Finding Jesus in Genesis 

The Bible is like a person in the sense that, with enough torture, it can be made to say whatever someone wants.

These series are something else. I wish I would have had the likes of Megan, Josh and Bart when I was 14. Just keep going guys. Old guys and young people getting inspired to learn.

I loved Bart saying that Genesis can be read from different points of view. I last read Genesis about a year ago, and I learned that having numerous wives frequently leads to dysfunctional families. Another lesson seemed to be that there is a price to be paid for deceit, and that there are things that we must not do, as well as things that we must do. It's a very adult book, and I truly did not understand the depth of its moral teaching from my childhood reading of Bible stories. I can't say I found Jesus in those pages, but your explanation of that phenomena has a logic to it which may be helpful to many people.

Okay, seriously, how does Megan's hair survive so many color changes and still look so perfect??

Another interesting topic. Thanks Bart and Megan. Kudos 😊

Before Abraham was (I am) I thought is was Jesus who cast himself in Genisis

44:15 Origen is mentioned. 46:09 Four approaches to "reading" a text is mentioned.

Here's one but you need to focus on verse 8 : Genesis 29:1-8 KJV 1)"Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east. 2)And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well's mouth. 3)And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well's mouth in his place. 4)And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we. 5)And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. 6)And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep. 7)And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them. 8)And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well's mouth; then we water the sheep." As it turns out , "rolling the stone" in early Hebrew thinking means to reveal something . I think that this is about Yeshua being in the tomb , then the stone was rolled away from the tomb , then He "watered the sheep"

Sound problem when Megan talks! Please look into it

Keep going Bart.with you.

It’s raining cats and dogs has nothing to do with cats and dogs.

I could listen to Meghan reading the phone book happily.

My basic takeaway from this episode is that people are _really bad_ at setting aside their preconceptions when interpreting text. Although I suppose I already knew this from all the people who thought the Book of Revelations was referring to the immediate future. And those who claim the four gospels don't really contradict each other.

Interesting. I usually here it refered to as a devine council rather than a majestic we in Genesis.

The star of Bethlehem may have been the planet Jupiter. If you trace it back far enough, it's around there in the sky. It would have been around 6-5 BCE. It might have been a conjunction with another planet. Make of that what you will, I'm not sure about any of it.

I am genuinely curious how Megan is a Christian even with knowing all of this. Bart and her husband were two major reasons why I lost my faith. I would love for someone to explain this truly

He is not there so don’t waste your time for looking for him!

Who IS Isaiah speaking of in chapter 53? Always wondered about that…

Abraham had servants The number is 318, ok? And add Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael to it. The total is 321 yod is 10, vaw is 6, hee is 5, sheen is 300

I’d love to see Bart on Joe Rogan.

Mr. Fantastic, Elastigirl, and Monkey D. Luffy all wish they could stretch as much as someone who sees Jesus in Moses’ water rock, and the number 318. Wow.

Imagine Jesus commanding the Hebrews to kill every man, woman, children and cattle in a city, gays and adulterers to be stonned to death, and disobedient children to be put to death in front of the whole community; then comes years later and says "love everyone, turn the other cheek, don't even think about being angry." It's so bipolar. It's also the same Jesus that begged God (himself) not to let him suffer on the cross.

Eusebuis famously wrote a work called "The preparation for the gospel" where he tried to prove any mythological themes or tropes that seem similar to Christianity are because god subtly inserted them into pagan religions, as opposed to Judaism and Christianity using prevelent mythological and thematic tropes from the ancient near east like everyone was doing.

I mean, depending on how much of mental gymnastics you want to make, you can find Jesus in Genesis, Spider-Man in the New Testament, ABBA in the Quran and Bart D. Ehrman in Buddhist Sutras...

Hey, are those new glasses Megan? Love this aspect of your pod!

The idea of a grown man getting circumcised in the Bronze Age is one of the most insane things ever. The fact that they talked anybody into it is astounding.

Not plural I but because early Israelites probably weren't monotheists

Save the Palestinians from oppression

I remember during Bible study at around 8 years old that the teacher stated in the book of Daniel, when the three men were thrown in the fire, then spectators looked in an saw four men, that the 4th one was Jesus.

Bart uploads I like

@50:17 "If jesus came back today and saw what is being done in his name, would he say that you guys nailed it"? That would be an interesting choice of words from somebody who got nailed. 😂😂😂

Good critiques of Christian claims of the Old Testament supposedly prophesizing Jesus are regularly given by Rabbi Tovia Singer. You tube him. He pulls no punches.

