When you picture the story of Jesus’ birth, you might think of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, a stable,... more

As you can probably tell from my incredibly strong accent, I (Megan) am an immigrant to the United States. As... more

The book of Revelation is by far the most violent book of the New Testament. The blood-soaked narrative calls for... more

How would you respond if I told you that, actually, Judas was the only disciple who understood what Jesus was... more

Writings attributed to the apostle Paul make up a large swathe of the New Testament, and have been of fundamental... more

The Apostle Paul is a central figure in early Christianity, and features strongly in the New Testament in his own... more

A Second-Anniversary LIVE Q&A! Listeners ask their questions, and Bart tries to answer them. Rapid fire for an hour!

The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are widely understood to be a two-volume set, written by... more

Pontius Pilate is a relatively minor figure in the gospels of the New Testament, but one who plays a vital... more

The phrase "synoptic gospels" is thrown around a lot in Biblical scholarship, but what does it mean, and why are... more

Many people in the modern western world view reincarnation as a belief predominately from eastern religions - especially buddhism and... more

Welcome everyone to a very special episode of Misquoting Jesus - our 100th episode! In keeping with our centesimal celebration... more

The Bible is frequently invoked in the ongoing national debates about abortion, almost always to show that abortion is murder... more

New manuscripts discoveries in Biblical studies are often outed as forgeries, But sometimes -- rarely -- they turn out to... more

When a scholar claims to have discovered a new text from early Christianity, it can send shockwaves through the academic... more

Why do so many Christians claim that other Christians are not really Christians? Is there a definition written in the... more

The Antiquities of the Jews, written by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in 93 CE, is our most important resource... more

Jesus is usually credited with starting the Christian movement, but were his ideas orignally his? It appears that John the... more

Anyone familiar with American politics and the empty rhetoric used to promote divisive views is never much surprised when... more

Everyone watching is familiar with Dr. Bart Ehrman, renowned New Testament scholar and New York Times bestselling author…but who... more

Today we take it for granted that an important and influential person can write. Not so for the ancient... more

For a country that was apparently founded on the separation of church and state, US politics seems to be... more

Were Jesus and Paul were on different pages when it came to the most important issue for them both,... more

In this episode, Bart and Megan dive into the ancient doctrine called the "Harrowing of Hell," which is still... more

Most of us think of early Christian monks moving into the desert to escape the chaos and noise of... more

Many modern Christians view the Bible as the inspired, inerrant word of God. Is that what its own authors... more

Many modern Christians think Christians are inherently more moral than non-believers. Non-Christians, as a rule, don't think so. What... more

Did Jesus himself think or talk about his imminent sufferings—did he predict his own brutal end, or have those... more

We are all familiar with the disturbing parts of the Bible, with it's divinely sanctioned violence from the destruction... more

All the Gospels agree that on the day Jesus was crucified, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body... more

The Gospels agree that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, even if they don't agree on why he did it. But... more

Most readers don't realize, however, that the vast majority of the book comes from a different author who has... more

Most people think that everyone has a soul that is resident in the body. The vast majority of Christians... more

This week Bart will be interviewing New Testament scholar and public intellectual Candida Moss, on her new book, God's Ghostwriters:... more

In an absolutely shocking turn of events, Bart has learned of a first-century Gospel that will overturn everything scholars... more

Jesus' closest disciple was Simon, whom henicknamed "Peter" -- that is "The Rock." But in the Gospels and the... more

Jesus' followers have always called him the "messiah," from the earliest days of the religion -- so much so... more

Why do so many seem to overlook or ignore many of Jesus' key teachings? Surely they know what he... more

Some evangelical preachers claim that Jesus is walking all over the pages of the Old Testament. The Old... more

In this special episode Bart interviews one of the world's leading archaeologists of ancient Israel, Jodi Magness, whose discoveries... more

The Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts were both allegedly written by a companion of Paul, Luke... more

The New Testament describes Paul's experience on several occasions: but can the accounts be trusted? Are they even consistent... more

Next to Jesus, Paul is the most important figure in the history of Christianity, but as is well known,... more

In this episode he spills the beans on how being a fundamentalist proved, in some ways, to be a... more

