Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 142

On the Flipside: The Glorious Salvation of Saints in the Teachings of Jesus

In my previous two posts I’ve talked about Jesus’ view of the coming destruction of sinners.  My goal is to compare and contrast his views with those of the book of Revelation.  For both Jesus and the prophet John (author of Revelation) the future will not only bring very nasty destruction for some people on [...]

The Horrible Fate of Sinners: Jesus’ Teaching on Gehenna

I continue now with my reflections on Jesus’ view of the coming destruction and the very bad fate coming to those who are not rightly aligned from God.  In this post I deal specifically with his teaching on Gehenna, and the devastation that will happen there.  Spoiler alert: it is not the place you want [...]

Reminder: My Public Lecture on the Book of Revelation — This Saturday!

Reminder!  This Saturday, September 18, I will be giving a lecture with Q&A on the book of Revelation; I'm calling it "Expecting Armageddon: What the Book of Revelation Reveals."  Wanna come? The event is a fundraiser (not for the blog, but) for my Department of Religious Studies, which is trying very hard to sustain its [...]

Join My Webinar! What Does the Book of Revelation Reveal?

I am very excited about my upcoming webinar on the book of Revelation and how it has been completely misinterpreted over the years.  It will be a kind of preview of the book I’m writing on the topic.  Wanna come?  It will be Saturday, September 18, 2:00 pm (see below). The event is a fundraiser [...]

Jesus’s Apocalyptic View of Destruction

In my book on Revelation I am planning to contrast the violence and wrath of God there with what we find in the teachings of Jesus.  It would be easy but too simplistic to paint an obvious contrast: unlike John (the author of Revelation) Jesus believed in love and so was opposed to violence.  It [...]

Bruce Metzger and My Strange Dissertation Defense

  Here I continue with another reminiscence of my interactions and relationship with my mentor, the great textual scholar Bruce Metzger.  This one has always struck me as a bit humorous. *************************** In almost (but not absolutely) all PhD programs in this country, the doctoral candidate has do an “oral defense” of the dissertation.  If [...]

Weird (But Common) Ways To Read the Bible

It constantly amazes me that so many people who believe the Bible never read it.  My undergraduate students (to this day) have read the Harry Potter books.  But when I ask if they have read the entire Bible, the answer is almost always no.  And yet most of them will say the Bible comes from [...]

MORE Assignments on the Birth of Christianity

Here now are the other position paper assignments for "The Birth of Christianity."  See which of them you'd like to take on in your spare time!   Recitation Six:  Perpetua and Felicitas Read carefully the account of the Martyrdom of Perpectua and Felicitas (ANT 47-55), several times, until you can remember the significant incidents in [...]

Student Papers for “The Birth of Christianity”

If you checked out my syllabus for my undergraduate course this semester, you will have noticed that every week each student is to write a two-page "position paper" on an assigned topic, something of intrigue that, for this class, will involve texts and issues they have probably never addressed or even heard of, even though [...]

Was Paul Really at Odds with Peter and James? Guest Post by Richard Fellows

Those of you who read the comments on my posts know that my thread on Cephas and Peter elicited some very interesting responses.  One person in particular who who took me on  leveled some very learned and detailed critiques.  It made my day(s)! Richard Fellows is an unusual person, not to mention blog member.  He [...]