Dr. Bart is the best, he is unmatched in his realistic approach to what is essentially a historical issue, not theological. Regardless of our personally held sacred faith traditions, we must always place truth and facts first not emotional idealisms.
As a devout, non-denominational, Christian, I have different convictions than Professor Ehrman. Stills, having watched at least 4 debates between the professor and so-called "Christian" preachers, I find that the professor is far more authentic, dignified, and profound than the patronizing and arrogant opponents who debate him. Indeed, despite his agnosticism, the professor resonates as far more Christ-like than them.
Artur, The Prof BART makes absolutely fascinating listening to. For a person who is looking for the truth in the Holy Bible willingly or unwillingly he is pulling the rug from underneath his/ her feet. I so wish Dr Bart would write a book that gives pointers to “ What in his estimation should have been done differently “ back in the times of the Christ so as to avoid the pitfalls dug up by the scribes long gone and against whom the Prophet Jeremiah and The Christ himself warned us. Dr Bart quiet effectively exposes the limitations of our Bibles. What is sad 😔 is that he has not set up any milestones on the road for the searcher of truth. That is indeed sad!
Copy upon copy upon copy upon copy upon copy but they are all talking about one person called Jesus Christ. People can have different views of an event or history. Example We are looking for you. Me and Joseph is looking for you. Me and your father looking for you. What is matter here is a child was looking for and found in the temple of God.
well duh. He has nothing to push or gain. Their careers are dishonest, frankly. Now keep studying. You are on the right path. The more you know the more your eyes are able to see.
Excellent interview! This is one of the best interviews of Bart that I have seen. She is not trying to prove a point and is genuinely curious about his scholarship.
This is a great interview because Diane makes a point of asking Bart follow-up questions. He'll make a statement then she'll ask for examples. And he gives them, and he gives good ones. I'm not saying he ducks the questions or gives bad answers. The point is that I didn't feel like I was left hanging, shouting questions at the computer.
I think that he is used to trying to cover a wide breadth of information in a short amount of time, and so he was trying not to go too far into specifics for time's sake. I agree that he does a great job of providing specific examples when prompted.
Also asked them very speedily. Talked very, very speedily. I actually had to set the video to half-speed whenever she was talking because I couldn’t quite keep up with her speaking at full-speed.
@@SubstanceP888 i wondered also about her speech but having given her the benefit of the doubt, she suffered a neurological condition that affected her voice and speech.
This obviously elderly woman has that stop-and-go speech pattern. I think it's fantastic that she's still working in her golden years. Good for her. Great interview, too!
Regarding the caller who asks why the writings of Plato are never questioned, they certainly are! There is Platonic scholarship that similarly has identified entire spurious texts, how much is Plato and how much is Socrates, whether Socrates even existed, how Plato's accounts compare to Xenophon's, etc, etc.
Presumably you and Prof. Ehrman are completely correct about ongoing Platonic scholarship. I think a big difference is that nobody is living his/her life according to the precepts of Plato. Nor are they telling other people how to live their lives.
I’m not at at certain where I stand anymore. For the person who reads the holy Bible looking for Gods unadulterated untampered Word and Will; he is left with a heap of questions. Dr Bart eloquently validates the warnings against the Scribes made by the Prophet Jeremiah and much later even by The Christ. How I wish Dr Bart writes a book making it clear what could have been done differently down the ages so as to avoid the present day mess as far as the scriptures are concerned.
I would like to pick your brain. I am a convert to Judaism and have wondered about why as a child was taught, in the evangelical church, that Jesus is g-d when it doesn’t seem like th earliest Christians did.
Bart Ehrman has always been fair in my opinion. The bible has been changed and edited over the years we know that. Make of that what you will. I love the bible.
10:45 I have often wondered, why is the woman brought forward _alone_ for committing adultery? Doesn't it take two to commit adultery? Where was the guy?
