Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 43

What If Another Christianity Had Won?

If only one form of early Christianity won the contest for domination, what were the results -- what the gains and losses from that "triumph"?  And what would have happened to world history if things had gone in another direction?  This is my third and final post on my book Lost Christianities, taken from its Introduction [...]

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More Lost Christianities

In my previous post I discussed the wide variety of early Christianities and their ranging views.  Here I consider some aspects of the Scriptures known and used by these various groups.  Again, this comes from the Introduction to my book Lost Christianities (Oxford Press, 2003). ****************************** The Lost Scriptures The Gospels that came to be included [...]

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Lost Christianities

How diverse was early Christianity?  I had been transfixed by this question for a long time when I decided to write a trade book, Lost Christianities.  It was a blast to write and in some ways launched my career of writing for general audiences.  My earlier book Jesus, Apocalyptic Prophet was definitely directed to that crowd, [...]

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More Lost Scriptures

How did we get our books of the New Testament, and what do we know about the ones that were "left out"?  Here I continue my Introduction to my book Lost Scriptures, as started in my previous post. ****************************** When was this New Testament finally collected and authorized?  The first instance we have of any [...]

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A Remembrance of John Shelby Spong–Platinum Post By Ray Zubler

I am pleased to be able to post this post by platinum member Ray Zubler; it is a recollection/commemoration of John Shelby Spong, whom many of you know of as one of the great voices that spread criitical knowledge of the Bible and early Christianity to broader audiences.  Spong was a bishop of the Episcopal [...]

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ANOTHER Blog Dinner! Thursday, July 18, Wimbledon. Interested?

The first blog dinner I announced (happening tomorrow, Friday July 12) was oversubscribed, and so I'll be doing a second -- this time on my home-away-from-home turf, Wimbledon Village, on Thursday July 18.    Seats are limited. Want one of them? I'll again limit the table to 8, me and the perfect number 7.    For [...]

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Lost Scriptures

I was reluctant to write my first trade book (Jesus the Apocalyptic Prophet: see previous post), and had to be dragged into writing my second.  I just wanted to devote myself to technical scholarship.  But, well, I yielded in the end, and I'm glad I did. My second trade book ended up being two books.  [...]

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June Gold Q&A Video

Here's June's Gold Q&A video--a little late, but we're catching up: https://vimeo.com/982050587/ac247cd40...  

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My First Trade Book: Jesus, Apocalyptic Prophet

I have started a thread discussing the books I've written for broader audiences.  My first actual "trade book" was Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium (Oxford University Press, 1999) (uh, that would be 25 years ago!).   Here is how I explain the book and it's raison d'etre in the Preface.   In case you wonder -- [...]

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How Can We Possibly Know a Scribe’s Intentions? My Most Important Theoretical Reflection

Can we know what a scribe intended to do when he changed the text? Is it actually possible to know what anyone INTENDS?  Isn't that technically impossible, unless we get into their minds somehow?  I had to deal with this issue in the Orthodox Corruption of Scripture and there I laid out the theoretical premises [...]

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