Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 12

Some Interesting Questions of the Week

I've started posting questions and responses from readers.  Here's another set of particularly good ones.   QUESTION: I recently read your book Jesus Interrupted and have become interested in your work. In it you discussed the potential forgeries contained in the Pauline letters and New Testament but it didn’t seem to mention much about the [...]

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How Athens Made Me Rethink….

I am in Athens just now, heading out on a tour giving lectures on ancient Greek philosophers in relation to the teachings of Jesus and Paul.  I came over a couple of days before the tour to spend some time looking around on my own, and had a lovely afternoon at the fantastic Acropolis Museum. [...]

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Some Intriguing Questions about Paul’s Letters

QUESTION: I was wondering how scholars look at situations like Galatians 2:6-10 , specially the part of the text that states “they added nothing to my message” or “all they asked is we should continue remembering the poor”. My primary question is do scholars like yourself believe that the early disciples & James/Jerusalem Church saw [...]

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Is the “Christ Poem” of Philippians Really a Poem? When Did Jesus Really Become “Equal” With God?

This is my second and final post on the "Christ-poem" of Philippians 2.   Many years ago when I talked about the poem, a reader (who apparently knew Greek!) objected that the poetic lines I suggested don't actually work. Below I'll give his question and my response.  But then I'll move on to an even more [...]

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Is the “Christ Poem” of Philippians Really a Poem? What Did Jesus Really Become “Equal” With God?

This is my second and final post on the "Christ-poem" of Philippians 2.   Many years ago when I talked about the poem, a reader (who apparently knew Greek!) objected that the poetic lines I suggested don't actually work. Below I'll give his question and my response.  But then I'll move on to an even more [...]

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The Death and Afterlife of Jesus: A Historical Reconstruction Part II – Guest Post by Platinum Member Mark Reichert

Here now is Platinum blog member Mark Reichert's second part of his two-part reflections in which he offers his own reconstruction of what might have happened after the crucifixion. So what do I think really happened? There is no way to know for sure but I can put together a story that seems plausible and [...]

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The Most Widely Discussed Passage of Philippians

To conclude this mini-thread on Philippians, which is part of my maxi-thread Nutshell Summaries of each of the books of the New Testament, I would like to provide two posts on the passage of this small book that is discussed by scholars (far) more than any other, the "Christ-poem" of 2:6-11, where Paul indicates that [...]

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Luke and John “At a Glance” and Controversial Questions

As I indicated a few posts ago, I have decided to add a feature to my discussion of each NT book some of the additional materials I present in my New Testament textbook the books I discuss.  These are (a) rapid fire summaries of each book that I call “At a Glance” and (b) a [...]

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Philippians: For Further Reading

Here is an list of readings on Philippians, most of the books relevant to all the undisputed Pauline epistles, with a couple of commentaries specifically on this significant, short letter.  One benefit of serious commentaries is that they always begin by discussing major critical issues in understanding a book: authorship, date, historical context, major themes, [...]

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The Death and Afterlife of Jesus: A Historical Reconstruction Part I – Guest Post by Platinum Member Mark Reichert

Today, Platinum blog member Mark Reichert offers the first part of a compelling two-part reflection on one of the most well-known—and debated—stories in history. It’s part historical reconstruction, part personal inquiry, and entirely worth the read. According to the Gospel of Mark, the Jewish preacher Jesus was crucified by Roman Governor Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem [...]

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