Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 108

Are You Interested in Volunteering for the Blog??

WE NEED BLOG VOLUNTEERS! You may know – but probably don’t! – that we have a dozen or so people who volunteer to do various things that have to be done for our blog to work (e.g., help with finances/taxes/etc; read audio posts for Gold members; run the Bart Ehrman Blog Podcast; run the Blog [...]

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How Evangelical Apologists Are Changing Their Arguments: Anniversary Guest Post: Kurt Jaros

I continue here with my string of guest posts written by scholars in honor of the blog's tenth anniversary.  Here is a post from Kurt Jaros, an evangelical Christian theologian and apologist, in which he explains how apologetics -- the intellectual defense of the claims of the Christian faith -- has grown and changed over [...]

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When Did We Get the Final Canon of the New Testament?

I am nearing the end of this thread on the formation of the canon of the New Testament.  Rather than going into all the ins and outs of the process, I have been laying out the topics that I hope to address in a book on the matter down the road.  I say down the [...]

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How Did They Decide Which Books to Include in the New Testament Canon?

If the early Christians decided they needed writings by apostles to provide them guidance in what it meant to follow Jesus – what to believe, how to act, what rituals to follow, how to understand them, etc. – how did they decide?  Which writings were they going to include?  And which exclude? I continue here [...]

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Did the Romans Help Create the Jesus’ Movement? Platinum Guest Post by Ryan Fleming

Platinum member Ryan Fleming has come up with three posts that may strike you as highly controversial.   Very interesting ideas.  What do you think?  Ryan will be able to engage your questions and comments. This is the first of three posts; the others will be posted -- just for you Platinum members -- over the [...]

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Problems in the Gospels–How do YOU Talk to Believers About Them? What Do You Think?

I recently received this query by a blog member, and it's a question I often get, both on the blog and off.  I'm hoping that maybe you yourself have some wisdom on it.  How do you talk about historical and literary problems (contradictions!) of the Gospels to people who are convinced the Bible has no [...]

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Writings of the Apostles in the Canon of the New Testament

How did we get the twenty-seven books of the New Testament?  And why?  I’m in the middle of a thread that is meant to provide a *sketch* of how it happened; I’ll be writing a book on the question, and these are my preliminary thoughts about the topics that I’ll be covering, one at a [...]

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I’m Doing a Speaking Event in Waynesville Next Week!

Interested in coming to hear me give a talk/book reading?  It’s next Tuesday, August 26, in Waynesville NC.  All proceeds go to the local Indie, Blue Ridge Books, a terrific bookstore that managed to survive the crisis.  I hope you can come!  

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The Birth of (the Messiah?) John the Baptist? Anniversary Guest Post by James F. McGrath

I continue now with a post that was produced for us by a fellow scholar in celebration of the ten-year anniversary of the blog.  James McGrath has made several intriguing posts for us, and this one is particularly interesting.  Is it possible that stories about Jesus -- especially in the birth narratives were *originally* told [...]

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Why Did Christians Even Need a Canon of Scripture?

In my previous posts on how we got the canon of the New Testament I’ve discussed several books allegedly written by Peter – one that got into the New Testament (2 Peter); one that came close to getting in (the Apocalypse of Peter – the one that gives Peter’s first-hand description of heaven and hell; [...]

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