Today is a huge day for us: the fifth anniversary of the blog! Hard to believe. But we’ve come through five years. And it’s been one busy lustrum.
I just added up some numbers. Here they are.
- Since April 3, 2012: I have made 1462 posts. That comes to 5.6 per week. I have not missed a week so far in the entire stretch. To my *knowledge* (I may be wrong about this, and given the sharp readers we have, I’m sure someone will let me know in no uncertain terms if I am; but to my knowledge…, I have not missed doing at least 5 posts a week yet. Again, maybe I have!)
- Most of the posts are slightly more than 1000 words (some a lot more). That means I have written about 1.5 million words for the blog. THAT seems like a lot.
- There have been 49,284 comments read and approved for the blog. That is 190 per week, for five years.
- Many of the comments have asked questions, and I have tried to answer them all. Sorry I have to be terse in doing so, but, well, I have to be terse in doing so!
- Most important from my perspective: as you know, the reason I’m committed to the project is to raise money for charity. This past year of the blog’s operation, we brought in $117,000.
- Altogether, since the blog has started, we have raised $410,000. That’s some serious money. And every dime of it has gone to the charities we support.
I cannot thank all of you enough. It has been a fantastic enterprise so far. When I started out, I really wasn’t sure if I could sustain it for more than a couple of years. I thought I would run out of things to say. But that hasn’t happened at all (YET!!). I don’t know how long I’ll keep the blog going, but I have no plans of stopping any time soon. As long as there continues to be interest and we continue to raise significant amounts of money to help the hungry and the homeless, I plan to keep plugging away.
There are several things you can do to help. Please think about doing so!
- Please tell your friends, neighbors, co-workers, business associates, doctors, dentists, mail delivery persons, and flight attendants about the blog and urge them to join. If everyone could get just one more person to join, we could double the income. Now *that* would be good!
- Give a gift subscription (just click the tab on the landing page or HERE)! Think of someone who would enjoy the blog for a year. Give it to them. Why not? Surely you know *someone* who would be interested.
- Send in suggestions to improve what we do and to attract more members. I can’t incorporate all suggestions, but we have made significant changes over the years and at every point it just gets better. Hopefully we can continue to improve.
- Think about making a donation to the blog from the form found on footer below. People sometimes make one-time donations. Those are always welcome indeed. Some have set up a monthly donation. That is fantastic. Think about helping us out to raise money. I know you could give the money directly to the charities yourself, but by contributing to the blog you encourage us all to do more and more, and it keeps us heartened, encouraged, and pumped. So please think about giving.
Let me end simply by saying how much I appreciate everyone who is on the blog – those who contribute comments regularly, those who do so on occasion, those who read but don’t say much or anything. The tone of the blog is amazingly civil and there is a healthy sense of inquiry among those making comments. All to the good. I look forward to moving ahead with the venture in the year to come.
If you don’t belong to the blog yet and are reading this, JOIN already!!!
This blog is part of my morning “after work email” routine and I wouldn’t give it up for anything. Thank you for taking the time to contribute so regularly and being available for our curiosity in a way that most professors only are with their students they see regularly. Mad respect, Dr. Ehrman.
And thank you, Bart. You are a great help to the needy! And BTW, Go Heels!
Congratulations! UNC 71, Zags 65!
Ha!!
Congratulations on all the success of your blog! This blog along with your books and Great Courses lectures have been invaluable to me when it comes to studying the New Testament and the historical Jesus. Your enthusiasm for the subject is inspiring and keeps me excited for the future of the subject.
Nice work on the blog as always. Now to more controversial things.
Acts 26:14. ‘It is hard for you to kick against the goad’. Is this from the Secular Greek poet Pindar? If so, isn’t it strange Paul is using secular phrases when writing about Christ?
I thought it was from Euripides Bacchae (794), but that it was by this time a fairly common saying (so that the author would not be *quoting* a pagan source but simply using a common phrase that had its origin in a common source, if you see what I mean)
Bart, along with Richard Feynman, the physicist, you’ve had most influence on my academic life, even though Early Christianity has nothing to do with my profession.
