Page 47 – The Bart Ehrman Blog

Is Critical Biblical Scholarship Valid? What the New Testament Itself Indicates!

In my previous post I argued that critical scholars who insist that the Gospels are not historically accurate accounts of what happened in the life of Jesus – even though they do contain some historically accurate information, which needs to be carefully and cautiously ferreted out of their narratives – are not trashing the Gospels. They are trashing unfounded fundamentalist assumptions about the Gospels. In this post I’d like to argue that this view -- that the Gospels are not sacrosanct-historically-accurate-to-the-very-detail accounts of what really happened in the life of Jesus -- is not merely a modern notion that emerged during the Enlightenment. It is that, to be sure; but it’s not merely that. In fact, I would argue that this is the earliest attested view of the Gospels from earliest Christianity. Let’s assume for this argument a view that most scholars hold and that I could demonstrate if I wanted to spend a lot of time doing so (for example here and here), that Mark was the first of our Gospels and that Matthew [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:04:11-04:00August 10th, 2023|Canonical Gospels, History of Biblical Scholarship|

Hey, Stop Trashing the Gospels!

I am going to take a brief break from my response to Craig Evans’s critique of my view of Jesus’ burial. There are more things that I need to say – and I have not yet gotten to what I think are his two best arguments. But my sense is that some people are getting a little tired of a steady dose of posts on the burial stories, so… I’m going to break to deal with something else of more general interest. Over the years some people have responded to my argument that Jesus was not really buried by Joseph of Arimathea on the day of his crucifixion by asking me: Why are you trashing the Gospels? It’s a fair question, and deserves a fair answer. The short story is that I’m not intending or trying to trash the Gospels. In my view, what I’m doing is showing what the Gospels really are and what they really are not. And that is not a matter of trashing them. It’s a matter of revealing their true [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:04:11-04:00August 9th, 2023|Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus, Public Forum|

Creating the Qu’ran: Where Did the Scripture of Islam Really Come From? Guest post by Stephen Shoemaker

Here now is the third and final post on the Qur'an by scholar of Early Islam and Ancient Christianity Stephen Shoemaker, Professor at the University of Oregon. Stephen is an internationally-known scholar and his first two posts are highly informed and have been controversial among some of our blog members--as one would expect for someone whose research leads to conclusions different from what everyone has always said and assumed to be true! In this post he addresses the question many of us have long had: when was the Qur'an actually produced and could the traditions it contains have been changed over the years before it was written? ****************************** Creating the Qur’an: The Formation of the Last Ancient Scripture Hi again. Welcome to my final post, and I’d like to thank Bart for the opportunity to engage this lively forum and also all of its members for reading and considering my thoughts. In my two previous posts, you will recall, I noted some significant problems with prevailing understandings of how the Qur’an as [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:03:55-04:00August 8th, 2023|Public Forum|

Were Roman Leaders Told to Provide Decent Burials for Crucified Victims? (Really?)

In my previous post I tried to show why Craig’s argument that Roman governors on (widely!) isolated occasions showed clemency to prisoners (those not sentenced to death) has no relevance to the question of whether Jesus, condemned to crucifixion for treason against the Roman state, would have been allowed a decent burial, contrary to Roman practice. The “clemency” argument – even in the sources that Craig himself cites, only seems to show that in cases that were completely unlike that of Jesus himself, Roman governors could on rare occasions be merciful and/or bribed. Craig goes on to say that this clemency was extended to the burial of executed criminals. Now in theory, this should be relevant to the question of whether Pilate showed mercy on Jesus by allowing his body to be buried on the day of his execution. But when you actually look at the evidence, once again it is not just irrelevant to Craig's argument, it actually supports the *opposite* view that is opposite to the one Craig wants to argue. See for [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:03:55-04:00August 6th, 2023|Greco-Roman Religions and Culture, Historical Jesus|

Did Romans Show Clemency to Crucified Criminals?

In my previous post I began to discuss Craig Evan’s essay “Getting the Burial Traditions and Evidences Right,” which was his attempt to show that the views I set forth in How Jesus Became God were flawed. In his view, the New Testament portrayal of Jesus’ burial is almost certainly historical: Jesus really was buried, in a known tomb, on the afternoon of his death, immediately after he expired, by Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin who had, the night before, called for his execution. My view is that this is entirely unlikely, that Jesus was probably left on his cross to suffer the ravages of time and, possibly, scavenging animals, as was the practice of Romans for crucified victims. In no instance was this practice more constant than in the case of “enemies of the state,” anyone, for example, who was involved in an insurrection or who threatened a violent opposition to Roman rule (or was thought to have threatened). Jesus himself, of course, was executed on just this charge, of [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:03:55-04:00August 5th, 2023|Greco-Roman Religions and Culture, Historical Jesus|

Want to Watch Our Tár Movie Review With Maestra Gisele Ben-Dor?

