Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 36

How Fast Did Early Christianity Grow? Doing the Math

One of my favorite parts of my book Triumph of Christianity (Simon & Schuster, 2018) is the Appendix, where I explain how to figure out how quickly early Christianity grew.  Did thousands of people convert in the first months of the religion (as in the book of Acts)?  Were there millions of Christians by the second [...]

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Major Change on the Blog! Announcing our New CEO: Jen Olmos

I am very pleased to announce a major development with the blog that will move us forward to new heights as we continue to strive to make scholarship on the Bible and early Christianity available to a wide range of non-scholars, and in doing so (especially!) to raise money for charities dealing with hunger, homelessness, [...]

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The Conversion of the Emperor Constantine

Constantine was the first Christian emperor.  In my book The Triumph of Christianity (Simon & Schuster, 2018), I devote two chapters to how, when, and why he converted (and if he did!), and to what difference it made to the world.  Here is a taste of it for those of you interested in checking out the [...]

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Heartache and Loss: When a Religion is Destroyed

Most of us have never reflected on how awful, difficult, and heart-breaking it must have been for many, many people in the Roman world see their cherished and meaningful religions destroyed in front of their eyes by the ongoing triumph of Christianity.  But it's worth thinking about.  Here is how I discuss it in the [...]

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Was Christianity Bound to Take Over the Ancient World?

In retrospect, it may seem that that it was inevitable that the Christian religion would take over the western world, more or less destroying the many Greek and Roman religions that had been around for time immemorial.  Was it?  And was this Christian take over actually a "triumph" to be celebrated? I continue my thoughts [...]

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Losing Your Religion: Today and in Antiquity

Many of us have agonized over leaving the faith we held dear and clung on to for long periods of our life.  Most of us have never thought about what it would have been like for ancient peoples to leave *their* religions, not to move to agnosticism or atheism, but because a *different* religion was [...]

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Did Jesus Have Secret Disciples Among the Elite?

Here's an intriguing question I got a while back, with my response. QUESTION: What do you think of the idea symbolized by the Joseph of Arimathea character that there may have been closeted sympathizers or even fellow travelers of the Jesus movement among members of the Sanhedrin? RESPONSE: It’s a good question.  My sense is [...]

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A (Modern-Discovered) Gospel That Shows Jesus Was Married With Children?

Recently I've talked about "recently discovered Gospels" (e.g.,The Secret Gospel of Mark); and just now I remembered a tempest-in-a-tea-pot breathless announcement made ten years ago about a "new Gospel" that had been discovered that showed Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married with children.  This is NOT the gnostic Gospel of Philip I've talked a number [...]

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Jesus’ Followers in History and Legend

I continue here describing my book Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene  (Oxford University Press, 2005), with a final excerpt from the Introduction.  In my previous post I discussed how historical accounts and literary fictions mix in the accounts we have of these three key followers of Jesus.  I pick up from there: ****************************** [...]

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My Book on Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene

The only book I've written because I wanted to use the title is Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend.  It was a blast to write.  One could argue that in one respect or another these three were historically the most significant followers of Jesus (whether they were in their [...]

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