Category: ‘The New Testament’ (2016)
Bart D. Ehrman: Jesus as the “Son of Man”
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 113. In the New Testament Gospels, Jesus used the term “son of man” in three different ways. On some occasions he uses it simply as a circumlocution… Continue Reading “Bart D. Ehrman: Jesus as the “Son of Man””
Bart D. Ehrman: How is Jesus “the Messiah”?
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 104. Jews in the first century could have meant a range of things by the title messiah, as scholars have come to realize….Many of these meanings, however,… Continue Reading “Bart D. Ehrman: How is Jesus “the Messiah”?”
Bart D. Ehrman: Defining “Greco-Roman Biography”
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 99-100. If I were to attempt a definition of the Greco-Roman biography, then, it might be something like this: ancient biography was a prose narrative recounting an individual’s… Continue Reading “Bart D. Ehrman: Defining “Greco-Roman Biography””
Bart D. Ehrman: What Are the Gospels?
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 97. What kind of literature is a Gospel? Or, to put it somewhat differently, when ancient persons read or heard one of these books, what kinds of… Continue Reading “Bart D. Ehrman: What Are the Gospels?”
Bart Ehrman: Converting to Christianity and the Problem of Eyewitnesses
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 85-86. Suppose I am a Greek-speaking worshiper of the goddess Artemis from Ephesus. I listen to a stranger passing through town who tells of the wonders of… Continue Reading “Bart Ehrman: Converting to Christianity and the Problem of Eyewitnesses”
Bart Ehrman: The Spread of Early Christianity
Bart Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 83-84. Without a doubt, the most important thing that was happening for early Christianity was the spread of the religion from its inauspicious beginnings as a tiny sect of… Continue Reading “Bart Ehrman: The Spread of Early Christianity”
Bart D. Ehrman – The Pharisees in the Days of Jesus
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 73-74. It is important to recognize that the Pharisees were not the “power players” in Palestine in Jesus’ day. That is to say, they appear to have… Continue Reading “Bart D. Ehrman – The Pharisees in the Days of Jesus”
Bart D. Ehrman – Modern Christian Misunderstandings
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 66. Christians in the modern period frequently misunderstand the intent and purpose of this Jewish Law. It is not the case that ancient Jews (or modern ones,… Continue Reading “Bart D. Ehrman – Modern Christian Misunderstandings”
Bart Ehrman: Religion in the Ancient World
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 49-50. For most ancient persons, religion was not the way to guarantee an afterlife; it was a way to secure life in the here and now. For… Continue Reading “Bart Ehrman: Religion in the Ancient World”
Bart Ehrman: Miracle Workers in the Greco-Roman World
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 46. What is remarkable is that [Apollonius of Tyana and Jesus] were not the only two persons in the Greco-Roman world who were thought to have been… Continue Reading “Bart Ehrman: Miracle Workers in the Greco-Roman World”
The Amateur Exegete 