Page 107 – The Bart Ehrman Blog

What About Accurately Preserved Oral Traditions?

Yesterday I talked about arguments Muslims and Christians sometimes make about their written texts – that the only way to explain the preservation of the “originals” is that it was a divine miracle, with the corollary argument that for that reason, these writings really do contain the truth. It is a very, very bad argument, for reasons I explained. A number of religious traditions also boast of the unbelievable accuracy of the oral traditions of their religion. In this case, the claim is usually not made in order to prove that the tradition must have a divine origin, but to show that what is said in sacred texts found in writing today is exactly what was said back *before* there were any written texts, that the religion hasn’t changed an iota over all these centuries. I am always entirely skeptical of these claims. Then again, historians are always skeptical of claims and ask for evidence. If there’s good evidence, then there’s no reason to be skeptical on principle. But if historians simply accepted what “everyone [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:02-04:00February 10th, 2020|Reader’s Questions, Reflections and Ruminations|

Sacramento Lecture: Cancelled

Several people have asked me about my scheduled lecture in Sacramento at the Slavic Pastors apologetics conference. I'm sorry to say that the sponsors of the event have cancelled my talk (without, well, notifying me!). They assure me that it is not because of my views, but because of their financial restraints. I'm not hugely sorry, as it would have been a bit of a lark and not my normal kind of thing: it was a long trip over three days to tell a group of conservative evangelical pastors that Jesus really did exist. (!)

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:02-04:00February 9th, 2020|Public Forum|

Raffle Winners!

I am pleased to announce that the raffle for galleys of my book Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife has been concluded. We have three winners of the autographed copies, and I have notified them. If you participated and I did not notify you, I'm so sorry. But be of good cheer! The book will be available on March 31. Many thanks to all who participated!

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:02-04:00February 9th, 2020|Public Forum|

Why Do Smart People Make Stupid Arguments?

I’m always puzzled about why smart people make (and believe) such stupid arguments. We see this all the time, of course, in political discourse and family disagreements, not to mention department meetings, but since my field is religious studies I hear it the most in connection with the great religions of the world. Actually, I guess I find it less puzzling than aggravating. A lot of conservative Christians get upset with me when I push them for evidence for their views, and so I thought I should devote this post to give equal share time to other religions whose self-appointed representatives send me proofs of the superiority of their views, based on hard “evidence.” It is really difficult to believe that someone can actually be persuaded by these claims. Let me stress, I am NOT (repeat NOT) saying anything negative about any of these religions – in this case Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. I’m decidedly not. I’m saying something negative about very bad arguments used to “prove” their inherent superiority to one another. I will [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:02-04:00February 9th, 2020|Bart's Critics, Reader’s Questions, Reflections and Ruminations|

Jesus as Single: An Actual Argument!

So far I have pointed out that it is flat-out wrong to say that every Jewish man in the first century was married and was expected to be married. It is not only demographically impossible (there were not enough women to go around) but we know of Jewish men from the time of Jesus who were not married and were proud of it. Strikingly, they, like him, were apocalyptically minded Jews – such as the Essenes and the apostle Paul. I have also argued that whatever Mary Magdalene was to Jesus, she was not his lover and spouse, to the great disappointment of us all….. But is there an actual argument that Jesus was not married other than the silences? I think there is. And this is what it is. A good deal of Jesus’ teaching, of course, was ethical in nature, about how people ought to live and conduct themselves. Many people think of Jesus as one of the great moral teachers of all time, and I have no quarrel with that. But I [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:02-04:00February 7th, 2020|Historical Jesus, Sex and Sexuality in the Bible|

Demons and Christians in Antiquity! Guest Post By Travis Proctor

Some readers have suggested that I have guest posts from my former PhD students describing their dissertations. Great idea! This is our first shot at it. One of my most recent PhDs was Travis Proctor, who is now an Assistant Professor of Religion at Wittenberg College in Springfield Ohio. Travis wrote a terrifically interesting dissertation on demons in early Christianity. It turns out, it's not only a really intriguing topic, but unexpectedly complicated. The dissertation was called "Rulers of the Air: Demonic Bodies and the Making of the Ancient Christian Cosmos," completed in 2017. And just recently it has won Travis a major international award from University of Heidelberg, German. See: https://religion.unc.edu/travis-proctor-phd-2017-manfred-lautenschlaeger-award-for-theological-promise/ I asked Travis to summarize the dissertation for us, and here is what he has to say! (I will be happy to post your comments on this; Travis will not be able to respond directly.) ********************************************************************************* Clement of Alexandria, one of the most famous philosophers and ethical teachers of early Christianity, was no fan of eating meat. But Clement’s rationale for avoiding [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:02-04:00February 5th, 2020|Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus|

Was Jesus Intimate with Mary Magdalene?

