Page 31 – The Bart Ehrman Blog

ANOTHER Blog Dinner! Thursday, July 18, Wimbledon. Interested?

The first blog dinner I announced (happening tomorrow, Friday July 12) was oversubscribed, and so I'll be doing a second -- this time on my home-away-from-home turf, Wimbledon Village, on Thursday July 18. Seats are limited. Want one of them? I'll again limit the table to 8, me and the perfect number 7. For those who come there are no obligations other than: Being a blog member Showing up Talking Paying for whatever you ingest. Whatever you exgest is free. If you're interested, do NOT reply here as a comment. Send me an email at [email protected]. Hope you can come!

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:08:16-04:00July 11th, 2024|Public Forum|

Lost Scriptures

I was reluctant to write my first trade book (Jesus the Apocalyptic Prophet: see previous post), and had to be dragged into writing my second. I just wanted to devote myself to technical scholarship. But, well, I yielded in the end, and I'm glad I did. My second trade book ended up being two books. I had agreed to write about the "heretical forms" of Christianity and their Scriptures, but then my publisher, Oxford University Press, talked me into not only doing that study (Lost Christianities) but also an accompanying anthology of texts, Lost Scriptures. Once again I was reluctant (!) but I lost out again, and again I'm glad. It's been the better selling of the two books, to my great surprise. Here I'll explain what it contains, taken from the Introduction to it (OUP, 2003). This will take two posts. ****************** General Introduction Even though millions of people world-wide read the New Testament -- whether from curiosity or religious devotion -- very few ask what this collection of books actually is [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:07:58-04:00July 11th, 2024|Book Discussions, Christian Apocrypha|

June Gold Q&A Video

Here's June's Gold Q&A video--a little late, but we're catching up: https://vimeo.com/982050587/ac247cd405?share=copy

Diane2025-09-10T13:08:15-04:00July 10th, 2024|Public Forum|

My First Trade Book: Jesus, Apocalyptic Prophet

I have started a thread discussing the books I've written for broader audiences. My first actual "trade book" was Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium (Oxford University Press, 1999) (uh, that would be 25 years ago!). Here is how I explain the book and it's raison d'etre in the Preface. In case you wonder -- I still hold the same basic views of Jesus now that I did then, and still find the arguments I adduce convincing. ****************************** Preface When anyone has asked me why I’m writing a book about the historical Jesus, I’ve usually replied, “Well, it’s about time someone did.” Actually, at last count there were something like eight zillion books written about Jesus. And those are just the ones written by scholars. A good number of these, mainly the lesser known ones, are written by scholars for scholars to promote scholarship; others are written by scholars to popularize scholarly views. The present book is one of the latter kind. I really don’t have a lot to say to scholars who [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:07:58-04:00July 10th, 2024|Book Discussions, Historical Jesus|

How Can We Possibly Know a Scribe’s Intentions? My Most Important Theoretical Reflection
Gallery
How Can We Possibly Know a Scribe’s Intentions? My Most Important Theoretical Reflection

Book Discussions, New Testament Manuscripts

How Can We Possibly Know a Scribe’s Intentions? My Most Important Theoretical Reflection

Can we know what a scribe intended to do when he changed the text? Is it actually possible to know what anyone INTENDS? Isn't that technically impossible, unless we get into their minds somehow? I had to deal with this issue in the Orthodox Corruption of Scripture and there I laid out the theoretical premises I have/had, to allow me to say that a scribe intended to change a text. It's a view that most readers completely overlooked, including a bunch of my critics. *********************** Intentionality as a Functional Category The other theoretical claim that I made in Orthodox Corruption involved the broader concept of what it means to describe a scribal alteration of the text as “intentional.” I have been deeply interested in the question of “intention” for many years, as a philosophical problem (there is considerable philosophical discourse on it, of course), an issue in literary interpretation (especially since Wimsatt and Beardsley’s famous “Intentional Fallacy”), and, naturally, as it relates to scribes. Most textual critics have unproblematically talked about scribal changes being either accidental [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:07:58-04:00July 9th, 2024|Book Discussions, New Testament Manuscripts|

Free Lecture on Paul’s Life and Letters, Thursday (July 11)