@@dieselcowboy777 The story is a Greek fabrication. The Torah says that executions are only permitted by a court. It's one of the Commandments that a court should sit and decide when a crime is committed. The idea that Jews who follow the Law would just ran after a woman with stones in their hands and dismiss the Law regarding courts is silly.
religion has given me enough already not to discard it entirely 2 Peter 1:20-21 New International Version 20 Above all, you must understand(A) that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God(B) as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.(C) Read full chapter
@@zz3718 also they were not really interested on what the woman did but rather they wanted to trap Jesus. They new and understood exactly what they were doing
If you want to remain a Christian, do NOT study the Bible. I was such a happy little Christian until (out of love for Christ) I started studying everything in and about the Bible. Learning who wrote it and when was the beginning of the end. It's a human abomination once you start thinking about it.
Ted cox Dear Ted, don't be discouraged. No matter how they attempt to change scripture they cannot pollute the pure truth found in scripture because we have the author of those scriptures IN us (The Holy Spirit). It's only those who rely on the teachings and the wisdom of men who fall into deception based on changes made to scripture.
Ted cox Same thing happened to me. I studied the history behind the Bible and Christianity and was forced to face the stark fact that it's no more true than any other human invention.
Jeff Dean Pure truth? As Bart Ehrman would say: It helps if we'd have the originals but there are NO originals. The gospels were NOT written by any eyewitness. To top it off the last 11 verses of chapter of mark were added because they were never in any of the first copies. The book is a myth. It makes claims with no factual support. It is a myth.
1981andybt I believe there is truth in the Bible, I agree it has been tampered with, added to, and that there are no "originals" per se. I still believe there were original writings of the Apostles and much of their content did make it into the New Testament. It's ironic that, try as they might, those who added to and changed text to add their own doctrines failed miserably! That's the Holy Spirit at work Brother. Thankfully, we HAVE the Holy Spirit and do not need that "any man teach us" and have no need for any Apostle to "write unto us" for we are "taught of God" to "love one another" and that's all that really matters. Have fun debating the authenticity of scripture it's a pointless and egocentric debate that the Apostles stated those who engage in are "proud, knowing nothing."
Powerful stuff I got a degree in history many years ago and I love Burt's approach neded more than ever as so many critics of Religion are basing their criticism on pure ignorance of the Bible
Someone said people who go to church don't care whether what they hear there is true or not. If they did, they would change their minds when they get evidence that put their beliefs into doubt
Whomever this may concern: Please do not use the flaws and/or corruptions within organized religions to rob yourself of the opportunity to cultivate your spiritual nature and truly know thyself; to see the light - the divine light which you are. Much love and grace to you on your journey toward self-discovery, enlightenment and salvation from within.
Whilst reading my copy of the bible once, it was devinely revealed to me that where some of the chapter ends and begins are, that it was not the end of and the beginnings of those chapters. Same as punctuation marks being in the wrong places. This can change the whole meaning of the text. As an example the word's " in to" and " into" are very different.
youtube is full of him debating apologists but you won’t love it...most of his words and points fall on deaf ears. The apologists rarely ever respond to his points. It is infuriating.
So much attention is given to the changes, omissions, mistakes, additions etc. by scribes making copies of copies of copies. But surely the pre-written stories must have been inaccurate, heard wrong, told wrong, etc. The original writings would have been inaccurate before the scribes even picked up the pen.
You modern way of life van not be compared to hundred years ago. Don't you get it? As the world advance in technology and science , the old world look like something different.
It is believed that there was an original document (Q) that the first three gospels borrowed from...than each of them wrote grom their perspective. John's came much later.
Wish he would focus on the doctrinal differences. When he gives example after example of chronological inconsistencies it gives the impression that every discrepancy is only related to plot instead of teachings.
Listen again at 10:26 where a doctrinal teaching is debunked. 'He who is without sin cast the first stone' was not spoken by Jesus. That's just one of many. The teachings become suspect throughout.
But it was the language of the people who wrote the accounts. The bible is not testimony of eye witnesses. That is a main point of Ehrmans lectures it seems to me...
