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The End of the World Means the End of Sex. Guest Post by Daniel Kohanski
Here now is the third post by Platinum blog member Daniel Kohanski, based on his recently published book A God of our Invention. This one should grab your attention! **************************** From its beginnings, Christianity has had theological difficulties with human sexuality. In this edited excerpt from my latest book, A God of Our Invention: How Religion Shaped the Western World, I lay out what I believe are some of the reasons for this. ————————————————————— The first Christian commentator that we have record of, the Apostle Paul, was also the first to recommend that Christians avoid sexual activity and stay celibate. “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am” (1 Cor. 7:8). Still, he did accept that not all were capable of it. He advised the Corinthians that if a man “thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his fiancée, if his passions are strong, and so it has to be, let him marry as he wishes; it is no sin” (1 […]
February 28, 2023
The Voice at Jesus’ Baptism–An Intriguing Version in the Gospel of the Ebionites
Last week in my class on “Jesus in Scholarship and Film” we were discussing the intriguing little fact that when Jesus is baptized, the voice of God that comes from heaven to call him his Son says different things in each of the three Synoptic Gospels (there is no voice in the Gospel of John). How does one explain that? It made me think of the Gospel of the Ebionites, and I started wondering if I ever talked about it on the blog. It turns out the answer is yes. Here is a post devoted to it, from years ago — which begins with a general discussion of it along with two other “Jewish-Christian Gospels,” and ends with a description of its rather clever way of reconciling the three accounts of the voice from heaven. ****************************** Yesterday in my graduate seminar we spent three hours analyzing the three so-called “Jewish-Christian Gospels.” These are very tricky texts to deal with. We don’t have any manuscripts of them – even small fragments. They come to us, instead, […]
March 5, 2023
Exciting Lecture: Archaeological Finds (Artwork!) in an Ancient Galilean Synagogue
Now *this* will be a great event. My UNC colleague Jodi Magness is one of the premier archaeologists of ancient Israel in the world. She started her career on a dig at Masada (the Roman army camps!) and for the past twelve years has run a dig in a village in Galilee called Huqoq. Her findings have been extraordinary, far beyond what anyone could hope for. Her team uncovered a (fifth-century) synagogue and discovered amazing mosaics unlike anything known before — pictorial art, depicting humans (possibly Alexander the Great) and biblical scenes (Samson!). Pictorial art in a *synagogue*?!? What?? If you read National Geographic, you’ll know about these discoveries: her dig is featured in the magazine nearly every year. This coming Wednesday, March 1, 6:00 pm Jodi will be giving an online lecture with slides about their most recent finds. I’ll be hosting the event. It will not be recorded. There is no charge, though it is a fund-raiser for my department to help provide research funds for our graduate students (donations are voluntary). Below […]
February 24, 2023
Revelation — A Novel. Guest Post Announcing Publication, by Gary McCarragher
Just now published, here is a novel about a New Testament scholar named Bart, at a major university in the South, who comes from a fundamentalist background and continues running up against it. But this Bart’s story ain’t mine. As a novel, this is a fictional narrative, which does, however, deal with issues that I and many of you have confronted and dealt with at length: how to come to grips with a historical understanding of the New Testament when coming from an evangelical world, a world still inhabited by those we love. Gary McCarragher is a blog member, a physician, and award-winning author. He contacted me a couple of years ago to see if I’d be willing to consult with him on his novel. As some of you know, I run a writing consultation service off my website (unconnected with the blog) for authors of fiction and nonfiction, screenwriters, and playwrights. Gary and I had a number of sessions about his work, and it has resulted now in this novel, Revelation . I found […]
March 7, 2023
Suffering in the Two Books of Job. Two Books?
After I finished my short thread of posts about the problem of suffering a couple of weeks ago, I realized that it might be helpful for me to discuss one or two of the books of the Bible that deal with the issue head-on — in part because many people don’t read these books much, even if they know about them, and in part because many people who *do* read them don’t know how expert interpreters have explained them. For no book is this more true that that gem in the Hebrew Bible, the book of Job. Or rather those two books, the two books of Job. To talk about Job and what it is really about will require several posts. This is the first, an introduction to the single most important issue connected with the book that most people have never heard and that completely affects how the book is to be interpreted. This is how I discuss it in my book God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question […]
March 8, 2023
The Story of the Righteous Job and His Righteous God
In my previous post I explained how the book of Job comprises both a folk-tale written in prose about a righteous man named Job (chs. 1-2; 42) and a set of dialogues written in poetry between Job, his so-called friends, and eventually God (chs. 3-42). These are two different compositions with two different authors living at two different times with two different understandings of why Job and people like him suffer. To unpack these understandings, I begin with the folktale as discussed in my book God’s Problem (HarperOne, 2008). ****************************** The Folktale: The Suffering of Job as a Test of Faith The action of the prose folktale alternates between scenes on earth and in heaven. It begins by indicating that Job lived in the land of Uz; usually this is located in Edom, to the southeast of Israel. Job, in other words, is not an Israelite. As a book of “wisdom,” this account is not concerned with specifically Israelite traditions: it is concerned with understanding the world in ways that should make sense to everyone living […]
March 9, 2023
Is the God of Job Worthy of Worship?
