Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 23

Now that Christmas has ended it is a good time to reflect more broadly on the difference between reading the Christmas story, and in fact, the Bible as a whole, for its religious significance -- which, of course, is how and why most people read it in the first place -- and trying to consider [...]

The post Approaching the New Testament Historically appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Here now is the twelfth (and final!) of my twelve favorite Christmas posts of years gone by, in our celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas. ****************************** Yesterday I gave Part 1 of my Newsweek article on Christmas, published in 2012.  Here is Part 2! Most modern readers who are not already familiar with these stories [in [...]

The post Twelve Days of Christmas Day 12: My Article on Christmas in Newsweek: Part 2 appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Here now is the eleventh of my twelve favorite Christmas posts of years gone by, in our celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas. ****************************** I mentioned in my previous post that in 2012 I was asked to write an article on Newsweek about the Christmas story.  Before it appeared I posted it on the blog; here [...]

The post Twelve Days of Christmas Day 11: My Article on Christmas in Newsweek Part 1 appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Here now is the tenth of my twelve favorite Christmas posts of years gone by, in our celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas. ****************************** Browsing through holiday-season blogs from previous eras, I came across my first small thread on Christmas from exactly six years ago.  I had forgotten about this.  Some of the material has shown [...]

The post Twelve Days of Christmas Day 10: What Can We Know About Jesus’ Birth? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Here now is the ninth of my twelve favorite Christmas posts of years gone by, in our celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas. This one comes from 2018. ****************************** Let’s explore the key contradiction in the Birth Narratives of Jesus. Several readers have asked about my comment that Matthew and Luke appear to contradict each [...]

The post Twelve Days of Christmas Day 9: A Key Contradiction in the Birth Narratives of Jesus appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Here now is the eighth of my twelve favorite Christmas posts of years gone by, in our celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas. This one is from 2014. ****************************** A few days ago I raised the question of why anyone should think that you have to believe in the Virgin Birth in order to be a Christian.  [...]

The post Twelve Days of Christmas Day 8: Why Was Jesus Born of a Virgin in Matthew and Luke? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Here now is the seventh of my twelve favorite Christmas posts of years gone by, in our celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas. ****************************** As I’ve indicated, it is only Matthew and Luke that tell the tales of the infancy narrative, and the annual “Christmas Pageant” that so many of us grew up seeing is in [...]

The post Twelve Days of Christmas Day 7: The Birth of Jesus in Luke appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Here now is the sixth of my twelve favorite Christmas posts of years gone by, in our celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas. ****************************** QUESTION: My Bible group had a good time yesterday comparing Matthew's and Luke’s accounts of the Christmas story. One question that came up was why would Matthew relate the story of [...]

The post Twelve Days of Christmas Day 6: Why Does Matthew Have the Story of the “Wise Men”? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Here now is the fifth of my twelve favorite Christmas posts of years gone by, in our celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas. ****************************** Yesterday’s blog was about the account of Jesus’ birth in Luke; today I talk about Matthew. Even a casual reading shows that these are two very different accounts. Matthew has nothing [...]

The post Twelve Days of Christmas Day 5: Matthew’s Version of the Birth of Jesus appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Here now is the fourth of my twelve favorite Christmas posts of years gone by, in our celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas. ****************************** On several occasions on the blog I have discussed the similarities and differences between the accounts of Jesus’ birth in Matthew and Luke (Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2), most recently, I think, [...]

The post Twelve Days of Christmas Day 4: O Little Town of Nazareth? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.