Who Chose the Books of the New Testament? 

I don't know the interviewer but she's great (not just bc she reminds me of Kate Winslet). It's so delightful to hear Bart interviewed by someone as personable, clear, & intellectually nimble as Bart himself is. This was fantastic, thanks, & I'll look up more of Megan's work.

What a discovery! Bart displays so much in depth knowledge and presents it a such a folksy, yet seious, manner. Sprinkle in that infectious, cackling laugh and the viewer is left wanting to hear and learn more and more. Megan is the perfect host, knowledgeable in her own right, but directing questions on topic to just draw out the best in Bart.

I studied ancient history as an undergrad, and wrote an MA thesis on the New Testament canon. The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture blew my mind because I grew up in the church and had never seen a critical analysis before that.

I appreciate Bart making me aware of the concept of gospel Harmony and encouraging me to read the gospels sure by side and compare them. It's bizarre to realize most people basically know the story of Jesus as a 5th gospel cobbled together from the 4 canonical ones

I came upon Elain Pagels's "The Gnostic Gospels" when I was in my early twenties. That book led me out of the darkness that I had wandered in for so long.

Can we please get an episode with Dr E revisiting his dissertation? Would love him to react on his younger self's take, plus how he arrived at his subject, & how his relationship to that subject changed as his knowledge developed?

I have listened your online lectures again again and again. .. I have been learning a lot thinking a lot. Thank you so much.

Megan, I think you are a fine interviewer! You ask very good questions, and then you let Bart answer them. You get good information out and keep the conversation moving.

Thank you for what you are doing. As a Christian I appreciate how you are clarifying what the scriptures are really saying. I don't know if you realize it but you are doing the work of the Entity you claim to not believe in. Keep up the good work. God bless

What’s really funny about the canon being decided at Nicaea myth is I actually had one of my undergraduate professors in my religious studies program insist during class that that was the case, even after I tried to correct him on the point! In fairness his specialty was in the Hebrew Bible iirc, not early Christianity, but I thought it was wild how far up that misconception had gone 😂

I absolutely love this pod cast-and Barts brain and knowledge.

I still regret never knowing about Bart or his books when I was an undergrad and then dental student at UNC-CH in the ‘90s. I might have left Christianity much earlier. I didn’t know about him until after graduation & moving to Charlotte. At some point in the early 2000s, I got to hear him give a talk at a small church in Charlotte, but I still didn’t really understand who he was or the true scope of his work. I was already in the process of deconstruction though; reading Misquoting Jesus after that evening did speed it up. I’ve enjoyed many of his interviews, debates, podcasts, & lectures over the last 30 years.

I'm definitely looking forward to Bart's take on Epictetus. I love the stoics.

I listened Dr Erhman speak at the Philadelphia public library many years ago. And he autographed my copy of "Misquoting Jesus" I remember asking him about Erasmus and he seemed shocked that I asked. I enjoyed listening to him speak. Very informative.

Loving this podcast, new content from Dr. Ehrman is always a pleasure, such a great combination of scholarly competence + charisma/communication skills.

I started asking this question as a teenager in the mid/late 1970s. Nobody seemed to want to talk about it. The answer always came down to: "Certain men decided how everyone else should think."

So much to learn from Prof. Erhman.

Thank you for yet another great discussion. Enjoying the podcast!!!!

Another informative video. Well done, thank you both.

Megan is perfect as The Interviewer and has a delightful soul and Mr. E is 👍🏻👌🏻 as always! Love this Podcast

Bart, your podcasts are a regular part of my "diet" while I'm here in Thailand. I love your works.

i'm a BIG fan of Bart Ehrman. I would love to meet him and pick his brain someday. I love coming at antiquity from a historical and critical method instead of a theologic method.

Bart, you are moving forwards at the precise time, very happy.and glad that you have decided to kick ass lately, we missed you largely for some years...Now we can relax 1%, focus on more...and REVEAL much better, thanks for re-,invifogorating,

By far the best podcast about early Christianity. The vast knowledge Bart display is outstanding even with seven days lead time for preparation not many Professors can come close to this insights . Excellent Bart I love this show and Thank you so much.

Loving the new stuff! Love ya Bart.

I read The Shepherd of Hermas for a religion class at Pomona College in 1967.

Amazing. Thanks 😊 everyone

Very glad that you are expounding lately..

I really like his style, and he has taught me so much.😊

thank you bart so well explained.

Megan, I love this collaboration!

Good show, as per usual! 👍

Excellent interview. Megan asked all the important questions. Bart answered in a way that all people can understand. Thank you.

"French Archeologists were digging up graves." The difference between an archeologist and a grave robber that an archeologist has a college degree in how to fence the objects they steal.