I grew up Oneness Pentecostal so the idea of Jesus being in Genises is completely new to me.

PICK, CHOOSE, INTERPRET, REPEAT.

The discussion of Christian interpretations of the plural "I" in the Old Testament reminded me of that one time a couple of women came to my door to proselytize this obscure Christian break-away sect that believes that God has a wife who is co-creator of the universe and that the Old Testament's usage of "We" was referring to both God and Her. I tried countering with that same argument of "Well, what if it's just the royal We? The Old Testament wasn't written in English, after all." and their response was "We're not talking about any of those fancy interpretations or different languages or whatever! We're talking about what the Bible SAYS!!" with a lot of emphasis on the word "says." I was too confused to respond to that. I think for a lot of Christians not in this world of theological study, the English Bible they receive is just The Bible and what they're told it says is just what It Says and to question any aspect of that is to lack faith. It was very interesting to see that type of anti-intellectual, fundamentalist attitude applied to such a unique strain of Christianity.

I presume that Adam and Eve were covered with Jesus's skin. Just to have the sacrifice complete.

"The father of circumcision" LOL!

Why would an omniscient god put itself and all of humanity through this nonsense? It wouldn't. Humans have created millions of gods. Tall gods, short gods, thin gods, fat gods. Atheists believe that they are all just imaginings of various cultures. Christians believe the same thing about all the gods as the atheists, but one. _Theirs._ May god(s) b-less. ; )

Jesus is in a grilled cheese sandwich. No really, it's a thing.

The very last part of this video, about Christians not following what Jesus taught, agrees with my own conclusion. When Bart said it, I still found it profound.

I found Elvis in Isaiah. It’s because I have faith. ❤️ Love this podcast! Love Bart and Megan is a super sharp interviewer with the coolest glasses in town 🫶

You should read “The Unseen Realm” by Dr. Michael Heiser.

Thank you Megan & Dr Erham.

@Bart D. Ehrman If you're going to advertise for Shure make them pay for it.

Hey Bart, just read your book Triumph of Christianity. In my opinion, the best and most accessible book I could find on its topic. Just started reading Heaven and Hell now. Really appreciate your perspective and scholarship. I started studying Christianity about a little over a year ago, finally finishing the Bible just last month. Across my studies, I found it challenging to sift through apologetic resources disguised under the banner of objectivity for supplementary information on the subject. I just want pure scholarship, without an obvious theological or religious agenda. On that account, finding you has been a real gem!

Jesus is a common name among Hispanics. Our roofer's name is Jesus, pronounced hay soose.

Read about the two powers in heaven in jewish thinking in the inter-testamental period by Dr. Michael Heiser

Just want to say to both Bart and Megan that I LOVE 💕 THEM! I look forward to their videos

Is there any evidence that lre-Jesus Jews agreed with any of these interpretations? Ie: did Jews cite these verses as things they'd expect from a future Messiah? Or is this all post-diction?

😍😍😍😍😍 a new video of our favorite Prof ❤❤❤❤

Why do so many people say that the word Elohim means , “Those from the Heavens came .” Referring not, that it means , “The God ,” but refers to the Anunnaki, the beings who came to earth from the Sumerian cuneiform written history?

I suppose if I try hard enough, Jesus can be foreshadowed throughout the Rig Vedas too

Hmm. So many interesting aspects in the discussion of Adam and Eve's sin, the clothing from animal skins that becomes the derivation of sacrificing animals to cleanse sin, and then becomes the underpinning of the sacrifice of the son, Jesus Christ, which eventually winds up as the core of Christianity. I always wondered why the killing of Jesus on the cross is what ended up as the main symbol, rather than his work as a teacher, his message of love, etc. - Christianity developed around the notion of sacrifice, as did pagan religions, but Christianity took sacrifice up a few notches by making a human its victim - or better yet, a god! Kind of turns the old traditions upside down, to sacrifice a divine being. At the same time, it maintains the old beliefs about sacrifice - and calls to mind "primitive" tribes threw virgins into volcanoes (at least in the movies!) or slaughtered them on some ceremonial altar. It's so strange when you look at it that way. How could Christians view other religions as barbaric when the most sacred ritual they have is about the torture and killing of a man? Resurrection isn't really as central as the crucifixion itself, in Catholic teachings (speaking as a product of Catholic schools).

