Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 126

The Most Violent Passage in Revelation, in My View:

From where I sit, the harshest most violent passage in Revelation is not one that dispenses with a third of the human race in one verse or describes a horde of locusts that will sting everyone on earth except God’s close followers and cause unbearable physical agony for five months that cannot be relieved and [...]

Two of the Most Violent Passages in Revelation

I continue here with my discussion of the violence in the book of Revelation as taken from a recent lecture I gave.  As is clear, I find it incredible that so many well-meaning scholars want to insist that its not *actually* violent.  OK, then.   As I've indicated, chs. 6-16 are a three-part series of [...]

Does Paul Condemn Slavery? The Surprising Answer–Paul and Philemon

This past week I received a question from a reader about the book of Philemon.  The last time that happened ... well, actually, I think it has happened only once before in the history of the blog!   And now that vibrant and widespread interest has been raised, it is a good time to address  it [...]

What Do You Think? Is There a Reason to Be Religious If There Is No Afterlife?

I’ve enjoyed getting readers’ opinions on topics over the past few months, and now I’d like to hear what you think about another, which strikes me as unusually important.  It has to do with the afterlife. The traditional Christian belief, of course, is that when a person dies, their soul either goes to heaven to [...]

Is the Sacrificed Lamb of God Violent? More Reflections on Revelation

One argument used to support the idea that the controlling image of Christ in the narrative is the lamb who was slain is that this is how he is introduced in his very first appearance in the book.  Anything that follows must therefore be read in light of this introductory image.  The problem is that [...]

Is the Apocalypse of John a Book of Hope?

In my previous post I started giving the lecture I gave recently to a group of professional biblical scholars about how my views of Revelation have changed.  After thinking that the book predicted our future (I gave up on that one forty years ago!) I began to think that the book was a positive message [...]

When I First Read the Book of Revelation….

I recently gave a plenary talk at a regional meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature.  The president of the group asked me to give a talk on Revelation, since that is what I’ve been working on recently, and I cobbled something together based on my book and a few other things.  It was about [...]

Vote on your favorite Platinum Post!

Dear Platinum members, That time again -- an opportunity for you to vote on one of our Platinum guest posts, to see which one will be posted on the blog at large.  Take a look -- they're all terrific.   To vote, just send a quick note to Diane at ehrmanblog@gmail.com And remember -- you're always [...]

Reminder–Fundraiser for Ukraine This Afternoon

As a reminder, we are doing a fundraising event today for CARE's work in Ukraine. Here's the original post; hope you can join us: **************************** Most of us are feeling depressed, frustrated, anxious, stressed, fearful, and helpless in the face of what is happening in Ukraine.  Even though there is nothing we as individuals can [...]

When Did the Bible Get Chapters and Verses?

One question I get a lot:  when did the Bible’s chapters and verses came from.   Here's a quick answer taken from my textbook on the NT (The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, Oxford University Press; 7th ed., 2020.  Since the answer is so brief, I’ll attach another couple of paragraphs [...]