It is difficult for me to know what really “works” on the blog. On the whole, most things seem to work well: as I’ve reported recently, the blog continues to grow. We are working toward 7000 members (but I very much want that in six figures!) and this past year we raised on average over $420 a day for charity. That’s a lot of dosh. All to the good.
But I’m concerned about the quality of the blog and whether it is doing what you yourself want it to. I have only two ways of knowing: the rather crude rating system we use for blog posts and the feedback I get.
The rating system could probably be improved, but I’m not completely sure how. Of course each post isn’t read by 6700+ members every day, but even so, I typically will get somewhere between 5 and 10 people rating a post. That much is helpful (especially if there is a consistent trend), but it’s not a lot to go by, nothing anywhere statistically significant.
The feedback comes in two ways: the comments I receive either in the comment section or in personal emails. Most of the comments are focused on the substance of the post or related – or even unrelated – issues, and that’s what we want: it’s the point of the comment system. It does seem to be working well. When I do receive evaluative feedback, it is almost always positive, for which I’m deeply grateful indeed – every time I get an uplifting comment! But if there are things that can be improved, I would like to know. Tell me, either in a comment or a private email.
What has raised the issue for me is a particular issue. I was thinking last week, while doing a post, that some are a bit longer than others. I always shoot for 1000 words a day, but the reality is that they are almost always a bit longer, more like 1200 words. And sometimes they shoot up over 1400 words. And I wondered: does this make any bit of difference at all to people reading?
Would people prefer *shorter* posts, so as not to take so much of their time, making them more likely to read and use the blog with greater regularity, say 500-800 words? Or would people think that isn’t enough bang for their buck – they want more. On the other hand, do longer posts turn people off, so they are unlikely to read them, because it’s too much time and effort? Is 1000 words about right? There’s no particular logic to that number: I just arbitrarily hit on it, mainly because I thought it seemed like a decent length to say something reasonably substantive without getting crazy.
I have no way of knowing! No one has ever said. So feel free to tell me. Even if responses are not statistically significant, it will be of some use. (I’m not about to create a detail questionnaire for people to fill out!)
Feel free to give me other feedback as well. Do you like the topics I cover? The depth at which I cover them (too technical sometimes? Not enough depth? Too much depth? More than you really wanted to know?)? The style and attitude of the posts?
One of the things I really appreciate about the blog myself is that in the comments – even in responses to others — we don’t have any serious snarkiness here. How often does that happen on the Internet??? Other comment forums I occasionally tune into are just awful. (I try to delete snarky comments, and that seems to have created a nice ethos on the blog; if some fall through the cracks, mea culpa!)
In terms of the substance of the comments, some come from people who don’t know the field at all and are just curious. I’d like to encourage those, and you who make them. Please DON”T feel that you have to have to have an intelligent view of something or a reasoned judgment of it or even any knowledge at all about it before asking a question. Everyone on the blog is respectful of our levels of knowledge.
Other comments come from people who know a heckuva lot. Most come from the lots of folk who are between the two extremes. All comments are welcome. I’m happy to engage both the basic and the highly technical ones, at the level that the commenter seems to want/need.
If you have any responses, in general, to the level of my own responses, let me know that too. I know some people wish I could engage them more and have more sustained and lengthy responses and backs-and-forths. I wish so too.
In any event, and in sum: if you feel like giving me some feedback to make the blog better, let me know. If not, keep reading! I’ll take it as a good sign.
Does this (post length) make any bit of difference at all to people reading?
NO, MAKES NO DIFFERENCE FOR ME.
Would people prefer *shorter* posts?
A MIXTURE OF SHORT, MEDIUM AND LONG POSTS WOULD BE FINE. DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THE SAME SIZE EVERY DAY.
Do you like the topics I cover?
YES.
The depth I cover them (too technical sometimes? Not enough depth? Too much? More than wanted to know?)? JUST ABOUT RIGHT MOST TIMES.
The style and attitude of the posts?
JUST FINE. IF ANYTHING YOU SHOULD FEEL FREE TO ADD EVEN MORE HUMOR. 🙂
IT’S A GREAT BLOG!
SOME TOPICS I FIND MORE INTERESTING THAN OTHERS, BUT I’M SURE THAT’S TRUE FOR EVERYONE.
OVERALL I THINK THE BLOG IS GREAT JUST AS IT IS.
I’ve never commented before, so I’m not sure if I’m doing this correctly. My intent is not to comment another blog reader’s comment, but to give Bart a little feedback in response to the post above.
First, don’t be concerned about length. We did not join to get “bang for our buck.” We joined to contribute to the charities and to have a chance to learn more from you. Just include the material you deem most responsive to the question or subject you are addressing that day. If that can be done in 500 words, that’s fine. If it takes 1,500 words, that’s OK too. We trust your judgment to determine what is necessary to fully explain your thoughts on a subject.
The subjects you are addressing are the types of issues I expected when I joined. You’re doing great in that regard.
Format is also fine. We’re readers (I’m a lawyer, so I read all day long), so we don’t need a fancy outline or other eye-catching video displays.
When possible without requiring that you spend undue amounts of research time, please include references to other sources you recommend if we want to delve deeper into a particular issue. That is helpful.
In sum, this concept is terrific. Raise money for charity, while allowing the members to learn from one of the preeminent scholars in the field. Thank you for implementing and remaining committed to it.
This is the first comment that popped up and it says pretty much what I would say. I think the length should be determined by the content; take as much time as you need to make your point.
I don’t read the blog every day but when I get behind I binge to catch up. I rarely post a comment/question and I don’t often read the comments. I think the comments section is good and you should keep it. I have no problem if you use volunteer help to manage it.
Does your website give you statistics on readership? That would be a good measure of how well you’ve met your readers goals. You’ve certainly met mine.
Cheers.
I’d like to have a way of following threads a bit more easily.
The longer the blogs, the more I tend to skim the material. I’m not sure that 500-800 words would adequately cover the subject. I recommend that you keep it as it is even though my opinion is probably statistically insignificant (just ask my wife!)
I joined the blog recently, and I’m very pleased. I feel I get my money’s worth, not only in the posts but also by gaining short answers to my various questions in the comments. The length is fine for me, but I have all the time in the world so I may be an outlier there.
1) I think that the 1000-word length of blog entries is just right.
2) Perhaps an FAQ section could be added. Questions might include things like the following, some of which I know the answers to:
a) What do you consider yourself–believer, agnostic, atheist?
b) If you’re a nonbeliever, why do you teach and blog about the NT?
c) Are you trying to convert/”deconvert” people to your way of thinking?
d) There are errors in the Bible? Care to show me some?
e) Do you do debates? How much do you charge to debate? Does the opponent have to have a doctoral degree? You could also link to this page about upcoming speaking engagements: https://www.bartdehrman.com/speaking-engagements/
3) Would a colleague who is an expert on the Hebrew Bible be willing to offer an occasional guest post and answer questions the way that you do?
