I now can mount a second argument for why Jesus almost certainly called himself the messiah during his lifetime.  Remember: by that I do not mean that Jesus wanted to lead a military rebellion against the Romans to establish himself as king.  On the contrary, I think Jesus was not a supporter of a “military [...] The post Another Reason for Thinking Jesus Called Himself the Messiah appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

This thread is about whether Jesus considered himself to be the Jewish messiah.  My view is that Yes, he did.  But he meant something very specific by that, and it is not what most people (Christians and non-Christians) today mean by it. Recall what I have tried to show thus far.  There were various expectations [...] The post Why Should We Think Jesus Called Himself the Messiah? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

In the current thread I’m trying to establish that Jesus believed he was the messiah.  I have pointed out that his followers would not have considered him the messiah because they believed he had been raised from the dead (since the messiah was not supposed to die and rise again) unless they had already considered [...] The post Albert Schweitzer and the Apocalyptic Jesus appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

In this thread I am trying to argue that Jesus understood himself to be the messiah.  So far I have made one of my two main arguments, with the understanding that *both* arguments have to be considered in order to have a compelling case.  So the first prong doesn’t prove much on its own.  But [...] The post What Would an Apocalyptic Jew (Jesus!) Mean By Calling Himself Messiah? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

Do we know what Jesus said about himself? Yesterday I started my two-prong argument for why Jesus probably considered himself the messiah.  The first prong is that Jesus must have been called the messiah during his lifetime, or it makes no sense that he would be called messiah after his death. Even if there were [...] The post Can We Know What Jesus Said About Himself? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

I have been talking about the early Christian understandings of Jesus as the messiah.  Not just the messiah, but the “crucified messiah,” a concept that would have seemed not just unusual or bizarre to most Jewish ears in the first century, but absolutely mind-boggling and self-contradictory.  I’ve been arguing that it was precisely the contradictory [...] The post Would the Resurrection Make Anyone Believe Jesus Was the Messiah? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

I think what surprised me the most about the vitriolic response I received from (some) mythicists to my book "Did Jesus Exist" was that when I actually spoke or corresponded with them, it became very clear that many knew almost nothing about the Bible, let alone biblical scholarship. I was at a social event for [...] The post More About My Book “Did Jesus Exist” appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

Is there actually any evidence that Jesus existed?  Are there reasons for thinking he was completely made up?  That  Jesus of Nazareth is actually a myth? I have been providing a series of posts connected with the various books I’ve written for general audiences over the years and now I’ve arrived at my book Did [...] The post My Book “Did Jesus Exist” (an answer to the mythicists) appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

  For some reason I don't understand (maybe someone can explain it to me), one of the most frequently watched lectures I've ever given was on "Jesus, the Law, and the New Covenant."   This was keynote address for the Mendenhall Symposium, in honor of the eminent scholar of the Hebrew Bible, George Mendenhall, on October [...] The post Jesus, the Law, and a New Covenant (Lecture) appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

Here's an intriguing question I got a while back, with my response. QUESTION: What do you think of the idea symbolized by the Joseph of Arimathea character that there may have been closeted sympathizers or even fellow travelers of the Jesus movement among members of the Sanhedrin? RESPONSE: It’s a good question.  My sense is [...] The post Did Jesus Have Secret Disciples Among the Elite? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more