Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 136

Want to Come With Me on a Cruise in the Adriatic??

In February I announced that I would be doing a cruise along the west coast of Croatia in the summer.  The trip was then cancelled as things were looking very bad indeed for international travel.  Now they are so much better.   I’ve traveled overseas several times since getting vaccinated without a single problem.  And the [...]

Killing Jesus Is Killing Me……

Here is my second post on Bill O'Reilly's Killing Jesus from many years ago.   As you'll see, I was no happier about the book once I started reading it than when I was anticipating doing so.  But here at least I give some reasons that show my fears were starting to be confirmed.  Confirmation bias?  [...]

Bill O’Reilly, Expert on the Historical Jesus!

Since I posted a bit on my book Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium,  several people have asked me if I've ever written an evaluation of Bill O’Reilly’s blockbuster hit, Killing Jesus.  It turns out, I did so, here on the blog, right after it came out in 2013.  I call it a blockbuster because [...]

God’s Mercy and Justice: The Opening of a Chapter in Journeys to Heaven and Hell

Do the early Christians think God is more just and determined to punish or more merciful and determined to forgive? I deal with the matter in one of the chapters in my next scholarly book,  Journeys to Heaven and Hell: Tours of the Afterlife in the Early Christian Tradition, coming out in April with Yale [...]

Gold Q&A for November!

Dear Gold Members, The time has rolled onward and here we are again.   Time to enjoy one of the perks of your elevated status as a gold member of the blog:  Our monthly Gold Q&A, for gold members only.   You provide written questions, I answer as many as I can, and I release the audio [...]

Time Magazine Cover Story on Lost Christianities. Kind Of….

When I wrote a post about Lost Christianities yesterday, a funny anecdote occurred to me and I wondered if I had ever written a post on it.  Yup, in 2012!  It's worth repeating.  It has to do with Time Magazine (though it starts with Newsweek).  This was back when people used to actually get these [...]

Webinar of Interest? Dune and Islam! How To Understand the Movie.

This announcement is not directly related to the blog -- but some of you may be interested.  My long-time colleague (of nearly 30 years!) Carl Ernst, one of the leading experts on Islam in North America, will be holding a remote webinar for my Department of Religious Studies, along with another expert (a PhD from [...]

The Massive Diversity of Early Christianity. My Book: Lost Christianities

In my previous post I mentioned my second trade book, Lost Christianities (Oxford University Press, 2003).  I just now looked at the beginning of the book; I hadn’t read it in years.  It made me want to read it again!  I do know there are things I would change if I did the book now: [...]

How I’ve Changed My Approach To Writing

In a previous email I mentioned that I had started writing my trade book on Revelation, tentatively titled Expecting Armaggedon.  Over the past couple of months I have been reflecting on how my approach to writing books like this has changed over time.  I talked about my basic procedure a few years ago on the [...]

Those Darn Demons! Guest Post by Douglas Wadeson

Here is an intriguing guest post!  And a controversial one.  Did Jesus actually heal people? As you know, blog members who are at the Platinum level can submit posts for other Platinum members.  Would you be interested in doing so?  Move up to Platinum!  Every month or so, Platinum members can vote on a recent [...]