Loading...In case you missed it last time, here’s my announcement of the course I’ll be doing on this coming Sunday. It’s a difficult, very complicated, and often incredibly important topic. I hope you can come!
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I’m pleased to announce that I will be doing a new two-lecture course on a rather timely topic, When Does Life Begin: The Status of the Unborn in the Biblical Tradition. The course is not connected with the Blog per se, except insofar as I’m doing it and many of you might be interested. For more information and registration, go to http://www.bartehrman.com/life
Even if you can’t come to the live lectures, you will be able to get a recording of the course to watch at your leisure.
Here’s a description of the course:
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The issue of abortion is one of the most divisive controversies in our country. In many ways it comes down to a very basic question: When Does Life Begin? At conception? Later in gestation? When the fetus is viable? At birth?
For many people the question is intimately connected with the Bible. Does the Bible declare, intimate, or assume that the fetus is human? Some emphatically say yes. Others say no. Other are not so sure.
In these lecture, we address the question head on. What does the Bible say about the status of the unborn?
The course will look at both sides of the question, considering passages that can be used to claim the embryo and/or fetus is a human – so that an intentional termination of pregnancy would be murder — and passages that can be used to maintain it is not.
The course will NOT take a stand on the modern debates or the underlying question of when life begins. The course will, however, attempt to show what the Bible actually says about the matter. For some people the biblical view is the deciding factor, for others not. But whatever one’s position on biblical authority, it is important to know what the biblical view is.
The course will consist of two 50-minute lectures followed by an extended live Q&A. People of every persuasion are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Questions to be Addressed:
- Was abortion known to the ancient world?
- Do the biblical authors ever discuss it?
- Does Jesus address it, or say anything of relevance to it?
- Do any passages in the Old or New Testament that show that biblical authors assumed or implied that life begins at conception or at some point of gestation before birth?
- Are there passages that indicate they did not think so?
- Is there a single view in the Bible, or a variety of perspectives?
- How might knowing the biblical view affect the modern debate?
Obviously these are hotly debated issues. I hope you can join me for the event.
If you’ve previously responded to this question please forgive and provide source info.
Marcion–according to Tertullian–wrote that yes, Jesus had to die but that “it was not for you” (the Jews) to execute him, to cause his death.
The question: If not “the Jews,” did Marcion enlighten as to who or what was/were supposed to have been the instrument(s) of Jesus’ death?
I don’t believe so (though I dn’t remember off hand the passage in Tertullian you’re referring to) The same more forcefully in the later Paschal sermon of Marcion.
I’m not seeing a time for the lecture? If we don’t pay for the live session, do we get to watch it for free at a later date? I thought the website said I get access to all the videos on there after I paid for the last lecture or no?
I’d like to know what the Bible says regarding vegetarianism or veganism. There’s a raw vegan YouTube influencer I follow who says, “God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, not the slaughterhouse.” I know some people believe the Kingdom of God will be a plant based society because of the Genesis story. I also follow another popular Christian, vegan family on YouTube who strongly believe that God does not want us to consume anything from animals. They feel led in this direction, but it doesn’t seem to be based on anything scriptural that I can think of other than the Genesis story. What about Jesus’s beliefs around diet? What do we know about that?
2:00. For all such matters see http://www.bartehrman.com/courses
Will you be discussing other religions’ takes on the subject?
Nope. Just the Bible.
Hello Bart,
I searched for a more appropriate place to ask my question but couldn’t find one, so I hope it’s not a problem if I ask it here.
I have often wondered where the idea of monogamy in the New Testament comes from. Is it related to Roman culture? Or to the Jewish culture of that time (considering that rabbis “abolished” polygamy a few centuries later)? Or is it related to the apocalyptic message of Paul of Tarsus, who believed that getting married would be pointless given the imminent return of Jesus? Did this message ultimately lead to the possibility of getting married but only with one person (due to Jesus not returning and the people’s carnal and reproductive needs)?
I have been pondering this question for months and haven’t found a book on this subject. I would love to have your opinion on it.
It was widley practiced at the time throughout hte Empire, but very strongly at that point in the Jewish tradition.
Hello, Bart,
I have some questions on 2 Samuel 12:13-14
[13] David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan said to David, “Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die.
[14] Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die.”
1) Does verse 13 shows that God can forgive sins if you just repent and there is no need for a sacrifice? (The opposite of the christian belief?)
2) I think christians would say that future generations are not punished by the sins of the parents, but here we see an exemple of that. David gets punished by his child being killed by God. Do you think we see here an exemple about unborn children/infants’ lifes not being regarded important or human beings?
1. Yes. That was the view of Jesus as well, btw, as I’ll be arguing in my next book. 2. The Bible has numerous passages tht talke of the sins of the parents being visited on future generations.
Well,,,,,,,when it comes to the beginning of life, I don’t believe the Abrahamic religions significantly contribute to the understanding of reproduction. None of them have historically acknowledged the importance of womens role or the egg or even the existence of the egg in reproductive knowledge, or in other word, they didn’t seem to have any clue. I believe that all Abrahamic texts—Jewish, Christian, and Muslim—fall embarrassingly short when compared to modern science. I hope they will never be sources for an advanced understanding of the origins of the life into this material “vehicle”.
Hi Dr. Ehrman. I came across GJohn 19:25 today, which seems to suggest that Jesus’ mother (unnamed in GJohn) had a sister who’s name was (also) Mary. Did some digging on the academic biblical subreddit where someone claimed that there are actually 4 women mentioned here rather than 3, and the omission of the “καὶ” between the mention of Jesus’ mother’s sister and Clopas’ Mary should be taken as an example of semantic parallelism rather than a reference to the same person. In your opinion, is this a persuasive argument? Do you think there are 3 women mentioned here or 4?
There appear to be three. Jesus’ mother, his mother’s sister also named Mary and married to Clopas, and Mary Magalene.
Hi Dr Ehrman
Does jurisprudence ever intersect into biblical scholarship?
Thank you so much!
Not really, in the sense that it makes a difference in how things are interpreted. At least it shouldn’t. If it does it’s because scholars aren’t doing historical scholarship but making texts say what they think they should say.
I’m really angry. Signed up for this event and can’t get it. Please advise.
Sorry not to reply sooner — I”ve been offline. Did you manage to get it worked out? If not, send a note to [email protected]
Dr. Ehrman,
This is a bit unrelated to this post, but I have been wanting to ask you this for some time and wasn’t sure where else I could ask! I am a former Christian who graduated from a four-year fundamentalist Bible college and then got halfway through a master of divinity at a Southern Baptist seminary before dropping out due to unbelief.
I was aware of your work as a Christian but didn’t really dig into any of your stuff until my deconversion. I’ve discovered that even though I don’t believe anymore, I still have a passion for the subject matter. I love learning about early Christian history and would love to work in an academic field where I can research, write, and teach. I’m just not sure of the best route to make that happen though.
If you were in my shoes, what colleges/universities would you be looking into in order to finish out my master’s degree and put myself in the best position to research/write/teach in this field?
Thank you for all you do! Your works have been a vital resource in my spiritual journey.
I’d suggest looking into top level divinity schools, if your grades were good enough (Duke, Emory, Princeton, Yale, etc.) It just depends what kind of thing you’re looking for. Check out what various ones are like online. Good luck with it!
Thanks so much!!
I’ve never found a reference to abortion in the bible. However, the Didache forbids it. You are only discussing “the Bible” but can you include a discussion on the Didache commandment?
I did! Wiht an explanation of why it became an issue by that time.
My bad!
I’m sorry I missed it.
I put the wrong date on my calender.