Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 53
February 24, 2024
When Did Mary Magdalene Become a Prostitute?
Mary Magdalene has become one of the most talked about figures from the life of Jesus, even though she hardly ever shows up in the Gospel accounts about him (during his public ministry, just in one verse, total!, Luke 8:2). (She shows up only at the crucifixion and, most important, the empty tomb). In my [...]
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February 22, 2024
Was Mary Magdalene a Prostitute?
It is "common knowledge" that Mary Magdalene is portrayed as a prostitute in the New Testament, but like so much "common knowledge" this view, while common, is not "knowledge." In fact it's not true. I get asked about this on occasion, and so I thought I should devote a couple of posts on it. I [...]
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February 21, 2024
Some Random Reflections on Our Significance
I think a lot about significance these days, about why we, or rather, why I, matter. I mean really, this universe is 13.8 billion years old and I’ve been around for, well, 68 of those years and certainly won’t be around for another 68. So, for how much of time to this point? Do the [...]
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February 20, 2024
Changing the Past in Light of the Present
Did people in oral cultures even care if stories were changed? We do! We have an interest not just in story but in establishing with some kind of accuracy what actually happened in the past, whether it is about the Civil War, the assassination of JFK, or the last election. Did people in oral cultures [...]
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February 18, 2024
Still Spots Open: Blog Dinner in Wichita KS, this Thursday Feb. 22
In case you happen to be in striking distance of Wichita KS this week, and missed my announcement: there are still a couple of spots open for the blog dinner this coming Thursday (Feb. 22). Here's my original announcement. If you can come, let me know! *********************** I'm will be in Wichita Kansas to give [...]
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Proof That Historical Narratives (not just myths) Constantly Change in Oral Cultures
I have been discussing some of the many problems with assuming that oral traditions are passed along intact, without significant change, in oral cultures. In graduate school we all learned that they are and did, so that, for example, the fact that we might have a saying of Jesus or story about him in a [...]
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February 17, 2024
When is “The Same” Memory/Tradition/Story Not Actually “The Same”?
Do we mean the same thing by “the same” that people in oral cultures do? Here I pick up on my discussion of oral cultures; in the previous post I talked about how Milman Parry began to study one such culture, and his discoveries were starting. Professional memorizers/reciters would claim that various performances of the [...]
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February 15, 2024
How Do We Know About Oral Cultures? By Starting Where You’d Never Suspect!
How do oral cultures “work”? How do they pass along their traditions? How accurately? And why did scholars first get interested in the question. Not at ALL in the way that you might think! Here’s how I discuss the matter in my book Jesus Before the Gospels (HarperOne, 2017). The Beginning of [...]
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February 14, 2024
Do People in Oral Cultures Have Better Memories?
Do people in oral cultures “remember” things better, and work hard to memorize what they learn? The other night I was hanging out with a friend and she started talking (in a context unrelated to the New Testament) about how oral (non-literate) cultures always worked so hard to preserve their communal memories of the past, [...]
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