According to Billy Carson, the original translation was God’s as in plural. According to him, also, the Old Testament is copied from the ancient Sumerian texts, which speak about the Anunnaki.

The jesus insertion into older myths actually has its equivalence in Islam with the concept of the light of Muhammad (Nur Muhammad) . For example, the Light of Muhammad is the instrument Allah uses to create the earth and heaven and also to create Human souls etc.

Texan here... When you are in Austin, you have HAVE to go to Esther's Follies. You will have the best time!!!

In Genesis 1:26, the verb "let us make" is plural first person, with the doer of the action being ELOHIM. This is not the usual wording (usually it is the singular verb)...and fundamentalists make much of this, saying that the writer is trying to make a point here.

I'm reminded of politicians who try to take credit for everything their constituents like.

Moses hitting the rock (instead of talking to it) was in Bamibar 20 ,not Exodus. Before they got to Sinai the bitter waters turned sweet. The bitter water was Marah. That is in exodus.

Min 12:00 But Abraham story in the Old Testament is not written in Greek. That's because the audience of the Epistle of Barnabas were Hellenic converts not Jews. So they were only familiar with the Septuagint text. This is similar to why the Gospel writers portrayed Jesus saying Ego Eimi I Am to answer the Sadducees that God is not Lord over the dead but of the living. Except when there's a problem that in Hebrew there's no present participle.

Love Megan’s glasses

I always thought the Royal We means I and my subjects.

Do the host an Dr. Ehrman find Christian Faith funny and they are making a mockery of people's faith? I watch these podcasts an it comes off like they think it's funny how Christians believe.

*8:20** sun wu kong was also the rock.* that first rock was named thought. &, like jesus, his nature was irrepressible. but he had WAY more immortality than jesus. look it up. _JC

What might have been even worse than Bronze age circumcisions was having an operation to *restore* the foreskin after circumcision. This was an elective surgery apparently received by quite a few Jews in the post-Alexander BCE centuries, when Hellenization was the rave in some parts of Judah. Since atheletics was a central part of Greek education, and sports were undertaken naked, it was clear who was and wasn't circumcised.

Regarding Barnabas, it seems likely that for many Jews, the Hebrew text had fallen completely out of use, so the author likely was only familiar with the Septuagint. But that also suggests a later, Hellenic author

So, according to Bart, first there was an actual Jesus and then people found traces of him throughout the Bible. But what's the point? None of the other Bible figures is everywhere. It seems more likely that they first combed the books for information about their expected Messiah and then imagined they had missed their Messiah's coming because he should have appeared per the already re-interpreted Daniel prophecy and finally built an incarnated divinity out of these.

I found aphrodite in the old testament; god splits adam/ouranus to form primordial woman who is called hawah(life) which is almost ahawah(love) But is also pandora as well as aphrodite, Later she shows up again is esther/ishtar Who was the most beautiful woman, and marduk/mordecai is zeus, And then she shows up again as the shulamite in song of songs With temples behind her veil like 2 slices of a pomegranate, Then again in the sephirot of netzach as haniel the archangel associated with the planet venus

To me, it makes 0 sense to think Jesus was in the Old Testament. Jesus had a human mother and carried her genetic material. He carried his mother’s genetic material before he was conceived? In the OT? Thoughtless notion. Ok, he had a divine side. Ok, that divine side could be in Genesis. The divine side does not = Jesus. Jesus = divine + human. IMO.

For all you bible scholars out there pontificating on the finer points of what Christians thought about in the year - say 50, do a little research and discover when the term 'Christian' was first applied to those who thought Jesus was really swell.

Is this evidence that the Bene Gesserit have visited earth

I thought Elohim pointed to the polytheistic origins of Judaism and referred to the Canaanite pantheon of God's and Godesses.

26:47 No the Serpent in Genesis is a Nachash which means Enchanter, Sorcerer, or Seducer.

WE.....isssss plural lol ... The rabies just are explaining away or doing apologetics..... There is no example of anyone using WE as a single in the Torah ...

Jesus is the word of God and he is in many places in the Whole bible and he is the us in creation and among the 3 who met Abraham and the 3 who got David the water at the gate of Bethlehem most likely.

Barnabas might have been talking bollocks, but if you can limit baby circumcision, use all the mental gymnastics you like.