Prophet muhammad s.a.w said every children was born muslim,by their parent which they became majusi,nasrani etc..because ' they' tend to change god words on his place,the previous scriptures wont be preserve..read the quran with Open Heart and ill guarantee you will understand
Zulkefli Jamil, Understand? Does that mean that we will "know how to behead all unbelievers - whenever we get the chance?" The Quran is the most hateful book ever to be written and you must be brainwashed to believe a word of it.
@@MrArthurGiles studies show that the Bible has more passages about war and killing and crimes vs God then the Quran! That's a fact just goes to show you have not read the Quran you are just repeating what you heard !
What about the Old Testament? There were scribes who’s only job was to copy books. They counted letters on each page and they needed to be exact. A comparison of the Dead Sea scrolls and the current text would be interesting.
There never will be anyone like Diane Rehm. I still miss her on NPR. The people who have followed her since her retirement, in her daily time slots, have been inferior, in so many ways.
The differences in the Gospel books verify that their were 4 witnesses writing their own accounts of the many but not all of the same events. If 4 people lived with Jesus and dictated their remembrances to 4 separate scribes, I would expect 4 very different accounts. It would be very suspect if they all accounted the same events. Discrepancies account for the fact that they weren't always with one another, nor did they remember the same things, nor did they believe or emphasize the same understandings.
It really doesn't matter if the bible was tempered with. As long as you pray to the Lord in silence and ask him to guide you to the right path, He will because God is not going to allow you to run into a wall. You have to have faith in the Lord to make it to the gates of heaven.
12,00 great question , when did chapters and verse divisions added. in the copies chapter division in 12th century in latin. verse divisions came 1551 by a peresian printer named stefanous. most ppl in roman empire couldn't read. bible had few literate ppl. evidences changes made in the thousands of manuscripts.
To avoid misunderstanding about the bible all churches must have print their versions along with origin Greek verses. Let people translate their own, truth will come out and confusion will be over.
+Aman "To avoid misunderstanding about the bible all churches must have print their versions along with origin Greek verses. Let people translate their own, truth will come out and confusion will be over." No it won't. Any muslim that even remotely can reads the Qor'an in the original arabic writing and Islam is full of different interpretations of the meaning of the verses.... most obviously "duty to wage holy war/jihad" against "religion of peace" readings... there literally are opposite meanings of the same verses used by the different groups depending on what they WANT them to mean. And the bible is no less ambiguously written, but that is not "corrected" by no longer publishing different translations, it is already the case with using the same "original" sources as the translations PROVE. If you go back to forcing everyone to read a foreign language and translate for themselves, the number of differing interpretations can only grow (while the majority of "believers" would not bother to go through the motions and just go with what they get told the meaning is and never would look it up for themselves... but with many more voices telling you their different interpretations that is no improvement over today.)
God gives us the free will to use our own critical thinking but then punishes us by coming up with the wrong conclusion. Instead of leading us cautiously across a dangerous street like a loving parent would, he lets us follow a confusing path of foggy and confusing information and lets us suffer eternal torment when we make the wrong decision
Ten Second BuickGN that’s if you’re LUCKY. According to the rise In Calvinism you were predestined to destruction and have no way out. NONE. And they’re changing certain versus in the bible to make it more “real”
The Saviors followers weren't called christians and he wasn't called the christ! How does this "scholar" not mention that? smh Learned the truth of Christianity and where it really came from! I follow the Messiah and his real name was Yashua, Jesus was changed just like christianity was added. Lies!
The problem with talking about oral traditions as truths to the modern day that something hasn’t changed is the reality how the game telephone works if you know what that means. One person might pass down a oral tradition that’s true but as the oral tradition is passed down its changed most of the time by accident and not on purpose when that happens.
I do not understand to which text we call Bible. As a Muslim I believe in Bible and consider only the teachings of Christ.I cant consider the teachings of Paul a part of Bible. In my opinion Islam came after Christianity and Koran has a very clear comments on Bible, Jesus and his mother and all the story. Has Mr. Ehrman considered those during his research?
