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April 2, 2022

A lot of people wonder why I am not a Christian? Is Bart Ehrman a Christian…is a very popular question. Just now – fifteen minutes ago – I came to realize with the most crystal clarity I have ever had why I am not a Christian. Of course, as most of you know, I have not called myself a Christian publicly for a very long time, twenty years or so I suppose.

But a number of people tell me that they think at heart I’m a Christian, and I sometimes think of myself as a Christian agnostic/atheist. Their thinking, and mine, has been that if I do my best to follow the teachings of Jesus, in some respect I’m a Christian, even if I don’t believe that Jesus was the son of God….or that he was raised from the dead, or even that God exists. In fact, I don’t believe all these things. But can’t I be a Christian in a different sense, one who follows Jesus’ teachings?

Fifteen minutes ago I realized with startling clarity why I don’t think so.

Why I Am Not a Christian

This afternoon in my undergraduate course on the New Testament I was lecturing on the mission and message of Jesus. We have spent the semester so far (we’re about halfway through) talking about the Jewish and Greco-Roman background of the New Testament and then, mainly about the Gospels. I’ve given lectures on each of the four canonical Gospels – two on John – and students have written short papers on them and had discussions on them, including two papers/discussions on other, non-canonical Gospels (the Gospel of Peter and the Gospel of Thomas).

Now that we have seen how the Gospels have portrayed Jesus (each of them in a different way) we have moved to the historical question: what can we say about what the historical man himself,Jesus of Nazareth, actually said, preached, and stood for? We will also have sessions on what we think we can say about what Jesus really did and what events actually led up to his death.

Jesus, a Jewish Apocalypticist

In today’s lecture, I wanted to introduce, explain, and argue for the view that has been dominant among critical scholars studying Jesus for the past century, that Jesus is best understood as a Jewish apocalypticist. I warned the students that this is not a view they will have encountered in church or in Sunday school. But there are solid reasons for thinking it is right. I tried to explain at some length what those reasons were.

But first I gave an extended account of what Jewish apocalypticists believed. The entire cosmos was divided into forces of good and evil, and everything and everyone sided with one or the other. This cosmic dualism worked itself out in a historical dualism, between the current age of this world, controlled by forces of evil, and the coming age, controlled by the forces of good. This age would not advance to be a better world, on the contrary, apocalypticists thought this world was going to get worse and worse, until literally, in the end, all hell breaks out.

Godly Intervention & Judgment

But then God would intervene in an act of cosmic judgment in which he destroyed the forces of evil and set up a good kingdom here on earth, an actual physical kingdom ruled by his representative. This cataclysmic judgment would affect all people. Those who had sided with evil (and prospered as a result) would be destroyed, and those who had sided with God (and been persecuted and harmed as a result) would be rewarded.

Moreover, this future judgment applied not only to the living but also to the dead. At the end of this age, God would raise everyone from the dead to face either eternal reward or eternal punishment. And so, no one should think they could side with the forces of evil, prosper, as a result, become rich, powerful, and influential, and then die and get away with it. No one could get away with it. God would raise everyone from the dead for judgment, and there was not a sweet thing anyone could do to stop him.

And when would this happen? When would the judgment come? When would this new rule, the Kingdom of God, begin? “Truly I tell you, some of you standing here will not taste before you see the kingdom of God come in power.” The words of Jesus (Mark 9:1). Jesus was not talking about a kingdom you would enter when you died and went to heaven: he was referring to a kingdom here on earth, to be ruled by God. Or as he says later, when asked when the end of the age would come, “Truly I tell you, This generation will not pass away before all these things take place.”

https://ehrmanblog.org/why-i-am-not-a-christian/

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Announcing a NEW (Free!) Course: Why I Am Not A Christian
July 10, 2023

I am happy to announce that I will be doing a new course, Why I Am Not a Christian:  How Leaving the Faith Led to a Life of More Meaning and Purpose.  I explain it all below, but as spoilers: it is July 23, it will involve four talks and a Q&A, and it is free.   You can sign up for it at bartehrman.com/lifeafterfaith

The course will be unlike any other I have given in any context.   It will indeed cover major issues involving the New Testament, early Christianity, and the formation of the Christian religion.  But it will also be deeply personal and autobiographical.  I became a scholar because of my Christian faith; then my Christian faith changed because of my scholarship.  My “quest for truth” led me to evangelical Christianity; and then – as I grew, matured, learned, and reflected – it led me to away from the Christian faith.

In this course of lectures I explain how it all happened and discuss what the results were – for my scholarship, my understanding of Jesus, the New Testament and early Christianity.  But also for me personally, on the social, emotional and professional level.

The course consists of four 40-45 minute talks, to be followed by a long question and answer period.  I will be covering topics I have never lectured on or written about and tell stories I have never publicly shared.