I pointed out in my last post that most people simply assume that Jesus was not married because there is no mention of his wife in any of our sources, or any mention that he ever had a wife. And so it is assumed that he did not have one. As scholars often, and rightly, argue, that is an argument from silence, and on it's own it is not a very strong one – since, among other things, none of these sources indicates, either, that he was not married. And so it is not evidence in one direction or another. It’s a good point, but my own view is that the silence in this case is telling – though not for the reason people sometimes say. It is sometimes wrongly asserted – by no less an inimitable authority than Dan Brown, in the Da Vinci Code – that if there was no claim that Jesus was not married that must mean that he was married, since Jewish men were “always” married. In my last [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:02-04:00February 4th, 2020|Historical Jesus, Sex and Sexuality in the Bible, Women in Early Christianity|

So… WAS Jesus Married?

As a follow-up to my previous post, I'll now re-post a couple of reflections on this question that has obsessed modern people: was Jesus probably married? I should say that what obsesses most folk is not what obsesses scholars, as a rule; in my roughly 89 million discussions with New Testament scholars over the past 44 years, I don't recall ever having a detailed back-and-forth about it, except in public settings in front of a crowd of non-scholars. It's kind-a like Shakespeare. I know this is disappointing, but the major Shakespeare scholars in universities in England and America do NOT have discussions about whether Shakespeare really wrote the plays. It's just not the issue.... Anyway, I did have to deal with the question of Jesus possible marriage, with a couple of other scholars, in front of a crowd five years ago. I posted on it afterward. Here's what I said. ***************************************************************** I am en route just now, back from Las Vegas, where I participated in a discussion with two other scholars at the Black Mountain [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:02-04:00February 3rd, 2020|Historical Jesus, Sex and Sexuality in the Bible|

A “Newly Discovered” “Gospel”: Was Jesus Married with Children?

When James Tabor graciously made two guest posts a couple of weeks ago, he raised a lot of intriguing questions for our blog readers. I was asked by one of them to address James's view that Jesus may well have been married. I was pretty sure I had dealt with this at one point on the blog, and just now I've checked, and it was almost exactly five years ago, well before most of you were on the blog, and probably before some of you were born. A series of posts. On a lively and interesting topic. Was in fact Jesus married? The series started with a news report that a Gospel had been newly discovered that provided evidence that in fact he probably was. I'll start by reposting that one, and then get into the issue of how we can weigh the evidence one way or the other. It's an issue that continues to intrigue! But rarely does anyone actually discuss the actual *evidence*. It's much easier to make bold claims. I'm not talking [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:01-04:00February 2nd, 2020|Book Discussions, Historical Jesus, Public Forum|

A Raffle!! Would You Like a Pre-publication Copy of My Book on Heaven and Hell?
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A Raffle!! Would You Like a Pre-publication Copy of My Book on Heaven and Hell?

Book Discussions, Public Forum

A Raffle!! Would You Like a Pre-publication Copy of My Book on Heaven and Hell?

Would you like to read my forthcoming book Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife prior to publication (it will be released two months from now!)? I have three galley proofs that I would like to give away – not to the highest bidder (as in the last fund-raising venture) but to three randomly-chosen winners based on tickets sold at a very affordable price. These are complete, pre-publication copies of the book, in paperback, less expensively produced, but exactly as it will appear in print, except for a few typos here and there that came to be corrected later. This is the form of the book as it was sent off to review journals, book sellers, and book stores – all of whom want, naturally, to know if the book is any good before they purchase stocks or recommend others to do so. My publisher has given me permission to release these three to the public as a fund-raiser for the blog. I will personally sign it to each of the winners and then [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:01-04:00January 31st, 2020|Book Discussions, Public Forum|

Want A Korean Version of My Last Book?