You believe in the Torah, (Old Testiment) Which is Mentioned in the Quran.. But the New Testiment bible is what he is mainly talking about. And we do Not know the authors of the New Testiment, and all of them can be verified 360 years after Jesus. So i personally am skeptical. I been wondering tho how come the Quran doesn't mention Paul in it ?
As you know four Gospels say somewhat different Story ie timing of the death of Jesus on the cross and resurrection there are many other differences but we know that can be harmonies ( that what happen in the revised versions of the Bible )
Nobody's used Plato to start wars, commit genocide, resist science, or influence malicious, backwards, policy. ...and the unerring, infallible word of the Alpha and Omega doesn't get to be 99% right sir.
no but seriously a lot of people subscribe to that because of things like Zeitgeist and that thing is full of misinformation. That probably has nothing to do with your reasoning though.
Generally when a holy book has changed God send again another book to correct the other and it will be a guide for humanity. So after the christianity, appears Islam with the word of God which is in Coran. Am sure that that book (Coran) is the final and the correct word of God.
The Qur'an like the other "holy" texts have a lot of changes and like the others are fairy tales of supernatural beliefs which have hurt and are hurting humanity far more than what good they have done.
It's very common when some people was able to study the bible on detail they found that it contain seriously mistakes so they become agnostics but they didn't reject the belief in one creator, that is a proof by itself!
Bart mentions a German scholar who lost his job for pointing out inconsistencies in the bible - does anyone know the correct spelling of the name? He says “ Vechten” or something - see 31:00 of the video
The scriptures according to Christ in Luke 24 are 1-the Law, 2-The Psalms and 3-The Prophets and they are about Me (Christ). So the new testament should be based on Christ fulfilling the scriptures as I just called them to be. It's not hard believing that He gave his blood to make one New Creation and that He resurrected from the death, only these things will get you going. Paul learned the gospel in the desert from Christ Himself, so why should it be different for us. Christ is the Word. Everything is held together by the Word,
***** -thanks that was very insightful. I have not really seen much compelling proof that the New Testament is a so-called myth, not to mention all of these non-biblical literature which appears to support it.
15,00 changes by political and theological, spelling differences. scribes and govts changed for faith. 2nd and 3rd century changed the view. lukee says your father and I look for you. changed to we have been looking for you. no punctuation. words ran on with no space. some christians said Jesus was fully human , others hes divine! theres a winning and losing debate and then forced militant side. great question by caller at end how can ppl follow a book they know changed!
How could the scribes change the texts to represent anything other than chaos? The Bible presents a very coherent thread, especially regarding Messiah.
You're speaking of a passage written by Paul, a person who never met Jesus, who was writing about supposed sexual licentiousness being practiced by the Romans, inhabitants of a city he never visited, in the name of Yahweh, a sky deity once part of a pantheon of several Canaanite deities. Ehrman is not living in in the first century CE, he isn't a Roman, and he doesn't worship idols. Please learn how to read the Bible in the context in which it was written.
The Quran, the unaltered book of God’s own words revealed in Arabic and will be preserved by God Himself until the end of times. “’We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption).” (15:9) “Alif, Lam, Ra. These are the verses of the clear Book. Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an that you might understand.” (12:1 & 12:2). “This is the book, in it is guidance for sure without doubt, to those who fear Allah [God]”. (2:2) “We have sent down to you (O Muhammad) in truth so that you might judge between men as guided by Allah [God]”. (4:105). “And this is a book which We have revealed as a blessing, so follow it and be righteous, that you may receive mercy”. (6:155). “A book revealed unto you, so that your heart be not in any difficulty on that account, (so that) with it you may warn (the sinful) and teach the believers”. (7:2). “This Qur’an is not such as can be produced by other than Allah [God], on the contrary it is a confirmation of (revelations) that were sent before it, and a full explanation of the book, wherein there is not doubt from the Lord of the worlds”. (10:37) “And We sent down the book to you for the express purpose that you should make clear to them those things in which they differ, and so that it should be a guide and mercy to those who believe”. (16:64). “We have revealed for you (O men) a book in which there is a message for you, will you then not understand”. (21:10). “These are the verses of the book that make things clear”. (26:2). “... A book which We have sent down unto you with full of blessings so that they may meditate on its signs and that man of understanding may receive admonition”. (38:29). “Verily We have revealed the book to you in truth for instructing mankind. He that receives guidance benefits his own soul, but he that strays injures his own soul”. (39:41).
