Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 128

Paul’s “Participationist” Model of Salvation.

I started explaining that Paul has different ways that he conceptualizes the act of salvation – how the death and resurrection of Christ restores a person to a right relationship with God. The judicial model that I laid out can be found in several of Paul’s letters, especially Romans and Galatians. But he has other [...]

Do We Have Any Reliable Sources for Pontius Pilate?

I recently was asked in a comment what kind of independent information do we have, outside the Gospels, for Pontius Pilate?  Answer: not much.  I told the commenter that I thought I had once written about the matter, and lo and behold, I was right.  It was in my book Did Jesus Exist? The book [...]

Are the Teachings of Jesus Realistic? Platinum guest post by Douglas Wadeson

Now *here's* a challenging post, by Platinum member Doug Wadeson.  Read it and see!  Doug will be happy to reply to responses. Many thanks Doug.  Others of you who want to do a post -- go for it. ********************** Jesus is generally thought of as a great moral teacher, but I have heard that questioned [...]

How Did Paul Understand Salvation? The “Judicial” Model

I am currently in the middle of a thread discussing the significance of Paul to the history of early Christianity.  So far I have been trying to argue that Paul is of utmost importance to the New Testament itself, but that it is very difficult to know how much of what we think of as [...]

What Was Paul’s Innovation?

I was recently recording the monthly Q&A that I do with Gold members of the blog (if you're not a Gold member, this is one of the perks of moving to that level: every month Gold members ask me questions -- in writing -- and I record a 50-55 minute audio Q&A answering them; since [...]

What Do You Think? What’s It Mean to Study Religion in a Secular University?

One of my classes this semester is a First Year Seminar, designed, obviously for students in their first year of college (either semester) and meant to be a bit more hands-on and with an unusual creative component.  I’ve mentioned the course on the blog in previous years; it is called “Jesus in Scholarship and Film.”   [...]

Vote for your favorite Platinum Guest Post!

Dear Platinum members, It's time to vote on another Platinum guest post, to determine which 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 welcome to submit a post yourself.  Anything connected to [...]

How Important Was Paul, Actually, For Early Christianity?

I’d like to say a bit more about Paul in relationship to the beginning of Christianity. Yesterday I argued that Paul could not have invented the idea of the resurrection. I should point out that Paul himself – who was always proud of the “revelation” of the truth given to him and his part in [...]

Reminder! Live Lectures Tomorrow (Sunday 1/30/2022)

In case you're interested: here is the post I made a while back about the course I'll be starting tomorrow. *********************** I am pleased to announce that I will be doing a six-lecture online (recorded) course called: “In the Beginning:  History, Legend and Myth in the Pentateuch.  Part 1.  The Book of Genesis.”   This will [...]

Did Paul Invent Jesus’ Resurrection?

I have been discussing at some length the rise of Jewish apocalyptic ways of thinking.  I decided to do so not only because it's so interesting and important on its own terms (which it is, at least for me) but also because I wanted to talk about the apostle Paul's understanding of salvation  (how do [...]