Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 75

The Life of Brian and Jesus: Was Jesus Really Buried on the Day of the Crucifixion?

Here is the third and final section of the paper that I read at the Life of Brian conference.  The entire paper tried to argue that parody can be an effective historical method.  By providing a caricature of a narrative or an alleged historical event, the film was able to highlight some very important historical [...]

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Announcing a NEW (Free!) Course: Why I Am Not A Christian

I am happy to announce that I will be doing a new course, Why I Am Not a Christian:  How Leaving the Faith Led to a Life of More Meaning and Purpose.  I explain it all below, but as spoilers: it is July 23, it will involve four talks and a Q&A, and it is [...]

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Vespasian Miracles. A Platinum Post by Ryan Fleming

I'm pleased to post this discussion of the miracles attributed to the emperor Vespasian, by Platinum blog member Ryan Fleming.  These miracles are not widely known outside the realm of antiquity nerds, and rarely are they much analyzed even there.   But they are significant and interesting, and here Ryan provides an intriguing assessment of them.  [...]

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More on the Life of Brian and the Historical Jesus

This is second of three installments of the paper I read at the Life of Brian and the Historical Jesus conference.  In this portion I deal with an issue that I have been spending a lot of time reading and thinking about over the years: the value of eyewitness testimony for establishing what really happened [...]

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Blog Dinner in London, Tuesday July 25. Interested?

I am in London for the summer and would like to do another small dinner with active blog members on Tuesday,  July 25, 2023.   Possibly a pint in advance.  This time it will be on my home-away-from-home turf, Wimbledon, specifics TBD. You interested?  If we can get 3-4 folk, and no more [...]

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The Life of Brian and the Historical Jesus

A couple of weeks ago we had a very fun Movie Club as a fundraiser for the blog, trying to raise funds to cover our operating expenses, since all the membership fees and any regular donations that come in go directly to our charities -- but we still have to pay our bills!  This one [...]

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What Is (Sexually) “Unnatural”?

Are sex acts other than those between a man and a woman “unnatural”? Very few people ever bother to reflect on what the term “natural” means or how one decides what an “unnatural might be – and what makes it unnatural.  Almost everyone simply assumes that we each have a conscience; that our consciences basically [...]

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How the Bible Can Help Those in Pain — Even Non-Believers. Guest Post by Glenn Siepert

Are you interested in seeing how the Bible can be important and meaningful even for those of us who do not believe? Glenn Siepert is one of our Blog Volunteers, who provides graphics for our public posts; he has just published a very interesting book for which I wrote a blurb (endorsement) for the cover.  [...]

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June 2023 Gold Q&A (video)

Hello, Gold & Platinum friends! Here's a video of me recording the June Gold Q&A in ancient Rome--or, maybe...?  

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The (Lost) Greater Questions of Mary (Rated R) (X?)

In my last post I mentioned Gospels that we know about because they are mentioned, or even quoted, by church fathers, but that no longer survive.  A second, particularly intriguing, Gospel like this – one that I desperately wish we had, for reasons that will soon become clear -- is known as “The Greater Questions [...]

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