In our previous episodes on "literary forgery" in early Christianity, we have never yet talked about the elephant in... more

Almost everyone assumes that Jesus' disciple, John the Son of Zebedee, wrote the Gospel of John. But is there... more

Mary is definitely the more famous of Jesus' mortal parents…but what about Joseph? Few people have asked about... more

The Proto-Gospel of James, a kind of "Gospel Before the Gospels," was one of the most influential non-canonical writings... more

Many people of faith think, and strongly believe, that without an almighty, sovereign being over this world life would... more

This miraculous event is found in only two passages of the entire New Testament (in Matthew and Luke). Did... more

For a religion that claims to view their god as the most powerful, supreme being in the universe, some... more

For over five centuries (going back to Martin Luther!) many readers of the New Testament have maintained that the... more

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is one of the most intriguing and peculiar non-canonical accounts of Jesus' life from... more

Nearly everyone today assumes that Jesus could read and write. But is that historically plausible? There is only one... more

As far back as we have literary reports -- beginning with the Epic of Gilgamesh, our earliest surviving narrative,... more

For our 52nd episode -- our one-year anniversary! -- we will be having a live Q&A with Bart. Questioners have... more

If Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet, then why isn't mainstream, modern Christianity an apocalyptic religion? Was the move away... more

Most scholars write books and articles for other scholars, using jargon and presupposing knowledge available only to experts trained... more

One of the most intriguing non-canonical Gospels to be discovered in modern times is the Gospel of Peter. Unlike... more

The genius of Luke’s Gospel is frequently overlooked by those who simply breeze through it or assume it is... more

The Christian faith is rooted in the belief that Jesus died for the sins of the world and was... more

The conversion of Emperor Constantine to Christianity is often pointed to as a turning point in the history of... more

The New Testament is often studied in isolation, separated from other ancient writings. How did this division come... more

In this episode I interview one of the premier experts on the question, Dr. Josh Bowen, who has written... more

In this special edition of the podcast Bart interviews Joseph Lam, an expert on the languages, religions, and cultures... more

Biblical scholars who approach the Bible from a historical perspective are often accused of working hard to deconvert the... more

How could these religions be considered Christian if they didn't think Jesus' death mattered? How could they consider the... more

Lots of informed readers know that scribes changed their texts of the New Testament -- but do the changes... more

What about the argument that university professors are brainwashing their students to follow their liberal agenda, while hiding behind... more

One of the central tenets of many denominations of modern Christianity is that Jesus is God. The Nicene Creed... more

Many people do not realize just how infrequently Paul mentions the sayings of Jesus himself. And scholars can't agree... more

It has long been said among historical scholars that Christianity is not the religion *of* Jesus but the religion... more

The Gospel of John is one of the most puzzling books of the New Testament, especially when it comes... more

One of the claims consistently made by Christian apologists is that the apostles who declared that they themselves had... more

Historical scholars for over a century have maintained that Jesus predicted that the end of history as we know... more

The (considerable) vitriol directed against Bart by theologically conservative Christians is (easily) matched by what he gets from critics... more

In this episode Bart explains why Mark is not only his favorite Gospel but also his favorite book of... more

A person’s reasons for deconversion from Christianity to agnosticism or atheism is something that many christens speculate wildly about,... more

One of the few ways people today actually appeal to the Old Testament is to condemn same-sex sexual relations (while... more

Revelation is the least read and most misunderstood book of the New Testament. Many readers wonder why it is... more

In this episode we consider the portrayal of God in the book of Revelation. Is he a God of... more

It is surprising that many scholars say that Revelation is not a violent book and was never meant to... more

Does the Book of Revelation predict the end of the world? The book has been used repeatedly over the... more

In this interview I discuss with New Testament scholar the intriguing characteristics of this book that claims to present... more

Christianity started out as a tiny sect of Jewish followers of Jesus, but within 400 years it was the... more

You think Christianity is diverse today? Fundamentalists? Roman Catholics? Mormons? Methodists? Branch Davidians? Episcopalians? Russian Orthodox? And on and... more

Most readers completely overlook Matthew's portrayal of Jesus as the Jewish Messiah who fulfills the Jewish Law AND insists... more

If there is one thing most people are certain of about the Bible, it is that it describes how... more