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My Interview with Erstwhile-Evangelist-Now-Secular-Humanist Bart Campolo
Now this was an unusual interview! By a namesake! I’ve known about Bart Campolo for years, but mainly because of his father, Tony Campolo, a very well-known evangelical evangelist with left-leaning social and political views. Tony, the father, has a very interesting history (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Campolo); among other things, he was a spiritual adviser to Bill Clinton. But in some ways Bart, the son, has an even *more* interesting story. He was raised an evangelical, and became an evangelist/missionary, but eventually left the faith and became a secular humanist — as am I. Bart wrote a book about it, and together they helped produce a film released a few years ago, Leaving My Father’s Faith. It’s quite a story. Bart now has a secular ministry that involves counseling people who are thinking about leaving the faith or who have already done so. In addition, he has a weekly podcast, “Humanize Me.” On May 13, 2020, he invited me to the podcast to discuss my book “Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife.” As you will […]
May 20, 2020
A Bart Ehrman Webinar: How We Got the New Testament!
I have decided to hold a small and intimate webinar in order to raise money for the Bart Ehrman Blog. Every penny that the webinar brings in will go directly to two of the blog’s charities, The Food Bank of Central/Eastern North Carolina and Doctors without Borders, split equally between them. It will be held on Sunday May 31 at 4:00 pm. It will last for an hour and fifteen minutes. The topic of the seminar will be “How We Got the New Testament.” Among the topics to be covered will be: Who decided which books would be included in the New Testament? Who gave them the authority to decide? How did they decide? What were their criteria? When were their decisions finally made? What do we know about the books that were left out? And why didn’t these other books “make it”? I will say at the outset, here, that the answers are not what most people seem to suppose. In the webinar I will deliver a talk for about 40-45 minutes; the rest […]
May 17, 2020
Problems with Thinking the “Letters of John” in the NT are Forgeries? Guest Post: Hugo Mendez
This thread of posts we have been having by Hugo Mendez on the writings of “John” in the New Testament has been unusually stimulating and in the world of scholarship, controversial. If you haven’t followed the thread, just look at the four that have already been posted starting two weeks ago. If he were to argue that 1 Timothy was not really written by Paul, but someone claiming to be Paul (i.e., that it was a “forgery”), not a single New Testament scholar in the country would raise an eyebrow. But to claim the letters of John are forgeries? Yikes — now *that* is something you don’t hear every day. But can the claim be sustained? Here Hugo answers some of the objections others might raise. What do you think? Convinced? NOTE: most posts on the blog are for members only. This one is open to anyone who wants to see it. Wanna see this kind of post five times each and every week, going back eight years? Join […]
May 18, 2020
Reason and Theology – Heaven, Hell and the Afterlife
Here is the recording of an interesting on-line discussion I had on May 17, 2020 for a podcast called “Reason and Theology.” It was a rather unusual experience for me. The three moderators were all extremely well-informed lay people who are deeply interested in and knowledgeable about Roman Catholic tradition and theology. We talked about my book “Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife,” and we got into all sorts of things that I never would have expected. The podcast generally seeks to provide a wide range of in-depth interviews on theological, philosophical, and historical matters in a way that translates to the average person, to provide a platform for charitable round table discussions between opposing perspectives, and to facilitate formal debates in order to arrive at a better understanding of the truth. I’m not sure I helped to that end, but it was an interesting and at times lively discussion. Here it is. Please adjust gear icon for 1080p High-Definition:
July 7, 2020
Did Some *One* Forge the Writings of “John”? Guest Post by Hugo Mendez
Here my colleague Hugo Mendez wraps up his discussion of the writings of “John” — the Gospel of John, 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John — and he does so with a BANG. I hope you can see both the quality and significance of these conclusions. This is very serious and persuasive scholarship put at a level that even non-scholars can understand, with huge implications for understanding four of the important writings of the New Testament but also for rethinking questions of authorship of the early Christian writings and the history of our earliest Christian communities. It’s easy for scholars to see these implications (mainly because the conclusions he reaches are contrary to what most critical scholars actually teach their students all the time), which is why Hugo has stirred up a bit of a hornets’ nest. I hope it’s possible for you to both appreciate and enjoy the argument as well. There is only one point on which he and I probably disagree, and it has to do with the authorship of the […]
May 19, 2020
Last Chance for Webinar!