One thing I forgot to add: Would you consider enabling HTML on this blog? Quotation marks and asterisks are okay, but being able to set off comments that we are responding to with the block-quote function and using italics bold print might be helpful.
It is enabled. I just choose not to use it sometimes. (But you’ll see other times I do, especially block indentations and underscoring)
I was able to put a word in bold, but I could not use the block-quote function or italicize. What I have in mind is the full range of options available in your forum.
I think he meant in the comments.
Hey! It is enabled. Who knew?
2. Interesting idea! 3. I’ve tried to get colleagues to do it, but they think it would involve too much time and effort! Although you’ve given me an idea. Maybe I could contact scholars who have just published a book to see if they’d like to describe/promote it in a 1000 word post. That might be interesting!
I mentioned this when your friend Dale Martin released his book, but he wasn’t interested in posting. I’ve never understood why a scholar wouldn’t take the opportunity to promote themselves. All they have to do is copy and paste an excerpt from their book and talk a little bit about it. Maybe tell them they don’t have to write 1,000 words. Hurtado’s can be short sometimes. Just so long as they get their point across. 750-1,000? Or leave it to their judgment.
I’ll be trying a new approach now, but in the past, friends/colleagues have told me they simply don’t have the time. It’s hard to write 750 words, and takes some effort to write them well….
Short, meaningful, and comprehensible is hard! Remember the Pascal paraphrase: “I’m sorry I wrote you such a long letter; I didn’t have time to write a short one”.
Great idea. May I recommend Joel Marcus? His recent book on John the Baptist is awesome and I’d love to ask him some questions if he’s willing to engage in the comments.
Yup, I’ve asked him already, and he’s agreed!
If you do that, you should make it contingent on them doing another post where they answer questions about their book or field.
They would reply to comments, as I do, if they chose.
To be brief, my vote is “Practically Perfect in every way”.
In a bit more detail: As far as content and topics: When a topic I might have already been aware and/or am already interested in, it’s great and I always learn something new. When the topic is about something that I wasn’t aware of or hadn’t thought about before, I always find a new topic that I wish I *had* known about.
As far as “quantity”: Speaking for myself I read each new posting and the associated comments. (My personal ideal would be a new chapter-length posting each time I open my browser. But I think we both understand that that’s not going to happen…)
My vote would be against shorter postings. But that said, I have no idea how you maintain this level of productivity (especially given all your other obligations and responsibilities.)
In sum, I (and I’m sure I speak for many others) am grateful for this blog and for your generosity in sharing your knowledge and expertise.
Thank you.
I like 1000 words or more. You can develop the subject a little more in depth than you can with fewer words. Those who don’t care to read more words can simply stop reading at any time.
I think the length of the posts have been reasonable, and I don’t have too much of an issue with some daily variability in length. I have used the star rating system a few times, but I often forget about it being there.
Other suggestions:
1.) One thing I would like to change would be the date of the post to display when viewing from a mobile device. I’m using Chrome on a PC now and I can see the box with the date at the top right, but when I view on an iPhone using Safari, I can’t see this. The reason this would be nice is that I use Facebook to get notifications when you post something new, and for some reason I’ve had issues with the Facebook notification/links directing me to an older post (e.g. maybe a day or two before, rather than the most current). While I typically realize what has happened very quickly once I begin reading, the date would make it very clear up front.
2.) This may be too difficult and require too much work to get going, but do you think there would be any way you could have a mobile app for your blog? That way we could get notifications directly for that app, and I wouldn’t have to use Facebook as a middleman. It may also make it easier for us to navigate to older posts/topics if we wanted as well. Unfortunately I have no experience in making or maintaining apps, so I’m of no use in helping.
1) We’re working on that one! 2) Interesting idea. I think I’ll look into it. …
Bart, a mobile app would be great. For security reasons, my family does not use Facebook so I loose that connection with you and I have to be on a computer to really read the blog. That doesn’t happen as often as I’d like.
a mobile app is a wonderful idea!
If it is possible to add an audio, that would be great. This way interested people with visual impairment can have access to the knowledge that you are sharing wuth us. Therefore, they will not be “blind” to the historical truth.
Also, since some of your books are already translated in many languages. I am also interested in doing this to “Jesus Interupted” for now. I’m not sure about the costs of this type of project but I don’t know where to begin. Please let me know how, so I can save for it if I have to. I would like my countrymen to wake up and know the truth, so the new generation of youngs ones will be free from prejudice and suffering brought about by systemic generations and generations of conservative interpretations of the scriptures. It’s not as tight now as compared to before, but it is still there.
Can you write children’s book? Similar to comics type? children loves graphic arts. To educate them at an early age. I believe it needs to start from the roots.
My idea may not work, but at least I tried. Thank you Dr. Ehrman
Translations are commissioned by foreign-language presses, not by authors; a contract is worked out with the author’s publisher, and usually the author is the last to know!
Hi Dr Ehrman
How about the incorporation of audio in the blog? Is there anything I can do to help make this project possible? Or is it already here and I just don’t know how to access them yet?
Like my friend and I really enjoys the samples in the podcast. We listen to it and to your youtube videos and audio books from overdrive when we go out for our long walks or while doing any other activities. I could read to her some of your other posts here but I’m not with her all the time. To be honest, I am also a very slow reader (sorry). English is not my first language but I’m trying my best. Maybe I’ve got a better listening skill than reading.
Thank you Dr. Ehrman
It’s happening now. We will be having audio versions available when the new format launches — hopefully soon — for some of the membership levels. And already you can hear two blog posts a week. Just search for Bart Ehrman Blog Podcast.
Bart,
I just checked my download folder and there are currently 10 documents that I downloaded from your blog to share with others because I found them so fascinating. Most of the time it was because there was some new information in the blog post that I had never heard before that I wanted to share with others. Those 10 downloads go back to Nov. 21st, less than two months, when I last cleaned out that folder. There were many other times I nearly downloaded a blog post but decided I had already pushed too much to my friends and held off. I’ve been a subscriber to our blog for over two years and have read most of your trade books as well as books by many other scholars in the same general area. So for me to have downloaded 10 posts in less than 2 months because of some new information I thought worthy of passing on I would say you are doing a FANTASTIC job! I keep an open tab on my browser set to your blog and look forward to each new post. Somehow I missed the fact that I could rate the posts. I will try to use that rating mechanism going forward. Thanks for all you do, keep up the good work!
-Scott
In all honesty, I am fully satisfied with the blog as it is. And, no, that is not a cop-out to avoid specifics nor am I applying the halo effect. The blog fulfills a need I have to keep up with not only your writing but also your thinking. And further, I want to understand the NT for what it really is, absent the myth, magic and legend. Nonetheless, you explain why the myth, etc. might have been injected and what the agenda/bias of a particular author might have been. That is also important to know.
