Recent Posts
My New Online Course on the Gospel of Mark!
In case you haven't heard, I will be doing a live, eight-lecture online course on the Gospel of Mark on Feb. 18-19. 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/mark The course will consist of four lectures and Q&A each day. The lectures [...]
New Testament Manuscripts as Windows into Early Christian History
My recent post asking whether the Gospels can be seen as anti-Jewish generated a number of comments and questions, one of which was whether scribes who copied the texts of the New Testament ever made them *more* anti-Jewish than they originally were. The answer to that is Yes. I have a student just now who is writing a dissertation that deals with that topic. It's a question I've been intrigued with for years; one of the first times I wrote about it was in an essay called “The Text as Window: New Testament Manuscripts and the Social History of Early [...]
February Gold Q&A: Go for the Gold!
It is time to schedule the Gold Q&A for February. For me to provide the A's you need to provide the Q's. What are you interested in? It can be about most anything related to the blog in one way or another. 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 try to be informative. And happiness will reign. To enter your question on to the list: send it to Diane at [email protected] The DEADLINE for your question is Friday February 10 [...]
Am I About To Become Muslim?
I often get asked about the Qur'an (on which I have zero expertise) and my views of Islam (which I admire as one of the great religions of the world with lots of problems involving how it sometimes gets interpreted and used, just like every other great religion of the world). I was just thinking about that this morning and remembered a post I did a long time ago answering a question a reader had raised with me. Is it true I am about to convert to Islam? Well, it hasn't happened yet, but I thought I would be worthwhile [...]
Was the Roman Soldier Pantera Jesus’ Father? His Cousin? Platinum Guest Post by Omar Abur-Robb
I am pleased to publish this unusually controversial and interesting Platinum guest post of Omar Abdur-Robb. Lots to think about here! What do you think? ****************************** A Summary of an article: Discussing the conclusion of James Tabor related to the relationship between Jesus Pantera and Abdes Pantera, and presenting a new model for this relationship (Jan 2023). Omar Abur-Robb Library: https://omr-mhmd.yolasite.com James Tabor has a conclusion in his informative book “The Jesus Dynasty”. He noticed a reference for a tombstone in Germany that was dedicated to a Roman soldier from Sidon with the name “Abdes Pantera”. This immediately [...]
Finally: The Martyrdom of Polycarp as a Clever Christian Forgery
Here now I bring this thread on the Martyrdom of Polycarp to an end, arguing yet further reasons for thinking the account was forged, and explaining the “truths” the author was trying to advance by not telling the truth about his real identity. (From my book Forgery and Counterforgery, Oxford University Press, 2013). ****************************** Problematic for entirely other reasons is the account of what happens in the aftermath of Polycarp’s death. The Jews, moved by the devil, are intent not to allow the Christians to collect Polycarp’s body “even though many were desiring to do so and to have a share [...]
January 2023 Gold & Platinum History of the Devil Bonus Lecture
Hey Gold and Platinum members, Here is the video of our recent webinar on the History of the Devil. We're sending it out to everyone at the gold and platinum levels, those who were able to come and those not. It was a blast doing -- and apologies for the occasions that occasioned it (being late on the Gold Q&A's for a couple of months). Again, I hope you're enjoying the blog, and if there's anything I / we can do to make your experience better, let me/us know. 'til, then, here's the Devil: Z
Evidence of Forgery. More Reasons the Martyrdom of Polycarp Was Not Written by Someone There
In my previous post I began to lay out my case that the Martyrdom of Polycarp, our (allegedly) first full narrative account of a Christian martyr, who died 155 CE, written (allegedly) by an eyewitness, in fact was written decades later, by someone who wanted his readers to think he was an eyewitness and to that end (falsely) claimed to be one. Here I move from the intriguing fact (from the last post) that the author asserts his eyewitness authority precisely at the points that are, well, rather difficult to believe to other historical problems in the text that suggest [...]
