Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 162

Quotations of Non-Canonical Writings in the New Testament: Platinum Post by Douglas Wadeson

Platinum member Douglas Wadeson has provided us with another thoughtful, provocative, and informed post, this one about how authors of the New Testament sometimes quote writings *other* than those of the Old Testament.   Feel free to make comments! *************************   If you read the New Testament you will find many references to the Old Testament, [...]

Did Marcion Know the Gospels or Not??

I've said something about Marcion's canon of Scripture in the past couple of posts, and last time I did that -- many years ago -- some people got confused.  The issue has to do with what at first seems a different issue.  Did the apostle Paul  (during his ministry) know about the Gospels?  My answer [...]

Live Lectures This Sunday, March 28! Teachings of Paul That Are Widely Unknown.

This Sunday, March 28, I will be giving TWO live Zoom lectures for anyone who wants to come.  They will be recorded for my undergraduate course on the New Testament and there will be a 30-minute Q & A to follow the second one. There is no charge per se, but I would like to ask [...]

More on Marcion’s Theology

Yesterday I mentioned Marcion as one of the prime early Christian thinkers who argued that Jesus was so much divine he was not at all human.  I have decided that I need to provide more background to make sense of the particular way he appears to have come to that conclusion, by discussing in a [...]

Lost Christian Writings I’d Love to Get My Hands On!

I thought it might be fun to intersperse some posts from years ago to break up here and there the thread on the Trinity, for those who have, well, lots of other interests too!  So here's a good option. I did a short thread before the vast majority of you were on the blog (and [...]

A Phantom Jesus: The Teachings of the Second-Century Marcion

In the past couple of posts I have talked about early Christian “docetists,” those who were so convinced that Jesus was completely God that they denied he was a “flesh-and-blood” human being.  In the early Christian centuries, no one advanced that view more than the “arch-heretic” Marcion.   Marcion had a huge following.  In some [...]

The Value of Amulets for Reconstructing the New Testament Text: Guest Post by Brice Jones

Now here is a topic I bet you've never heard of before.  The value of what?  Amulets?  For what?  Really? Yup, really.  Sometimes the most interesting issues are ones you haven't heard of before.  And hey, now you'll be able to talk about it. This is a guest post from Brice Jones, a textual specialist on [...]

Announcing the Ehrman Blog Newsletter – Please Check Your Email!

Today, I'm excited to announce the launch of the Ehrman Blog Newsletter - and want to be sure that you're getting it! The first email went out on Saturday, so if you didn't receive it, please read the following: What is the Ehrman Blog Newsletter? A regular, new email I'll be sending - at least [...]

Two Live Lectures, Sunday March 21: The Death of Jesus and the Life of Paul.

This Sunday, March 21, I will be giving TWO live Zoom lectures for anyone who wants to come.  They will be recorded for my undergraduate course on the New Testament and there will be a 30-minute Q & A to follow the second one. There is no charge per se, but I would like to ask [...]

Christ as Non-Human (but fully God) in the Early Second Century

On this slow path we are taking to see where the doctrine of the Trinity came from (it may seem slow, but of course a full analysis would take volumes!) I have been trying to show how different understandings of Christ emerged in early Christianity – starting from the original belief of his disciples in [...]