Is there any way to consider the God portrayed in Job as a morally upright being who deserves complete devotion? Read the account yourself. I have summarized the “folktale” of Job (found in Job 1-2, 42) in my previous post. This is a tale that portrays God, Job, and the reason for human suffering very differently from the (different) composition of Job 3-42, a set of dialogues between Job and his friends and eventually God that I will discuss in my next posts. For now I’m interested in the reasons God crushes the righteous Job with suffering in the tale. The overarching view of suffering from the story is clear: sometimes suffering comes to the innocent in order to see whether their pious devotion to God is genuine and disinterested. Are people faithful only when things are going well, or are they faithful no matter what the circumstances? Obviously for this author, no matter how bad things get, God still deserves worship and praise. But serious questions can be raised about this perspective, questions raised […]
March 11, 2023
What Do the Apostles’ Deaths Prove? Guest Post by Kyle Smith.
This is the final guest post by Kyle Smith, based on his recently published book about martyrs and the cult of the saints in Christianity. There is a special bonus for this post! A significant discount offer to buy the book. Go for it! And whether or not you do buy the book, feel free to ask him questions or make comments on this post, on a widely misunderstood but important topic. Kyle is the author or coauthor of five books about Christian saints and martyrs, including Cult of the Dead: A Brief History of Christianity (University of California Press, 2022). As a special bonus for readers of the blog, you can buy Cult of the Dead today at 40% off the cover price! Click here to order directly from the University of California Press, then select “UC Press” under the “Buying Options” drop down menu and enter coupon code CULT40 at checkout. Offer valid until March 31, 2023. ****************************** The Christian passion for martyrdom began with the cross, but it is often forgotten that this […]
March 12, 2023
Creation Stories of the Ancient World (Part 1): On Enuma Elish and Genesis 1 Guest Post by Joseph Lam
My colleague Joseph Lam is an expert on the languages and texts of the Ancient Near East, including the Hebrew Bible. In terms of languages, he not only teaches ancient Hebrew, but also (brace yourself), Ugaritic, Akkadian, Syriac, Semitic linguistics, and, well, so on. He is particularly expert in the relationship of the texts and myths other Ancient Near Eastern religions with those of the Hebrew Bible. Joseph is also a superb teacher, and so he was invited to to a course for the Great Courses (Wondrium) called “Creation Stories of the Ancient World.” The course just came out, and so I have asked Joseph to do a couple of blog posts for us, to introduce all of you to the kinds of things he covers there. Here are the links to his course and, then, his first post: Wondrium link: https://www.wondrium.com/creation-stories-of-the-ancient-world The Great Courses link: https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/creation-stories-of-the-ancient-world ****************************** Creation stories tell us who we are, where we came from, and where we are going. They not only describe the origins of the world in a […]
March 16, 2023
Job and His “Friends.” With Friends Like These…
I have been doing a series of posts on the views of suffering in the book of Job. I quite intentionally use the plural “views” because, unlike what most people think or assume (those who have any opinion on the matter) the book of Job does not present a solitary view but several views that are at odds with each other. One of those views is opposed by the author. But two of them – that are at odds! – are embraced by the author. Or, rather, we need to use the plural again: by the “authors.” As I point out, there are at least two authors behind our book of Job, writing at different times, in different places, for different audiences, and setting forth different views. Only later did some unknown third person combine the writings – one of them a narrative folk tale told in prose (chs. 1-2, 42) and the other a set of dialogues presented in poetry (chs. 3-42). If you haven’t read the previous posts, no worries. This one and […]
March 14, 2023
Does God Punish Those Who Do *Right*?
In my last post I began discussing the dialogues at the heart of the book of Job, where Job’s friends declare that he is simply getting what he deserves because he is so sinful, and he defends himself by saying he has done nothing to deserve this. It turns out he’s right. But why then is he suffering? Here is how the dialogue continues, as the “friends” intensify their attacks on his morals and Job stands firm in declaring his righteousness. ****************************** Sometimes the friends bar no holds in accusing Job, wrongly, of great sin before God, as when Eliphaz later declares: Is it for your piety that he reproves you, and enters into judgment with you? Is not your wickedness great? There is no end to your iniquities. For you have … stripped the naked of their clothing. You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry… You have sent widows away empty handed, and the arms of the orphans you have crushed. Therefore […]
March 15, 2023
You Have No Right To Question Why You Suffer. What???
