Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 11

Paul’s Letter to the Romans “At a Glance,” and Questions for Reflection

Now that I have finished this subthread on the letters of Paul in a nutshell, I'd like to provide brief summaries of the various Pauline writings (both "undisputed" and deutero-Pauline).  These posts will be quick and to the point.  In them I reproduce my overviews called "At a Glance" for each letter that I give [...]

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The Transformation of Paul’s Teaching: The Apocalypse of Paul

In my previous post I began to discuss the non-canonical Apocalypse of Paul, a legendary tale that describes what Paul saw when he had his vision after being taken up to the “third heaven”  (see 2 Corinthians 12:1-6).  He was actually taken to see what was experienced by the dead in the afterlife.  For some [...]

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Fundamentalist Apologists, Christian and Mythicist

As I’ve been reading in preparation for my course on July 19, “Did Jesus Really Exist” (a freebie!  Check it out at https://courses.bartehrman.com/did-je.... )  another thought occurred to me, about the similarities between “mythicist” writers (those supporting the idea that Jesus of Nazareth never did exist) and conservative Christian apologists.  They seem to have a [...]

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Did Jesus Exist? Why I Don’t Enjoy Reading the Mythicists

I’ve been doing some reading in preparation for a two-lecture on-line course called “Did Jesus Really Exist” scheduled for July 19.   You can find out about it here: https://courses.bartehrman.com/did-je....  It’s a freebie, so, well, feel free to get it for free! Even though I'm pumped to do this course, and I don’t really much enjoy [...]

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July 2025 Gold Q&A

Gold & Platinum Members, As you know, one of your membership perks is the ability to submit your questions to Bart for him to answer in a live monthly Q&A. So...what's on your mind? Send in your questions at: ehrmanblog@gmail.com (Don’t ask them in the comments of this post – they won’t be included!) Remember, [...]

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Submit Your Platinum Post Vote!

Platinum Members, It’s time once again to cast your vote. One of the great perks of Platinum membership is the chance to shape what the whole blog community reads. Below, you’ll find four thought-provoking guest posts written by fellow Platinum members. Read through, reflect, and choose the one you believe deserves the spotlight. The winning [...]

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Paul’s Vision of Heaven and Hell

I now turn to another non-canonical text connected with Paul, one of the most famous throughout the Middle Ages, an account of his journey to observe the fate of souls in the afterlife, both the glories of the saints in heaven and the torments of the sinners in hell.   This tale is not simply meant [...]

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Chastity Within Marriage? Paul Taught THAT?

In my previous post I summarized the legendary account of Paul and his most famous female disciple Thecla, and ended by quoting the “gospel message” that he preaches in the tale.  It’s not at all what you would expect.  He says no word about believing in Christ’s death and resurrection.  It is all about remaining [...]

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Paul and His Most Famous Woman Disciple

I have now finished my summaries and discussions of each of the thirteen Pauline letters, "In a Nutshell."  In this long thread we have now covered 18 of the New Testament's 27 books, which, by my math, means we are two-thirds of the way through this thread.  Nine more gems to go. I'd like to [...]

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Should We Keep “Slaves” in the New Testament?

I’ve been talking about Paul’s view of slavery, in light of the book of Philemon; this seems to be a good time to talk about a very big issue connected with translating the New Testament from Greek into English.  It may seem fairly straightforward, but in fact it is incredibly thorny:  what English word is [...]

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