Do Eyewitnesses Prove Miracles? Can They Be Faked? The Martyrdom of Polycarp
For over two hundred years scholars of antiquity have worked diligently to determine which ancient writings by pagans, Jews, and Christians were actually produced by their alleged authors and which are by authors merely claiming to be some other famous person, as well as which originally anonymous writings were wrongly ascribed to one famous author or another. If a book is wrongly ascribed, it’s not the author’s fault. If Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John did not write Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, that would not make these books “forgeries.” A “forgery” is when an author intentionally takes the identity of [...]
Recreational Drugs in the New Testament? Platinum Guest Post by Douglas Wadeson
Here now is promised part II of Doug Wadeson's discussion of drugs in the Bible.... It's way out there, man. What do you think? ***************************** In the previous post I discussed evidence of psychoactive drug use in the Old Testament. What about the New Testament? Jesus’ mentor was John the Baptist who seemed to follow along the lines of Ezekiel, although not as extreme: John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins…John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and [...]
Can We Take the Martyrdom of Polycarp at Face Value?
I continue here my discussion of the Martyrdom of Polycarp as found in my book Forgery and Counterforgery. This will get in the weeds a bit, but hey, it can be good for your soul! I've always thought that it's useful for layfolk to see how scholars in one field or another argue among themselves, and this is an example of it. And we ain't talkin' quantum physics here. This should be pretty accessible if you're interested in some of the complexities. Here I explain why in the past scholars doubted whether the account was authentic or not; in posts to [...]
Is the Martyrdom of Polycarp an Authentic Account?
In my previous posts I have talked about the Martyrdom of Polcarp, our first full account of a Christian martyrdom (outside the martyrdom of Stephen in Acts 8). But is it an authentic account? It claims to be written by an eyewitness. Was it? I did not begin to investigate that question seriously and deeply until after I had published by Loeb Apostolic Fathers translation of the text in 2003. Some years later I started my research on my book Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics (published in 2013 by Oxford University Press). This was a [...]
Was Moses High on Mt. Sinai? Part 1 Platinum Post by Douglas Wadeson MD
I'm pleased to publish this Platinum Guest Post by Doug Wadeson, long time platinum members, retired physician, and, ergo, expert on, well, drugs. Now *here's* a topic we haven't addressed on the blog before! What do you think? ************************** Moses is clearly one of the most significant figures in the Bible. Most people know that he is the one who received the Ten Commandments directly from God while up on Mount Sinai, even if they only know it from watching Cecil B. DeMille’s movie, The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston as Moses.[1] I am going to assume you know [...]
More about the First Christian Martyr Text
Here I continue the "Introduction" to my translation of the Martyrdom of Polycarp in my two-volume work, The Apostolic Fathers for the Loeb Classical Library, vol. 1 (Harvard University Press, 2003). It is giving a bit of harder hitting scholarship (though completely accessible) and includes, at the end, some bibliography. As it turns out, years after I published this edition, I changed my mind about when the first part of this discussion -- specifically, about when the martyrdom was written and about whether it was based on eyewitness reports. That will be the subject of my next posts. The view I [...]
Don’t Forget Gold and Platinum Members! A FREE Webinar this Saturday.
In case you missed it the first time, or caught it and forgot: there is a FREE webinar for all Gold and Platinum Blog members this Saturday. Here's the original annoucment. I hope you can make it! ***************************** Dear Gold and Platinum Members, As you may have noticed (and, well, as several of you have pointed out!) we have had technical difficulties in posting the Gold Q&A's the past several months. We think we've worked out the kinks now and hope it won't happen again. But it's been a flippin' nuisance for all involved -- especially YOU, the ones [...]
Do You Want (and Need) a Free Membership to the Blog? Gift Offer 2023
Thanks to the incredible ongoing generosity of members of the blog, I am happy to announce that there are a limited number of free one-year memberships available. These have been donated for a single purpose: to allow those who cannot afford the annual membership fee to participate on the blog for a year. I will assign these memberships strictly on the honor system: if you truly cannot afford the membership fee, but very much want to have full access to the blog, then please contact me. Do NOT reply here, on the blog, as a comment. Send us a separate [...]
