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Did I Have an Errant View of Inerrancy? (!) Guest Video Post by Kurt Jaros (#5)
This fifth installment of a six-part video thread by Kurt Jaros, an evangelical Christian apologist, considers my views of Scripture back in my hard-core conservative evangelical days and their (possible?) impact on my later decision to leave the faith altogether. My ears are tingling! ****************************** In this video, I look at the young Bart Ehrman’s theological reflection on the doctrines of inerrancy and the preservation & inspiration of the Biblical text. Did the young Ehrman have a misconception, misunderstanding, or invalid inference pertaining to these doctrines? Image a world in which those doctrinal beliefs were formulated even slightly differently. It may have taken the young Ehrman down a different path.
February 23, 2022
Heaven and Hell at the Scholarly Level (for comparison)
In this short thread I’m trying to explain the difference between a trade book for a general audience and an academic book for scholars, through example. In my previous post I gave the beginning couple of pages of my trade book with Simon and Schuster, Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife. The academic book coming out on April 5 is not covering the same material but is dealing with a related aspect of it, and at a much deeper level. The book does not pursue the question of where the ideas of heaven and hell came from (the topic of the trade book), but rather explores narrated journeys to the realms of the dead in a range of ancient texts. The book is called Journeys to Heaven and Hell in the Early Christian Tradition (Yale University Press). You can get some basic sense of the different levels of the two books by comparing the way they begin. So, in contrast with the trade book from yesterday, here is the academic book. (Again: Please don’t […]
February 22, 2022
Must Jesus Divide Families? Guest post by Douglas Wadeson
As you know, Platinum members on the blog are allowed to compose blog posts for one another, and I choose one every month or so to publish on the blog at large. Here is a particularly interesting one by blog member Doug Wadeson, based on a careful and interesting reading of the Gospels. It’s dealing with an incredibly timely issue and provides a rather unexpected answer. It involves Jesus and family values. ****************************** People often think of Jesus as teaching traditional family values, but in fact he seems to be rather dismissive of the natural nuclear family. To be fair, maybe his family was to blame. In Mark 3:20, 21 we are told that some of his family [kinsmen] sought to take custody of him because they thought he had lost his mind. Not very supportive. Then when his mother and brothers arrived and called for him, Jesus responded: “Who are My mother and My brothers?” Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever […]
February 24, 2022
Forgery for a General Audience
Last week I tried to show the contrast between my trade books for general audiences and my academic books for scholars, by posting the very beginning of my book Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife (Simon & Schuster, a tradebook, 2020) and the beginning of my book Jouneys to Heaven and Hell in the Early Christian Tradition (Yale University, due out April 5 2022; a scholarly book). The general topics are similar, as you can see by the titles, but they are not actually about the same thing. And the level of discourse is different. So too with my books on forgery — I wrote one for a general audience (Forged: Writing in the Name of God — Why the Bible Authors are Not Who We Think They Are Harper San Francisco, 2011) and the other for academics (Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in the Early Christian Tradition, Oxford University Press, 2013). In this case the differences are more obvious, I think, from both the titles and the openings. Here is how […]
February 27, 2022
Forgery for a Scholarly Audience
I have been doing a few posts on the difference between popular writing (for a trade book) and scholarly writing (for an academic book). In my last post I reproduced the introduction to my book Forged: Why The Biblical Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are (popular book published by HarperOne); here, by way of contrast, is the introduction to Forgery and Counterfortery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics (academic book by Oxford University Press). Both the title and the opening paragraphs are give-aways that this is not meant for most readers, even if those who are interested can certainly follow it and get a lot out of it. It ain’t quantum mechanics. ****************************** Arguably the most distinctive feature of the early Christian literature is the degree to which it was forged.[1] Even though the early Christians were devoted to the truth– or so their writings consistently claimed – and even though “authoritative” literature played a virtually unparalleled role in their individual and communal lives, the orthonymous output of the early Christians was […]
March 1, 2022
Sting and Pilate. Guest Post by Evyatar Marienberg