I will be giving a free remote lecture this Thursday, July 11, at 1:00 pm EST. You're welcome to come! Sorry 'bout the time -- but I'm in England and so it'll be early evening here. The lecture is designed to be a lead-in to the annual New Insights into the New Testament (NINT) conference that will be happening on September 21-22. The conference will feature ten speakers who will each give a 50-minute talk with Q&A, all on topics (of speaker's choice) connected with the life and letters of Paul; the talks will all be geared to a general audience at about the level we address things here on the blog and in my online courses (www.bartehrman.com). The speakers are some of the top Pauline scholars in the cosmos. We haven't announced the conference yet, but will soon, with instructions about how to register etc. Whoever registers for it will receive a recording of my Thursday lecture for free. In it I will be presenting basic background into Paul to help get everyone up [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:08:15-04:00July 8th, 2024|Public Forum|

The Evolution of Jewish Monotheism–Platinum Post By Daniel Kohanski

Were ancient Israelites and then later Jews actually monotheists? What would that actually even mean? Did their belief in the gods/God change over time? Here is an intriguing and informed discussion by Platinum blog member Dan Kohanski. What do you think? ****************************** The Evolution of Jewish Monotheism[1] Monotheism—the idea that there is one and only one divine Being in the universe—is the underlying foundation of Judaism. Jews reaffirm this twice a day by reciting the Shema, the basic statement of the Jewish faith: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." This belief is said to have started with Abraham and established for all by Moses at Sinai as one of the Ten Commandments: "You shall have no other Gods besides Me" (Ex. 20:3). But is this really the way it happened in history, even in Biblical history? I suggest that the idea of monotheism evolved only gradually among the ancient Israelites, and even after it was generally accepted by their descendants the Jews, it was not completely so until Roman [...]

Diane2025-09-10T13:07:42-04:00July 8th, 2024|Public Forum|

Are Scribes of Texts Actually Authors?

In my overview of the responses to my book The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture in the Afterword I wrote of the 2nd edition, I began to address some major questions. In the book I argued that scribes of the New Testament intentionally changed the text in places in order to make it more orthodox in its theology or to circumvent its use by "heretics" who had other views. That raises a question: are scribes who change the text to make it say something different actually *authors* instead of mere copyists? Here's how I discuss the issue at the beginning of my Afterword. ************************ I see no need here to restate the original thesis of The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture. There is one issue connected with it, however, that has not been clear to some of its readers that does need to be addressed. In the book I never claimed and certainly never meant to claim that the majority of all textual variants in the tradition were “intentional” (a term I will be discussing [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:07:58-04:00July 7th, 2024|Book Discussions, New Testament Manuscripts|

The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, 2nd edition

I get asked a lot about my various books, and I often mention one of my books when no one has asked (you may have noticed). It occurred to me that it might be useful for me to present some blog posts on what each book is about. Probably my best known academic book was The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture (Oxford University Press, 1993). Twenty years after it was published I was asked to do a second edition, in which I would explain where the thing had originally come from (in my head) and what had happened in the field since it's original publication. Here is the Afterword to the 2nd edition (slightly edited) where I try to explain why I wrote it and what I was trying to accomplish with it. (It includes reflections on an alleged "original text" of the New Testament). ******************************* The following sketch is intended to reflect on what has been achieved in the field of New Testament textual criticism since I first published The Orthodox Corruption of [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:07:57-04:00July 6th, 2024|Book Discussions, New Testament Manuscripts|

July Gold Q&A: Your Turn

Summertime, and Gold Q&A time! I'll be recording another Q&A for all Gold & Platinum members soon, so here's your chance to take advantage of this perk. Send me whatever question has been nagging at you (blog-related, of course!). Short, to-the-point questions of general interest are most likely to get answered. Send an email to Diane at [email protected], and she'll compile all your questions for me. DEADLINE: Please get your question in by Friday of next week (07/12/2024) at midnight (whenever midnight is in your time zone).