The First Christian Martyr Text?
In my previous post I talked about a textual problem in the early Christian writing, "The Martyrdom of Polycarp." To my surprise, I've never talked about this intriguing text on the blog before. It's time I did! This is one of the books of the corpus I've been calling "The Apostolic Fathers," a collection of ten or eleven "proto-orthodox" authors (meaning that they attest forerunners of the views that eventually became "orthodox" -- that is, widely approved as "true"). It is our first Christian narrative fully devoted to describing a martyrdom (the martyrdom of Stephen is described in the NT [...]
Vote on Your Favorite Platinum Post!
Dear Platinum members, We have had some provocative platinum guest posts , and now it's time to vote to see which of the following will be posted on the blog at large. Take a look. To vote, just send a quick note to Diane at [email protected] Your deadline: this coming Saturday, 01/28/2022 midnight your time. And remember — you’re always welcome to submit a post yourself. Is there anything connected to the blog that strikes your fancy that you’d like others to read about? Any ideas/thoughts you’d like to have disseminated and discussed? Here’s your chance. It doesn't have to [...]
A Spectacular Martyrdom and an Intriguing Textual Change
Outside the New Testament there are some truly terrific early Christian writings, including accounts of early martyrs. And sometimes we know know what the authors of these texts actually wrote, because our surviving manuscripts have differences. Sometimes rather bizarre differences. There are lots and lots of textual variants in the various writings of the apostolic fathers. As with the New Testament (where there are thousands more manuscripts and hundreds of thousands more variants), most of the variant readings do not matter for much. But some of them are of real importance. Yesterday I mentioned one in Ignatius. Today I discuss [...]
The New Testament Ain’t the Only Text with Important Scribal Changes!
Readers of the blog will know that I've talked a lot about scribal changes in the writings of the New Testament, making it difficult to know what the author originally wrote. Which in turn makes it difficult to know what a translator should translate. Which words?? The ones in this manuscript, or in that manuscript, or some other manuscript?? Sometimes people say to me "Well, if you say that about the New Testament you'd have to say that about all ancient texts!" They say this as a rhetorical statement (even scholars have said this to me! Even New Testament scholars!!) -- as [...]
Are the Gospels Anti-Jewish?
I was recently asked if I'd be willing to do a lecture on whether the Gospels are anti-Semitic. I've dealt with the issue on the blog before, but thought it might be useful to return to a particularly interesting feature of the Gospels that can contribute to an answer. I should say at the outset that I do not think that the Gospel writers, or anyone else in their time, was “anti-Semitic.” The idea and reality of anti-Semitism are modern, and are based on modern sense of “race” as these were developed by the anthropologists of the 19th century. The [...]
What’s So Hard about Translating Ancient Texts?
Publishing a translation of an ancient text ain't at all like writing a book about the text. When the editor at Harvard Press asked me if I would be interested in doing a new edition of the Apostolic Fathers for the Loebs, she wasn’t offering me the opportunity then and there. She was suggesting that I write up a prospectus that she could take to the board of the Loebs, in which I described the need for a new edition and explained how I would go about making one. After I thought about it for a while, and got advice [...]
Watching Notes for Jesus of Montreal! (My Favorite Jesus Movie!)
A number of you have signed up to come to our Blog Movie Club discussion this Sunday, January 22, 4:00-5:30 EST, to discuss my favorite Jesus Movie of all time, "Jesus of Montreal." Some of you who have not yet signed up may be interested in coming once your learn what the movie is about. Below is a note we sent to all those who have already signed up, where I describe the movie and suggest how to watch it. If you decide you want to come to the event after all, there is still time! Here is the link: [...]
What About Translations of Other Ancient Christian Writings?
I've been talking about translations of the Bible -- especially the King James Version -- and I'd like now to move to a broader issue. EVERY text from the ancient world needs to be translated in order to be made accessible to a modern audience. Hey, we're not back in the 19th century when going to university meant learning Greek and Latin! And texts even then also came from even other languages (Hebrew, Coptic, Syriac, etc.). If you're a graduate student in antiquity, you have to learn to read these texts in their original languages; you simply can't get the [...]