Today is the LAST DAY to put in a bid to join my small webinar on “How We Got the New Testament”! If you missed the post, here ’tis: https://ehrmanblog.org/a-bart-ehrman-webinar-how-we-got-the-new-testament/ I will be taking bids until 11:59 pm this evening. After that you will find yourself in the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
May 21, 2020
Did Judas Really Betray Jesus? Readers’ Mailbag
My post a few days ago about whether Paul knew that Jesus had been betrayed by Judas Iscariot — in which I concluded there really was no solid evidence one way or the other — generated several follow-up questions. Many of them simply asked: well, did it really happen? Here is an example, and my response. QUESTION: I may be showing my ignorance here but could it be that Paul doesn’t know/write about Judas’ betrayal because it never happened? Yes, it is in all four gospels but as you’ve pointed out the four gospels do not agree on who showed up at the empty tomb, what they saw, and what they did next so…. If they get that wrong could it be that the Judas betrayal is also a fabrication/legend? RESPONSE: It’s a great question, and I’m completely sympathetic to it. But I have to say that I think Jesus really was betrayed by one of his own, Judas Iscariot. In my judgment, that’s just where the evidence points. As many of you know […]
Tags: Judas, Paul, the historical Jesus
May 22, 2020
Academic Fraud at the Highest Levels
An article appeared in the Atlantic this past week that exposes academic fraud at the highest levels, involving millions of dollars, unscrupulous scholars, and evangelical Christians so intent on proving the truth of the Bible that they were willing, even eager, to engage in unethical and fraudulent activities to do so. It seems weird, but the case involves Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. The article was written by one of the country’s best investigative journalists, Ariel Sabar, who earlier had exposed for once and all the modern forgery known as “The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” in another article in the Atlantic (I’ve blogged on this forgery a number of times as the story unfolded; just search for “Jesus’ wife” on the blog and you’ll see the posts). Sabar has a forthcoming book on the topic, Veritas: A Harvard Professor, A Con Man, and the Gospel of Jesus’s Wife, due out in August. I have read it in manuscript, and it is damning indeed. So is the current article. You can see it here: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/museum-of-the-bible-obbink-gospel-of-mark/610576/ […]
May 24, 2020
Was Judas Iscariot “Made Up”?
My recent post on Judas Iscariot generated more interest than I expected, and a lot of readers wanted to hear more. I’ve posted on Judas a number of times over the years, but maybe it’s a good time to give the full scoop. If you want a lot more information, you might want to check out my book The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot. That book was prompted by the discovery of the Gospel of Judas; I was not involved with the discovery or the restoration of the Gospel, but I was part of a small team of scholars asked by National Geographic to study it as they decided whether it was authentic and important. Uh, yeah. But one has to look carefully at these things before deciding (as pointed out in yesterday’s post an recent academic fraud). I may talk about my involvement with the project later on the blog, but for now: my book on Judas arose out of it, and does indeed talk about the Gospel of Judas based on my preliminary […]
May 25, 2020
Judas Iscariot? What’s an Iscariot??