Since almost everyone was illiterate at that time, one could claim the bible said anything, and, for the most part, there would be none to contradict them. The bible was built on lies, contradictions and misinformation written for the enjoyment of what the rulers wanted their slaves to believe in order to control them.

I'm the last type of Christian that Bart describes here and also straddling slightly Jewish. Agree with everything he said here.

Eloh is plural 🤔 y & h & w & h ... Then im is double plural = The Council of gods ... W E .. Soooo it is a singular speaking for all the council ... Elohim is a single god buuuut speaking as a council too ...

27:00 was literally mid typing _"dont you mean 'legless lizard who hapns to currently have legs?"_ , but was too slow. _JC

Is there evidence in the bible or extra biblical writings during the time that time of the use of a "Royal We"?

The sound is fixed now ❤

18:40 and superman. it's his family name & how the "S" is pronounced, of course. _JC

The world I have lived in for 75 years includes man made books about a godman named Jesus but none of the characters in these stories have ever appeared before me to confirm their existence. As a thinking person that prefers testable, reliable information I try to maintain a line of separation between reality and make believe.

33:19 Megan made her own video on intertextuality: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pU_CGxQlW6o.htmlsi=Od1zalh-8ULOx9Zi

Pre-Babylonian captivity: El = God Elohim = sons of El Post-Babylonian captivity: El = God Elohim = God This is called "syncretization" and some biblical character referred to as the "harlot of Babylon" did the syncretizing. Reading the Bible using the Pre-Babylonian captivity definitions of God's titles seems like a good idea 💡. Theology comes from combining two Greek words: Theos, meaning God, and Logos, meaning Word or rational thought. In Hebrew that's El and Elohim. [The Word is Elohim from Genesis 1] (not to be confused with Yahweh or the false Elohim associated with him in Genesis 2-3) Compare John 1: 1-5 with Genesis 1: 1-5: John 1: 1-5 Names of God Bible The Word Becomes Human 1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was already with God in the beginning. 3 Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him. 4 He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity. 5 The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it. Genesis 1: 1-5 Names of God Bible The Creation 1 In the beginning Elohim created heaven and earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep water. The Ruach Elohim was hovering over the water. 3 Then Elohim said, “Let there be light!” So there was light. 4 Elohim saw the light was good. So Elohim separated the light from the darkness. 5 Elohim named the light day, and the darkness he named night. There was evening, then morning-the first day. Compare: Hebrews 11 Names of God Bible 3 Faith convinces us that God created the world through his word. This means what can be seen was made by something that could not be seen. and: Romans 1 Names of God Bible 25 These people have exchanged God’s truth for a lie. So they have become ungodly and serve what is created rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen! with: Genesis 2 Names of God Bible 2 Heaven and earth and everything in them were finished. 2 By the seventh day ELOHIM had finished the work he had been doing. On the seventh day he stopped the work he had been doing. 3 Then ELOHIM blessed the seventh day and set it apart as holy, because on that day he stopped all his work of creation. The Creation of Man and Woman 4 This is the account of heaven and earth when they were created, at the time when YAHWEH ELOHIM made earth and heaven. (What is the difference between created and made? The difference between something being created and something being made is that when something is created it is brought into existence out of nothing. But, when something is made it has been formed out of something else that already exists.)

Snakes evolved from lizards who had legs !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not there - just like not anywhere in contemporary history.

34:00 like the Sony universe interpretation system for Marvel. _JC

My Gawd!! I was raised southern Bapt. I then went to a full gospel spirit filled church. I spent 20 years in Assembly of God disguised as a non denominational mega church and I have NEVER heard any of this. I’m out now and am learning things my Christian brothers may have believed this all along? Are they afraid to teach these ideas?

@20:00 So similar/ the same as using "They" as a singular pronoun.

Bart, why there are so few of your books published in portuguese? Greetings from Brazil

I was raised to believe that the angel Michael was in fact Jesus.

The Orthodox Church teaches that eternal life requires repentance and doesn’t see Jesus in the Old testament. By Christians you mean American Protestants. you just need to come up with a different name for the old testament, emphasizing its obsolescence.

The Bible does seem to be a theological Rorschach.

Why do unbelievers read and study the Bible?

Crucifying me all over again 😂😂😂😂😂😂. THIS is why I love Bart

Christ was the rock? I thought Peter was the rock.

Sounds like the zam zam story in Islam

If you decide to visit the DFW area, let us know!!!