As far as the length of the posts, I think the range that you are currently using is fine. I would be disappointed with less. But ultimately, the length of the posts should be dictated by the substance of your message rather than an artificial framework. When necessary, you break a topic up into a thread. That is both understandable and desirable. Further, I think the number and nature of the comments you receive indicate that your posts are meaty enough to generate intelligent interaction with many of your readers. It is that interaction plus the growth of the blog (and its charitable benefits) that are the true marks of success.
I find myself looking forward to each day’s discoveries and, once again, would find briefer posts less satisfying.
Hey Dr. Ehrman. I really appreciate your work and consistency with the blog. It’s a blessing to have access to such a wealth of info from a reliable source such as yourself. Keep up the good work.
In think you should keep post lengths at 1000 words, and if they end up going to 12 or 1400 , if that’s what is needed to get the point across then that’s completely fine. I look forward to reading lengthier posts as long as the content is good and to the point.
Also with the layout of the blog, I think you should place the latest posts in an area easier to find. It took me a while to figure out where they are by scrolling all the way down.
Don’t worry about the length of the post. Use as few or as many words as necessary to deliver your message about the topic.
My thoughts:
– Now I know the star feedback system is helpful to you, I’ll try to remember to regularly rate your posts.
– You MORE than provide value for money – I’d be happy with the posts being shorter (but the length does not put me off) or even half as frequent considering the low cost of an annual membership.
– Inevitably some topics I find more interesting than others and some posts more detailed than I “need”; others I would love for you to have kept on writing. I suppose that will be many people’s experience and is to be expected when catering for an audience of thousands.
– I really like the tone and style of the posts.
– It’s reassuring to know any level of question is welcome! The comment feature is brilliant… but I wonder whether the word limit is a bit too generous!
– I’d be interested in more guest posts too.
No complaints from me at all. Blog is just about perfect. Also 1000-1500 is fine for length and you go over posts if your need to. Keep it up.
You may want to think about an increase. $30 would still be excellent value for money especially given where it ends up.
I suspect that many users are like me: we generally read daily but occasionally fall behind and catch up by reading several posts at a time. I think the setup now is fantastic – your demeanor, the length of posts, the digressions into side topics. As it is now, the site feels very personal. Not to mention the fact that by providing this service you are very much filling the much needed (and laudable) role of public intellectual. I greatly appreciate the efforts you make to compress years of labor into digestible and interesting daily posts.
With respect to daily posts, I am happy with 1000 words, but if that were to change I would hope it would be to the longer side.
A more critical suggestion concerns the layout of historic posts. I know they are searchable and I know they are already grouped by broad topic, but even still I have spent a great deal of time trying to locate / gather together posts that address a specific topic. It *might* be useful to other readers if you were to have someone create an index with major topics and sub topics that links to all relevant posts addressing that specific issue. Again, this is doable today, but you have to know beforehand what you are searching for, whereas a detailed index would help readers answer questions they didn’t even know they had!
Thank you so much for providing this wonderful blog.
Do you mean an index that is even more specific than the one we currently have, where (this is just the beginning of the list) you can look up all the posts by topic:
Acts, Catholic Epistles, Revelation
Afterlife
Bart Answers Readers
Bart Responds To Critics
Bart Revisits Debates
Bart’s Book Discussions
Bart’s Reflections
Bart’s Video Media
Bart’s Biography
Canonical Gospels
Christian Apocrypha
Constantine and Nicaea
Development of Christian Doctrine
Early Judaism
Films About Jesus
Greco-Roman Religions
Hebrew Bible/OT
Heresy and Orthodoxy
History of Biblical Scholarship
History of Christianity (100-300CE)
Home Slider
Memory Studies
Mythicism
NT Text and Manuscripts
Other Early Christian Writings
Paul and His Churches
Etc Etc.
Recognizing that you do already offer an extensive list, I am suggesting that it *might* be useful, especially to new readers, to have something that is perhaps presented as an outline (with links) and, yes, more sub categories. Noting that many of those index headings have over 10 pages of posts (100+), it can take quite a while to search through those for the topic of interest.
This may or may not be a great example but suppose a new user was interested in learning more about inconsistencies in the gospels or the divinity of Jesus, those 2 respective topic headings (Canonical Gospels, Historical Jesus) currently have nearly 400 posts each and sorting through all of that can take some time. On the other hand, speaking from experience, this gives the reader an opportunity to come across all sorts of things that she wasn’t even looking for in the first place – not a bad thing!
Although this indexing is admittedly of secondary importance, I think it would help make the blog more of a “research” resource whereas now it functions mostly as a traditional blog built around the chronology of daily posts.
I’d suggest trying the search function. Just search for “inconsistencies” or “divinity of Jesus” and see what you come up with. (The difficulty of creating a signfiicantly more detailed index is that I’d have to go through all nearly 2000 posts and categorize them into sub-sub-categories, one at a time. It would take dozens of hours. It probalby *would* be good, but I’m not sure if it’s cost effective. But I’m open to the idea!)
OK, so where do I find this list that you mentioned?
If you’re doing this on a computer, it’s on teh home page. If you’re doing it on a phone, we’re trying to get it there too.
Do you mean something more specific than the current index, which allows you to see all the posts under broad topics (this is the first large chunk of the options):
Acts, Catholic Epistles, Revelation
Afterlife
Bart Answers Readers
Bart Responds To Critics
Bart Revisits Debates
Bart’s Book Discussions
Bart’s Reflections
Bart’s Video Media
Bart’s Biography
Canonical Gospels
Christian Apocrypha
Constantine and Nicaea
Development of Christian Doctrine
Early Judaism
Films About Jesus
Greco-Roman Religions and Culture
Hebrew Bible/OT
Heresy and Orthodoxy
History of Biblical Scholarship
History of Christianity (100-300CE)
Home Slider
Memory Studies
Mythicism
NT Text and Manuscripts
Other Early Christian Writings
Paul and His Churches
Proto-Orthodox Writers
Etc Etc
I’m happy with the way things are. Long posts, short posts – I like them both. I never even noticed a way to vote on the post, I guess I just mentally ignored those icons out of habit.
Bart, I don’t care how long your posts are. I appreciate that you respond to member questions. If I donated to your Foundation every time you’ve responded to my questions, I’d be broke now. Even if you admit you don’t now, that’s valuable too. It’s probably a good question, and probably no one else knows the answer either!
You asked for comments, Bart. I do have a couple.
First, the blog is an essential part of my daily structure. I look forward to every topic since they all address aspects of my curiosity.
Second, I think 800 – 1,200 words is ideal for a column. Granted, I am retired, so in general, longer is better.
Finally, I would like to see even more granularity sometimes, including cites to evidence both for and against conclusions you have reached academically. I am not interested in opposing rhetoric or polemic … just their hard evidence.
Thanks for the work you do!
Raemon Polk
I come for the content, but I stay for the tone you achieve on the blog.
