Bart D. Ehrman's Blog, page 5

Hey Gold & Platinum Members, It’s that time again—our monthly Gold Q&A is coming up, and Bart’s ready to take on your burning questions. The August Q&A will take place on Wednesday August 20th at at 7 PM Eastern. Have something you’ve been dying to ask? Send your question to: [email protected] (Please don’t drop it [...]

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Here is a list of readings of relevance to the book of Hebrews.  Some of the books, as you will see, are just on Hebrews itself; more are on the broader topic that Hebrews addresses, the relationship of Jews and Christians in early Christianity.  This is a fraught topic: the first two on the list [...]

The post The Letter to the Hebrews: For Further Reading appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Now that I have discussed the overarching themes and emphases of the letter to the Hebrews, I can turn to the historical question of who actually wrote it, when, and why.   ******************************   The authorship of the book has been debated for nearly as long as the book has been in circulation; and part [...]

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I now return to my long “Nutshell” thread, explaining each book of the New Testament in brief terms, with one post laying out its major themes and emphases; another discussing what we can know about who wrote it, when, and why; another that provides suggestions for further reading; and at least one (and sometimes more) [...]

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Dear Fellow Bloggers! I want to let you know that I will not be able to respond to comments this week (or a bit more: July 21-28).  BUT, the blog itself will be going along swimmingly.  I've queued up all the posts for the week , you can make all the comments you want as [...]

The post A Hiatus in My Responses appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

In my previous post I discussed the legendary account (the earliest we have) of the martyrdom of Paul.  In it I mentioned as well the martyrdom of Peter (also legendary, though better known) (many people have heard he was crucified “upside-down”), and realized I may as well post on that as well, since I’ll certainly [...]

The post The Death of Peter appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

I sometimes get asked (once just a few days ago) about what we can say about Paul's death. We don't have any historical records (i.e., historically reliable accounts), but there is one relatively early reference to it and an intriguing legend from about a century after the event, whenever and however it happened. [...]

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Here are some of the intriguing questions I have recently received from blog members.  The first one includes a reply to my response and my response to that reply.  Enjoy!   QUESTION: Have you considered the angle that Jesus may have been a revolutionary Essene?  This would explain his outward orientation instead of inward.  I [...]

The post Some Readers’ Questions and Responses appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

Now that I have finished this subthread on the letters of Paul in a nutshell, I'd like to provide brief summaries of the various Pauline writings (both "undisputed" and deutero-Pauline).  These posts will be quick and to the point.  In them I reproduce my overviews called "At a Glance" for each letter that I give [...]

The post Paul’s Letter to the Romans “At a Glance,” and Questions for Reflection appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog.

In my previous post I began to discuss the non-canonical Apocalypse of Paul, a legendary tale that describes what Paul saw when he had his vision after being taken up to the “third heaven”  (see 2 Corinthians 12:1-6).  He was actually taken to see what was experienced by the dead in the afterlife.  For some [...]

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