Categories on the Blog
Click on a category for the full archive, arranged by date.
- My New Online Course on the Gospel of Mark! February 5, 2023
- February Gold Q&A: Go for the Gold! February 4, 2023
- Was the Roman Soldier Pantera Jesus’ Father? His Cousin? Platinum Guest Post by Omar Abur-Robb February 3, 2023
- Finally: The Martyrdom of Polycarp as a Clever Christian Forgery February 2, 2023
- January 2023 Gold Q&A (Video) February 1, 2023
- January 2023 Gold & Platinum History of the Devil Bonus Lecture February 1, 2023
- Recreational Drugs in the New Testament? Platinum Guest Post by Douglas Wadeson January 30, 2023
- Is the Martyrdom of Polycarp an Authentic Account? January 28, 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
- Can We Trust the Bible? The First Printed Greek New Testament January 8, 2023
- What New Testament Do New Testament Translators Translate? January 7, 2023
- Is the King James Bible Actually the William Tyndale Version? January 1, 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
- Is Judaism Legalistic? Misunderstanding the Law of Moses December 6, 2022
- Is The Exodus a Myth? December 4, 2022
- Are There Contradictions in the Pentateuch? December 3, 2022
- Do We Have the Original Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)? December 1, 2022
- Did the Israelites Practice Human Sacrifice? Platinum Guest Post by Joel Scheller October 10, 2022
- A Major Forgery in the Hebrew Bible? Guest Post by Platinum Member Dennis Folds October 6, 2022
- The Problem: Not Enough Killing! Platinum Guest Post by Douglas Wadeson September 30, 2022
- Did King David Actually Exist? September 20, 2022
- Did Jesus Believe in Hell? My Interview With Kevin Grant December 30, 2022
- O Little Town of Nazareth? December 24, 2022
- Instead of “From Nazareth” was Jesus a “Nazarite”?? December 22, 2022
- Did Jesus Actually Come from Nazareth? December 21, 2022
- Did Jesus Descend to Hell After He Died? December 17, 2022
- The Other Virgin Births in Antiquity December 7, 2022
- How Can “Group Hallucinations” Possibly Happen? November 13, 2022
- Is it Possible Jesus Didn’t Teach the Golden Rule? October 30, 2022
- Just Follow That Star! December 27, 2022
- O Little Town of Nazareth? December 24, 2022
- Did Jesus Actually Come from Nazareth? December 21, 2022
- Why Would Scribes Mess with Mark’s Very First Verse? November 19, 2022
- Do We Know How Mark Began His Gospel? Another Scribal Change November 17, 2022
- Did God Mock Jesus on the Cross? A Scribal Change? November 16, 2022
- An Error in Mark? Did Scribes Change It? November 15, 2022
- Is it Possible Jesus Didn’t Teach the Golden Rule? October 30, 2022
- 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
- Do Church Fathers Show What the Authors of the NT Actually Wrote? November 8, 2022
- Can’t We Just Get Rid of Some of the Books of the Bible? October 25, 2022
- Why I Want to Write a Book on Christian Love September 18, 2022
- Is It Even Possible to Follow Jesus’ Teaching to “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself” September 17, 2022
- The Canon of the New Testament: Why It Matters August 27, 2022
- When Did We Get the Final Canon of the New Testament? August 24, 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
- 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
- Thomas’s Trip to India and the Problem of Wealth May 31, 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
- 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
- A Recording of My Webinar on Heaven and Hell January 24, 2021
- 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
- Whoa. End of Year Review of the Blog, 2022. December 31, 2022
- If the King James Was Good Enough for Paul, It’s Good Enough for Me December 29, 2022
- Just Follow That Star! December 27, 2022
- Christmas Reflections 2022 (from ten years on) December 25, 2022
- How To Leave the Faith and Not Destroy the Family: Thanksgiving Reflection 2022 November 23, 2022