I enjoy the length and depth of the posts. They’re enough for me to read in my phone and digest over lunch. The only problems with that are that I often forget that I wanted to ask a question by the time I get back to a computer, and the days without a post leave me scrambling for something else.
But, what I’ve really valued is the tone of the blog. It’s great to see all levels be able engage with a scholar like you and makes me miss those opportunities from my college days. It’s also one of the few places, internet or otherwise, where I’ve seen a spectrum of believers and non-believers be welcome, be engaged, and find value. There’s some occasional eye rolling at believers in the comments, and occasionally some overly aggressive apologists, but those are the exceptions.
I’d still value the content even if it were shorter, but the posts already leave me wanting more and I especially enjoy seeing a topic covered across multiple posts. And, of course, it’s not just about “buying access” (for which it’s an incredible value), but that the money goes to charity. Maybe that means I should give more…
Bart,
The length of your posts always seems appropriate to the topic–no need to shorten for our reading attention sp…
I miss the weekly Readers’ Mailbag (perhaps I missed the post where this was discussed and dropped).
And speaking of questions, what factors do you consider when endorsing a book via a jacket blurb? Does respect for the author (e.g., Pagels’s new book) drive the decision as much as the content of the book (that you may not agree with, e.g., supernatural occurrences)? Or how about Aslan’s 2017 God book?
Thanks!
I still do the Mailbag, but simply don’t call it that. I haven’t been doing it every week though. Maybe I’ll return to the weekly version and start calling it the Mailbag again!
As someone who has asked several questions over the years on the blog I later considered pretty dumb, I always appreciate your patient replies. And I agree the comments section here is the best I’ve encountered — it’s what online discussion could be without trolls. I like the longer posts, and the inside-baseball level analysis. As a veteran of the blog, the posts inevitably sometimes cover ground I’ve read about before, but I’m amazed at how well you do in keeping it fresh. In terms of topics, one of the areas I’d love to see more on would be a thread on how Jewish expectations of a messiah evolved from Greek influences. And I’d really love it if you were able to reproduce chapters from your trade books that really gets into the details of the topics.
BART- I regard this Blog as my church ! I love everything about it and I especially adore your kindness to all of us here and the fact that our donations go to charity which is so heartwarming! I love the length of the blog and I love the fact we can ask you any question! The other spectacular thing about you/the blog is that All are welcome here and there is no hidden agenda as in trying to convince anyone of anything. I love that this field of study is evidence based – evidence is something we call all sink our teeth into and take to the bank so to speak. I do believe in the science of creation- I don’t know what is behind it but most certainly it is not an ageless giant person in the sky. I know you are providing a great service to mankind and I sincerely thank you for all that you do!
I think the posts are greatly helpful and are obviously the core of the blog, but probably the most valuable aspect of the blog is to have questions answered by an expert scholar in the field. This is a pretty rare opportunity to be offered and I think most are very appreciative of Dr. Ehrman’s willingness to do so.
One area I think the blog could see improvement would be from conversations amongst blog members regarding the blog topic.
I believe that many blog members are greatly interested in Bart’s answers to the questions raised, maybe so much as to pass over other comments which do not have answers from Bart (because they were not questions). I know I have been “guilty” of this before. Not saying this is a problem per se, but if more members read other comments, that might spark conversation amongst members which could spice things up a bit and also could be quite informational.
One possible remedy for this could be to give the commenter the option to specify if the comment is a question for Bart, or a comment about the post. This would help the readers who only want to read Bart’s answers and would actually help Bart in answering, since he could skip other comments if he was so inclined (which I think he would really appreciate!). The questions, once approved, could be designated with a colored box stating “Question for Bart,” and possibly be sorted as such.
I’m not sure how much of an investment this would be IT-wise, but may be worth it if there is any interest.
Thoughts?
Interesting idea. A lot of comments (30-40%) are directed to other comments, rather than to me, and that does sometimes lead to a back and forth. Another option is the Forum, where that’s the entire point. But I can think about how to make it more obvioulsy an option just on the blog itself.
When I retired, I made a list of about a dozen religious blog sites that I followed. I slowly stopped following all but your blog mainly because of their “snarkiness” and dogmatic certainty. Your blog, in contrast, is terrific. The different content is helpful. As to length, about 1,000 words a blog seems just right to me. It’s like the story of the “Three Bears.” It’s just right. Just don’t burn out. When you are swamped, dig up some past posts. Rereading past posts, like the recent ones about the birth of Jesus, is a helpful review.
Still, for me, your best posts are when you mix in your personal story with the scholarship. That makes the scholarship more meaningful and more interesting.
I am very happy with the length and content of posts. I pull the content into an e-reader, so I can read it at my leisure which favors longer posts. I’ll admit when I was reading online I would skip longer posts with the intent to read them later, but that didn’t always happen.
Thank you for your work, and I think I’m getting my money’s worth.
Hello, Professor! Indeed a very nice blog! I want you to know that I like your blog very much as I said earlier when you provided me with free access. Here are my thoughts and suggestions on your blog:
1) I don’t know exactly, but I think there are some limitations on the number of comments made by one person. If such limititations exist, then I suggest you to end those limitations, because it can be barrier to the effectivity of discussions on the matter.
2) I prefer *longer* blogs, because as a layman I want to learn much about scholarly issues on Early Christianity. The more words a blog has, the more I am likely to read it.
3) There are some sort of biases you have (so have I) against Biblical inerrancy and testimonies of “Church Fathers”. I would suggest you to present only your views but also views of both sides frequently and then leave decisions to be made by readers. It will both attract many subscribers to your blog and give clear frameworks of debated issues on Early Christianity, therefore will increase knowledge of laymen and help them to understand sources of debates on the given issues better.
This is probly not going to help much cos I think you’re doing things just about right – length & content. I tell you why I think so – you often respond to comments and queries, so whether they’re in-depth and informed or a newby asking, you respond – and that takes things up or down as needed. So: I’m lovin’ it.
I think the comment word limits, commenter post limits, and the “no proselytizing” rule you imposed last year have been excellent for aiding the continued high quality of the blog (it was creeping into a rough patch before those tweaks). Your own posts seem of adequate length to me. Can’t think of anything else that needs to be added.
Bart, I actually prefer shorter posts. Maybe even use some bullet lists to condense content. I like to get the facts and info without too much fluff. 500 – 800 words would be well worth the cost to me.
thanks,
I am new to the blog and love it. I try to read it everyday and, when time is available, I read your old posts. I also enjoy the questions and comments of other members. I personally don’t feel the length of your posts should be based on an arbitrary word count. Brief and concise has a certain appeal, as it is a blog. Ultimately I think the length should be based on whether or not you feel you have adequately covered your topic.
As I said, not only do I read the posts, but also translate into Portuguese and write.
For me everything is wonderful, it is a magical learning.
For me, the only problem is the language itself.
because many terms we do not have in Portuguese, this ends up making me even more my transcription of the text, finding a similar term for my language.
Thank you for this opportunity.
Your English is great!