I have argued that Judas Iscariot really existed as one of the disciples of Jesus. Unlike the others, though, he is given a “last name” — Iscariot. But what does the name mean? It turns out, there is a huge debate over that. Here is how I discuss the matter in my book The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot. **************************************************** The Name Judas Iscariot Sometimes knowing the names of persons from antiquity can give further information about them. People of the lower classes did not have last names, and so to differentiate people with the same first name, descriptive designations were often added. For example, there are several different Marys in the New Testament. “Mary” was one of the most common names in first-century Palestine. And so each New Testament Mary is given some kind of identifying feature: Mary “the mother of Jesus”; Mary “of Bethany”; Mary “Magdalene.” This last designation indicates that this Mary came from the town of Magdala, which was a fishing village on the Sea of Galilee. Thus, simply by knowing […]
May 26, 2020
The Remarkable Story of Masada: Guest Post by Jodi Magness
Many of you know of my colleague Jodi Magness. She is one of the world’s leading authorities on the archaeology of ancient Israel, a real superstar in her field. You can read about her here: http://jodimagness.org/ Since 2011 her annual dig at Huqoq in Galilee has is often discussed in the international press, particularly because of the synagogue they discovered that has some of the most amazing works of art ever to be found in Israel; the work is regularly featured, for example, in National Geographic. (For the dig, see: http://huqoq.web.unc.edu/) But her first major archaeological work involved the army camps at Masada, one of the most historically and culturally significant sites of Israel antiquity, where rebel fighters made their last stand against the Roman armies in 73 CE. Jodi has recently published a terrific book for a broader audience on Masada. It’s a fascinating story and a flat-out terrific book: Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth (Princeton University Press, 2019). I asked Jodi if she would be willing to do a guest post […]
May 27, 2020
Would It Matter If It HAD BEEN a First-century Copy of Mark? A Surprising Answer in the Readers’ Mailbag
I received a lot of comments on my post about the academic fraud connected with an Oxford manuscript scholar, the Museum of the Bible, and certain enthusiastic evangelical Christians who are ironically willing to lie or distort the truth in order to prove their understanding of the truth. One question I received several times: suppose the manuscript that started the whole thing off, the alleged “first-century copy of Mark” — which turns out to be a tiny scrap that is NOT from the first century — suppose it *had* been a manuscript of the first century. Would that have revolutionized our understanding of Mark’s Gospel, the New Testament as whole, the historical accuracy of the Bible, or our views of the historical Jesus? TERRIFIC question. Here is how one reader asked it: QUESTION: For the sake of arguments let’s pretend for a moment that the fragment really existed and was precisely what it was claimed to be. That would surely be a stunning, miraculous find that all scholars would applaud. (And we can certainly […]
May 29, 2020
If We Did Have the “Original” Gospels, Would That Make Them True?
Have you ever noticed how people who are having an argument often use a slight of hand, either not realizing what they are doing or doing it in order to misdirect the discussion? What I have in mind is when someone wants to prove a view that we will call X, but instead of directly dealing with the issues of central importance to X, they divert attention to something else that we can call Y. Then, when they claim they have proved Y they lead their audience to think they therefore proved X. On one hand, a lot of time they haven’t even proved Y. But they claim not only they have done *that* but that since they have done that they have also thereby proved X, even though Y is not the same as X. Sometimes Y is not even related to Y. I don’t know if you’ve seen this before, but it happens a lot, in all sorts of arguments about religion, politics, society, and so on. It certainly happens a lot in […]
May 31, 2020
What Did Judas Betray?
In an indirect but very important way, recognizing what Judas actually betrayed is central to understanding the life and death of Jesus. It goes to the heart of his messages and explains why he was crucified. Even so, it is a complicated matter and has not been fully thought out even by many New Testament scholars. It is commonly supposed, of course, among lay-folk and scholars alike, that Judas indicated to the authorities where Jesus could be found apart from the crowds. Maybe that’s right, even though I do have some doubts about it. Even if it is right, there may be more to it than that. I think the following data are worth bearing in mind, leading to the resolution of the question that I prefer. (At first these data may not seem relevant: but hang in there for a minute!) Jesus almost certainly did not publicly claim that he was the messiah during his lifetime; more specifically, he never publicly announced that he was the King of the Jews. In our earliest accounts […]
June 1, 2020
But WHY Did Judas Betray Jesus?