My understanding is that there was an old Church father named Marcion whom the other Church fathers considered a heretic, and he made a sort of canon that was mostly similar to the one we know, except instead of four gospels there was only the Gospel of Marcion (made from other gospels) and only about half of the other New Testament books. So the canon we know was a response to Marcion's.

Big fan of Bart and Megan but surprised no mention of Marcion of Sinope in discussions of the Canon as it is generally believed that it was in reaction to his writings that an Official canon was thought necessary!

This is easily my #1 podcast now. I went ahead and got my questions in over on the website. Hopefully I can stump you on the Outsmart Bart segment! I'm also a member of the blog, which everyone who's financially able should join. Good content for a good cause over there.

really enjoyable and interesting thanks!

I've read so much Bart Ehrman without ever hearing him talk... Now that I know that he sounds like Seth Rogan and laughs all the time I will enjoy his books even more! 😂

Thank you Bart!

I turned on this video to listen to it in the background while working. Bart is brilliant as always...when I finally took a break from my labors to actually look at the video I was shocked by the electric orange hair! 😆

Exactly hitting the nail on the right place

Always interesting content on this channel. I only wish though that podcasters would coordinate their sound levels among all the speakers. To hear Bart I had to turn him up till Megan was blasting my eardrums to kingdom come. I say this in a friendly way as I love the podcast.

Megan is a talented interviewer.

This is great. I love the content and the format. I’m also very happy to hear that Bart’s sound quality has improved. But I still wish that Megan had a better microphone. Keep up the good work.

Fascinating discussion as ever - I would be intrigued to hear you both discuss Mary Magdalene - her Gospel and her rehabilitation in the last century and the effect the patriarchy of the Christian Church on her reputation and importance to the ministry of Jesus.

Very interesting information from Dr. Ehrman.

Megan is so amazing. Well played Josh 🤣

I love listening to Dr. Ehrman. I am wonderng if anyone knows if his mountain home is close to Hayesville, North Carolina. My great great grandparents are buried at Hayesville. 6 of their 13 children came to central Texas (where I live today) from Hayesville in the late 1800's.

Awsome interview!

Geezus I love these two

Well done 🎉

I would love to read the book; The effect of Canonical mistakes on the influence and relevance of Christianity over time.

I learned a lot now.... wow, thanks!

Excellent information

I wanted to ask Professor Ehrman, can you do a talk about the Church Fathers, please? Who were they? Were they all bishops? How were they chosen? Were there any theologians of the same period who are not called a Church Father? Did the Fathers have a part in choosing the NT canon? Thank you.

I’d liked to hear more about those anti-Paul letters and texts

Excellent!

The definition of canon was quite new. Back in seminary I was taught that canon was the straw, or tube, that papyrus was made of. Being a tube gave way to cannon (for shooting), while writing the oral tradition made it final. So, kinda new, this definition. I’d ask my professor if he were still alive.

Love this series but would prefer if you both had the same volume level.

The labour involved in copying a « book » let alone 29 books should not be underestimated. Making parchment is really hard. Making inks is a technology. Cutting quill pens. Copying accurately. Copying legibly.

Love the podcast. Dr. Ehrman is a fountain of info. I would love to some day see him engage with Dr. Richard Carrier's work on the histricity of Jesus. I know Dr. Ehrman is quite solidly in the historical Jesus camp, but Dr. Carrier's peer reviewed work actually raises several intriguing points I'd like to see a response to. Please don't dismiss Carrier out of hand.

It would be so fascinating if we also knew the history of ancient Sumerian and Egyptian (etc.) religions in this depth!

I think for.some.specific topics it should be great to have visual support...for this video a table with all the bible compilations to give us a hint of what Bart is talking about

The arguments of religon back in history reminds me of my arguments as a kid about if superman could beat the hulk. We made up all sorts of rules etc.

Bart loves to laugh and giggle a lot. Here’s a question he will struggle to answer: Knowing all you know now Bart, 1600+ years after the Canon and studying the Bible for 50+ years, and all the other scholarly studies that have been done, what changes/additions/deletions would you make? Doesn’t man’s understanding and knowledge in 2022 of the events back then warrant another “church council” akin to Nicaea?