Posts are the right length for me. Still a bit too much verbosity with some of the comments, despite your best endeavours, but that’s ok because I don’t read them unless there is a question that you have answered. Otherwise, perfect. Thanks for all your hard work and for sharing your immense scholarship with us.
Hi Bart,
For me the post length is spot on.
I have learnt more about Christianity’s history and the new testament I general in the short time I have been on the blog compared with 20 years as a Christian (a common theme in Pentecostal churches). I seem to read the Bible more now than ever before even though I have not been to church in 15 years.
I prefer the posts which do not get too deep in scholarship but I think the balance is right.
I personally read every one.
I think the revision ones are great too.
cheers,
Keep up the great work! I read it every day and am satisfied with the length and quality of the content. I also like the reposts, since I wasn’t a member yet when much of it was originally posted. Always learning something new when I sign in.
I very much like the long technical, wonky pieces, but agree that many people might prefer quick reads. Would you consider a mix?
Thanks, Dr. Ehrman.
Haven’t thought much about the size of posts before but they’ve always seemed like a natural length to me. I prefer the posts on the dating and authorship of NT books, more depth the better, but the general miscellany of the topics is what keeps things interesting. I guess the amount of comments a blog post gets is also a good indication of how people like it.
Also mainly joined the blog to run ideas past someone who knows far more about the topics than I do – so thanks for the replies!
The blog is invaluable to me and terrific just as it is. My concern is that you, Dr. Ehrman, are burdened with all the work it entails. Perhaps fewer postings? Just don’t eliminate Sunday’s as that’s the one I enjoy most.
I love this blog! I have not been a subscriber for long, but for me it is a daily read. I truly look forward to the time of day where I can read posts both past and present. I think a target of 1000 words is fine for a post. I don’t imagine anyone counting. If it takes a few hundred more or less words to illustrate your point, so be it. I have informed friends both religious and atheists about this blog and have encouraged them to give it a try…even if for a month. I tell my Christain friends that they can learn more about the bible here then they can by sitting in a pew. Alas, most do not want to learn such things, they are more comfortable believing what they are told. I’ve piqued some interest among my atheist friends, yet so many of them want to cling to a mythical version of Jesus….as if some how a Jesus character existing in antiquity would be a chink in their anti theist armour. Their loss I believe. Thank you for your work and dedication to this project. The only small gripe I have is it usually takes several days to moderate (at least mine) posts.
I actually moderate every post from the previous day every day I make a new post (part of my morning routine). I’m not sure why yours would be taking several days to show up.
I’m bored by repeat posts but don’t really mind because the money goes for a good cause and I have plenty of other stuff to read if only I had enough time.
I like the relatively rare posts that genuinely engage with the views of other scholars (not the fundy evangelical kind but real scholars) but also understand that most of your readers probably want more basic information. Personally, I would love it if you would engage more with the fundamentally different conclusions or methodologies of real scholars like Maurice Casey on the Aramaic son of man, Rudolf Bultmann on the minimal possibility of reconstructing much of an historical portrait of the historical Jesus, or Frans Neirynck and the erosion of the Gardner-Smith consensus of Johannine independence of the synoptics, etc. Some may think these are boring or arcane academic topics but actually these readers too would be well served by learning how tentative some of our knowledge of Christian origins is at the earliest stages.
Mostly I’m concerned that you will burn yourself out by trying to respond to all 7,000 of us making three comments of 1,200 words every day. With that in mind I will stop here!
Yes, it’s always hard to know how far down into the weeds to get. Both because of audience and level of difficulty (it’s obvioulsy much much harder to do serious scholarship in 1000 words than to write a popular account) I’ve decided to get into the weeds only on occasion. I’m not sure how most blog members get on with that — my sense is that many eyes glaze over!
Personally speaking, I would love you to get into the weeds more often, and the topics suggested by Robert do sound very tasty!
I appreciate the weeds sometimes, too! In particular, I find it useful and interesting when you quote the exact Greek word or words that you are discussing in a technical post (in addition to their meanings).
I for one enjoy the blog immensely. I check it every day to see any new posts. I like the length of your posts, plus the fact that you do multiple posts when the topic warrants it. My background is physics, and though retired, I remain interested in a bunch of science and technology topics, so i check out many other blogs, not daily, but regularly. I get very frustrated when a post spends line after line covering the background/history of the topic before ever getting into the meat. Your approach, where you announce the topic and then say that you are going to have to do several posts setting up the background is much more attractive to me. I can read and wait for the next one, or decide that I know the background and wait till you get to the core. I like the topics covered; growing up in an evangelical denomination, I’ve wrestled with many of the issues/questions that you did, although pursuing a PhD in physics didn’t provide quite the challenge that one in ancient documents did!! Well, it did provide a challenge, but from a different direction. I think the level of your posts is good. I have been reading and thinking about these issues for some time, so could handle more depth at times. But I can contact you directly if/when I want that. So what would make the blog better? You might consider going systematically through Christian documents of, say, the first two centuries. Interspersed, of course, with posts dealing with reader questions, things on your mind, etc.
That about covers it for me. Keep up the good work! Chuck
I prefer shorter length posts and will tend to read them over longer posts. You might also consider ways to avoid a text-only post. Take advantage of the enhancements now possible in web posting — bullet points, graphics, photos, tables, charts, imbedded links, headings and sub-headings, text boxes, .. that sort of thing.
I read and don’t comment. I am not looking for dialogue. I want content from you. For me there is not too much content. Whether I agree or disagree is not an issue for me. I have spent 55 years in ministry but I’m not finished learning. I appreciate this forum. I appreciate your honesty and dedication to this endeavor.
An occasional recap of your debates. Some of the videos are long.. but brief recaps of the points like the NHL channel does after each game showing the plays of the night.
Points, counter points of your debates?
Maybe one a month/week?
Only thing I can think of… thanks.
I’m very happy with the length and variety of posts. If I wished for anything, it would be more posts with significant details about small issues, such as the fairly recent post about how the sentence about Jesus being thought crazy by his family was translated.
I think the blog is great!
My opinion is that the lengths of your posts are about perfect! While sometimes I wish you’d go into a bit more detail, I realize that probably would get too much into the weeds for many viewers and any shorter would be too brief and not really clarify the discussion. So, my vote on length is… stick with the current amount!
I absolutely love the comments! Especially because you answer questions asked and often because someone asks a pertinent question that also sparks my interest. Nothing tickles me more than a question or comment that makes me wish I had thought of that.
While we have had a poster or two that were a bit snarky and rambled on too long, the changes made to comment length and your vetting them has eliminated them. I don’t think you’ve gone overboard as you certainly allow dissent from your views to have a voice. Good job!
My vote is don’t change a thing unless you get a ton of feedback that there is a problem. I don’t see any. Quite frankly, I think it is one of the best ones out there!