My goal will not be to deconvert or convert anyone.  It will be to discuss the problems of the Christian faith as I came to see them through a serious and sustained engagement.  I will explain why, in the end, these problems led me to to leave the faith and how my move into agnosticism/atheism created emotional struggles and personal turmoil.  But I will also explain why, in the end, my move away from faith led me to a happier, more satisfied, and more meaningful life.

No one’s life is like any other’s.  Each of us has to make decisions about what to think, what to believe, and how to live.  My view is that these decisions should be made thoughtfully, not unreflectively.  “The unexamined life is not worth living” (Socrates, in Plato’s Apology).  I came to embrace that view already as a committed evangelical, and it ended up leading me in directions I never expected.  My hope is not that this course will convince others to end up where I did, but it is to encourage others to follow a similar path, thoughtfully, honestly, and earnestly pursuing the questions of what to believe and how to live, to find a life of meaning and purpose.

My courses are not directly connected to the blog, even though, of course, I always inform blog members of them (you can see a list at bartehrman.com.  Normally there is a ticket fee, but this one is a freebie.  If you’re interested, go to http://bartehrman.com/lifeafterfaith

If you know of others who might be interested in such a course, please tell them about it.

Here is a summary of the lectures I’m planning to give.

Lecture One:  My Escape from Fundamentalism:  Reading the Bible Again for the First Time

When I was “born again” at the age of fifteen, I moved from a nominal / lukewarm faith to hard-core Christianity.  Overnight I became committed to the inerrancy of the Bible and everything it teaches.  But I also wanted to “follow the truth wherever it leads.”  What happens when, after years of post-conversion study, a devout but open-minded person comes to realize the Bible contains contradictions, discrepancies, historical mistakes, and a range of other errors?  Is it best to hope the problems will simply all go away?  If not, is it possible to rethink what it means to believe without leaving the faith?

In graduate school I felt compelled to change my views about the Bible and some of the major religious beliefs based on it.  Not everyone goes that route.  In this lecture I discuss why I moved away from a conservative evangelical form of belief to one I thought was more intellectually respectable and honest.

Lecture Two:  My Leaving the Faith:  Going Where the “Truth” Leads You

A surprising number of people in our world today think that anyone who does not “believe the Bible literally” cannot be a Christian.  Historically that is just non-sense.  Indeed, most historical scholars of the Bible today recognize its many  problems and yet remain committed believers.  I was one of them for many years.

But I came to realize that there are even more serious challenges to the Christian faith than the inerrancy of Scripture.  The ultimate issue is the existence of God himself:  no God, no Christianity.  During my years as s a conservative Christian I could (and often did) recite numerous “proofs” for God.  Later, as a liberal Christian I didn’t think God was susceptible of proof like a linear equation or law of physics.  Like so much else of human life, faith wasn’t based on math or science.

Even so, after a number of years, my faith in God began to crumble.  I came to think there was no divine being in and over this world.  Very few of my many biblical-scholar friends went that route or, to this day, agree with me.  But I felt I had (and have) no choice.  In this lecture I explain why.

Lecture Three:   The Traumas of Deconversion:  Emotional, Social, and Eschatological (Think: Fears of Afterlife!)

Christian faith is far, far more than a set of beliefs about God, Christ, sin, salvation, the nature of the world, the Bible, and so on.  Like so many other committed Christians, in my church years I was surrounded by an all-embracing web of Christian significance and meaning deeply affecting my family life, friendships, social activities, morality, personal motivations, decisions about how to live,  emotions, and on and on.  Leaving the faith can affect nearly every part of a person’s life.   Could it could possibly be worth it?

In addition, there was a very serious religious issue. The fear of hell had long been driven into me.  What if I left the faith and it turned out I was simply wrong.  Was I in danger of eternal torment?

In short, becoming an agnostic/atheist was a frightening prospect for me and at first I wasn’t sure if was worth it.  When I made the leap, though, I quickly realized it was, despite the long term  emotional and personal turmoil.   In this lecture I explain why.

Lecture Four:  Is There Life After Faith?  What Agnosticism/Atheism Means for Well-Being, Happiness, and a Meaningful Existence.

Can there be any purpose and meaning in life if there is no God?   Most believers say the answer is absolutely no.   Some atheists agree, even as they struggle on with their lives.  For me that was the greatest fear while questioning my faith, before leaving it.

Would I have any reason to be concerned about the lives of others and not just about myself?  My entire ethical existence had always been tied up in this view — Christ wants us to love others.  But what would happen when I no longer believed Christ was the son of God, let alone that there was any God at all?  Would I have any guidance at all for my life?  Would I be cast to the winds with no moral compass?  Would my life be random anarchy?

More than that, how could there be any meaning in a world without God?  If we are merely material creatures “in a material world,” with no divinely given purpose or destination, how can we have any goals, hopes, and ultimate aspirations?  How can there be any meaning at all?

On the personal level, would I become completely apathetic?  A sensual cretin?  A nihilist?  Would I live in angst and deep despair?