A while ago we had an unusually intriguing Movie Club event on the blog as a fundraiser. The movie Tár with an absolutely stellar performance by Cate Blanchett was nominated for six academy awards; as you probably know, it was about the downfall of a brilliant woman who is an orchestra conductor. As it turns out, an active member of the blog is an internationally known orchestra conductor, Gisele Ben-Dor (see: Gisele Ben-Dor Conductor – A champion of Latin American music ), and we asked her if she would lead a discussion on the movie from her vast experience. It was terrifically interesting! We recorded it and are now offering it for those who make a donation to the blog. What about it? The donations are tax deductible and you'll find it a great experience! To give it a shot: First, go to the Blog Home page and scroll to the bottom to find the donation buttons. Then, grab your invoice number from the email the blog just sent you, and head to the Tár [...]

Diane2025-09-10T13:03:54-04:00August 3rd, 2023|Public Forum|

Time to Vote for Your Favorite Platinum Post

Dear Platinum members, That time again — an opportunity for you to vote on one of our Platinum guest posts, to see which one will be posted on the blog at large. Take a look — they’re all terrific. To vote, just send a quick note to Diane at [email protected] Your deadline: this Saturday, June 18, midnight your time. And remember — you’re always welcome to submit a post yourself. 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. Just zap Diane a note at [email protected]. May 22, 2023 Was Jesus Literate or Illiterate? Omar Robb May 26, 2023 Did Jesus Believe The End Would Come Within His Lifetime? Rizwan Ahmed May 29, 2023 Was Jesus a Simplistic Person or an Extraordinary One? Omar Robb June 2, 2023 The 3rd Rail - A Critique of Jesus. Steve Clark

Diane2025-09-10T13:04:11-04:00August 2nd, 2023|Public Forum|

Preparing for that “Final Trip” (outta here). What Do You Think?

On the questions of mortality and moving on.... A couple of weeks ago, as I was preparing for my recent course "Why I Am Not a Christian," I was reminded of one of my favorite modern novels, The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes, which won the Booker Prize in 2011. What a terrific book. Short but completely compelling. Beautifully written. Moving. Thought provoking. I can’t recommend it highly enough. I won’t give up the plot, but, well, it’s about life, death, getting older, memory, and remorse. Two lines really struck me. The first is spoken by one of the characters in a history class in school in his upper sixth (that’s the year English students prepare for university; it’s a lot more rigorous than our senior years in high school) (mine anyway; and I went to an unusually good high school!). When asked, at the end of the term, what history is (looking back at all they had studied), he responds: “History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:03:54-04:00August 2nd, 2023|Public Forum, Reflections and Ruminations|

My Interview With Glenn Siepert

I recently did an interview with Glenn Siepert for his program "The What If Project," on my book Armageddon, What the Bible Really Says about the End. His new book, "Emerging From the Rubble: Thirty Stories About Grief, Broken Dreams, Shattered Relationships, and Finding the Courage to Keep Going," just came out, as well. Glenn asks very good questions, and we got into some unusually interesting topics. I hope you enjoy it! *****************************

Diane2025-09-10T13:03:53-04:00August 1st, 2023|Public Forum, Revelation of John|

Jesus the Half-Nabataean Prince, a Platinum Post by Serene

Serene has been an active member of the Platinum Corp, and here has written her first Guest Post; it's informative and, I bet, controversial! Let Serene and the rest of us know what you think (and why)! ****************************** Hi fellow Platies! Today, I present the case for Jesus as the son of a handmaiden and an Abrahamic divine king. https://www.britannica.com/topic/sacred-kingship/The-divine-or-semidivine-king This would be under the right codified in the Babylonian Talmud that gives foreign officials access to engaged Jewish virgins: https://www.sefaria.org/Ketubot.3b.1?lang=bi&with=all "Rabba said: The baraita is referring to a period where the government said that a virgin who is married on Wednesday will submit to intercourse with the prefect [hegmon] first." And also in accordance with an Arab tradition attested to in the 7th C, and likely existing earlier, of royalty freeing a handmaid after first birth to marry. The Why To reboot Jewish lineage. Lineage Nabataean-Edomite King Herod the Great had eliminated all of his lineage-Jewish children heirs by 4 BCE. Civil unrest ensued because as the saying goes, “representation matters”. [...]