I just recently joined, after a one month trial membership. I’ve read quite a few of your books and seen all your courses on The Great Courses Plus. And I’ve also quickly become a fan of the blog. As far as I’m concerned, the content and size of the entries is perfect, just like you intended: a relatively quick read to look forward to every evening, packed with thought provoking and enlightening information. Thanks a lot for the blog, the books and the courses!
Bart, I must say that I really do prefer the longer blog posts here. Compared to most blogs, I feel compelled to return regularly given the value of the information. The great part about the way you structure your articles is that they’re also really open to skimming, so I can just flitter over them if I don’t want to read the entire thing. The content is always exciting, and the biggest issue I have is that I would like to go back and read all your posts but my time just doesn’t allow for that much content (which is a real credit to you, along with all your other work that you churn that much out).
Overall, I can’t say there is much room for improvement as your blog is the most well-cared for one that I read and is well worth the subscription money. If anything, my only suggestion would be to potentially release a “best of” series as an e-book to raise some more money. I know I’d spend $10-15 for a curated list of articles over the years that are particularly well-written and insightful, organised by the categories on your site.
I don’t think the content or quality is an issue; the site needs more publicity. I found the blog by listening to one of the debates you participated in with the Christian Apologists. Perhaps you can have another debate to promote the blog site. I watched you debate Licona—who I had as a professor, William Lane Craig, James White, and a couple others. I hoped you would debate James White again. Also, it would be great if you were able to have more speaking engagements on the West coast of the U.S.
Yes, I rarely get invited out west for some reason!
I, for one, read every post, and scan or read most of the comments. I’ve only been a member for a few months and cannot seem to get enough, but I understand your desire to meet the needs of the majority of the members. For me it’s just right.
Feedback: I joined last year and will donate again. I probably get on 2-3 times a week and catch-up from where I was last. My first month was a binge month logging in every day so happy it existed while I waited for Triumph to release. I’ve quit a lot of blogs after a couple months, so your blog stands above at holding my attention. I’ve read almost all of your books in the last 2 years, I find the blog content valuable to fill in, tied together and understand if and how your views changed or remained the same or reading you summarize something I’ve read in your books. I enjoy how often posts ask a question I’ve never heard or thought to ask as you did in the “Did Early Christians Believe in Reincarnation?” In my other readings a topic there would often drive me to log in here and use the search feature. It works well to get a list of posts related to my search topic, though the list layout might be an area for improvement, like adding the posted date and tagged category. There are about 10 frequent commentors that do indeed seem very knowledgeable and like to read thru all of them and like that I can “like” comment, but haven’t really commented myself this year. I like the respectful tone you and the posters maintain. Regarding word count, I get thru 2-3 post every time I log in, so 1000-1200 is great for me. I like the variety of whatever comes up in your research or a peek into a future book. You’ve said it before and I agree the value here is well worth the donation cost.
Idea to get 100K membership: Have you considered a unlock mechanism to make one entire post free (maybe once a month?) and then get people, like us (your members) to post on our social media pages, or those who’ve interviewed you (many have blogs), your publisher or “someone” else to link the title on a site like http://www.realclearreligion.com? This might be a way to drive more traffic to the blog. I go back to your question posts that already have a hook, but if I was on some aggregator blog and I saw “Did Early Christians Believe in Reincarnation?”, I would click it in a second.
Interesting idea. Thanks.
The blog is one of my favorite hobbies in the web. I have learnt a lot from it although I get nervous when I write in the comments because I feel that I must write intelligent things in this intelectual blog. The topics are very good. Could I suggest that in the end of the post some references could be suggested to learn more? because most of the times I ask myself where can I corroborate and learn more about the interesting things you post. Maybe some links to resources about the topic you discuss in the post.
I think you do a pretty good job on length. If the subject is interesting, I won’t even notice how long it is. You often break up lengthy topics into several posts, which I have no problem with.
My complaints are minor and are more about the presentation.
1. I don’t see why as a subscriber I should see the blurb about needing to subscribe to see the rest of the post. Obviously, you are hiding the rest of the post from non-subscribers, so it should be a similar task to hide the blurb from me.
2. As a new subscriber, I want to go back and read or at least look at all your previous posts. I can’t seem to find an easy way to navigate through the blog by date. I though the arrows pointing to previous and later posts would do it, but they seem to direct the reader to the next or previous post with a related topic.
If I select a month from the archive menu, to read the posts in order, I have to go to the last page of that month and then read the posts backwards, if that makes sense. If it doesn’t make sense, try reading your posts from say, August, 2012 from the beginning to the end of the month.
3. This is very minor, but when you have multiple pages of comments, when you select the next page of comments, you are taken to the bottom of the new page, rather than where the next page of comments begins, so you have to scroll up to see the comments. I’d prefer that comments just be on one page. Are there still people on dial-up connections that this would be a problem for?
I very much appreciate being able to interact with a leading New Testament scholar and appreciate that you try to answer every question. I do think some questions get asked over and over, so it might be time to make a list of frequently asked questions which would save you time. If you have answered the question before, you can simply reference the FAQ.
Thanks for reading. It’s unnecessary to publish this comment.
These are great suggestions. I don’t know if any or all of them might be possible, but I’ll look into it.
Dr. Ehrman –
For what it’s worth, there are 2 things I check every Mon-Fri morning: the Nasdaq futures and the Ehrman blog. I wouldn’t change anything that you’re doing.Thanks for promoting the idea of reasonable belief.
My favorite posts, Bart, are those which tell me something about a verse I hadn’t known or thought of. Thus, for example, I appended the following note to the word “today” in Luke 23:43 in my electronic bible:
in Luke’s Gospel the word “today” is used some dozen times. In every case it indicates the day on which something significant is happening, often something involving salvation (e.g. 2:11; 4:21; 13:32-33; 19:9). It never, ever indicates simply the day on which something is said to be about to happen. And why would it? Here too, Jesus is saying something important will be happening on that very day: this other man (and Jesus) will soon be in Paradise.
The idea that paradise becomes available to the follower of Jesus immediately upon death for Luke is confirmed in his second volume in the account of the first Christian martyr, Stephen. Stephen has just antagonized his Jewish opponents by delivering a rather hostile long sermon (most of Acts 7), at the end of which he looks up to heaven and declares that he sees “the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God”(Acts 7:56). The Jewish leaders are incensed, thinking he has committed blasphemy, and in a mob effort break out the stones to execute him on the spot. Just before he dies, Stephen cries out “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (7:59). Again, that last word is pneuma. Stephen’s pneuma now will go to heaven to reside with the Lord when his body perishes.
https://ehrmanblog.org/today-you-will-be-with-me-in-paradise/
News I can use!
My least favorite posts are the videos or podcasts of debates or interviews. I’m a text guy. Seems like there have been fewer of those, lately.
I also loved your personal reminisces of your time with Metzger. And I love, love, love that you will, however briefly, answer our questions.
Any length is fine with me Bart.
Many thanks, Bart, for your labor *near* (lol) the vineyard!