Once I became an agnostic/atheist, I realized all these fears were completely groundless.  I actually came to appreciate and enjoy life more, to find deeper meaning in this brief existence, and to be even more concerned for the lives and well-being of others.  I am more happy and content.  How does that work?  In this lecture I try to explain.

[charitcta]

Announcing a NEW (Free!) Course: Why I Am Not A Christian - The Bart Ehrman Blog

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online course黎嘛，你想報？

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有錢就收。

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我地所收到既善款不足以畀你grand and loan喎，不如你捐啲過黎，有budget就容易話為。

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你份人可能晌社會打滾太耐，樣樣都係咁物質架咩？精神上既支持都係支持架嘛。

同埋我話無錢，就係吸引多啲捐款既技術，咩話我唔夠公關經驗呀。

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茲敦聘沙文為本網公關主任，具體條款PM談

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呢度係有人捐款，但目前都係緊緊足夠網站營運，你要向本網申請grant & loan，可以試下你自己放啲coins入去個乞兒兜，拿咁我再由個乞兒兜度拎返出黎畀你申請，咁做個程序啱唔啱？

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Thank you for your correction.  我諗起開支緊縮、乞兒要勒緊褲頭，不期然寫咗別字。

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乞兒兜入咗錢，多謝沙文。

茲開放申請 "Webinar with Dr. Bart Ehrman: Why I Am Not a Christian: How Leaving the Faith Led to a Life of More Meaning and Purpose" 課程grant & loan. 請各位在此報名。

（但係佢好似話係Free Course...）

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回覆 19# jimmychauck

離教不用錢，讀這個課程也是免費的。

你繼續歪理連篇都唔會顯得你好醒架喎。

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回覆 21# jimmychauck


    「當我睇錯」？你自己有無睇錯，你自己唔知，要「當」架咩？

咁你究竟有無睇錯？還是專登誤導他人呢？

Ａ Life of More Meaning and Purpose係priceless，值90美元係分享Ａ Life of More Meaning and Purpose經歷既課程。

呢個又係你故意誤導，還是睇錯咗呢？

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我地講幾多都無用，上堂之後再講啦。

他的電郵如此寫，我就對聖經興趣不大，可能對鍾意研究聖經既人會吸引啲：

Hello Water,

Welcome and thank you for signing up for my free course, "Why I Am Not a Christian." (WINC)

You should have received an email from ThriveCart, our online course platform, with instructions to access the course.

Now, let me officially welcome you to my world.

I'm Bart Ehrman.

I began studying the New Testament in high school after becoming a born again Christian. No one who knew me at the time would have thought I had a future in academia but all that changed when I attended Moody Bible Institute and my interest in the Bible became an obsession. I went on to learn Greek at Wheaton College and earned my M.Div. and Ph.D in New Testament studies from Princeton Theological Seminary.

I am now a professor of Religious Studies at UNC Chapel Hill where I have been since, gulp, 1988 (Go Heels!)

Additionally, I make the kinds of Biblical scholarship I teach at the university level available in Bart Ehrman Courses Online (and BartEhrman.com), as well as in my:

• Books: I’ve written a number of books on the New Testament, the historical Jesus, early Christianity, and ancient Greek manuscripts.
• The Misquoting Jesus Podcast (weekly)
• The Bart Ehrman Blog: A non profit blog where I post 5x per week (with archives going back to 2012)

If you’re new to my work, there’s a lot to discover.

Bible scholars have made significant progress in understanding the Bible over the past two hundred years. This progress is built on archaeological discoveries, advances in our knowledge of the ancient Hebrew and Greek languages, and deep and penetrating historical, literary, and textual analyses.

Yet such insights into the Bible are virtually unknown among the population at large.

My goal is to make this sort of Bible scholarship – the kind taught in colleges, universities, seminaries, and divinity schools throughout the country – accessible to "lay folks," that is, for those without any special Bible training who are interested in gaining deeper insights into the New Testament and early Christianity — and who don’t  mind being entertained while doing so.

Just one caveat:

Bible scholarship is not always what you might expect!  It requires an open mind and a willingness to confront difficult questions.  But  the journey is incredibly rewarding and enlightening, and can broaden understanding in ways you never imagined.

In fact, tomorrow, I’m going to share with you the biggest challenge I ever faced during my own academic journey and explain what happened afterward!

Stay tuned for an inside look at what it was like for me to begin studying the Bible critically while balancing my faith and maintaining my sanity.

Best wishes,

Bart Ehrman

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回覆 25# 沙文


    你有無Dr Ehrman咁多水吹先？

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咁就啱晒，我報名啦。

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似係討論緊課程綱要咁款，都唔似開lecture既?

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課程綱要係畀想要enroll既人睇架嘛，enroll咗仲晌度不斷講綱要，會好容易令人懷疑呢個course根本無料到。

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回覆 33# 沙文


    會發一份課程大綱唔奇，但如果第一堂成堂都只係講課程大綱，係咪有多少呃鐘成分？