Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 51

Announcing a FREE Course! “Did Peter Hate Paul?”

I am very pleased to announce a free, two-lecture course that I'll be doing on March 30, 2-4pm EST, called Did Peter Hate Paul?  Check it out: bartehrman.com/peterandpaul This is part of my now two-year-old venture, Bart Ehrman Courses Online, which is not directly connected with the Blog, though it is indirectly connected to it [...]

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Arguments for “Historical Accuracy” That Are All Smoke and Mirrors.

In my next post I will be staking 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 [...]

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The Book of Acts IS HISTORICAL! The Affirmative Argument

I am ready now to explain how I did the debate with myself in front of my undergraduate class on the resolution, Resolved: The Book of Acts is Historically Reliable. As always happens in a debate, the Affirmative side goes first and gives a prepared speech. In arguing for the affirmative, I made the following [...]

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Who Cares if the Book of Acts is Historical??

The debate over the historical accuracy of the book of Acts is important, in no small measure because – as I have pointed out already – it provides us our one and only narrative of what was happening among the followers of Jesus in the years immediately after his death.  This is the key, formative [...]

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Important Literary Features of the Book of Acts

I am in the middle of a thread dealing with debates over the New Testament book of Acts, the first account that we have of the history of the Christian church at its very beginnings – starting with the events happening right after the resurrection of Jesus and covering the spread of the Christian faith [...]

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What is the Book of Acts About?

To understand a debate about whether the book of Acts is historical, I first have to explain -- by way or reminder or by way of ... minder -- what the book of Acts is actually about.  After this post I'll lay out how I debate (with myself) whether what it says can actually be [...]

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Gold Q&A: Ask Your Questions!

Hey Golds and Platinums, you the few, the proud: Time again for the Big Dance!  I'll be recording the March Gold Q&A this weekend, scheduling gods willing, to be published next week..  Got a burning, a smoldering, or a cool question?  Ask away!  Anything related to the blog.   I'll do my best to answer.  , [...]

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Is There Any Point Doing a Public Debate?

I'm contemplating doing another debate for BECO (Bart Ehrman Courses Online; you can see the various courses on my website: http://www.bartehrman.com).  It won't be just like the last one, on whether historians can "prove" that Jesus was raised from the dead,  since that one was, well, seven hours! (https://www.bartehrman.com/did-the-re...).  But if I do it, it [...]

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Did Paul Exchange Letters with the Greatest Roman Philosopher of His Day??

I've mentioned several non-canonical letters forged in Paul's name connected with the views of the second-century heretic Marcion.   There are other letters out there that also (falsely) claim to be written by Paul but that were not forged in order to support or attack a particular heretical view in Paul's name.  That is almost certainly [...]

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Paul’s Letter to the … Laodiceans? Long Thought to be Part of the New Testament!

One of the most intriguing letters forged in the name of Paul is his alleged letter to the Laodiceans.  As you’ll see, it’s intriguing both because some Christian churches accepted it as part of the New Testament for centuries and because scholars have never been able to figure out why a forger bothered to write [...]

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