😀
I would prefer a shorter, less technical post every day. I try to read the blog daily, but sometimes it is just a little overwhelming. I like a little dose of biblical history and/or theology each day. My $ 0.02.
Ph
I love, love, love (as I said) that you will answer our questions. How else would I have ever found Helen Bond’s monograph on Pilate?
Many thanks! 😀
Overall I think your blog and comments are great. Of course, almost everyone on here probably has a different focus of interest, especially from time to time. But first of all: your expertise and especially personality and manner are what make it work. You are always fair with differences of opinion and recognize the strengths and weaknesses in your own conclusions. At the end of the day, that’s what it is really about. How and why things are determined to be “facts”, how sure can we be of this or that, and what is the most reasonable conclusion. Your blog and the way you handle issues are the best example of how scholarship should be (at least to the masses!). Even though over time you have covered a lot, it is always refreshing when you revisit some topic since opinions and information change over time. But I’m good with you referring or linking to something when it hasn’t.
The bottom line most useful point of it all to me is that a god that really cares as described in church wouldn’t leave so much uncertainty.for us to figure out. And something so uncertain written 2000 years ago in languages I don’t understand about supposed events I didn’t witness and even scholars argue over certain wasn’t a message to ME! Other than academically, arguing over this or that word feels more like arguing over how to arrange the deck chairs on the Titanic than “finding god”.
Is there a way to stay logged in longer? I get booted out and have to re-login quite often! Obviously not a huge deal, but I think we get spoiled with this on other sites.
Hmm… I don’t know. Zap me an email and we’ll figure it out.
My thoughts on your Blog? That’s a tough one. (will responses be graded?) I’m pretty new here so I have a few years of catch-up reading to do. The length of the posts seems ambitious and maybe hard to sustain, but I’m not going to complain. Just throw in a short one once in a while if you need to. Or, like this post, ask us a question.
Otherwise, I can tell you why I joined and perhaps you can infer “thoughts on the blog” from that. I’ve been watching some of your YouTube lectures and the story of your own journey through evangelical fundamentalism, to where your are now is, well, compelling. There is an honesty in your presentation of facts about the NT that seems to arise out of knowing where you’ve been (and therefore, knowing where many Christians are) and from genuine, fact based, research driven “wanting to know.”
So, basically, I’m here because I too, want to know. And for a couple bucks, that go to a good cause, I get to the be the beneficiary of your lifetime of research and clarity of thought. That is an amazing deal and very rare.
Will I ever actually “know” something enough to “believe” something? Probably not. I keep close the famous Voltaire quote, “Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” Yet the search for certainty hard to ignore. I also keep close a line from the movie Solaris (the recent version) where, upon being confronted with a reality they can’t make sense of, Gibarian tells Kelvin, “There are no answers, only choices.” I believe we live in a reality that we can’t make sense of, yet we try. So that’s why I’m here. Knowing anything for sure is not likely, but I can still make choices. I would just like them to be good ones. Your blog is input to that effort. A source to consider. Does that help?
Yes, you received an A.
I love this blog – it’s changed my life. One of the most useful aspects of it for me is when you recommend where we can go for further reading – either one of your books or someone else’s. Since joining this blog I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading: Orthodox Corruption, Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium, The Triumph of Christianity, John the Baptist by Joel Marcus, Introduction to the New Testament by Raymond Brown, A Marginal Jew by John Meier, Jesus and Judaism and The historical figure of Jesus both by E P Sanders.
These works, and the blog itself has radically changed how I interpret my faith – and in a good way! I am now able to see how ancient writings are accompanied by a thick interpretive layer, which if peeled back can reveal some ordinary people doing some extraordinary things. Seeing and appreciating this has given me a clearer focus on my faith and has revealed a more gritty and earthy grounding to the characters involved. It has made it more real.
I feel like I have matured a great deal in my thinking since reading your blog and some of your books. It’s been quite a revelation actually. I’m not a typical Christian who sides with the liberals or the conservatives, and so I tread a lonely path. It’s very comforting to read a serious scholar who treats the Jesus I know with such respect and dignity. It means a lot to me.
And I would like to thank you, not just for helping me understand the historicity of my faith, but in doing so with such accessibility. You don’t need to run this blog to make a living and you give all the profits to worthy causes. You have sacrificed a section of your life to not only lift people out of poverty but to open a channel to novices like me who crave access to the experts.
Not only that, but I really appreciate the grace and humour that accompanies your posts and comments. I should imagine after six years of doing this it can become quite routine, but you always seem to have a charismatic pep in your step when responding to us. So as us Brits would say, thanks for being such a ruddy nice bloke with us subscribers.
I’ve been very happy with it. I keep wanting to push the blog on people that I think would find it interesting, but then I remember they are all to some extent still mired in fundamentalism and might not take the recommendation well, lol.
It had not even occurred to me to rate the posts. Oops. I would probably give them all fours and fives though, honestly. I lose hours to this site sometimes!
In a similar vein, I’ve really found myself preferring the longer posts and posts in series, FWIW.
Shorter is OK, too. No point in using more words to say what can be said well in fewer words.
Dr. Ehrman:
I’m very grateful for the blog. The best part is being able to directly have Q. and A. style interactions with you.
I first heard of you through the your Teaching Company Courses, then moved on to your books. So early Christianity is now a topic of interest to me and keeping up with your site is a good way to do that. BTW, my early education was Catholic, but I am a complete agnostic.
Suggestions? In one of your essays, you mentioned James Kugel’s “How to Read the Bible” and I found it fascinating.
Is there any way that you could record somewhere on your site lists of books not written by you that introduce topics that “feed into” your thinking (religion in general, ancient societies, psychology, Judaism, sociology, etc. etc). It’s not a question of you agreeing with everything they say. Rather, you add a sentence or two as to what you liked and leave it at that. No need for debates on these books or long reviews, Just a glimpse of all the tangential issues that swirl around anyone studying religion.
Oh yes, ideally these books should, if possible, be designed for intelligent, educated readers who are not specialists. Scholars of early Christianity can easily refer to the bibliographies at the end of your books. The lists that interest me are more like invitations to think more broadly on all the issues that affect the historical imagination of someone like yourself looking at early Christianity.
It’s an interesting idea. The main problem is that I almost never read books like that; almost everything I read is hard-hitting scholarship. The reason I read Kugel was that I was writing a book review of it. But when I do read non-scholarly books in the future, I’ll think about blogging on them!
I read all the blog posts and prefer the longer posts, but realise your time constraints..
Sometimes the posts show up on FB as something else entirely. This post for example! On FB it says, “And Then There Was Q” and then links us to the Q post. One time the link showed up with Talmoore’s baby face pic which was pretty funny actually.
I already mentioned how Hurtado’s blog has short posts, sometimes extremely short. It works for him. I think you should do what feels comfortable to you.