I will always support and stand beside you in whatever you do.
These words remind me of Peter saying to Jesus: “I will follow you wherever you go, even onto death”. :))
Congratulations! <3
Your dedication to this blog and sharing your studies and insights have been an invaluable addition to my life. Thank you for including us as a part of YOUR expanding tribe. 5th Anniversry Donation coming next.
Bless you, my son.
Thanks to you. I have followed several blogs on similar subjects and “believe me” no one blogs as much and as well as you do on this subject, Most such bloggers do well to have a couple of entries per week. How about those Heels?
Ha!! Fantastic result. We’re all really pumped!
Very well done prof. We follow your lead in maintaining civility. In fact, among other things, this is one of the reasons why I’m here.
And very well done UNC! It wasn’t very pretty; more gutsy and gripping. UNC defended well in the second half just enough to maintain the edge. Hard to choose just one player that stood out: the more experienced team rose to the occasion.
cheers
Yup, and they wanted it more at the end when it really counted.
Dear Bart,
Congratulations! Lots of respect! Your blog (including all of your other work) has enriched my life. And I’m sure many others.
Thank you so much for that!
Please keep up the good work!
If you are ever looking for a nice place to stay during your holiday in Europe, don’t hesitate to contact me 😉
Greetings from the Netherlands,
Ronald Bezemer
Thanks!
Congratulations. Thanks for the opportunity to participate.
410,000 dollars!? Bravo! And thank you to my sponsor who paid for my membership due to my low income this year. Best to you all, tracy
Hello Dr Ehrman, Congrats on 5 years. This is one of my favorite blog sites. Watched Tarheels last night. What a great game. Have you had any of the basketball players in your classes? If so, do they get standing ovations? Do you get standing ovations?
Ha! No, I haven’t had a basketball player in years. And no, have never had a standing ovation!
Just to add my thanks. I came across you (Misquoting Jesus) after reading Vermes, Sanders and others, following a lifetime of interest.
This is the best blog I know – even better than mine! I have tried to recruit; maybe I will succeed one day – they really don’t know what they are missing.
I’d never looked at any part of “March Madness” till last night. I only looked at that game because I knew you’d be rooting for the Heels, and that gave *me* a reason to root for them. Great game, great outcome!
(But if I hadn’t been able to watch the Mets’ season opener “live” during the afternoon, I would have picked the rebroadcast of that over *any* other programming!)
Hi Dr. Ehrman. I had a quick random question for you. Opponents of Trinitarian doctrine say that it was “derived from Greek philosophy” and that it played into the council of Nicea. What exactly are they talking about? Which philosophy of the Greeks in particular? Thanks!
It has to do with how it is possible for two beings to have the same “essence” and for how one can emanate from another and yet not be secondary, and so on. If you want a full exposition, you might try the book on Nicea by Lewis Ayres.
Your blog is a daily must read for me. I also appreciate how busy you are but that you nonetheless spend the time to share your knowledge with us.
Also appreciated is the civil tone of this group, which is sometimes rare in religious discussions.
I watched the game and the Heels played well. I predicted that the UNC-UK game winner would win the NCAA championship with little problem. Regarding one of the comments about UNC players in you classes, what do you think will happen with the academic scandal. As you are a rigorous sophisticated professor, I would have strong feelings about this issue
I don’t know what will happen — but it was a huge and awful scandal. Luckily (if that’s the right word) it was perpetrated by two individuals, not by the university as a whole.
Also regarding basketball players in your classes, likely it is well known that one of Duke’s truly outstanding players at the turn of the century graduated as a religion major. Too bad he didn’t go to Carolina instead.
Yes indeed. National player of the year, major in Religion, Shane Battier.
Five years Bart, that is outstanding. I was wondering when you are doing another live event?
Did one this morning! But I’m almost done for the year, thank goodness.
Bart, are you coming to Colorado any time soon?
Nope, no plans!
Bart, I want you to know that this Blog is the only thing I find worth spending my time on, online, in my free time at work! Thanks for being awesome!
Looking forward to your blogs over the next five years. Also looking forward to your next book. So far my favorite is ” Misquoting Jesus”.