Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 142

Second October Gold Q & A

Dear Members Dear As Gold, As you know, I am doing TWO Gold Q&A's this month, to make up for the one I missed in September.  The first was published this past week; I am scheduling the second for October 27.  I will be doing the recording on Sunday October 24. This is a nice [...]

An Unexpected Argument Against Jesus’ “Sweating Blood”

In the previous post I mentioned that I first got interested in the textual problem of Luke 22:43-44 (“the bloody sweat”) when I was taking a graduate seminar at Princeton Theological Seminary, my first year in the doctoral program.  The seminar was devoted (the entire semester) to the Greek exegesis (interpretation) of Luke.  My fellow [...]

Jesus in the Face of Death?

In my last post I pointed out that the famous passage of the so-called “bloody sweat” in Luke 22:43-44 is thought by some scholars not to have been original to the Gospel of Luke.  I count myself in that number.  One of my very first scholarly articles was devoted to the question; I wrote it [...]

Vote for a Platinum Guest Post to Go to the World at Large!

Dearly Beloved Platinum Members, Here is another round of Platinum posts to vote for, to see which is to appear on the blog itself.  Take a look if you want.  Vote if you want.  Hey, it's all voluntary.  But one lucky winner will have her or his views available broadly, including on my other social [...]

Did Jesus Sweat Blood? Another Problem with the NRSV

I will give just one other textual disagreement that I have with the translators of the NRSV: by “textual” disagreement I mean a disagreement over what the original Greek text of a passage was that should have been translated. For this second example I’ll stick with Luke, and again with the Passion narrative.  The full [...]

Can We Reconstruct the New Testament from the Writings of the Early Church Fathers?

Can We Reconstruct the New Testament from the Writings of the Early Church Fathers? Christian apologists sometimes say that the historical record for the New Testament is so robust that the New Testament could be recreated from the writings of the early church fathers alone. Does this popular claim hold up? For example, here are [...]

Can We Reconstruct the New Testament from the Writings of...

Can We Reconstruct the New Testament from the Writings of the Early Church Fathers? Christian apologists sometimes say that the historical record for the New Testament is so robust that the New Testament could be recreated from the writings of the early church fathers alone. Does this popular claim hold up? For example, here are [...]

Who Knew? Our Oldest Commentary on the Book of Revelation

One of the great things about being a research scholar is that if you’re diligent and paying attention, you learn new stuff all the time.  For someone with an inquiring mind, it’s like striking gold with some fair regularity.  And if you dig deep enough, you find things that very few people know about – [...]

Another Problem with the NRSV: Knowing What To Translate

SORRY Y'ALL.  AS roughly 82,000 people have pointed out to me: This post was already posted four days ago.  It was a glich in the system.  The system is ... my brain.  UGH.   So if you read Oct. 6, don't bother today!.... Translators of the Bible have a terrifically complicated and difficult (and usually thankless) [...]

John Shelby Spong: In Memoriam

I was very sorry to learn last month that John Shelby Spong died (Sept. 12, 2021; age 90).  Many of you know who he was; for those who don’t: he was one of the most important spokespersons of our generation for a critical understanding of the Bible for the general public, in particular for Christians.  [...]