Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 180

Christianizing the Old Testament and the Museum of the Bible: Guest Post by Jill Hicks-Keeton

Here now is a final guest post on the Museum of the Bible by Jill Hicks-Keeton, one of the two editors of the recent book that contains a number of evaluative essays by a range of scholars.  Her title asks the driving question of her post and her first word answers it!

Many thanks to Jill and her co-editor Cavan Concannon for providing these three posts.  If they have sparked your interest — check out the book!

Jill will be happy to respond to your comments and questions.

 

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How I First Learned About the Gospel of Judas Iscariot

Over the past few weeks I’ve had a thread dealing with Judas Iscariot and another thread dealing with claims from the second century that Christians were highly immoral (sexual reprobates, murderers, and cannibals).  Or at least that some Christian heretics were.  As it turns out, these two threads are closely related in a way one would not expect – at least in a way I never expected until I got involved with the “Gospel of Judas” that was discovered in recent times.  I posted on this many years...

Why Would An Atheist Teach the Bible? Readers’ Mailbag

I often get asked why I would be interested in teaching biblical studies if I’m an atheist; sometimes the question is a bit hostile, along the lines of “What would *you* know?  You don’t even believe in it”!  Or “Why should anyone listen to you if you’re just trying to disprove the Bible?”  At other times the questions seem fairly genuine.  Recently, for example, I’ve gotten these two:

 

QUESTIONS :

Why do you bother continuing to teach any aspects of Biblical studies since you have decided that ...

Proving the Bible Is True: The Museum of the Bible. Guest Post by Cavan Concannon

Here now is the second of three posts on the Museum of the Bible, this one by Cavan Concannon, one of the editors of the newly released volume, The Museum of the Bible: A Critical Introduction.  One of the most amazing lines in this post is the claim made by a representative of the museum that: “The Bible has been carefully transmitted through time.”   Wow!  OK then….   You gotta wonder what this fellow (whom Cavan quotes) is thinking….    What I myself am thinking is that he has a different def...

Slurs Against Religious Opponents and Makin’ Stuff Up

In yesterday’s post I detailed the scurrilous accusations made by the 4th century heresy-hunter (i.e., “heresiologist”) Epiphanius against a group of Christian “heretics” he calls the Phibionites.  Among other things, he claims they used a Gospel that depicted Jesus engaging in a bizarre sex-act with Mary Magdalene.  But then I asked whether there really was a Gospel that described such a thing and if the Phibionites themselves were engaged in the kind of activities Epiphanius alleges.  He claim...

Did Early Christian Heretics Promote Outrageous Sex Rituals?

In my post a few days ago I mentioned the widespread rumor in the ancient Roman world of the first couple of centuries CE that Christians were flagrantly immoral, engaging in wild sex and infanticide and homicide in their weekly meetings.  A couple of readers have asked if that might have been true for *some* of the Christian groups of “heretics,” and that Roman outsiders who knew of their activities assumed all Christians engaged in them.

Great question!  I’ve thought about this one for over th...

New Book on Museum of the Bible: Guest Post by the Editors Jill Hicks-Keeton and Cavan Concannon

Many of you have heard about, read about, or even visited the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C., founded and funded by the Green family, owners of Hobby Lobby, a highly committed evangelical family with a decidedly evangelical mission.  The museum has become controversial both in the public eye and among scholars.

An intriguing book came out last year about it, a collection of essays by scholars of Bible and archaeology that critique the museum on a number of grounds: The Museum of the Bibl...

The Outrageous Immorality of Early Christians (!) (?)

The question I addressed yesterday: could the obvious benefits of the Christian community – a community of love, fellowship, and mutual support – have drawn converts into it, who very much wanted that kind of thing?  The surprising answer, I think, is no, at least in the early centuries when Christianity was trying to establish a foothold in the world.  There’s another reason for thinking what I do, and it’s not one you would expect.

There were reports about the early Christian communities among...

Did the Benefits of the Christian Community Win Converts? Readers’ Mailbag.

Here’s an important question I have received, along with an answer a lot of people think is counter-intuitive.  It has to do with why Christianity proved so attractive in the ancient world as they were desperately trying to attract converts.

 

QUESTION : 

Please help me understand – didn’t first-century Christians offer more than stories of Jesus and a god to pray to? Didn’t they also offer the care and support of a community? Weren’t they actually supporting and providing for each other’s needs...

Would You Like a Free Three-Month Membership to the Blog?

Thanks to the incredible generosity of members of the blog, I am happy to announce that there are a limited number of free three-month memberships available.  These have been donated for a single purpose: to allow those who cannot afford the membership fee to participate on the blog for three months, during our ongoing crisis.

I will assign these memberships strictly on the honor system: if you truly cannot afford the membership fee, but very much want to have full access to the blog, then pleas...