Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 303

Our Fourth Anniversary!

Yesterday marked the fourthanniversary of our blog. We began this little venture back on April 3, 2012. Happy anniversary to us!

In thinking back on the past four years, I have lots of things to reflect on, as this blog is a rather complicated affair.

For every single week over these four years I have made 5-6 posts, on average 1000 words in length; I have read and added comments made by readers (I post almost all the comments, deleting only those that are not related to the concerns or the b...

Our Third Anniversary!

Yesterday marked the third anniversary of our blog. We began this little venture back on April 3, 2012. Happy anniversary to us!

In thinking back on the past four years, I have lots of things to reflect on, as this blog is a rather complicated affair.

For every single week over these four years I have made 5-6 posts, on average 1000 words in length; I have read and added comments made by readers (I post almost all the comments, deleting only those that are not related to the concerns or the b...

HNN News Story on Jesus Before the Gospels

Below is an article that I published for the History News Network, based on my recent bookJesus Before the Gospels. Enjoy!!

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Historians/History article featured on HNN (History News Network) posted 3-18-16:

Are the Stories in the Bible About the Last Days
and Hours of Jesus True?

by Bart D. Ehrman

The season of Lent has come upon us, the time when Christians focus their devotional attention on the last days and ho...

The Letters of Paul: Mailbag April 1, 2016

In today’s Readers’ Mailbag, I will be answering questions connected with the writings of Paul: what is the earliest manuscript of his letters; did the author of Acts know Paul’s letters; and is Paul described as a heretic in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

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QUESTION

Bart, early in your book Misquoting Jesus (p. 4) you wrote a sudden, shocking surprise (to many born-again Christians) when you said “As we learned...

Is Acts Reliable? The Negative Rebuttal

What follows is the “negative rebuttal” of the speech given by the “first affirmative” in its support of the resolution, “Resolved: The Book of Acts is Historically Reliable.” If you need to refresh yourself on what the affirmative team argued, you can find it on the March 24 post, here: http://ehrmanblog.org/is-acts-historically-reliable-affirmative-argument/ In the first negative speech (yesterday’s post) the negative team argued its case, without direct reference to the affirmative side. T...

Is the Book of Acts Historically Reliable? The Negative Case.

This post will lay out the Negative case, arguing against the resolution, Resolved: The Book of Acts if Historically Reliable. Again, I am not necessarily agreeing or disagreeing with this argument; I’m giving it as I would in a debate.

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The New Testament book of Acts is not historically reliable. Before showing that to be the case, I want to make two preliminary remarks, both of them related to the question of what it means for an ost...

Is the Book of Acts Historically Reliable? Smoke and Mirrors.

In my next post I will be staking stake out the “negative” side on the debate I had with myself in class, arguing against the resolution, Resolved: The Book of Acts is Historically Reliable. I have already made the affirmative case; in the negative I will argue that the book is not reliable (that first speech was a set speech, prepared without reference to anything the affirmative side said). I will then give a negative refutation of the affirmative’s first speech, and I will end with an affi...

For Anyone Who Still Needs a Free Membership!

I’m happy to say that thanks to the incredible generosity of members of the blog, I am still able to provide a limited number of free one-year memberships available. These have been donated for a single purpose: to allow those who cannot afford the annual membership fee to participate on the blog for a year. 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 please contact me.

D...

Bart Ehrman vs Tim McGrew – Round 2

Here is the second part of my on-radio debate with Christian apologist Timothy J. McGrew, which aired on the Unbelievable,” a weekly program aired on UK Premier Christian Radio. I recorded the interview from the station’s London studio; McGrew was on the telephone. In the discussion we address the question Do Undesigned Coincidences Confirm the Gospels?” Wealso debated whether historical research can ever validate miraculous conclusions, as we express differ views over accounts in the book of...

My Book Sales and the “Relatives” of Paul: Weekly Reader’s Mailbag March 25, 2016

For this week’s Readers Mailbag I have two questions, one about the sales of my new book and one about the apostle Paul (the meaning of a particularly important verse). If you have a question you would like me to address, simply ask it here!

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QUESTION:

Are you pleased with how Jesus Before the Gospels is selling? The reviews are great. I’m enjoying reading it, myself.

RESPONSE:

Thanks for asking! Yes, there are some reviewers who seem...