Diane2025-09-10T13:07:14-04:00July 5th, 2024|Public Forum|

Does God Have Chromosomes? Guest Post by Douglas Wadeson, MD

What happens when a modern physician starts asking difficult questions of familiar biblical stories? Here is one answer: an intriguing post covering a topic that will not have occurred to most of us. Let's think about how a Virgin Birth works when (now, unlike antiquity) we have a pretty good idea of how Births work in general. If God made Mary pregnant through the spirit, what does that have to say about the nature of Jesus' at the biological level and, well, the chromosomes of God? This Platinum guest post is delivered to us courtesy of Platinum member Doug Wadeson. As I've mentioned, Platinum members can publish posts for other Platinum members, and they then vote on one to go to the blog at large. Doug won *twice* recently, so here's the second one. I have to admit, HERE is something I never thought of before! But I don't know, does it sound controversial to you? ****************************** Does God Have Chromosomes? Dr. Ehrman has many posts discussing the technical difficulties of the two birth stories [...]

Diane2025-09-10T13:07:57-04:00July 4th, 2024|Public Forum|

Did People Have Time for Jesus? – Guest Post from Platinum Member Doug Wadeson, MD.

There is nothing better than a guest blog post that flat-out disagrees with me! And here we have one. Is it plausible that Jesus could have had large crowds gathering together to hear his preaching in rural Galilee? I say: Not really. Platinum blog member Doug Wadeson says: Oh yes! As you may know, blog members on the Platinum Tier are allowed to write posts for other Platinum members. (Nice perk! If you're not a platinum member: take a look at it and see if you're interested. Just click JOIN [even if you belong already] and scroll to Platinum Tier and see). Every few weeks other Platinum members vote on which recent Platinum post should be posted on the blog at large. Doug's won the prize. Here's his post. What do you think? ****************************** On those few occasions when I have challenged something Dr. Ehrman has said he can usually shoot me down pretty quickly based on his range and depth of knowledge. But I am going to try again. Dr. Ehrman has suggested [...]

Diane2025-09-10T13:07:57-04:00July 3rd, 2024|Public Forum|

Platinum Webinar July 6

Platinum members, it's time for our quarterly Platinum webinar, where Bart and just Platinum members get together on Zoom. Because Bart is in a far time zone, we'll have to start early--1:00 PM EDT (check your time zone). This time, Bart's topic will be "How Can Historians Discuss the Miracles of the New Testament?" Of course, there will be time at the end for questions...be prepared! Zoom link: Platinum webinar July 6, 1:00 PM EDT But don't worry--we'll record the webinar and post for all Platinums to watch, so no problem if you can't participate live.

Diane2025-09-10T13:07:57-04:00July 2nd, 2024|Public Forum|

Finishing and Publishing My Dissertation
Gallery
Finishing and Publishing My Dissertation

New Testament Manuscripts, Reflections and Ruminations

Finishing and Publishing My Dissertation

This is the third and final post I'll do on my dissertation on the Gospel quotations in the writings of Didymus the Blind, advised by the great New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger. Different dissertation advisors have different approaches to supervising a dissertation. Some are extremely hands on, to the point of working over every thought and every sentence. Not too many are like that, because if they were, they would never do anything else with their life. Plus, the idea is for the student to figure it out and get good at it. That takes some trial and error. Other advisors go for the big picture and like to talk over the big ideas. Others basically don’t give a rip how the dissertation is coming along – they want to see it at the end, and when it’s done, they’ll tell the student whether it’s good enough or not. Others … well, there are lots of other approaches. Metzger took an approach that other students may have found frustrating, but that was absolutely [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:07:57-04:00July 2nd, 2024|New Testament Manuscripts, Reflections and Ruminations|

How I View the Bible as Both a Critical Scholar and a Christian: Guest Post by Judy Siker

This is the second guest post by Judy Siker, who explained in her previous post about her upbringing as a Christian in the South and then her move into the academic study of the Bible from a critical perspective. If you recall, Judy was my student in the (very secular!) graduate program in New Testament/Early Christianity here at UNC, where she did both a Masters and PhD in the field, focusing, in her dissertation, on the socio-historical background to the Gospel of Matthew, in particular as that involved the relations of Jews and Christians in the author's community. She then had a rich and varied teaching career in a range of schools -- private liberal arts, Catholic university, and Baptist seminary, among them! In this follow up post Judy lays out her understanding of what the Bible is (among other things, a book that asks compelling questions about matters of faith) and is not (a book that gives us all the incontrovertible answers), partly in response to comments and questions she received. She is willing [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:07:57-04:00June 30th, 2024|Reflections and Ruminations|