This will be my last post in this thread on Judas Iscariot, and it deals with a question that has long been asked, often answered, and never satisfactorily: what motivated Judas to betray Jesus? No answer has ever satisfied because there is simply no way to know. When I say the answers are never satisfactory, and that they do not satisfy, I don’t mean that no one is satisfied. Lots of people — including possibly you! — have an answer that you think works perfectly. OK then! But there’s no consensus on the matter and even though I have my preference of an answer, I don’t think it’s possible to enter into some person’s mind — especially a person living 2000 years ago that we know virtually nothing about — to come up with a psychological explanation for why he did what he did. Here’s the reality: you can’t come up with a convincing and conclusive psychological explanation for MOST things that MOST people do. You actually have no idea what is motivating me to […]
June 2, 2020
Views of Suffering Among Those Who Suffer
There is always a lot of suffering going on around us, if not in our neighborhood then certainly in our country, not to mention our world. Now more then ever. And more obviously than ever. But the “ever” itself is really very bad, when you think of the millions being slaughtered in civil war and unrest, driven from their homes, starving, dying of curable disease for want of medicine or from lack of clean water, etc. etc. etc. But it’s on our minds right now more than ever, between a worldwide pandemic and a national recognition of deeply rooted and massive racial violence and injustice. Suffering is always there, but now it is all we are talking about. I was browsing through old posts on the blog and came across this one I wrote eight years ago. As some of you know, one of my books, God’s Problem, deals with the problem of why there is suffering. In it I examine what different biblical authors have to say about it to show that they represent many […]
June 3, 2020
Are Bible Translators Consistent? Readers’ Mailbag
In today’s Reader’s Mailbag I deal with a question that involves both the differences in the manuscripts of the New Testament AND the issue of English Bible translations. As many of you know, almost all scholars agree that passages such as the “Woman Taken in Adultery,” in John 7:53-8:11 and the last twelve verses of Mark (Jesus’ appearances to his disciples after the resurrection) were not original to the New Testament. (If you’re not familiar with this issue, see my book Misquoting Jesus and/or do word searches to find discussions on the blog). And yet most modern Bibles continue to include them, even if they put them in brackets with a footnote saying that they are missing from the best manuscripts we have. But why aren’t translators consistent in applying this rule: keeping verses they know are not original with footnotes? Why in other, analogous cases, do they more often remove the passages completely and put them in the notes? It’s a great question: here is how the reader phrased it, with very helpful examples. […]
June 5, 2020
Two Ancient Jesuses and the Current Crises
One of the most important discoveries of critical Biblical scholarship over the past two hundred years – arguably the single most important discovery – is that the Bible does not have a single message about virtually anything. The Bible is an extremely diverse, multi-faceted book, written over many centuries by many different authors with many different views. The fact that these sixty-six books were all gathered together and called “Scripture” does not change the fact that the author of one of the books may well have a very different view of a particular matter, even an extremely important matter than another. Let’s take the question of how we are to treat those who are not like us. People who aren’t from our same nation; who don’t look like us; who are of different ancestry; who are not from our own cultural background; who do not share our political views or religious beliefs; who are of a different gender or sexual orientation or race. How do we treat such people? Depends whom you ask within the […]
June 7, 2020
But How Did Judas Die?
In response to my recent thread on the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, a number of readers have asked me about the aftermath. OK, supposing, as I’m arguing, there really was a Judas, one of Jesus twelve disciples, who betrayed something about Jesus (his whereabouts? his claim to be the future king?) that led to his arrest and execution. What happened next? Did Judas really kill himself? Many people don’t realize that Judas’s death, after he betrayed Jesus, is not mentioned in three of our Gospels: Mark, Luke, and John. It is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, however, and just as important, in the book of Acts, written by the same author who produced the Gospel of Luke (so, well, let’s call him Luke). What is striking is that the descriptions of Judas’ death in these two accounts are at odds with one another, even though there are, at the same time, some striking similarities. Matthew’s account (ch. 27) is the one more people are familiar with, since here we are told that …. […]
June 8, 2020
Yet Other Accounts Of the Death of Judas
I try not to repeat blog posts from just a couple of years ago, but in this case I can’t resist. In the last post I talked about the two accounts of Judas Iscariot’s death in the New Testament, one in Matthew and one in Luke, and argued that even with their intriguing and important similarities, there were also striking differences, some of which, in my judgment, simply cannot be reconciled. But we have other accounts from Christian antiquity that are at least equally interesting, even if more obviously legendary. Still, they are worth considering and thinking about; it’s not at all clear that the authors of these accounts thought they were as humorous as most readers today do. One of these accounts is reasonably well-known to biblical scholars, from the writings of Papias (we’ve talked a lot about him over the years on the blog; just do a word search for Papias and you’ll see). Almost *nobody* knows about the other — including New Testament experts — except for a few specialist scholars. Papias […]
June 9, 2020