Diane2025-09-10T13:03:55-04:00July 31st, 2023|Public Forum|

Alleged “Proof” That Crucified Jews Were Allowed Decent Burials

Now that I have restated my views about the burial of Jesus by citing passages from How Jesus Became God (HarperOne, 2014) and emphasized one particular general point – that it is of utmost importance to remember why Romans crucified people, and in particular why they crucified those who were guilty of insurrection, the threat of insurrection, or high treason (a point that I cannot stress enough: Jesus was executed for calling himself the King of the Jews – a political charge of treason against the state) – I can now begin to summarize the counter-arguments that Craig Evans has made in his relatively long response, “Getting the Burial Traditions and Evidences Right.” Despite this title, and despite the respect I have for Craig as a scholar, I have to say that in my judgment he gets virtually all the evidence precisely wrong. He focuses his counter-argument on two of my main points: the Roman practices of crucifixion and the character of Pontius Pilate in particular. I will respond to all of his major claims – [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:03:54-04:00July 30th, 2023|Early Judaism, Greco-Roman Religions and Culture, Historical Jesus|

New Insights into the New Testament: An Event You DON’T Want to Miss!

I am very pleased to announce an upcoming event that surely *anyone* connected to the blog will be deeply interested in: a two-day remote Bible conference for non-scholars, called "New Insights into the New Testament," consisting of ten lectures, on the canonical Gospels, delivered by some of the most highly recognized New Testament scholars in the country, in terms accessible to layfolk. There's never been anything like this. (But there will be again, since we're planning on making it an annual event!) The conference is not connected with the Blog per se, apart from the facts that the issues are all directly related to what we do here and that I'm the one organizing and moderating the event. Check out this video description (and look at the site: New Insights into the New Testament: A Biblical Conference for Non-Scholars (bartehrman.com) *****

Diane2025-09-10T13:03:54-04:00July 29th, 2023|Public Forum|

A Proposition That the First Greek Converts to Jesus Were a Few Ascetic Pythagorean Philosophers. A Platinum Post From Omar Robb

Another deep dive into an interesting question with a new suggestion, with Platinum member Omar Robb! ****************************** In this article we will propose a solution to the following puzzle: How did Jesus teaching pass and flourish from its local limited domain (the Jewish community in Palestine) to a foreign domain (the Greek-Roman world) in less than 20 years? But we need first to discuss the Pythagorean Movement: Pythagoreanism originated in Greece from about the 6th century BC. However, I am going to argue here that Pythagoreanism didn’t really have much influence on the communities. They did have a huge influence on knowledge and wisdom through history, and the current human knowledge and wisdom can be related back to the first Pythagorean Philosophers (including Socrates and Plato), but my argument here is about the influence of these philosophers on the daily life of the masses at ancient times, and my assumption here is that they had little influence over the life of the ordinary people at that time. Now ... I don’t have a solid proof [...]

Diane2025-09-10T13:03:16-04:00July 28th, 2023|Public Forum|

Does It Even Matter If Jesus Was Given a Proper Burial?

Now that I have devoted a few posts to presenting my argument for why I think Jesus was probably not given a decent burial – the posts were portions of a chapter lifted from How Jesus Became God (HarperOne, 2014)– I am in a position to begin to respond to the counter-arguments of Craig Evans, my evangelical friend and naysayer, whose essay “Getting the Burial Traditions and Evidences Right” is widely seen – at least by people who have said anything to me about the matter – as the best contribution in the response book How God Became Jesus. In my replies to his arguments, I will call him “Craig,” hoping that this does not smack too much of over-familiarity. But, well, we’ve known each other for thirty years, have worked together on various film projects (documentaries that we have both in), and have had a number of cordial public debates. Referring to him as “Evans” might seem a bit contemptuous. And truth be told, I’m not at all contemptuous of his scholarship or of [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:03:54-04:00July 27th, 2023|Public Forum|

More Reasons for Thinking Jesus was Not Given a Decent Burial

So far in this thread I have been laying out the argument found in my book How Jesus Became God of why I do not think Jesus was given a decent burial by Joseph of Arimathea on the day he was crucified. This will be the last post on the question. After this the fun begins. My friend, New Testament scholar Craig Evans, laid out a detailed argument for why he thinks I am very wrong, as one of the essays in the response-book, How God Became Jesus. Starting in the next post, in a new thread of a number of response-to-the-response posts, I will respond to Craig's arguments one-by-one, to show in turn why I don't find his arguments at all convincing. In my post yesterday I talked about one specific reason for doubting the tradition of Jesus' burial by Joseph of Arimathea. Now I give two more reasons. ****************************** Greek and Roman Practices of Using Common Graves for Criminals My second reason for doubting that Jesus received a decent burial is that – [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:03:54-04:00July 26th, 2023|Greco-Roman Religions and Culture, Historical Jesus|

Did Romans Allow Decent Burials for Crucified Criminals?
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Did Romans Allow Decent Burials for Crucified Criminals?

Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus

Did Romans Allow Decent Burials for Crucified Criminals?