Is It Possible To Continue Believing? Guest Post by New Testament Scholar Judy Siker

Aren't critical scholars of the NT more or less bound or driven to stop believing? I've decided to provide two reposts on the question, since I continually get asked about it. First: my introduction to the issue and the guest poster. ****************************** One of the questions I get asked the most frequently from blog members is how someone can possibly continue to be a believing Christian if they understand the enormous problems presented by the critical study of the New Testament. I always tell them that in fact it’s not only possible – it happens all the time. Sometimes they are incredulous, but it’s not only true, it’s so true that my friends who know everything I know about the Bible and are still believers often find the question / issue completely puzzling. They have trouble understanding why anyone thinks it’s a problem. As we learned from "Cool Hand Luke" (a great movie, btw, with tons of Christ-images), “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” I have asked my former student and long-time [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:07:57-04:00June 29th, 2024|Reflections and Ruminations|

The Reason for Detailed Work on Textual Criticism

Here is the second of three posts on my first book-length study -- my dissertation on a particular aspect of how we can determine what the original words of the New Testament were and how they came to be changed over time. The dissertation was directed by Bruce Metzger, and it dealt more directly with the rather technical issue of the Gospel quotations of the fourth-century church father Didymus the Blind. When I first started thinking about how to write up this second post, I remembered one of my clearest pieces of advice that I ever gave to myself, many years ago now, based, already then, on substantial experience. Never , ever, EVER ask a graduate student what s/he is writing the dissertation on. They invariably will tell you, and it will take a half hour, and your eyes will glaze over in 30 seconds. So just don’t do it. With that principle in mind, I think I had better not go into all the ins and outs of the dissertation. I’ll just go into some [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:07:57-04:00June 27th, 2024|Public Forum|

May Gold Q&A Video

Here's May's Gold Q&A video--a little delayed because of Professor Ehrman's heavy summer travel schedule: https://vimeo.com/968002151/4f376bd297?share=copy

admin2025-07-16T17:48:37-04:00June 26th, 2024|Public Forum|

My First Book! A Dissertation on Textual Criticism of the New Testament

Last night someone asked me about my very first book. My answer wasn't what they were hoping for; the book was not an insightful discussion of Jesus or the Gospels or how we got the Bible for a general audience. It was my published dissertation, a work of scholarship on the Greek manuscript tradition of the NT written for the six people in the world who would care. But it's kind of an interesting story anyway, in part because it deals with the fundamental issue of how scholars try to decide what the authors of the NT originally wrote. It went at the issue in a highly specific and detailed way, that one probably would not think of off the bat. I talked about it on the blog many years ago, and will devote to it three posts again. ****************************** I have talked about Bruce Metzger, my mentor in graduate school, for both my Master's degree and my PhD, a number of times on the blog. When I entered my PhD program at Princeton Theological [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:07:57-04:00June 26th, 2024|Book Discussions, New Testament Manuscripts|

The Arch-Heretic of Them All? Simon of Samaria — Guest Post From Dr. David Litwa
Gallery
The Arch-Heretic of Them All? Simon of Samaria — Guest Post From Dr. David Litwa

Heresy and Orthodoxy, History of Christianity (100-300CE), Public Forum

The Arch-Heretic of Them All? Simon of Samaria — Guest Post From Dr. David Litwa

This now is the final guest post by David Litwa, one of the most prolific scholars of New Testament and Early Christianity over the past ten years. David was a graduate student at Duke some years ago and took a couple of my PhD seminars over at UNC. He is now at Boston College. (See: M. David Litwa - School of Theology and Ministry - Boston College (bc.edu) All of these posts are tantalizing introductions to (three different) books he has written for a general audience. This one is about one of the most infamous figures from the early church. But is his infamy deserved? Let us know what you think! ****************************** With Simon of Samaria, we enter the maelstrom, a Charybdis of confused and cacophonous incriminations, slanderous stories, and inimical innuendo. It seems that the man Simon existed—as much as any other figure in recorded history—but he has long since been swallowed in the abyss of myth and countermyth. Anti-Simon stories and reports begin to appear in the early to mid-second century [...]

Diane2025-09-10T13:07:41-04:00June 25th, 2024|Heresy and Orthodoxy, History of Christianity (100-300CE), Public Forum|

Previous 1···303132···218 Next