+Demon Knight The only things truly written by our creator are the tables of the 10 commandments. What I said is that the actual writers of the scriptures are some people. I do a distinction between Bible and scriptures as the two don't overlap. Not everything in the Bible is inspired by God, but if you are a Christian it's hard for you to understand that.
Moises him self wrote 10 commandment,but he told middle age illiterate people 'received it from God'.how many people (Jews )undertake 10 commandment in reality ..wake up ...it is 21st century,,, Ten commandment should be revised ,,YOU SHALL NOT KILL UNLESS YOU HAVE A REASON ,,SUCH AS TESTING A NEW BOMB...as it happen last week ..God who send 10 commandment must be retired by now ...do you know what is blind worship ??
How can anyone put their faith in the text? Let me answer that one. You do not put your faith in a text, you put your faith in the Creator, God. Yes, the scriptures have been changed because of translation and some dishonest translators as well. However, when one truly seeks God He will make himself known to you regardless of a book. At the age of 16, which is 40 years ago, I asked God to prove himself to be true. I asked him to remove a large wart I had on my finger to show me he really exists. I forgot about the prayer the following morning, and possible two week or three weeks after. But, one morning as I got ready for school something told me to look at my finger and I remembered my prayer: The wart was gone. I started jumping with joy and ran to my mother to share what had happened. God proved himself to be real and nothing can deter my belief that there is a God in the universe that has power over all things. The bible warns us that we are in a spiritual battle against evil forces. Bart said in one of his lectures that the changes made is not of such significance that it changes the message of the bible. I am sad he has lost sight of his original belief. Regardless, I respect his teachings, they are educational.
Is there anything about paedophila being a sin in the bible. Cos that is a sin in my mind as apparently having consensual sex without being married to the baptists is a sin.
@Professor Bart Ehrman: with due respect, I think you are a man of integrity, and you are a "Happy" agnostic not because of agnosticism, but because you are finally free from the burden on your conscious. I would humbly suggest that Christianity isn't the end of the world. Please try to look into other religions. You might be benefited from this or at least people might be benefited from your sincere effort.
Sorry but you are barking up the wrong tree if you assume he has never looked into other religions. Perhaps you are the one who needs to keep looking at other religions, because the more you look the more diminutive and ridiculous they appear to the discriminating eye of observation.
People, other than the wise, do not realize, "We in this world must all die," (and, not realizing it, continue their quarrels). The wise realise it and thereby their quarrels cease. Buddhism
The Bible is the best preserved book known today. Yes, there are mistranslations of words, but the scripture meanings remain the same...and that is fact.
Is anyone really so stupid as to think that if a person is on the receiving end of intercourse, whether male or female, that they are being dominated? These people are obviously not making Love. They are doing something else and associating sex with a whole bunch of other stuff that basically should have nothing to do with sex. We have a choice in what we associate what with, what we rejoice or take pleasure in and what we don’t rejoice in, (this by the way is biblical). Making Love is 100,000x’s better than just doing it, or whatever - Don’t waste yourself on whatever, it’s not worth the price one pays spiritually, psychologically or intellectually.
there are hundreds of variant versions of Christian Bibles none match each other or the original koine Greek NT Papyrus or the Hebrew Tanakh Bible or Dead sea scrolls...???