Can we receive email notifications for the new posts? Every blog I’m subscribed to has that feature. It either emails me the content of the post or notifies me when a post is ready to view with a link. That would be soooo helpful.
And last but not least, I do miss the comments being on 1 page. As someone else said, when going through the pages, it zooms to the bottom rather than the top so that we’re looking at everything in the opposite direction.
How weird. No one has ever mentioned this.
We’ve thought about email notifications, but a number of members have said they don’t want the email clutter. On the p. 1 business, I’ll look into it.
Some articles appeal to me more than others (I most enjoy talking about Jesus, as opposed to his various peripherals), but that would be the case for any blog. You don’t hit every one out of the park, but it’s important you cover your entire field.
I have a blog myself, and I don’t even bother to look at upvotes for my articles. How do I distinguish between genuine enthusiasm and polite applause, when it’s just ‘up’ or ‘down’. Or ‘like’. I’d get rid of the voting function entirely.
The only real criteria is comments. If a lot of people are commenting, positively or negatively, you did a good job. You got people engaged. My comments section is my pride and joy, and yours is much more active. And, of course, people pay to be able to read your posts, and comment on them. If your subscriber level is rising, that likewise means much more than upvotes.
There are books out there commenting on the whole ‘upvote downvote’ thing, and its negative impact on public discourse. I do it myself, mainly on disqus forums, but I kind of despise myself for doing it. I never, ever, downvote. It’s a contemptible passive aggressive way of getting even. Some forums I go to have eliminated it entirely. I will again advise you to do the same.
The blog is great!
I think we should start a petition so that Bart gets more than 24 hours in a day so he can respond in detail to comments. Maybe we can get Jesus to keep the sun still in the sky? 😉
I love the guest posts and posts that relate to recent discoveries. To understand early Christianity, I think we need even more background on the lives, beliefs, and customs of Jewish people and the Roman influences in the first century. I think a thread on life of Joshephus might be useful.
There is a little ambiguity with the rating system. Should I rate how much I am interested in the topic or how good of a post it is on whatever topic it is about? Your posts are generally great; I would almost always give five stars. If I’m rating the topic well that’ll vary.
Petition. Yes please. Rating: I suppose it should be based on both factors. Somehow.
My husband and I both enjoy your blog and this site! We have read many of your books over the years and continue to appreciate your insights and knowledge. Thanks.
I’ve been a member for a few years already. Maybe four.
I think that you are doing a good job.
I like the length of the posts.
I never rate the posts because I come to them after the first day they are published and I think that you won’t see it but if it’s important for you I can.
I’ve watched many of your videos but, even so, I still enjoyed your conversation with Sam Harris.
I love the blog. It complements your books very well. I wouldn’t change anything. Now, sorry for asking about this here but it seems like as good as anyplace to ask this: Paul mentions the “scriptures”, probably more than once but certainly in Romans 16:25 (“by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations”). What scriptures was he referring to? Do we know? Obviously not the Gospels, they hadn’t been written yet.
He’s referring to the Hebrew Bible (Jewish Scriptures)
I always told my students that the development of their idea or thesis is more important that the number of words they used – you seem to have that down pat, so I would say don’t worry about the difference between 800 and 1200 words! Say what you need to in order to get you idea across, but continue breaking really big ideas into smaller parts as you have been doing.
And I like the idea of including book reviews, of their own works, by other authors as you think books are deserving of that.
I like the blog just as it is.
I enjoy the blog in its present form and think that you balance all of its facets very nicely. You rigorous scholarly approach to study of the Bible and related ancient works is what I come to the blog for. It’s helpful when you state how you stand in relation to the opinions of other scholars on some point or conclusion, and why you have taken that particular stance. Your books are also very valuable resources to those of us who are novices but interested in the topics of your field of expertise. Please keep up the good work!
Superb blog. ii appreciate it!
I like the fact that you post older material from the blog, and do not mind at all that you continue to do so.
Tracking your word count too closely risks your flow. What you want is that zone where your thoughts, points, and words all combine on the page in a way that keeps you and the reader engaged in the content. Counting words can throw that off track. You might pace your postings, but don’t stifle your production unnecessarily.
I love the blog as is Dr. Ehrman but I do like the idea of guest scholars posting occasionally. If anything, feel free to make longer posts!
Dr. Ehrman, After reading your blogs and becoming enthralled in the subject matter, oft times I go from there looking into other sources or other blogs that you’ve written and never think about the rating stars that I only briefly glanced at before scrolling down. If there were a link at the bottom saying, “How would you rate this blog?” which redirected the reader back to those stars… Or, if the star rating was either moved to the bottom or duplicated at the bottom, more readers like myself, who tend to chase butterflies, may remember to give a rating.
After all, we have to read to the bottom before we can give an honest rating.
Great idea. I’ll look into it to see if it’s possible.
Hello Dr Ehrman,
As a long-time subscriber and fan, I hope you wouldn’t mind a different type of feedback than you requested. My biggest problem with the blog is that your current subscription model severely impacts your google traffic. If you want the blog to earn a lot more for charity, I’d consider testing a subscriber model similar to that of mindtools.com. They allow visitors to see 100% of their articles and get the first 3 free. After that, you have to sign up. The key factor here is google can index all the content. Google only has your first third of each article in their index, so they probably see your content as pretty thin and low quality (since they can’t see your full articles). It’s something you might test. I think your google traffic would 5x. Hope this helps.
Thanks! I’ll look into it.
Professor,
My only (somewhat unusual) suggestion would be to add a kind of “exam” that you can post that people can try to answer based on their knowledge – perhaps a sort of quiz, that *perhaps you can even charge to grade it*? Even different tests based on levels.
Maybe ask for a short essay reply to a question you post – and you select the top 3 or five answers (and explain why they are the top ones)? Maybe you can do this once a month, semi annually?, quarterly, a kind of “pay to participate” contest etc. etc.
I know you have posted previous course tests, but It would be fascinating to get “tested” by you on the knowledge I personally have gained here and with your books – to get some sort of idea of where I stand, how far I have come and how much more I have to go.
Perhaps this can be a different section of the blog?
I do not know the best way or all the details – just want to plant a seed of this idea and see if it can grow and evolve to anything.
Interesting idea!
I think the length of your posts is just fine–only you will know how long it *should* be.
I’ll take every chance you ask to ask for a discussion of important books/articles that you think should be read.
Of course you could take a day and do a book club sort of thing; there is this guy named Dr Ehrman that has a pretty good selection to choose from.
1. I tend to read every post about 2-3 weeks after it goes up, so I can peruse the comments as well. Occasionally I’ll skip ones that pertain to an upcoming book, just because I figure I can read all that information later when your book comes out.
2. This may be a minority opinion, but fewer posts per week would be fine with me.
3. If you want more people to rate your posts, I’d recommend moving the rating stars to the bottom of the post, rather than being at the top. Once I get to the bottom of the page, I just close it. I had forgotten that rating posts was even an option.
4. Keep up the good work!