We come now to the conclusion of the dialogues of Job. His friends have stridently insisted that he is suffering because he has sinned. He vehemently argues he has not. As it turns out, he’s right. Then why is God making him suffer? Here God himself appears to explain. Or rather, to insist that he is not going to explain and that Job has no right to ask him to. Is this an answer to suffering? Or, well, a satisfactory one? We can’t even ask? Decide for yourself. Here’s how I explain the climax of the book of Job in my book God’s Problem (HarperOne, 2008). ****************************** Job has no time – or need – to reply to this restatement of his friends’ views. Before he can respond, God himself appears, in power, to overwhelm Job with his presence and to cow him into submission in the dirt. God does not appear with a still, small voice from heaven, or in human guise, or in a comforting dream. He sends a violent and terrifying whirlwind, […]
March 18, 2023
Why Would an Atheist Be Obsessed with Jesus?
Some years ago, after I had written my book How Jesus Became God, I was asked to write an article for a journal to explain why, if I’m an atheist, I’m so interested in Jesus. Some nine or ten years later, I still get asked that a lot. Twice this past week! Here’s the article I wrote, called “Why I Am Obsessed with Jesus”: ****************************** I finally figured out why I’m so obsessed with Jesus. It makes sense that Jesus mattered to me when I was young. I was raised in a Christian household, we went to church, we revered the Bible, and Jesus was God. It makes sense that Jesus mattered to me as a late teenager, when I had a born-again experience and became a conservative evangelical. (What I converted from to “become a Christian” continues to puzzle me.) At that point Jesus became not only my Lord and Savior, but also my best friend and closest ally. It makes sense that Jesus continued to matter to me as I moved away from the […]
March 19, 2023
Platinum Webinar! Forgiveness vs. Atonement
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March 7, 2023
March Gold Q&A: Submit your questions!
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Armageddon Has Arrived!
Normally one would not welcome Armageddon with rejoicing, but in this instance …. My book is published today: Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End. Now this is a book that has, in some sense, been in the works for 50 years, since the first time I started pondering the Apocalypse of John as a 17 year old, about to head off to Moody Bible Institute and realizing I better read the final book of the NT — even though I was scared of it — before taking the first-year Entrance Exam on the Bible possibly whiffing on a question about Revelation.j It took me a while to start figuring out the book — say, grad school — and about five years ago, as I began to study it really intensely, I changed my views of it. Hence the book. For reasons I explain in it, of all the books I’ve written I think this is the one most relevant for our world at large. And not because I think the apocalypse will […]
March 21, 2023
Is The Rapture in the New Testament?
This post is immediately relevant for me in two ways. My book on Revelation has now appeared (I kept *saying* it was “coming soon”!) AND I will be doing a lecture soon, April 15, on the idea of the “rapture,” the belief that Jesus is soon to return to take his followers out of the world before the Antichrist arises and all hell breaks out on earth. You don’t wanna be here for that. You don’t want to be “Left Behind”! The lecture is not connected with the blog per se; you can find out more about it on my website, http://www.bartehrman.com/courses Here, to titillate your interest on both fronts, is a bit of what I say about the rapture in ch. 1 of my book (I say much more about it in a later section): ******************************** Almost everyone today thinks that Revelation provides a blueprint of what is to happen in the near future—at least those who think about it at all. There are, of course, some holdouts, even among conservative Christians, who maintain the […]
March 23, 2023
Of COURSE the Rapture is in the New Testament — There for all to see! Right?
In my new book Armageddon, which saw the light of published day just a few days ago, I talk about where the “rapture” came from, the evangelical belief that Jesus was soon to return to snatch his followers out of this world before a horrible time of Tribulation hits the earth. That too will be the subject of a lecture, with Q&A, that I will be giving (unrelated to the blog) on April 15. For information about THAT, go to my website http://bartehrman.com/courses I left off yesterday with a bit of a tease, indicating that the following passage, one of the main prooftexts for a rapture, is in fact not about the rapture at all. Here’s the passage, and then my explanation: For we tell you this by a word of the Lord: we who are living, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not go before those who sleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God—and the […]
March 25, 2023
Live Gold Q&A! Monday March 13.
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March 12, 2023
Pre-Pub Offer on My Book: ARMAGEDDON!
I am sending out to everyone who might want to know an incentive to pre-order my book Armageddon. If you’re gonna get it anyway — how ’bout getting it now? Even if you don’t want the offer here — pre-orders are much appreciated. Here’s the offer as we’re distributing it. As you can imagine, authors become very excited when their book is about to be published. As you might not imagine, they get equally excited about pre-publication sales – orders of the book before it’s available. These end up mattering a lot. My new book, Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End (Simon & Schuster) is coming out on March 21 and I would like as many of you to PRE-ORDER it as possible. To that end I am offering a major incentive. Anyone who purchases the book by midnight of March 20 can receive a 50% discount on any of my online courses – whether a single-lecture-with-Q&A or a full fledged eight-full-lectures-with-two-Q&As (from www.bartehrman.com/courses – see below). Before explaining how the offer […]
March 14, 2023