One of my interesting and unusually wide-ranging colleagues in the Department of Religious Studies at UNC is Evyatar Marienberg, trained in orthodox circles in Haifa, PhD from Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, in Paris, expert in Rabbinic Judaism, author of a textbook on Roman Catholicism, and, most recently, a study of Sting and Religion. That’s right, the English rock singer and song writer: Sting and Religion: The Catholic-Shaped Imagination of a Rock Icon, Cascade Books / Wipf & Stock, Oregon 2021. I’ve asked Evyatar to write some posts for us. Here’s the first of two on Sting and the New Testament. ****************************** Professor Bart Ehrman, a colleague, a friend, and the person who was running the search committee that hired me for a position at his (and since 2009, also my) department of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was asking me for some time now if I would like to write for this blog. Well, I, unfortunately, recently, said yes. Following his suggestions of topics, I might […]
March 2, 2022
Sting and Thomas. Guest Post by Evyatar Marienberg
Here now is the second post on Sting and the New Testament by my colleague Evyatar Marienberg. To learn more about Evyatar and his book on Sting (Sting and Religion: The Catholic-Shaped Imagination of a Rock Icon, Cascade Books / Wipf & Stock, Oregon 2021) see yesterday’s post. ****************************** Those who checked the Wikipedia’s page about Sting (and many other online sources), might have noticed that it is said his “real” name is “Gordon Matthew Thomas.” I did not mention “Thomas” in his name, following his birth certificate, and still the reality of Sting’s legal name. Some might have also noticed that a saying attributed to the New Testament’s figure of Thomas was mentioned above. Thomas, in fact, is some kind of a ghost around Sting. In his most recent album, The Bridge of 2021, the ninth track is called “The Bells of St. Thomas” (full disclosure: Sting shared with me an early demo of that song, and asked me for comments). In this song, the interlocutor wakes up in an unknown bed, in the […]
March 3, 2022
In the Beginning: Myth, Legend, and History in the Book of Genesis (Part 1)
As I have mentioned before, I have started a small business on the side, Bart Ehrman Professional Services (BEPS). At this point it involves booking speaking engagements, providing consultations with authors of various kinds, and online courses. The online courses, of course, are a way of disseminating knowledge about the Bible, the historical Jesus, the history of Christianity, and so on. BEPS is a separate commercial endeavor for me and I am diligently keeping it distinct from the blog, except to announce what I’m up to there for blog members who might be interested. You can also learn more about it on my website, www.bartehrman.com This past month I produced a six-lecture course called “In the Beginning: Myth, Legend, and History in the Book of Genesis.” This is the first of possibly many courses in a long series called “How Scholars Read the Bible.” The entire series will be devoted to showing what critical scholars think, believe, and argue about the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, but also to show why they think what […]
March 5, 2022
“In the Beginning” (Part 2)
In my previous post I began to summarize the lectures that are available in my course: “In the Beginning: Myth, Legend, and History in the Book of Genesis.” If you’re interested in the course, you can learn more about it on my personal website (which is not directly connected to the blog): www.bartehrman.com Here I will give a synopsis of the final four lectures. Lecture 3: The Ancient Tales of Genesis: Borrowings from the Wider Culture Scholars and lay-readers alike were shocked in the mid 19th century to learn that versions of the most important stories of Genesis 1-11 were discovered in other (non-Israelite) parts of the Ancient Near East. In fact, in many cases these other non-biblical versions can be shown to be much older than those in Genesis. There is, for example, a story of creation from ancient Canaan called the Enuma Elish, which is different in many ways from the story in Genesis 1, but with numerous similarities as well both in the overall concept and sometimes even with […]
March 6, 2022
What If Damascus Was In Arabia? Solving a Dilemma in the Life of Paul. Platinum Guest Post by Gregory Hartzler-Miller
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February 25, 2022
February Gold Q&A: Ask your Questions!
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February 22, 2022
Ask Bart Anything! Blog Event March 6
On Sunday March 6, 4:00 – 5:15 EST we are holding a blog event which will be a two-way affair: I will have the pleasure of trying to answer questions participants have and participants will have the pleasure of stumping me with questions I can’t answer. And a good time will be had by all! This will be a fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders. Donations are voluntary but encouraged for this great cause. To learn more, keep reading; to register and get the link: go here: Register here for the ABA The format: I will take live questions through chat. The questions can be on ANY topic that anyone is interested in. If it is something I don’t know anything about (Kant’s second critique or quantum mechanics) or that I would rather not talk about (that little incident when I was 16….) I’ll just say so. I will get through as many questions as I can, answering easy ones briefly and taking as long as I need to deal with more complicated ones. My only […]
February 26, 2022
Platinum Webinar! March 8. Why Is the Apocalypse of Peter Not in the New Testament?
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February 25, 2022
Why Date the Gospels after 70 CE?
