Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 192

Did Paul Think Jesus Was a New Adam, Not a Divine Being?

In my last post I started talking about Paul’s “understanding of Christ” – that is, his Christology. It will take several posts to fill out the picture, and in this one I need to return to the Christ Poem that I talked about last week, expanding my discussion of it from what I said then. Just so you don’t have to flip back through to find the former post, here is what the poem says, set in poetic lines. It comes from Phil 2:5-7.

It is introduced by Paul’s exhortation to his readers to “Have...

Was Christ an Angel, According to Paul?

I have received a number of comments and questions on last week’s about Paul’s understanding of who Christ was, based especially on the key passage called the “Christ Poem” in Philippians 2:6-11. An intriguing passage! But very puzzling in light of what Paul says elsewhere about Christ, as readers have pointed out, and asked about.

So I thought I should return to the matter and lay out how I understand Paul’s “Christology” – his “understanding of Christ.” I talked about it at length in my...

Fund-Raising Blog Dinner on March 13, Washington D.C.

On March 13, I will be holding a fund-raising dinner for the blog in Washington DC from 7:00 – 9:00 pm.. It will be at a nice restaurant to be named later (either the Bistro Bis at the Kimpton Hotel George or somewhere near by). We will have a maximum of seven places at the table (along with me, making eight).

For the fund-raising: the event is $200 per plate, the money to be donated directly to the blog. Each person will also pay for his or her own meal.

There will be no set agenda for the...

Buddhist Interview Questions on Suffering

Here is the final bit of my interview with the South Korean Buddhist editors The Monthly YangWoo Magazine 3/2020. Not surprisingly they were particularly interested in my views of why there is suffering in the world. As you know, that is a central component of Buddhist thought. I know many people who find Buddhist approaches highly satisfying; many others who simply do not think that way.

My own writings about suffering – especially my book God’s Problem — have all been connected in one way...

More Buddhist Questions on the Bible

I continue now with the interview I did with the Buddhist editors of the Korean magazine: The Monthly YangWoo Magazine 3/2020. They had some interesting questions, as outsiders to Christianity but who see Christian churches, pastors, and believers in their environment, and they wanted my opinion as someone who knows the Christian world but is not longer committed to it. This will be the second of three posts.

Q5. We feel that some of the paragraphs in the Bible are correct and some of them...

Great Deal on My New Book!!

Are you interested in pre-ordering my new book:Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife? Here’s a fantastic deal. As you may know, I have done eight courses over the years with the Great Courses (starting back when they were calledThe Teaching Company!). If you pre-order the book (or have already done so), you can receive an 80% discount on any of them. That’s a pretty rippin’ serious discount. Just click on this address.

https://simonandschusterpublishing.com/heavenandhell

The Great...

Interview with Buddhists on the New Testament

I was recently asked to do an interview with a magazine in South Korea, produced by (and for, I assume) Buddhists interested in other religious traditions. As you may know, Christianity also has a significant footprint in Korea; even back in the late 70s I had Korean classmates studying for ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary.

The editor asked me a range of questions, and I provided relatively short answers, on a range of interesting and important topics. The interview was published...

How Ancient is the Idea of Christ’s “Incarnation”?

Last week I was asked about the famous passage often known (among scholars) as the “Christ Hymn” of Philippians, 2:6-11. For a very long time (mid 20th c?) scholars have argued that it is a passage Paul did not write himself, but one that he is actually *quoting*. The passage seems to affirm the idea that Christ existed *before* he came into the world.

That may not seem weird to modern Christians, but in fact the only place where the idea is (otherwise) explicitly stated is in the Gospel of...

How Do I Get To Know What Is In the Bible?

There are a lot of people, billions, actually, who are interested in the Bible — either because of their personal beliefs or because they they realize its historical and cultural importance — but don’t actually know what it’s about. The broader interest makes a good deal of sense, and not just for committed Jews and Christians. After all, a good deal of the history of the West is tied closely to the Christian tradition rooted in the Bible. And how can one understand Western culture without...

Heaven and Hell: Press Release!!

I am happy to say as that we move toward publication of my book, my publisher has just issued a press release to announce that it’s coming soon. The release includes several endorsements by experts, which are always gratifying to see, and brief comments taken from the early reviews done by journals that announce and evaluate forthcoming books to booksellers, bookstores, and publishers. It’s a a nice release, I think. Here ’tis.

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