
The Bart Ehrman Blog
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Professor of Religious Studies,a leading authority on the Bible and the life of Jesus,author Bart D.Ehrman discusses his books and public debates, responds to criticisms from other scholars, and answers questions raised by readers.The History & Literature of Early Christianity provides Bart's insights and opinions on important issues related to the New Testament and early Christianity.
The Bart Ehrman Blog
2h ago
There have been books written and at least one movie I know of that are based on the idea of near-death experiences. An NDE is an episode in which a person suffers some significant medical problem, like a heart attack or a drowning, and almost dies and has some sort of out-of-body experience or vision [...]
The post Did Jesus Have a Near-Death Experience? – Platinum Post by Douglas Wadeson MD appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more
The Bart Ehrman Blog
1d ago
I have now finished my short thread on the Synoptic Problem and here would like to provide some guidelines for additional reading for anyone who, well, just can’t get enough! These are books written by experts dealing with various aspects of the problem and its solution; I’ve indicated which ones are most suitable for beginners [...]
The post For Further Reading on the Synoptic Problem and Its Possible Solutions appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more
The Bart Ehrman Blog
2d ago
We have seen that most scholars agree that the problem of the close similarities and striking differences among our Synoptic Gospels -- the "Synoptic Problem" -- is best solved by thinking that Mark was copied (to a greater or lesser extent) by both Matthew and Luke, the view called "Markan Priority." The majority continues to [...]
The post Other Sources for Matthew and Luke: M and L! And Who CARES? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more
The Bart Ehrman Blog
3d ago
Platinum blog members, it's time for our Quarterly Platinum Webinar! Mark your calendars – the live lecture will take place on Wednesday March 5th at 7:00pm Eastern. As always, if you are not able to attend live, the lecture will be recorded and distributed via email after the event. The topic for this quarter's lecture [...]
The post Q1 Platinum Webinar: The Mystery of the Beloved Disciples appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more
The Bart Ehrman Blog
4d ago
In my previous post I gave a simplified illustration to show why it is problematic to get rid of the Q source (the hypothetical collection of sayings found in both Matthew and Luke but not in Mark). Having this hypothetical source does not actually complicate the solution of the Synoptic Problem, it makes the solution [...]
The post Evidence for Q: The Sequence of the Sayings appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more
The Bart Ehrman Blog
5d ago
Why should we think there was a Q, the hypothetical document that contained principally sayings of Jesus, that was (according to this hypothesis) used by Matthew and Luke (but not by Mark) in constructing their Gospels? It is an issue because if Matthew and Luke both used Mark, as almost everyone agrees (for reasons I [...]
The post An Argument for Q: The Hypothetical Source That Seems to Have Existed appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more
The Bart Ehrman Blog
6d ago
If Mark was the first Gospel written, as I tried to explain in my previous post, and it was used by both Matthew and Luke, how do we explain that there are many places in Matthew and Luke that agree with each but are not in Mark.? They didn’t get these passages from Mark, but [...]
The post The Q Source Used by Matthew and Luke appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more
The Bart Ehrman Blog
1w ago
Materialism, Personal Identity, and Resurrection: Part 2 In part 1 of this post, I explored the link between a specific individual and the idea of the resurrection of that individual. I contrasted the Hebrew notion of the resurrection of the body and the Greek notion of the immortal soul. I found both to be rooted [...]
The post Materialism, Personal Identity, and Resurrection: Part 2 – Platinum Post by Dennis J. Folds, Ph.D. appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more
The Bart Ehrman Blog
1w ago
I've begun blogging on the "Synoptic Problem," the problem of why Matthew, Mark, and Luke are so similar in so many ways (many of the exact same stories, often told in the same sequence, and even in the very same words), and yet so different (often in wording, sometimes in sequence, etc.). The solution virtually [...]
The post Was Mark Really Written First? The Arguments for “Markan Priority” appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more
The Bart Ehrman Blog
1w ago
In my previous post I indicated that one of the reasons for thinking that Matthew copied Mark instead of the other way around is that there are passages in Mark that can be read in ways (or maybe even were meant in ways) that could be seen as problematic -- they might be worded in [...]
The post Gospel Problems: Does Matthew Ever “Correct” Mark? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more