Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 79

Who Was Spreading the Stories about Jesus Before the Gospels?

Here I continue my reflections on how stories about Jesus were floating around the Mediterranean world *before* the Gospel writers wrote their accounts (based on these stories).  I pick up here with the final paragraph of yesterday's post, again taken from my book Jesus Before the Gospels (HarperOne, 2016). ****************************** In other words, a story does [...]

The post Who Was Spreading the Stories about Jesus Before the Gospels? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

The 3rd Rail – A Critique of Jesus. Platinum Post by Steve Clark

A Platinum post for Platinum members from Platinum member Steve Clark: ****************************** It was a cold winter morning, the exciting music of the 1970’s was in my head. I was learning to play guitar and learning to be cool. Mostly failing at both but kept trying. What else was a young man to do in [...]

The post The 3rd Rail – A Critique of Jesus. Platinum Post by Steve Clark appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Jesus, Eyewitnesses, and Stories Floating Around….

I return now to questions about how early Christians “remembered” Jesus as they told and retold stories about him.   People often claim that the Gospels must be accurate because they are based on eyewitness testimony that was carefully guarded to ensure its accuracy.  But let’s think about that for a bit in realistic terms.  Here [...]

The post Jesus, Eyewitnesses, and Stories Floating Around…. appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

May Gold Q&A Video

Folks, our May Gold Q&A ended up in two parts. Make sure you scroll down to see Part 2:  

The post May Gold Q&A Video appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

More on Secret Mark as a Forgery (by Morton Smith?)

Here now is the second of my two posts on reasons for suspecting that Morton Smith himself may have been the one who forged the “letter of Clement” that discusses the “Secret Gospel of Mark” (see my post from yesterday). Again taken from my article,   “Hedrick’s Consensus on the Secret Gospel of Mark,” Journal of [...]

The post More on Secret Mark as a Forgery (by Morton Smith?) appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Did Morton Smith Forge the Secret Gospel of Mark?

Last month (April 2023) I published a thread of blog posts on the intriguing and controversial Secret Gospel of Mark, allegedly discovered by Columbia University scholar Morton Smith in the library of the Greek orthodox monastery Mar Saba twelve miles southeast of Jerusalem.  He did not actually discover the Gospel itself, but (allegedly) discovered a [...]

The post Did Morton Smith Forge the Secret Gospel of Mark? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Blog Dinner in London on Monday June 12. Interested?

I'm heading over the pond this week, for most of the summer, and would like to do a blog dinner  on  Monday,  June 12, 2023.   Possibly a pint in advance.  Somewhere in central London. You interested?    If we can get 3-4 folk, and no more than 7, people together, I'd be happy to do [...]

The post Blog Dinner in London on Monday June 12. Interested? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Was Jesus a Simplistic Person or an Extraordinary One? A Platinum Post by Omar Abur-Robb

  ****************************** Was Jesus a simplistic person or an extraordinary one? Omar Abur-Robb omr-mhmd.yolasite.com   Suppose you were in a hill overseeing a large lake, and suddenly you noticed a wave propagating quickly outward. You will instinctively realize that this wave has originated from its center, and you can probably pinpoint this center with ease [...]

The post Was Jesus a Simplistic Person or an Extraordinary One? A Platinum Post by Omar Abur-Robb appeared first on The Bart...

Are *Groups* of Story Tellers (Think: Ancient Followers of Jesus) More Likely to Preserve Traditions Accurately than Individuals?

This post will conclude my mini-thread trying to show that modern practices of story telling in the Middle East, during a community ritual called the haflar samar, in which groups of knowledgeable people ensure that stories are never significantly changed, has no bearing on the question of whether ancient stories told about Jesus were preserved [...]

The post Are *Groups* of Story Tellers (Think: Ancient Followers of Jesus) More Likely to Preserve Traditions Accurately than Individuals? appeared...

Back in the Saddle Again…

I am now, alas, back from my two-weeks in Galapagos.   Whoa.... And I'm getting back to business on the blog.  Before leaving I placed a number of posts in queue and these have been published promptly.  I'm now starting to deal with the comments that came in during my absence.  This'll take a couple of [...]

The post Back in the Saddle Again… appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.