Page 25 – The Bart Ehrman Blog

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 December 1st at 4pm Eastern Time. (Jen will send out an email reminder with this information as well.) We hope to see you there!

jennao2025-09-10T13:09:54-04:00November 20th, 2024|Public Forum|

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 "VIR" in Latin means "man." The excellences of a VIR are his VIRtues). For Aristotle, “virtues” require a good life in community with others. So the virtues involved how to make life good in the socio-political context one inhabits, which for Aristotle was the “polis” – the Greek term for the city (since there were not empires or national governments connected with Greece; it was ruled city states). And that means that virtues [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:09:41-04:00November 20th, 2024|Greco-Roman Religions and Culture, Reflections and Ruminations|

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 good blog; in the end, all of these things are simply means to our ultimate desire, to be “happy.” If Aristotle is right on this point (I happen to think he is), the clear implication is that we need, each of us, to figure out how we should live in the world, what we should do, and how we should be in order to attain that state of “happiness.” Not in the simplistic, surface sense [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:09:40-04:00November 19th, 2024|Greco-Roman Religions and Culture, Reflections and Ruminations|

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

jennao2025-09-10T13:09:53-04:00November 19th, 2024|Public Forum|

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 to the surprise of many moderns, ethics did not play a large role in ancient pagan religions. Worshiping the gods normally did not involve any public recognition of bad social behavior or feelings of guilt for mistreating another with requests for forgiveness. If someone had neglected the god, then apology or confession might be in order; but the gods were not focused on how humans treated one another, not all that concerned about whether you [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:09:40-04:00November 17th, 2024|Greco-Roman Religions and Culture, Reflections and Ruminations|

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 it at first, just lookin’ at the cover. But oh my god. I read it three times and it started a revolution in my brain, that continues and has made the most enormous difference, not so much in how I fill my days, hours, and minutes (in my case, time-obsessive guy that I am, and seconds…) but about my emotional approach and attitude toward what I do and the time I have to do it. [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:09:40-04:00November 16th, 2024|Reflections and Ruminations|

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 others are surprisingly disparate. That is hard to explain if we were all granted our moral compass from a power on high, but it makes perfect sense given evolutionary and social pressures. Our overarching “code” has developed over millions of years of evolution; but significant variations occur because humans have evolved in myriad different environments and cultures. The basic code makes sense to nearly all of us because in order to survive in virtually every [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:09:40-04:00November 14th, 2024|Reflections and Ruminations|

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, people we will never meet and possibly wouldn’t like if we did. Yet we – at least most of us – want to help. This sense of moral obligation to strangers in need is unnatural. It is not written into the human DNA nor did it exist in the ancient roots of our Western cultural heritage, either in Greek civilization from the literary and philosophical greats of Homer to Plato onward or in [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:09:40-04:00November 13th, 2024|Public Forum|

Another Reason for Thinking Jesus Called Himself the Messiah
Gallery
Another Reason for Thinking Jesus Called Himself the Messiah

Historical Jesus

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 kingdom on earth. And Jesus would be made the king. I don’t need here to give the extensive reasons for thinking that Jesus held to this kind of apocalyptic view in general – I’ve talked about it at length both in a number of my books and on the blog. The question here is the more narrow one: did Jesus think he would be the king of the coming kingdom? I have given one strong [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:09:40-04:00November 12th, 2024|Historical Jesus|

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 it to your heart's content. But if you want to see it in its pre-published state, here’s a chance. All the donations will go directly to support our charities; none will go to overhead or, well, anything else. There will be three donation tiers: Supporting Patron: $1000. Those making a donation of $1000 will be given the opportunity to read a draft of the book and make comments on it. I will consider the comments [...]

jennao2025-09-10T13:09:40-04:00November 11th, 2024|Public Forum|

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 different interpretations have been proposed for this story [Moses' Exodus]. The first sees in it a legend that is a disguised remembrance of the Amarna period." [1] While many scholars view Moses as a mythical figure placed within a historical context (interpretation three), I suggest Thutmose, the Overseer of Borderlands among many other titles, whose career culminated during the Amarna period (14th century BCE). [2] Thutmose served Amenhotep III and then his radical [...]

Diane2025-09-10T13:09:08-04:00November 11th, 2024|Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Public Forum|

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. All these views had one thing in common: the future messiah would be a figure of grandeur and might who would come with the authority and power of God. And who was Jesus? For most people of his day, Jesus was just the opposite – an itinerant Jewish preacher from the backwaters of rural Galilee who ended up on the wrong side of the law and was tortured and executed for his efforts. [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:09:40-04:00November 10th, 2024|Historical Jesus|

Albert Schweitzer and the Apocalyptic Jesus
Gallery
Albert Schweitzer and the Apocalyptic Jesus

Historical Jesus

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 argument is going to be that there are several pieces of evidence that strongly suggest it is, of which my plan is to stress two. As background, in my previous post, I laid out the world view that Jesus himself almost certainly subscribed to, a view that scholars have called Jewish apocalypticism. I need to develop these thoughts a bit in this post; and the next; after that I’ll lay out in (very) summary fashion [...]

admin2025-07-16T17:50:45-04:00November 9th, 2024|Historical Jesus|

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 at UNC since, well, roughly the beginnings of Jerusalem. In all these years I have never heard her asked a question she could not answer authoritatively. This book is exceptionally good. The people on the panel are all smart, interesting, and insightful. If you're interested, here is the brochure announcing the event. It is a fund-raiser for my department. We have a departmental fund that I myself started years ago called the Robert Miller [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:09:40-04:00November 8th, 2024|Public Forum|

