Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 90

Wait, Was Jesus Married? Guest Post by Kyle Smith

This is now the second guest post by Kyle Smith, scholar of early Christianity, on a hot topic related to his recently published book.   Kyle is Associate Professor and Director of the History of Religions Program at the University of Toronto. An award-winning teacher, he is the author or coauthor of five books about [...]

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How Does Something “Mean”

One morning recently, at the crack of dawn, I was walking my dog when I saw my neighbor Sally walk across the street and pick up the newspaper from my neighbor Jane’s driveway, and head back to her house.  I thought WHOA!  Sally is stealing Jane’s paper! I bet her own paper didn’t get delivered [...]

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Is It A Sin To Be Transgender? Platinum guest post by Douglas Wadeson MD

I am very pleased to publish this guest post on what the Bible might have to say about people who are transgender.  Most people probably assume they know, or at least can surmise.  Well, read on. The post is by Douglas Wadeson, a Platinum member of the blog.  As you probably know, Platinum members are [...]

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Analyzing the Prophecies in Daniel 7, 2 and 9. Platinum Guest Post by Omar Abur-Robb

Here Omar Abdul-Robb takes on a brave task -- interpreting the apocalyptic predictions of Daniel chapters 2, 7, and 9.  Have you read these chapters?  Do so!  It's one of the easiest ways of blowing your mind while staying within the bounds of legality.  The interpretation of these passages has been highly contested since antiquity.  [...]

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Is Christianity a Cult of the Dead? Guest Post by Kyle Smith, PhD

Now here's an intriguing topic I bet you've never thought about.  Can you (should we?) consider early Christianity -- and in fact Christianity as a whole, as a "cult of the dead"? Kyle Smith is an associate professor and director of the History of Religions program in the Department of Historical Studies at the University [...]

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What Did Judas Betray, and Why Did He Do It?

In my previous post I indicated that there are several things we can say with relative certainly about the historical Judas Iscariot (and indicated why I think we can be pretty sure about all of them): he really existed, he was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, he was therefore an apocalyptic Jew from Palestine, and [...]

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Want To Listen to the Live Gold Q&A (and maybe ask a question)?

Dear Gold and Platinum members, I've decided to record this month's Gold Q&A live in front of whomever wants to come.  I may do this regularly.  BUT, here's the deal: I rarely know well in advance when I can squeeze it in, so if I do this on a regular basis I won't be able [...]

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Judas Iscariot: What We Can Say With Relative Certainty. (I think…)

What then can we say with relative certainty about Judas called Iscariot?  I think the following five points just about cover it: He did exist. This has been doubted in some circles and by some scholars, of course, especially among those who have wanted to point out the etymological similarity between his name, Judas, and [...]

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We Need A Volunteer to Record Audio Versions of the Blog Posts. Interested?

As you probably know, we have audio versions of all the blog posts that are available for all Gold and Platinum level members.  The audio versions go out on the same day as the written posts themselves.  It's a great benefit (if you're not Gold level yet: consider it!).  But it takes a lot of [...]

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Jesus’ Resurrection: A Challenging Hypothetical. Guest Post by Ryan Fleming

And now *here* is an interesting way to think about whether someone was raised from the dead!  This is a Platinum Guest Post by Ryan Fleming.  It is begging for responses.  What do you think? ****************************** A short story: Suppose you are a French-resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II. One of your [...]

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