I suggest that you look into islam! If you need to know how the early christians were.. look at islam (not muslims) as far as i know james (jesus's closest friend) was very close to modern islam with insignificant differences .. also the dead sea scrolls tell the same story !! Islam came later to fix what was corrupted and come back to the original jesus teachings that paul and his disciples changed
Last week an internet friend of a real life friend quoted the bible at me in an attempt to defend people going to church during this pandemic! LOL! The quote was something about “let ye not forget to gather and worship together in his name.” Ha ha...I thought “oh this sweet lady wants to open that can of worms WITH ME. I just said, “the Bible says a lot of things but It doesn’t say spread a pandemic.” i may not know the quotes exactly since I wasn’t brainwashed with them but I was an atheist by age four and read the whole ugly book by age 12. I listen to Ehrman and Carrier and all the great thinkers debate apologists...But I have to play nice.
When I was younger I could not make sense of the story of Lott, if the story stopped at his wife turning around then the story may have a moral to that story, but it does not stop, it goes on to say a prophet slept with and made his daughters pregnant, I personally believe the person who added the end on was a homosexual, so that if another person came to report a homosexual then they could ask the person reporting "do you sleep with your daughter" which would shut up the most religious amongst us, thankfully this ending does not occur in the Islamic scriptures because it is indeed a fabricated ending, it makes no sense to have such a sick ending unless you are a homosexual or you are having incest with your daughter,
Absolutely correct, Bible very human not word of God, much historical error discrepenses n contracdition, you can find in the book, the criminal teach the love
@@MichaelTheophilus906 God order Abraham to sacrifice his son. Ten commandments thou shalt not kill.thats a contradiction.the bible has lots.that was first that came to mind. God has jesus tortured on the cross to die for our sins. God loves us. You would be arrested if human did any of the things God did in the bible. Thats the truth
Contradiction in the bible :if you read MATTHEW 1:16,it says that Joseph's father was Heli," but if you read LUKE 3:25,it says that Joseph's father was Jacob." These two verses contradict each other.Therefore,if you read FIRST KINGS 11:3,it says that SOLOMON had 700 wives and 300 concubines..According to the bible,SOLOMON is an adulterer..As a conclusion,Christianity is a false religion because Jesus never taught Christianity and the word Christianity is not found in any version of the bible...tq
Don't know what version of the Bible you're looking at but both of those verses say that Jacob was the father of Joseph. Look it up. Strange how morals don't seem to matter when Mohammed is concerned; how young was Aisha, 9 years old? If god is eternal, unchanging, then is it OK for a man to get married (and consummate that marriage) to so young a girl (not even hit puberty) today? If it isn't then god has either changed or Mohammed was immoral.
Does anybody else hate the questions and answers portions of shows like this one, especially when the topic is religion? It's almost always a complete waste of time.
all women are apparently according to many men...studies show that males tune out women very quickly but also especially if they have high voices. Hers is purposefully low but also too slow of a delivery -however that is another technique that used to be taught to women to be successful in broadcasting just to get people to take the female seriously at all...It’s ridiculous that women should have to contort their voices for the content to be even absorbed by males. Certainly it still doesn’t work well. And more modern listeners are put off by it!
UGH 😫 Religious people are all trapped in the same room without windows... and the ones who think they have an exclusive understanding are trapped in the closet of that room. The history of the people who demand everyone understand things only their way, speaks for itself. The only worthwhile thing to come out of it are those who focus on love. Judge a tree by its fruit... or don’t you believe what you say you believe? It sickens me to hear so called believers licking their religious chops when they pronounce their idea of another’s final judgement, who don’t see it their way, or call God by the name they believe in. They are all still Roman Catholics and just don’t know or see it because you have your own religious filters and baggage. The Romans made sure it said what they needed it to say and then you all argue and judge. History accuses us of our hypocrisies and sins against the Royal law. It’s just people trademarking and branding their version. Take the tithe from the temples and holy men and put it in the mouth of the starving, sick and destitute... and then dare to speak about what you hear God saying. Religion makes people mean. I believe In God because I believe God is Love, and I must believe love is from God. That’s the whole point of it!