Fascinating discussion, as always. I've read several of Bart's books and watched a few of these videos. I am particularly fascinated by the notion of different passages (e.g. the story of the prostitute about to be stoned) not appearing until later versions of the new testament, as well as the many editing changes made along the way from the very beginning. Do you, Bart, or does anyone else reading this comment know of a publication that would document on a verse-by-verse basis the date of its authorship or inclusion? After having heard so much emphasis on "scriptural accuracy" in my church days, I'm wondering how much of the "faith" and its doctrines are actually tied to edits made centuries later, both pre-canon and post-canon. A similar fascination of mine is how American evangelicals are largely anti-Catholic (either publicly or privately), and yet the organization that became the Roman Catholic church was, to my knowledge, the exact vessel by which the faith was codified, heresy was defined, and the scriptures created/edited/preserved. Many evangelicals see Catholics as being in error, yet they accept their elided canon as the "true word of God." Ironic.

Let’s go!!!!❤

I really enjoyed the interview you did with him and was amazed at all he knew and could talk about. That's awful news. Just one more instance out of many where life is not fair at all.

I have been enjoying these programs. One thing that puzzles me is the origin of the (apparently erroneous) idea that the Council of Nicaea did in fact formalize the Canon, and even that there was a "vote" involved, because I had that very view of it since the 1980's, long before Dan Brown's books. I had to have read it somewhere...and I know it was prior to 1988.

Megan Dear ! You are great , your laughter so sweet , you're polite & presentable & professional ...I like you 😘 Where as for Bart, I like your honesty, ... your informations & studies are mind enlightening ....we thought that the Bible is Holly & the word of the Almighty God to humen ..... Thanks a lot anyway ....

proff Bart ,is affacinating person, learn a lot stuff from him 👍✌️

Excellent

Meghan is ½ of Digital Hammerabi channel. She and Dr. Josh have a ton of great videos over there.. Glad to see her elsewhere!

To answer my question of "How did they decide what is Orthodoxy(correct thought) or Heterodoxy(wrong think)?" My professor said "Heterodoxy is your doxy and Orthodoxy is my doxy."

Amazing ❤

You should do a book on Epictitus! Or something by him. I would definitely get it.

Please please do an episode on Jehovah’s Witnesses! They brain was so many people and have twisted the Bible to fit their doctrines. I would love to know what Bart thinks about them.

Great stuff! Just one thing : Megan's mic is WAY louder than Bart's. I have to keep on adjusting the volume as you go back and forth. Anyone else notice this?

So I'm halfway and this is so good ,,,😎😎

Given Matthew quoting near-verbatim most of Mark, is it possible that Matthew is a reconstruction of a lost document, with a later scribe using Mark to fill in the gaps? Or are there clear signs that what we have today is what Matthew was when written, and Matthew is merely an expanded copy of Mark?

I have so many questions for Dr. Ehrman. I wish I had a chance to ask! I'm so confused by the book of Acts!

I find it amusing that a bunch of old men would get together and argue over what they wanted to decide their dogma would be to push on people based solely on their own biases and what they wanted it to be. If any of it was actually true, there would have been no questions to argue about. The idea that a god came down (from where in the cosmos they can't say) and spent a few years in a small area talking to people instead of writing anything down that couldn't possibly be questioned or misrepresented and spread it across the entire planet and providing some really valuable information like about germs and disease treatments, information about dinosaurs and how humans actually evolved and the vastness of the universe, it being fully of gazillion of galaxies and multi-gazillion solar systems in each galaxy and at least a diagram of a printing press. But what happened in reality is most likely a nutty, illiterate Jewish man who was convinced he was meant to tell people he knew the world was about to end.

Wonder why it's Mathew, Mark, Luke and John and not starting with the first written, as in Mark, Mathew etc?

Martin Luther did not entirely reject the Old Testament apocrypha. He called them "useful and good to read", and they continued to be quoted in the Lutheran church. But he rejected four books of the New Testament on theological grounds and left them in his bible only as kind of an appendix. This is why the order of the books in the New Testament in Lutheran bibles even now differs from others.

It's so refreshing to listen to a matter of fact discussion of the creating of a godman instead of cringing before a preacher threatening his followers with "god's holy word".

*Faith in Jesus;* = _"Faith in the words & writings of men, claiming to speak for Jesus."_

wealth of incredible knowledge

Do you have this same subject but for the Old Testament?

We Muslims really enjoying listening to Sir Bart Ehrman, for more true knowledge about Jesus pbuh,

Please work on improving the audio. It is hard to listen to when one speaker is much louder than the other. Great content!

I'm quite surprised at how Bart did not mention Marcion who was crucially instrumental in forcing the early church fathers to clarify the church's position with regards to authoritative scripture.

Yeah, I probably would have left out the one with the talking cross myself.

Plz balance the audio!!!!!!!!!!!

