Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman
"Misquoting Jesus” is the only show where a six-time New York Times bestselling author and world-renowned Bible scholar uncovers the many fascinating, little known facts about the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the rise of Christianity. The show features Dr. Bart Ehrman and host, Megan Lewis.
Episodes
Unless you have sworn off social media, you’re probably familiar with the existence of “tradwives” - women who live their lives according to traditional, conservative gender roles. They often describe themselves as living biblically, or having a biblical marriage, celebrating that they are subservient to their husbands. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman provides insight into what the New Testament actually says about gender roles and marriage...
It’s not every day that you get to talk about an exciting new discovery in biblical studies - the ravages of time mean that it’s rare for a text to survive, especially a complete text! Even rarer is a complete text that records an entire sermon given by Jesus. Well, I’m excited to say that today is one of those days! Dr. Bart Ehrman is with me to talk about his take on a fascinating new text discovered recently in Egypt!
If you ask any Christian about the life of Jesus, you’re likely to get a version of one of the gospels of the New Testament - 90% of the story would concern the final few years of Jesus’ life, with a brief mention of his birth in Bethlehem to a virgin and the subsequent flight to Egypt. Historians don’t often talk about what Jesus’ childhood and adolescence may have looked like, but my guest today is a welcome exception to that rul...
Early Christian writings from outside the New Testament contain some pretty unexpected material - a giant walking, talking cross and Jesus’ childhood pastime of bringing clay birds to life are both examples that we’ve discussed before. But do these additional documents also contain authentic sayings of Jesus that are overlooked by Christians because they’re not contained within the New Testament?
Picture this: a man in his 80s trying to cross the street, but the traffic doesn’t pause for long enough for him to cross. A young woman notices his difficulty, and runs over to help. Does the young woman get any kind of benefit from her action, or is it entirely thankless? Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman and I are talking about altruism. Is it possible to do a good deed without experiencing some kind of benefit?
The apostle Paul went from being a devout Jew, one of God’s chosen people, to an enthusiastic missionary for the Jesus movement. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman and I look at Paul’s writings to consider whether this shift also changed his self-identification as a Jew, and if he believed that God no longer favored the Jewish people.
The fear of death is an experience common to most of humanity - in fact, one of the oldest pieces of literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh, shows one man’s struggle with that very fear. Christianity’s promise of heaven provides a safe haven from that fear - but what did Jesus think about life after death? Today on Misquoting Jesus, Dr. Bart Ehrman discusses what the Gospels tell us about Jesus’ thoughts and beliefs surrounding death, a...
Today on Misquoting Jesus, we’re talking about what "born-again" means, how a born-again Christian considers themselves different from other Christians, and what Jesus would have thought about the whole thing. As a former born-again Christian, Dr. Bart Ehrman is here to explain all of this and more!
Knowing when something was written helps to better understand answers to other questions - like why it was written, and how it relates to other texts from that time. Unfortunately, ancient authors rarely wrote the date at the top of the page when they started writing, which makes working out when something was written a somewhat challenging process. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman is going to guide us through how biblical scholars tackle th...
If I start talking about “the law”, many of you are going to have certain ideas pop into your heads - a police force, trials, prison. But what about if I’m talking about the law in a religious sense?
Maybe you’ll think of the ten commandments, veiling women, or practices of abstinence. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman talks about the Jewish Law as presented in the New Testament, exploring whether it’s possible to even keep it, and what agend...
The disciples were Jesus’ closest companions during his ministry, the collective Robins to his Batman. As such we might expect them to be more enlightened, more intelligent, more attuned to God’s divine plan than other people Jesus’ came across.
The Gospel of Mark, however, seems to defy that expectation. Today, we talk about how the author of Mark portrays the disciples, how that treatment advances his aims for the gospel, and whe...
The question of how much of the Bible is historically accurate, and how much is myth or legend, is both interesting and important to a lot of people - believer and atheist alike.
Some insist it’s accurate down to the last detail, while others label it as fairy tales from beginning to end. In this episode, Dr. Bart Ehrman unravels how scholars distinguish history from myth...
Start talking about the Gospels, and most people will have a rough idea of what you’re talking about - a narrative account of Jesus’ life.
Today, however, we throw all of that familiarity out of the window and talk about one of the most non-Gospel Gospels I’ve ever read, the enigmatic apocryphal Gospel of Thomas!
Is there a difference between how the New Testament is taught in church versus a university?
In this episode, New Testament scholar Hugo Mendez joins us to explore the devotional approach to the Bible often found in churches and how it contrasts with the critical, historical methods used in academia.
We discuss what surprises students abo...
In this episode, we sit down with Bible scholar John Edwards to explore how critical scholarship can deepen one’s faith.
John shares his personal journey of reconciling faith and academia, offering insights into how studying the Bible critically can inspire and enrich Christian belief.
Join us as we discuss the positive impact of Jesus an...
What was the world like just before Jesus was born?
In this special Christmas Eve episode, we explore the political, cultural, and religious climate of 1st-century Palestine with world-renowned archaeologist Dr. Jodi Magness.
From Roman rule and Jewish life to messianic expectations, Dr. Magness helps us understand the historical backdrop...
Most Christians would likely agree that Jesus and the Gospels provide us with guidance for how we should be living our lives. People of non-Christian faith traditions, or those with no religious belief at all, might have a somewhat different response...but our guest today, Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, is here to talk about how non-Christians can find value in Jesus and the Gospels, and why they should take anothe...
Most of us know the story: Jesus was born in Bethlehem but grew up in Nazareth. Both Matthew and Luke agree on this, but key details raise questions for scholars.
Join Bart Ehrman and Megan Lewis as they dive into why the Gospel writers placed Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. Was it historical fact or shaped by theology? Why does Luke have Mary travel 100 miles while pregnant? ...
When you picture the story of Jesus’ birth, you might think of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, a stable, shepherds, and wise men. But have you ever wondered which details come from which Gospel—and why the accounts differ?
Join Bart Ehrman and Megan Lewis as they explore questions like: Were Mary and Joseph from Nazareth or Bethlehem? Did they flee to Egypt after ...
As you can probably tell from my incredibly strong accent, I (Megan) am an immigrant to the United States. As such, the US immigration system has been a rather large feature in my adult life…but I’ve never before considered the relationship between American immigration and the Bible, or more specifically, the book of Revelation.
It’s never really occurred to me that such ...
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