OK, this will not be a high demand item. But I have five copies of my book Triumph of Christianity in Korean translation. I don't read Korean. Does any of you? Want one? I'm happy to mail one to you, but only if you're willing to help cover the cost of mailing by making a donation to the blog. Make the donation as large as you'd like! Hey, what are we worth? But for domestic mailing, let's say a minimum of $10; international, $25. If you're interested, don't reply here, but zap me a message at [email protected]. If you don't read Korean, there's no time like the present!

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:01-04:00January 31st, 2020|Public Forum|

Rapid Fire Questions and Answers on Biblical Manuscripts

I recently responded to a request from a European journalist writing an article about how we got the Bible and what we can say about the collection and illicit sale of manuscripts. When I get these requests, I'm usually tempted to send back a list of books and tell them to do some homework. But, well, they have deadlines and it ain't gonna happen. So I went ahead and gave some brief answers to some rather important questions. I thought blog readers might enjoy this kind of very condensed (but very simple) exchange. Here are it is, questions in black, responses in red. ******************************************************************************** -Why do you think that some apocryphal books were not included in the Bible? What was the selection criteria? Do you know when the Bible like we know today were completed? Church father debated for centuries which books to include. The side that “won” the debate applied several criteria: The rest of this post is available to all blog members. You too could be among the chosen few, and growing. [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:01-04:00January 29th, 2020|New Testament Manuscripts, Reader’s Questions|

Other Interesting Features of the Graphic Introduction to the New Testament

Here is the final portion of my proposal for the Graphic Textbook of the New Testament. The earlier part described the sections on the Gospels. Here I map out the basic coverage of the historical Jesus. The book will be extremely brief in comparison with my full-blown NT textbook, which comes in at 572 pages. This one is projected to be 150 pages, and most of it art work. Yikes! The challenge is kinda obvious…. But hey, if you can summarize the NT in one sentence (and you can) (in fact a very very short sentence: It’s about the life and teachings of Jesus and his followers….), you can surely do it in 150 pages! At the end of the prospectus I include a couple of things that always go into this kind of proposal: marketing ideas; what other books it will be competing with; and when I plan (well, hope) to have it finished. ******************************************************** The Historical Jesus (8 pages) I will shift gears in the final chapter, away from explaining how Jesus is [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:01-04:00January 28th, 2020|Book Discussions, Teaching Christianity|

How I Will Write My “Graphic Textbook of the New Testament”

Yesterday I began to describe my Graphic Textbook of the New Testament, as I have proposed it to my publisher, Oxford University Press. In this post I continue, by explaining how I will actually set up the first fascicle (installment), on the Gospels and Jesus. ******************************************** Fascicle One: The Gospels and Jesus The four Gospels are by far the largest section of the New Testament, and any reconstruction of the historical Jesus depends on a critical understanding not only of how each of the Gospels portrays his life, death, and resurrection, but also of how they can be used as sources of historical knowledge. After providing necessary background about the Greco-Roman world in which Christianity was born, with a special coverage of first-century Judaism, this fascicle will examine the overarching message of each Gospel, and conclude with a consideration of how scholars can utilize such literary and theological writings in order to establish a historical reconstruction of Jesus’ life and death. Introduction (2 pages) The book will begin by ... If you're a blog [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:01-04:00January 27th, 2020|Book Discussions, Canonical Gospels, Teaching Christianity|

A Graphic Novel (Textbook) on the New Testament!

I have recently decided to undertake a brand new venture. Well, more truthfully, I’ve been persuaded to do it. I have a new editor at Oxford University Press. My old editor and good friend (he lives in Chapel Hill, as it turns out. But when I first met him he lived in Manhattan), Robert Miller, who has edited all of my textbooks and all their revisions, my various readers, and most of my Oxford trade books, has retired after a long and successful career. Taking his place at OUP as editor of both Religion and Philosophy (there are a lot more courses and books in the latter) is Andrew Blitzer. Andy is a young and energetic editor with vision and ideas – and he’s on the blog! Andy from our first meeting urged me to think about a new kind of textbook on the New Testament. A graphic novel kind of textbook. Hmm… OK then. Really? I knew nothing about graphic novels. When I first saw a section of them at Barnes & Noble I [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:01-04:00January 26th, 2020|Book Discussions, Public Forum, Teaching Christianity|

Volunteers Needed! Readers for Audio Versions of the Posts. You Interested?

