Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman

Demons and ghosts have specific, sometimes ambiguous, places in the modern imagination - demons tempt people to wickedness, but their incredible power can be harnessed by someone brave (or stupid) enough to bargain with them. Ghosts envy the living and can haunt and harm you, but can also be the comforting presence of a long-dead loved one. What role, though, did demons and ghosts take in early Christianity, and are those roles lin...

With Easter fast approaching, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are on the minds of many Christians. While it has been a lynch-pin in Christian theology since the formation of the religion, Christians - both early and modern - disagree on how it happened, why it happened, and the implications it has for human life after death. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman elucidates us all on early debates around the resurrection, why these debat...

Unless you have sworn off social media, you’re probably familiar with the existence of “tradwives” - women who live their lives according to traditional, conservative gender roles. They often describe themselves as living biblically, or having a biblical marriage, celebrating that they are subservient to their husbands. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman provides insight into what the New Testament actually says about gender roles and marriage...

If you ask any Christian about the life of Jesus, you’re likely to get a version of one of the gospels of the New Testament - 90% of the story would concern the final few years of Jesus’ life, with a brief mention of his birth in Bethlehem to a virgin and the subsequent flight to Egypt. Historians don’t often talk about what Jesus’ childhood and adolescence may have looked like, but my guest today is a welcome exception to that rul...

The fear of death is an experience common to most of humanity - in fact, one of the oldest pieces of literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh, shows one man’s struggle with that very fear. Christianity’s promise of heaven provides a safe haven from that fear - but what did Jesus think about life after death? Today on Misquoting Jesus, Dr. Bart Ehrman discusses what the Gospels tell us about Jesus’ thoughts and beliefs surrounding death, a...

Knowing when something was written helps to better understand answers to other questions - like why it was written, and how it relates to other texts from that time. Unfortunately, ancient authors rarely wrote the date at the top of the page when they started writing, which makes working out when something was written a somewhat challenging process. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman is going to guide us through how biblical scholars tackle th...

If I start talking about “the law”, many of you are going to have certain ideas pop into your heads - a police force, trials, prison. But what about if I’m talking about the law in a religious sense?

Maybe you’ll think of the ten commandments, veiling women, or practices of abstinence. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman talks about the Jewish Law as presented in the New Testament, exploring whether it’s possible to even keep it, and what agend...

The disciples were Jesus’ closest companions during his ministry, the collective Robins to his Batman. As such we might expect them to be more enlightened, more intelligent, more attuned to God’s divine plan than other people Jesus’ came across.

The Gospel of Mark, however, seems to defy that expectation. Today, we talk about how the author of Mark portrays the disciples, how that treatment advances his aims for the gospel, and whe...

The question of how much of the Bible is historically accurate, and how much is myth or legend, is both interesting and important to a lot of people - believer and atheist alike.

Some insist it’s accurate down to the last detail, while others label it as fairy tales from beginning to end. In this episode, Dr. Bart Ehrman unravels how scholars distinguish history from myth...

Is there a difference between how the New Testament is taught in church versus a university?

In this episode, New Testament scholar Hugo Mendez joins us to explore the devotional approach to the Bible often found in churches and how it contrasts with the critical, historical methods used in academia.

We discuss what surprises students abo...

In this episode, we sit down with Bible scholar John Edwards to explore how critical scholarship can deepen one’s faith.

John shares his personal journey of reconciling faith and academia, offering insights into how studying the Bible critically can inspire and enrich Christian belief.

Join us as we discuss the positive impact of Jesus an...

What was the world like just before Jesus was born?

In this special Christmas Eve episode, we explore the political, cultural, and religious climate of 1st-century Palestine with world-renowned archaeologist Dr. Jodi Magness.

From Roman rule and Jewish life to messianic expectations, Dr. Magness helps us understand the historical backdrop...

Most Christians would likely agree that Jesus and the Gospels provide us with guidance for how we should be living our lives. People of non-Christian faith traditions, or those with no religious belief at all, might have a somewhat different response...but our guest today, Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, is here to talk about how non-Christians can find value in Jesus and the Gospels, and why they should take anothe...