Did Christianity Make the World More Moral?
Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman
Jesus’ ethical teachings are often touted as being revolutionary in the ancient world. The pagan cultures that preceded Christianity are commonly understood as being immoral, full of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. Well, 2 out of three isn’t bad… But just how close to historical reality are these views? Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman joins me for the first of a special two-part episode to dive into ancient ethics, and whether Jesus actually changed anything.
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Did Jesus Actually Claim to be God?
Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman
One of the main tenets of Christianity is Jesus’ divinity - most denominations hold him to be fully divine (and also fully mortal, but what’s a whole other conversation). History is littered with humans who claimed to be gods - think Egyptian kings, for example. Is this something that applies also to Jesus? Was he walking around, telling people that he was, in fact, god? Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman joins me to talk about the line between divine and mortal in the ancient world, and to examine Jesus’ self-presentation within the gospels.
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The Wild Wild West of Early Christianity
Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman
What if everything you thought you knew about the origins of Christianity was just one version of a much wilder, more chaotic story? In this episode, Megan Lewis and renowned scholar Paula Fredrickson dive into the glorious mess of competing beliefs, hidden gospels, and theological squabbles that shaped the first 500 years of Christianity. From grumpy Church Fathers and outlaw texts to pagans, prophets, and even Kentucky snake handlers (no, really), discover why Christian diversity isn’t a modern problem—it’s the tradition itself. Tune in for a witty, eye-opening journey that will give...
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Secrets of the Third Heaven: Exploring Paul’s Vision
Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman
Visions of supernatural beings or places are relatively common in the bible and early Christian writings - from wheels within wheels, to visions of the risen Jesus, to trips to the afterlife, writers record a whole array of fascinating experiences. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman joins me to talk about one of the less flamboyant, but nonetheless intriguing visions - Paul’s trip to the “third heaven”. We’ll get into the role of visions in ancient communities, what exactly a “third heaven” is, and why Paul chose to write about it.
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Did Matthew Invent the Sermon on the Mount?
Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman
The Sermon on the Mount is probably one of the best-known speeches of Jesus, and if you’ve spent any time in a church service, then the odds are that you’ve heard at least part of it. It contains the beatitudes - “blessed are the meek” - the Lord’s Prayer, and a whole host of teachings that are held sacred by Christians the world over. But… did the writer of Matthew fabricate the whole thing? Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman joins me to talk about this amazing sermon, whether anything like it exists elsewhere in the New Testament, and whether Jesus is likely to have uttered a word of it.
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How Many Jesuses Are in the New Testament?
Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman
Today’s title may seem a little bit odd - how many Jesuses are in the NT? I’m sure there are going to be several comments on YouTube from people who didn’t stay to watch the episode because the answer is clearly “one”. For those who want to see where we go with this, Dr. Bart Ehrman is going to be answering my questions on the different ways early Christians and writers of the NT viewed and understood Jesus, and whether all of those views and perspectives can be embodied in a single figure.
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Why Early Christians Kept the Old Testament
Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman
If you have a passing familiarity with the Christian Bible, then you probably know that it’s split into two parts - the Old and New Testaments. The New Testament is the part with all the stuff about Jesus, while the Old Testament is drawn largely from Jewish religious scriptures. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman is joining me to talk about why early Christians insisted on keeping the Old Testament… despite not being Jewish.
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One God Among Many: Rethinking the God of the Bible
Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman
In the modern Western world, monotheism is the rule, rather than the exception. Not so in the ancient past, where many cultures worshipped whole pantheons of gods, each one responsible for specific areas of the mortal experience. How does the one god of Israel compare to this myriad of deities, and can an understanding of how ancient mediterranean cultures thought about and interacted with the divine help us to understand the god presented to us in the Bible?
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Consensus Scholarship and the Life of Jesus
Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman
If you’ve ever done any research on the Bible - and if you’re listening to this podcast, you probably have - you might have noticed that most biblical scholars agree with each other on a lot of basic points. These include the dating of texts and whether specific events recorded in the Bible are historical, among other things. Why is that, and is it some kind of conspiracy? Today, Dr. Chris Frilingos joins me to talk about the academic consensus, the gospel stories of Jesus’ early life, and how early Christians made meaning from them.
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The Bible Says So: What We Get Right and Wrong About the Bible
Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman
Seeing or hearing a Bible verse being pulled out of a hat to support someone’s argument is a common experience for many people. Homosexuality is wrong because the Bible says so. Satan is the bad guy because the Bible says so. Women should wear modest clothing because the Bible says so. But does the Bible say so? My guest today, Dr. Dan McClellan, is no stranger to engaging in biblical debates, and is here to talk about how and why the Bible is used in this way, and whether such arguments are ever valid or useful.
info_outlineWhat if everything you thought you knew about the origins of Christianity was just one version of a much wilder, more chaotic story? In this episode, Megan Lewis and renowned scholar Paula Fredrickson dive into the glorious mess of competing beliefs, hidden gospels, and theological squabbles that shaped the first 500 years of Christianity. From grumpy Church Fathers and outlaw texts to pagans, prophets, and even Kentucky snake handlers (no, really), discover why Christian diversity isn’t a modern problem—it’s the tradition itself. Tune in for a witty, eye-opening journey that will give you a whole new appreciation for the beautiful, bickering family tree of Christian history!