.1 SONS OF GOD AND THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN One of the most mysterious stories in Genesis happens right at the beginning of the Flood narrative (chapter [...]
How Old Was Jesus When He Was Baptized? And When He Died?
I have been talking about Jesus' life before he was baptized, the so-called "Lost Years." But how many years was that? How old was he when he met up with John the Baptist? And beyond that, how long did his ministry last? How old was he when he died? The standard line is that Jesus started his ministry when he was thirty and was executed three years later when he was thirty-three. But none of the Gospels says all that. So why is it the common view? It'll take a bit to explain how it's calculated (and a bit more to [...]
My Interview with James Carville
About a week ago, out of the blue, I was contacted by the producer of James Carville's podcast/youtube channel to do an interview. Most of you know him well -- he's one of the top political strategists of our time and an incredibly personable, affable, and funny guy. Unlike me on the blog, he is all ABOUT taking political sides. And I had no idea why he wanted to interview me or what we were going to talk about. Even his producer (when I asked him) didn't really know! OK then. So I went on, and had the time of [...]
More on Jesus’ Upbringing
I continue here with events from Jesus’ life before he started his public ministry that I think we can treat as historical. (If you need some background on how I’m claiming this information is historical, see the previous post). His Parents In all our sources Jesus’ parents are assumed to be Jewish. They, as we’ve seen, came from Nazareth, a small rural village in Galilee, the northern part of what we today think of as Israel. They are consistently named Joseph and Mary in our sources (for example, independently, Matt. 1:16-18; Mark 6:3; Luke 2:5, 16; 3:23; John 1:45; [...]
The Early Life of Jesus
I’ve been thinking a lot about the social/cultural/economic/historical context of Jesus lately, and reading a good bit on what we know about Galilee from the time. I’ll be saying more about all that anon, but I thought this might be a good chance to cover some of the basics on the blog – what do we know about Jesus from the time he was born to the time he was baptized as an adult, which is how he begins his ministry in the Gospels. For stories of his life before that, of course, all we have are Matthew [...]
Platinum Lecture on October 1
Platinum members, we've got our next quarterly lecture on the calendar. It's an opportunity for Bart and just Platinum blog members get together on Zoom. Our topic for this quarter is: Matthew and the Rise of Anti-Judaism As always, there will be time at the end for questions…be prepared! Can't make it live? Don't worry. We’ll record the lecture and send it out for all Platinum members to watch after the event. Event Info: When: Thursday October 1 at 7pm Eastern Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88260423137?pwd=aSwenEJvbTcsaOou6Alyqt8lINpIx8.1 Meeting ID: 882 6042 3137 Passcode: 425313
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
- 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
- My Odd Situation, Writing this Book… August 27, 2026
- The Moral Benefits of Capitalism August 23, 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
- A Blog Dinner in Denver, CO on November 19. Interested? September 25, 2026
- October 2026 Gold Q&A Announcement September 11, 2026
- My Interview with James Carville September 1, 2026
- Platinum Lecture on October 1 August 28, 2026
- How the World Was Created in 4004 BCE August 26, 2026
- September 2026 Gold Q&A August 21, 2026
- Blog Dinner in NYC, September 1. Interested? August 10, 2026
- Render Unto Caesar: Jesus’s Indifference to Human Governments and Economies August 6, 2026
- Important Questions About Jesus, Paul, and the Gospels September 20, 2026
- Jesus the Carpenter? September 12, 2026
- Committed Apologists and Serious Historians September 6, 2026
- What Did Jesus’s Violent Action in the Temple Actually Mean? August 11, 2026
- Gist and Exaggeration: Jesus and the Cleansing of the Temple August 8, 2026
- The Triumphal Entry and Jesus’s Mistaken Identity August 4, 2026
- The Implausibility of the Triumphal Entry August 2, 2026
- Jesus and the Gospel of John: Some Readers’ Good Questions June 24, 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
- 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
- The Weird Textual Variant of 1 John 4:3: False Teachers Who “Loose” Jesus? September 16, 2025
- Interpolations and Textual Variants in the New Testament April 17, 2025
- 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
- Personal Faith, Textual Problems, and the Miracles of Jesus: More Readers’ Questions July 16, 2026
- How To Figure Out If a Miracle Happened… Questions from Readers June 11, 2026
- Questions on Proving the Resurrection and Sundry Other Things June 6, 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
