Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 26

Dear Platinum Members, It's time for our Quarterly Platinum Webinar.  We have it scheduled for Thursday, December 5, 2023, at 8:00pm ET. The topic is TBD, but we will update you with that information ahead of the talk. For now, we wanted to give you the date, time, and link so you can mark it [...]

The post Platinum Webinar for December: Topic TBD appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Here are a couple of the tricky and interesting questions I have received lately on the blog, along with my answers to them.  They seem important enough to me to share more broadly for everyone’s benefit.  As you’ll see, they cover a range of topics.   ****************************** QUESTION: I was wondering if in Paul’s letters [...]

The post Intriguing Questions and Attempted Answers! appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Hey Gold & Platinum Members, Bart will be recording the December Gold Q&A on Sunday December 1st at 4pm Eastern Time. Have any questions you've been eager to ask him? Ask anything related to the blog and Bart will do his best to answer. (Bonus points if you can stump him!) Send your questions over [...]

The post December 2024 Gold Q&A – Get Your Questions Answered! appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

I’ve been discussing Aristotle (really, it’s interesting!) and what he thought it took to be “happy” – not the giddy fleeting emotion but have a satisfying sense of contentment and fulfillment in life.  For him, it means having the most “excellent” life you can and that requires being the most “excellent” person you can and [...]

The post Isn’t It Good Enough to Help Family, Friends, and Community? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

In my previous post I began explaining why I’m calling the teachings of Jesus the “origins of altruism.”  Aren’t people naturally altruistic to some extent?  Didn’t ancient Greek (and then Roman) cultures – the context in which Christianity emerged -- understood how we ought to behave to others, and insist people needed to be “good [...]

The post How Can We Be Happy? An Age-Old Question. appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Last week, Bart joined Mindy Todd on The Point for a fascinating conversation about agnosticism. The discussion also featured insights from scholar of religion Stephen Prothero and Reverend Nell Fields of the Waquoit Congregational Church. If you’re curious to hear what Bart and the other guests have to say on the topic, you [...]

The post New Interview on Agnosticism appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Some readers have wondered why I’m calling my book “The Origins of Altruism: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West.”  (At least I’m calling it that at this point).   Are you saying Jesus invented altruism?  What??  Hasn’t every ethical teacher from the very beginning stressed that we have to balance [...]

The post What Do You Really Want in Life? And How is that Related to Altruism? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

For a long time I’ve thought a lot about time.  Usually about how I don’t have enough of it, how I wish I had more of it, how I can use what I have most efficiently, how I can possibly get done what I have to do and … And, over the past couple of [...]

The post Brief Reflections on Time and the Meaning of Life. What Do You Think? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Here is another selection from the draft of my book, which, at this still early point, I am calling The Origins of Altruism: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West.  This bit is the introduction to my chapter 6, which deals with how the early Christians began to change and soften [...]

The post How Do We Explain Human Moral Codes: So Similar Yet So Different? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

I’ve decided to excerpt a few bits of my book that is now in draft, to see what you think.  Here’s how I’m planning to being it (the start of the Introduction) ****************************** Most people I know are moved by news of tragedy.  A terrible earthquake, a drought, a famine, a flood, displaced people, innocent [...]

The post How I Begin My Book on Jesus, Ethics, and Altruism appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.