In the previous post I began discussing the intriguing story of 1 Samuel 28, where the king of Israel, Saul, illicitly consults a medium in an attempt to communicate with his now-dead advisor and predecessor, the prophet Samuel.  This is the only case of necromancy in the entire Bible.   In this post I want to [...] The post What’s It Like in Sheol? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

Do you have fundraising experience? Are you a fan of the mission of this blog--to disseminate scholarly knowledge of the New Testament and the earliest periods of the Christian church to a non-scholarly audience, and (most importantly) to raise funds for charity? The blog has raised over $2,000,000 for our charities (The Urban Ministries of [...] The post We Need An Experienced Fundraiser! appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

In thinking about Sheol and death in the Hebrew Bible, it is worth reflecting on passages where the dead come back to life or are contacted by the living.  This does not happen much at all – a couple of instances of resuscitation and one of necromancy. Probably the most famous resuscitation – the bringing [...] The post What About People Who Come Back From the Dead in the Hebrew Bible? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

The Jewish scriptures contain a variety of different views about what happens to a person at death.   Most commonly, a person who dies is simply said to have gone to “death” – a term used some thousand times in the Bible.   Better known, but far less frequent, a person’s ultimate destination is sometimes called “Sheol,” [...] The post More on Sheol: Was it an Actual Place? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

Here's a provocative post by your fellow Platinum member, Cyrene: can Moses be identified with another known figure from history, the Egyptian overseer of the Borderlands, Thutmose?  Read her case and let us know what you think!   ****************************** Could Moses be Thutmose, the Overseer of the Borderlands? 15-point checklist Hi Platies! Thank you so [...] The post Could Moses be Thutmose, the Overseer of the Borderlands? – Platinum Post from Cyrene appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

I was recently asked what the Old Testament teaches about "hell" and whether that's what "Sheol" refers to.  If not (or if so), what it the view of the afterlife in the Hebrew Bible?   This is a topic I dealt with in my book Heaven and Hell (Simon & Schuster, 2020) and I posted on [...] The post What Is Sheol in the Hebrew Bible? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

Here are now some more “agrapha” (sayings of Jesus not found in any of the surviving Gospels; I say more about "agrapha" in the previous post).  These ones are found in writings of church fathers, who appear to have had access to Gospels unavailable to us, or at least to have heard non-canonical sayings of [...] The post Other “Unknown” Sayings of Jesus appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

Hey Gold and Platinum members, Time to jump in on the April Gold Q&A; my plan is to record it some time next weekend. If you have a question -- and I bet you do -- send it along!  To do so, do NOT reply on a comment here, but zap an email to Diane [...] The post April Gold Q&A: Ask Away! appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

There is nothing better than a guest blog post that flat-out disagrees with me!  And here we have one.  Is it plausible that Jesus could have had large crowds gathering together to hear his preaching in rural Galilee?  I say: Not really.   Platinum blog member Doug Wadeson says: Oh yes! Here's his post.  What do [...] The post Did People Have Time for Jesus? – a Platinum Post from Doug Wadeson, MD. appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more

To my surprise, I've never talked about the "agrapha" of Jesus before on the blog.   It's about time I did!  This is an intriguing topic connected with the teachings of Jesus known to almost precisely No One!!  (I'd bet a case of fine French wine that your pastor -- if you've ever had one, in [...] The post Ever Hear of an Agraphon? An “Unwritten” Saying of Jesus? appeared first on The Bart Ehrman Blog ..read more