I don’t think I’ve made any kind of official announcement that we are doing a massive rehaul of the blog, a complete rebuild. But I am now. Official announcement: WE ARE DOING A MASSIVE REHAUL OF THE BLOG, A COMPLETE REBUILD. Well, technically “we” are not. Steven Ray, my assistant from the beginning and mastermind of all-things-blog-related is. He’s been working on it for many months. It’s a major undertaking. For some years now he’s been keeping the current version running on duct tape and bailing wire, having started it over eight years ago when technology and life as we know it was different. Things have changed. Now we’ll change better with them. We are using the new blog structure to implement lots of other changes that we think will make the blog much better for blog users and to attain the goals of the blog itself better. There have always been two goals: To disseminate scholarly knowledge about the New Testament and the Beginnings of Christianity as broadly as we can, in simple terms [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:01-04:00January 24th, 2020|Public Forum|

Want To Know About the Apostolic Fathers?

Last year we admitted a student into our PhD program last year to work with me, but since I've been on academic leave to write my next book, I haven't had the chance to teach her. That's obviously a problem, since I"m one of the reasons she's here! So we agreed that I would go ahead and do a one-on-one independent study with her this semester on an important topic, the Apostolic Fathers. We meet once a week for three hours to translate Greek texts, discuss the books in question (see below), and talk about scholarly monographs that she is assigned to read each week. It's a lot. But, well, welcome to the PhD! For many students college is a big leap form high school; a master's program is a big leap from undergraduate; and a PhD program is a QUANTUM leap. The "Apostolic Fathers" is a technical term for a group of 10 (or 11, depending on what you include) authors traditionally thought to have been writing immediately after the books of the NT [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:48:01-04:00January 22nd, 2020|History of Christianity (100-300CE), Teaching Christianity|

Jesus, the Supernatural, and the Historian: Guest Post 2 by James Tabor

Here is the second half of James Tabor’s guest post; for the first, see yesterday! I think you will agree, the two parts are very stimulating. If you want to hear more of James’s thoughts on all sorts of topics connected to the New Testament and Early Christianity, he too has a very helpful blog where he discusses all sorts of relevant topics. Give it a look! It’s at https://jamestabor.com/ James will be happy to address questions you have in your comments. Please keep them short and to the point, if possible! Happy reading. James Tabor's most popular books are The Jesus Dynasty and Paul and Jesus, among others. ******************************************************* The public has been geared to think of the suppression of evidence, usually with the Roman Catholic church being the culprit, but such grand “conspiratorial” theories have little basis in fact. What is most characteristic of early Christianity, or more properly, “Christianites,” is a competing diversity of “parties and politics,” each propagating its own vision of the significance of the life and teachings of Jesus [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:47:45-04:00January 21st, 2020|Historical Jesus, Reflections and Ruminations|

Guest Post by James Tabor: The Historian and the Supernatural

I am honored to have a guest post provided for us by James D. Tabor, Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at my sibling-school UNC-Charlotte, and longtime friend. Many of you will know James and his work, as he publishes not only for the scholarly crowd but also for broader audiences. If you want to stir up controversy – that’s the way to go! And James is no stranger to it, as becomes clear in this post – or rather these two posts. I’ve decided to split them in half to fit in with the more common length on the blog. So, one today and one tomorrow. James is dealing with a topic we have queried before on the blog before, about the role of miracles/the supernatural in scholarship. But this will be very different from the most recent posts by our firm atheist friends last month. James is not dealing with the difficult question of whether miracles are plausible at all, but with the equally difficult question of whether historians, by the nature [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:47:45-04:00January 20th, 2020|Historical Jesus, Reflections and Ruminations|

So: Was Luke Luke?

I started this thread over a week ago on the authorship of the Third Gospe and its accompanying volume, the book of Acts, and would like now simply to bring some closure to it before moving on to other things. To sum up: there is a kind of interpretive logic that can lead one to think that the books were written by Luke, a Gentile physician who was a traveling companion of Paul. This is what I myself thought for years, and it was based on this logic, that: The author of Acts also wrote the Gospel of Luke That the author of Acts, and therefore of Luke, must have been a traveling companion of Paul (since he speaks of himself in the first person on four occasions) That this author was probably a Gentile because he was so concerned with the spread of the Christian movement among Gentiles (the whole point of the book of Acts) Paul himself speaks of a Gentile among his traveling companions in Colossians 4, naming him as Luke the [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T12:47:45-04:00January 19th, 2020|Acts of the Apostles, Paul and His Letters|

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