An Imagined Dialogue for the Dispute Between Paul & Barnabas in Acts Part 4 by Angus Nisbet

We come now to the final post by Angus Nisbet on the dispute recorded in the NT between Paul and Barnabas, in which he tries to reconstruct what may have really happened (covered up by the NT reporting). Is it possible that Barnabas actually lashed seriously into Paul and became his enemy? Is it possible that Paul's enmity with Jewish Christians is what ultimately led to his martyrdom? Read on! And Respond! 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!! ****************************** In this fourth post on an Imagined dialogue between Paul and Barnabas for their dispute mentioned in Acts 15: 37-40, Barnabas points out to Paul in the dialogue that Paul’s words about being all things to all people (1 Cor 9: [...]

Diane2025-09-10T13:09:24-04:00November 8th, 2024|Acts of the Apostles, Paul and His Letters, Public Forum|

What Would an Apocalyptic Jew (Jesus!) Mean By Calling Himself Messiah?

In this thread I am trying to argue that Jesus understood himself to be the messiah. So far I have made one of my two main arguments, with the understanding that *both* arguments have to be considered in order to have a compelling case. So the first prong doesn’t prove much on its own. But in combination with the second argument, it makes a strong case. The first argument is that Jesus’ followers would not have understood him as the messiah after his death (as they did) unless they believed him to be the messiah before his death – even if they came to believe he had been raised from the dead, that would not have made them think he was the messiah. I’ve explained why in my previous post. The second second involves showing that it was not only the disciples who understood Jesus to be the messiah before his death, but that Jesus himself did. This is even harder to show, but I think there is really compelling evidence. There are [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:09:39-04:00November 7th, 2024|Early Judaism, Historical Jesus|

Can We Know What Jesus Said About Himself?

Do we know what Jesus said about himself? Yesterday I started my two-prong argument for why Jesus probably considered himself the messiah. The first prong is that Jesus must have been called the messiah during his lifetime, or it makes no sense that he would be called messiah after his death. Even if there were Jews who believed that Jesus was raised from the dead after he was crucified (as indeed there were! Otherwise we wouldn’t have Christianity), the resurrection of a dead person would never lead anyone to say “Ah, he’s the messiah!”. No one expected the messiah to be a resurrected person. So Jesus was being called the messiah before his death. Otherwise, we can’t make sense of the fact that he was called the messiah after his (believed-in) resurrection. Do We Know What Jesus Said About Himself? Several readers have pointed out that this does not mean that Jesus *himself* thought of himself as the messiah. It simply means that some of his followers did. That is absolutely right. [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:09:39-04:00November 6th, 2024|Historical Jesus, Public Forum|

Take My New Testament Pop Quiz!

A blog member recently asked me if I could post the pop quiz that I used to give t0 my New Testament class on the first day of the semester. I say "used to" because I have stopped teaching the course, after doing so for 35 years (!), yielding it over to the capable hands of my colleague Hugo Mendez, to allow me to teach small seminar-courses instead here as I progress into geezerhood. I was simply going to refer the blog member to the post where I had given the quiz recently, and ... and I can't find where / when I did! I'm sure I did! Then again, I'm sure I know where my glasses, keys, and phone are. But so far as I can tell, it's been years since I did. So -- well, here it is. I think this is the post in which I *first* revealed the quiz to interested blog members some ten years ago. [editor's note: Found it! My New Testament Pop Quiz]. After some preliminary remarks, I [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:09:39-04:00November 5th, 2024|Public Forum|

November Gold Q&A: Ask Your Questions!

Update: Here is a link to the replay of this Q&A. Hey Golds and Platinums: Mark your calendars – we've got a monthly Gold Q&A coming up on Sunday November 17th at 7pm Eastern. If you can, join us for the live session—it’s a chance to dive into your burning questions and catch the conversation as it unfolds! Can’t make it live? Not to worry; the replay and audio will be available shortly afterward. You can join the live recording via Zoom using this link. Got a Question? Send it to [email protected], and Jen will compile and send me the list. Remember, brevity is key—short, focused questions will rise to the top! Question Deadline: Thursday, November 14th, by 11:59pm (whenever that occurs in your time zone). (Note: We'll send out reminders in the Friday Recap emails leading up to the 17th.) Looking forward to another lively round of inquiries and insights!

jennao2025-09-10T13:09:40-04:00November 4th, 2024|Public Forum|

An Imagined Dialogue for the Dispute Between Paul & Barnabas in Acts Part 3 by Angus Nisbet

Now we come to the third of four posts by Platinum member Angus Nisbet on the dispute between Paul and Barnabas recorded in the book of Acts, where he maintains that Mark (as in John Mark, allegedly the author of the Gospel!) was a spy who ratted Paul out. And it involves a connection with the Essenes who produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. Whoa! Check it out and tell us what you think! 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!! ****************************** In this third post on the Imagined dialogue between Paul and Barnabas for their dispute mentioned in Acts 15: 37-40, the dialogue uses verses from Paul’s letter to the Galatians in which Paul attacks those whom he refers to as false [...]

Diane2025-09-10T13:09:23-04:00November 4th, 2024|Acts of the Apostles, Paul and His Letters, Public Forum|

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