Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 86

April Gold Q&A: Submit your questions!

Dear Goldies, Time to crank up another monthly Gold Q&A.  Have a question?  ASK IT!  DEADLINE for your question(s):  this coming Friday, April 7, midnight your time. I'm more likely to answer questions that are relatively short and to the point than those that go on for a long paragraph.  So be concise. I'll answer [...]

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Dreaming of Purgatory

Yesterday I began to talk about the Martyrdom of Perpetua, one of the most interesting and moving texts to come down to us from early Christianity.  It is an account of a 23-year old Roman matron who is willing to die a gruesome death for her Christian faith.  Among other things, the text shows that [...]

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The Martyrdom of Perpetua and the Rise of Purgatory

I was recently asked about "purgatory, a concept misunderstood by most people I've ever met, including nearly every Protestant (!) but also some lifelong Catholics.  I had done a series of posts on the issue years ago, while I was doing research for my book on Heaven and Hell.  I had just read an interesting [...]

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What Does God Think of Surrogacy? Platinum Guestpost by Imran M. Usmani

There are two things I can say about this guest post by Imran Usman.  It is extraordinarily interesting AND I've never talked about the topic on the blog! Check it out -- a Platinum guest post for you other Platinums!  And remember, you too can submit a post.  Just send one along to me, on [...]

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Biblical Prophecy and the Coming Destruction of the Dome of the Rock

I continue here my post from yesterday, explaining the Christian background to U.S. Support of Israel, taken from my recently-published book Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says About the End ****************************** It is important to stress that evangelicals think God is faithful to Israel even if Jews are not faithful to God.  He has fulfilled [...]

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The Coming Apocalypse and U.S. Foreign Policy on Israel

One section of new book Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says About the End explains some of the socio-political consequences of the belief that “the end is near.  Here’s a consequence that I bet is not widely known:  U.S. Foreign Policy on Israel. In my book I emphatically state that I am not taking a [...]

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The Apocalypse and the Situation in Ukraine: Interview with a Ukrainian Christian Scholar

A couple of months ago I was contacted by a Ukrainian scholar, Mikhail Abakumov.  Mikhail had been forced to flee Donetsk because of the Russian invasion.   He is now in Poland continuing his theological studies (a thesis on Dietrich Bonhoeffer), doing charity in a work with Ukrainian refugees, and running a podcast. Mikhail had heard [...]

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REVELATION, A Novel. Excerpts from Blog Guest Poster Gary McCarragher

Last week I published a guest post by blog member Gary McCarragher, who has just published Revelation: A Novel, about a professor of  New Testament studies at a certain university in the South.  Gary and I had consulted on his work, and how it has seen the light of published day! We received a lot [...]

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Of COURSE the Rapture is in the New Testament — There for all to see! Right?

In my new book Armageddon, which saw the light of published day just a few days ago, I talk about where the "rapture" came from, the evangelical belief that Jesus was soon to return to snatch his followers out of this world before a horrible time of Tribulation hits the earth. That too will be the subject [...]

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Is The Rapture in the New Testament?

This post is immediately relevant for me in two ways.  My book on Revelation has now appeared (I kept *saying* it was "coming soon"!)  AND I will be doing a lecture soon, April 15, on the idea of the "rapture," the belief that Jesus is soon to return to take his followers out of the [...]

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