New Testament scholars are virtually unified in thinking that the Gospels of the New Testament began to appear after 70 CE. The major exceptions are conservative evangelicals who often date them earlier. One can understand why: they typically maintain that the Gospels of Matthew and John were written by disciples of Jesus and it seems implausible that they would still be alive toward the end of the first century (especially given live expectancies in antiquity). There are good reasons, nonetheless, for the scholarly consensus outside evangelical circles. I’ve talked about the matter on the blog before but just now I reread my discussion in my New Testament textbook and thought it might be useful to give it here. In particular I like the final point I make (in the second to last paragraph), which, now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve stressed enough over the years. Here is what I say there: ****************************** Critical scholars are widely agreed that the earliest Gospel was Mark, written around 70 c.e.; […]
March 9, 2022
A Humorous Modern Gospel Forgery
In a previous post I gave the introduction to my book about ancient forgery, Forged, written for a general audience. Posting it reminded me of a modern forgery that was done by a bona fide scholar — of a Gospel text! I heard the story numerous times because the fraud was exposed by my own teacher, Bruce Metzger. I think the first time I wrote about the story was in my book Lost Christianities (Oxford University Press, 2003). Here is what I said there: ****************************** Some forgeries have been perpetrated in modern times, of direct relevance to our current study of early Christian apocrypha. One might think that in our day and age, no one would be so deceitful as to try and pawn off any first hand accounts of Jesus as authentic. But in fact, nothing could be farther from the truth. Strange Gospels appear regularly, if you know where to look for them.[1] Often these record incidents in the “lost years” of Jesus – e.g., accounts of Jesus as a child or a young […]
March 10, 2022
Young Jesus with the Brahmins in India!
In my last post I talked about a humorous Gospel forgery by a modern scholar. There are a number of other forgeries of Gospels done in (relatively) modern times — especially in the nineteenth century — which were not particularly risible but were far more successful. I still get asked about them today, especially by people who don’t know what to think about them or, even more, people who assure me they are true. I talk about them in the last chapter of my book Forged (HarperOne, 2011). Here’s one of the most successful, as I discuss there. ****************************** One of the most widely disseminated modern forgeries is called The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ.[1] From this account we learn that Jesus went to India during his formative teen years, the “lost years” before his public ministry, and there learned the secrets of the East. The book made a big splash when it appeared in English in 1926; but as it turns out, it had already been exposed as a fraud more than thirty years […]
March 13, 2022
An Eyewitness Account of Jesus’ Crucifixion!
Here is another modern Gospel forgery that has over the years won over readers who have thought it was authentic. It’s intriguing stuff: an eyewitness account of Jesus’ death! Again, this is taken from my book Forged: Why the Bible’s Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are (HarperOne, 2010). ****************************** An equally interesting modern apocryphon, The Crucifixion of Jesus, by an Eye-Witness, deals not with the beginning of Jesus’ adult life, before his ministry, but with its ending and aftermath. [1] The account comes in the form of a letter written, in Latin, seven years after Jesus’ crucifixion, from a leader of the mysterious Jewish sect of the Essenes in Jerusalem to another Essene leader who lived in Alexandria, Egypt. All elements of the supernatural are completely stripped away from the account’s description of Jesus’ life and death. Jesus is shown to have led a completely human life and to have died a completely human death. But not on the cross. Jesus survived his own crucifixion and lived for another six months. The account […]
March 16, 2022
Don’t Forget! Ask Bart Anything: Sunday!!
Please remember our fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders (MUCH in need of support just now in particular!). It’s your chance to ask me questions and my chance to desperately think of answers. ALSO: I will have a one-one-one after the event with the highest bidder! And bids are due TONIGHT. See details here: https://ehrmanblog.org/ask-bart-anything-blog-event-march-6/
March 4, 2022
Explanations for Why I Left the Faith
I have often been puzzled by how defenders of the Christian faith attack me and my views by taking the biographical route, pointing out the course of my faith journey, identifying a flaw in it, and then drawing the conclusion that if I had not thought X or been convinced by Y then I would have seen the truth and not been led astray. The way this narrative usually works is this: “If Ehrman had not been raised a fundamentalist he would have realized… x, y, and z … and he then never would have left the faith” OR “If Ehrman had not held X view he would not have been so easily swayed when he realized it was wrong” OR “The problem is that Ehrman appears to have thought Y and that’s not at all what true evangelicals think” and so on and on. The reason I find this puzzling is that people get their notions of how I was raised or what I thought from things I’ve written and said and in most […]
March 17, 2022
The “Young Ehrman’s” Faulty Understanding of Inspiration
In my previous post I talked about evangelicals who argue that if I had only had the right understanding of evangelical theology, I would not have left the faith once I realized my (errant) views were problematic. I would say that this is true of the video about me that Kurt Jaros posted a couple of weeks ago, here: https://ehrmanblog.org/did-i-have-an-errant-view-of-inerrancy-guest-video-post-by-kurt-jaros-5/ I have enjoyed Kurt’s video posts on the blog very much and really appreciate him setting the record straight for evangelicals who have misunderstood or misrepresented my views on textual criticism. And I decidedly do NOT think that he has “misrepresented” my views about inspiration (the views of the “young Ehrman”). But I do think he misunderstood them. He inferred from things I said that I must have held views that in fact I did not hold. The issue has to with the fact that we have so many manuscripts of the New Testament but there are so many *differences* among them. Kurt says that when I was shocked to learn this, it directly led […]
March 18, 2022