They will discuss the choosing of New Testament books. she studies Assyria, mesopotamia by iraq and syria, they speak akadian and sumeria area. Elain pagels wrote a book gnostic gospels. So people asked who decided what books go in, why not gospel of Peter. Canon meaning straight line or edge or a ruler or standardized collection books. His 1st phd seminar was with Bruce Metzer, speaking of how it happenned. the early followers of Jesus had the Tohrat, the Neviyim and psalms. People had different accounts of Jesus's life, so ppl had to decide what to follow. it took over 300 years to debate & standardize everything. 10 :00 - Many just follow Dan Brown the Da vinci code which says nicea decided what was the books... this is incorrect he says. Council of trent in 16th century... Scholars knew of other books... gospel claimed to be of James about Virgin Mary, Many were recent, gospel of peter in 1880s, soposedly Jesus 's ressurection. acclaimed gospel of thomas who is claimed to be Jesus's twins there is apocalypse of peter and paul and 3rd Corinthians, they are called apocrapha... some almost made it in. Catholic, e. orthodox and protestant have same new testaments ethiopic and armenian church has some additional books. 4th century greek manuscripts like siniticus, found in mt sinai monastery, it includes letter barnabas and sheperd of hermes. Megan asks were they left out due to reliability or theology. Erhman says we have debate records in 2nd and 3rd century, its more aggresive in 4th. 2 nd century Iraneous, 3rd century origin, and 4th century eucibius and tries an isnad. they said take a book of apostle or a close companion of an apostle... it has to be widely spread or catholic meaning universal... instead of locally favorite... church had circular view they said, if it agrees with us then it's written by an apostle. So gospel of Peter or Thomas got excluded... Megan asks did it change over time. by end 2nd century, the proto orthodox, 20 :00 - Orthodos now means what became dominant position, which was enforced in 4th century, so prot orthodox means the ones who had these views before that time. they agreed on 4 gospels, they debated on whether they should have letters of paul or pter or john. first time 27 was decided on was by athenacious biship,he would send letters around. in 39th festal letter, in 367 CE. he said these are our 27 books. gospel of peter discovered in 1880s in Egypt in a tomb. it was in ocmeme. Gospel of peter is claimed to be written by peter unlike the 4 gospels... It says it talks about Jesus leaving the tomb. guard watches 2 angels come and rock rolling... there was a 3 tall men and a floating corss that was asked from heaven did you preach to those asleep, and cross said yes. Serapian approved of it. But then he was told its heretical and then said ok... as this gospel can be used by people who say Jesus wasn't human. they chose 4 for a spectrum of belief and reconcile... Mark more humanizes Jesus and Jesus is figuratively used in Jon to show he is divine, when they are written by 2 people who may not agree... 30 :00 - So the canon also excludes other views, there were many christian who hate paul, writing claiming to be peter saing paul is an enemy... h/e ones affirming paul is included... Megan asks were some books more authoritative. Bart says some are quoted more, Mark is least quoted, mathew has 90% of Mark and includes longer accounts like sermon of mount. 2nd peters was debated over a longer time. didmus lived in time of Athanacious said 2nd peters is a forgery. 2nd and 3rd jon, james and jude... until 4th century rvelations wasn't accepted. mathew and jon were the most important later. MArk was source for mathew and luke and didn't know each other likely... Jesus isn't shown after alleged crucifiction, diciples dont even know he was sopposedly raised. before there weren't many libraries to know history. they think acts was accurate of early church. church were concerned if Jesus's life was accurately reported. gospel Jesus is a 5 yr boy and making clay... 40 :00 - eppictitus was s slave who became a philosopher. go to bart erhman website to send questions. luke said there were many accounts of Jesus, there was a source called Q. 2nd peters was last nt book written sopposedly. thomas written before peter... dideche is written before much of Peter... there were many gosnitcs... used orthodox books as well why did Martin luther exclude apocrapha... it was old testament apochrapha. - about 12 or 15 books, it's in greek translation of OT but not in hebrew. eearly christians used it but not yeahood. martin luther and protestants saw some books taught purgatory which is a catholic belief so they may have excluded them for that reason or others. Next week will be apocrapha, and forgery, writing books in names of other people, it was common in early christianity.

Megan's hair color of the day is awesome.

Megan Lewis adds neat perspective.

What I find puzzling is there is no Gospel Of Jesus! 😎😉

Has anyone ever thought about the fact that God Almighty never asked anyone to pick out scriptures and compile them into an encyclopedia called the New Testament?? So it was self-anointed human beings who filtered what we should read today based merely on their own personal opinion.

The 27-book New Testament was first formally canonized during the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) in North Africa. Pope Innocent I ratified the same canon in 405, but it is probable that a Council in Rome in 382 under Pope Damasus I gave the same list first. These councils also provided the canon of the Old Testament, which included the deuterocanonical books.[4]