In considering whether Jesus was buried on the day of his death, does it matter what Roman typical practices were? Or should these just be overlooked, not taken into consideration? In addition to the rather general considerations I have given in my previous post for calling into question the idea that Jesus received a decent burial by Joseph of Arimathea, there are three more specific reasons for doubting the tradition that Jesus received a decent burial at all, in a tomb that could later be recognized as emptied. Roman Practices of Crucifixion Sometimes Christian apologists argue that Jesus had to be taken off the cross before sunset on Friday, because the next day was Sabbath and it was against Jewish Law, or at least Jewish sensitivities, to allow a person to remain on the cross during the Sabbath. Unfortunately, the historical record suggests just the opposite. It was not Jews who killed Jesus, and so they had no say about when he would be taken down from the cross. Moreover, the Romans who [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:03:54-04:00July 25th, 2023|Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus|

Literary Problems with the Gospel Accounts of Jesus’ Burial
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Literary Problems with the Gospel Accounts of Jesus’ Burial

Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus

Literary Problems with the Gospel Accounts of Jesus’ Burial

Here is a section from my book How Jesus Became God (HarperOne, 2014) that deals with the question of whether Jesus was actually given a decent burial by Joseph of Arimathea. At this point of my discussion I am not looking into the question of whether it is plausible that Jesus would be buried on the day of his execution given what we know from other historical sources, about Roman practices, but at general problems with the reporting in the Gospels. ****************************** According to our earliest account, the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was buried by a previously unnamed and unknown figure, Joseph of Arimathea, “a respected member of the council” (Mark 15:43) – that is, a Jewish aristocrat who belonged to the Sanhedrin, which was the ruling body made up of “chief priests, elders, and scribes” (Mark 14:53). According to Mark 15:43, Joseph summoned up his courage and asked Pilate for Jesus’ body. When Pilate learned that Jesus was already dead, he granted Joseph his wish, and he took the body from cross, wrapped it [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:03:54-04:00July 23rd, 2023|Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus|

Reminder: Why I’m Not a Christian — tomorrow!

In case you missed this -- I'll be doing a FREE four-lecture course tomorrow (with long Q&A) on "Why I Am Not A Christian." In it I will talk about my faith journey not for the sake of autobiography per se, but to explain one story of a person who came no longer to believe and decided to leave the faith. The course will include discussions of my scholarly endeavors but also of my wider struggles with the question of the existence of God and with the fears when I started wondering if I could continue to believe, the difficulties associated with leaving the faith, and, most important, the ways I and others have found meaning and purpose in a world without God. I hope you can come! The first 3000 get in! But the course will later be available to anyone (with the lectures, q&a, questions for reflection, etc.) See the promo below; for more information and registration, go to https://www.bartehrman.com/courses/

Diane2025-09-10T13:03:54-04:00July 22nd, 2023|Public Forum|

Back to Whether Jesus Was Really Given a Decent Burial

Was Jesus actually given a decent burial the afternoon he was crucified? Almost every Christian in the known universe, and almost all New Testament scholars, don't ask the question and if they do they don't ask it seriously: of *course* he was. Just read the Gospels! Why wouldn't he be? For years now I've taken a different stand, as pointed out in my recent post on Monty Python's Life of Brian (see: The Life of Brian and Jesus: Was Jesus Really Buried on the Day of the Crucifixion? - The Bart Ehrman Blog) After that post, and for years before that, blog readers have asked for a fuller explanation of my views, and for my responses to scholarly rejections of it. Most everything I talk about on the blog comprises views held either by a majority of scholars or by a respectable minority. Not this one. So why do I find it convincing? My fullest discussion of the matter came not in a scholarly publication but here on the blog, nine years ago. I've decided [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:03:53-04:00July 22nd, 2023|Bart's Critics, Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus|

Is the USA the Antichrist of the Book of Revelation? Slavic Views of the Apocalypse. Guest Post by Mikhail Abakumov

A few months ago I was invited to do a remote interview with a podcaster from Ukraine, Mikhail Abakumov, who has emigrated to Poland because of the war. Mikhail is a Christian scholar, working with Ukranian refugees, and writing a dissertation on the famous German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, famous for being involved with, and eventually executed for, an assassination plot against Hitler. Bonhoeffer has been an inspiration to many Christian seminarians, pastors, theologians, and thinkers at large ever since. During my interview with Mikhail I learned something that blew my mind. I knew full well that many American fundamentalists had long identified the Soviet Union, and then Russia (or one of its leaders) as the "Antichrist" (the "evil empire"); I had no idea that conservative Slavic Christians returned the favor and thought the same of the USA. Particularly today. That in fact the war in Ukraine was a fulfillment of Scriptural prophecies, especially the book of Revelation, which showed how the conflict would end and what world order would emerge from its ashes. I asked [...]

BDEhrman2025-09-10T13:03:53-04:00July 20th, 2023|Revelation of John|

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