Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 153

Jesus according to the Christians: A Three-Part Blog Lecture Series

I have decided to do a three-part lecture series as a fundraiser to help defray the expenses of the blog.  As the blog continues to grow, it becomes more expensive and I simply refuse to take any money from Membership Fees or Regular Donations to pay for any of the expenses.  Every penny you pay [...]

Jesus in the Ancient Christian Imagination: A Three-Part Blog Lecture Series

I have decided to do a three-part lecture series as a fundraiser to help defray the expenses of the blog.  As the blog continues to grow, it becomes more expensive and I simply refuse to take any money from Membership Fees or Regular Donations to pay for any of the expenses.  Every penny you pay [...]

On Being an Agnostic. Or Atheist?

One question I regularly get asked is about where I stand on the agnostic-atheist divide -- that is, which am I.  I usually confuse people when I tell them I'm both.  I've posted about this on the blog before, but it's been a while, so I thought I should give it another airing here. When [...]

Paul’s (Misunderstood) Message to His Corinthian Converts

  I have been discussing how Paul established the church in Corinth; this is important information for anyone interested in knowing what kinds of problems arose in the church -- some of them rather amazing, for a group Paul calls "the saints"!  Here is how I discuss Paul's message in my textbook on the New [...]

How Paul Started the Church in Corinth

I have begun to talk about Paul’s church in Corinth and the correspondence he had with it.  For a bit more background I want to explain how he actually started it.  Corinth was apparently a city he had not visited before, yet he went there and managed to convert a large group of people to [...]

Paul and that Peculiar Church in Corinth

To explain why the Holy Spirit was so central to the earliest Christian communities we know about, we have to explore what we can know about earliest churches.  The ones we know best about are those associated with Paul, since Paul is our earliest Christian author, and in his letters he refers to church activities.  [...]

Wanna Go To Northern Italy with Me in September?

Thank the gods, travel is becoming possible again.  Stir crazy?  How about an amazing culinary trip to North Italy to check out the wine, food, and scenery?   It will be September 4-11 (2001!) and it looks like an amazing trip.  Check out the brochure in the link below.  I'll be giving lectures on early Christianity [...]

Gold Members Month of May Q&A

Dear Gold Members, As you know, one of the perks of your elevated status as a gold member of the blog is that you are provided an audio Q&A once a month for gold members only.   You provide written questions, I answer as many as I can, and I release the audio recording to gold [...]

How the “Delay” of the End (Jesus’ Return) Affected Paul’s Communities

A key to understanding the central role of the Holy Spirit in the early Christian communities is to realize that the earliest Christians did not think there was going to be on ongoing Christian community.  I discussed that a bit in my previous post and here I can continue the thought The apostle Paul is [...]

Why the Spirit Mattered for the Earliest Christians

During the earlier parts of this thread on the Trinity, I kept thinking that by the time I got to the Holy Spirit there wouldn’t be much to say: it’s all about the Father and Son.  And even as I started planning this final part on the Spirit, I thought I would do it in [...]