From Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity

by Bart D. Ehrman

Course Lecture Titles

1. The Birth of Christianity
2. The Religious World of Early Christianity
3. The Historical Jesus
4. Oral and Written Traditions about Jesus
5. The Apostle Paul
6. The Beginning of Jewish-Christian Relations
7. The Anti-Jewish Use of the Old Testament
8. The Rise of Christian Anti-Judaism
9. The Early Christian Mission
10. The Christianization of the Roman Empire
11. The Early Persecutions of the State
12. The Causes of Christian Persecution
13. Christian Reactions to Persecution
14. The Early Christian Apologists
15. The Diversity of Early Christian Communities
16. Christianities of the Second Century
17. The Role of Pseudepigrapha
18. The Victory of the Proto-Orthodox
19. The New Testament Canon
20. The Development of Church Offices
21. The Rise of Christian Liturgy
22. The Beginnings of Normative Theology
23. The Doctrine of the Trinity
24. Christianity and the Conquest of Empire

Genres: History, Religion, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Christianity, Philosophy, Ancient History

12 pages, Audio CD

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Bart Denton Ehrman is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books, including three college textbooks. He has also authored six New York Times bestsellers. He is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, depending on what you're looking for in the lecture.



Well, I thought this was a re-read for me, but apparently not. I had this confused with The Greatest Controversies of Early Christian History and was just listening to it as something to do in between other books.
BUT.
This was fine. Nothing I hadn't heard before, but if you're looking for a somewhat Biblical look at how the Christian Church was formed over the first 4 centuries, this is that.
If you're looking for a more historical look at how the Christian Church formed and changed over the centuries, I would HIGHLY recommend Kenneth W. Harl's Fall of the Pagans and the Origins of Medieval Christianity.



I am in no way saying that Ehrman doesn't separate church doctrine from history, but this lecture is targeted at how the doctrine came to be what is now known as orthodox. Harl's lecture gave (in my opinion) a more comprehensive look at the social and political goings-on, and Ehrman's gives more time to what was happening in the actual churches.

Recommended.

[booklady · Rating 1 out of 5]

When you want to understand the game of football, you don’t look at the players on the bench. You watch the game in action. You search out the best players, best coaches and winning strategies. When you want to investigate cinematography, you don’t look at films which never got made or which bombed. You look at the Oscars, best movies, actors, actresses, directors, musical scores, producers, etc. In other words, when you truly want to understand a subject, you look at what is best about it, not what is worst, its mistakes and failures.

Obviously, Mr. Ehrman does not want to understand early Christianity because he just wanted to point out what was wrong, forgetting that despite all the problems—then and now—Christianity has continued down to this present day. O sure, there was a lack of sense of direction, division, sin, extremists on all sides, confusion about what was true and plenty of mistakes made.

However, it is also true that Christianity is about God, a God of Love, a God who loves us, mess that we are—and we ARE a mess—enough to have sent His Son, Jesus, to save us. This central defining Truth, the name Jesus gives Himself, The Truth, Ehrman preferred to ignore. He hides behind his Historian’s hat, which allows him to pick and choose which of Jesus’s words he wants to count as true despite the fact that Christians believe all of them as Sacred Scripture and valid. Again, if he was looking at anything else, Mr. Ehrman couldn’t arbitrarily toss out what those most closely associated with the subject matter hold as factual. But, for some reason, it is okay to ignore what Jesus says, what He tells us about Himself and His Father, Our Father.

Christianity in its earliest days struggled to find its identity in a time without mass communication, written instructions, central organization and during many competing ideologies. It was also persecuted by various groups (Jews, local citizenry, petty officials, Roman military and government) off and on over the first 400 years of its existence, for different reasons—economic, fear, scapegoating, lies about their practices, prejudice, etc.—all of which fall under the umbrella term of ‘persecution’ though Ehrman thinks that only the major persecutions by the Roman government specifically ‘for being Christian’ count as persecution. Count? His parameters seem rather strict and his observation ironic, considering we in America today can be penalized for the wrong pronoun and yet worldwide the number of Christian martyrs is higher than it has ever been before.

Even so, Christianity is about Love; love of God and love of Neighbor. That is why it exists as a religion. Not because we are perfect, but because it is through the love of Our Perfect God and doing our best to follow His Commandments, that He perfects us in Love. Any examination of our religion which does not recognize that central belief, is not a valid study of our faith.

Do not despair! I have found an EXCELLENT alternative to this course. It is, The Catholic Church: A History . I am only seven lectures in and already, Professor William Cook has corrected Ehrman’s mistakes. What a breath of fresh air!




January 11, 2020: Almost finished, but I need frequent breaks to come up for fresh air. Mr. Ehrman has such a polluted view of Christianity I keep asking myself why he even wants to study it. If I thought about something, anything, the way he things about this, I would want to get away from it, not make it my life's work. There is so much that is distorted about his perspective, it is hard to know where to begin, but mostly it is a question of his animosity. When one is antagonistic toward anything/anyone, this cannot help but affect the perspective. The first few lectures in this series are relatively calm and even-toned, but the series gets progressively less so as it goes along. The same with each individual lecture. He begins matter-of-factually, but his tone changes as do his claims. Primarily he refuses to accept what believers believe, which of course he is free to do, but he at least must present both sides fairly and equally and that he does not do. He starts off refuting what Christians believe. Were I to present myself as a teacher of any other religion and do as he did, where would be my credibility? Why does he have any? Are readers/audiences really so unable to discern? Two more lectures to go...


January 6, 2020: In Lecture 11, I do not agree with his '5 commons myths about Christian persecution'. They are full of superlatives, open-ended, distorted and assume people know history. Do people know history about ANY age? I doubt most Christians would know, much less agree with his myths. However, as a Christian, I have to ask, why did Mr. Ehrman go to such pains to come up with these 'myths' and then attempt to disprove them? It makes one wonder...

This is Myth 1: Christianity was an illegal religion in the empire, constantly opposed by the Roman emperors. (emphasis mine)

Personally, I have never thought that. However, later on, he points out that the emperor Trajan (c. 112 A.D.) who authorized a persecution of Christians in the province of Christians in Bythinia while Pliny was governor, 'were persecuted simply because they claimed to be Christian' and 'anyone who recanted was excused'. Ehrman is saying that Rome is not responsible if these Christians are too stupid not to recant, because 'having been a Christian is not a crime; refusing to stop being one was'. This is what he means by Rome not being opposed to Christianity. I don't know about you, but if I was told to stop being married or stop being me, in order to stay alive, I would call that persecution. Wouldn't you? Christians considered their faith in Jesus their very identity. The true believers among them could not just 'stop being Christian'.

In Lecture 12, Mr. Ehrman speaks about the Christian eye-witness accounts of the first martyrs, then proceeds to discount what they say because of his own lack of belief in miracles. Sorry, but either they were eye-witnesses or they weren't. If they were, accept their testimony. Also, even though the Christian testimonies include information about those who recanted, he discounts the reliability of their information because they did not include numbers of those who recanted. These people were not trained reporters! Come on! They included specific accounts of those who recanted. They did not try to hide that. I doubt they even knew the number of their own, much less those who recanted.

On to Lecture 13...


January 3, 2020: He is presenting from a scholarly position, so Jesus is a historical figure... and according to historians, tied with St. Paul for the 5th most important historical figure. Alexander the Great was the most important. Dr. Ehrman presents views, from the radical to the central. Interesting info, but...

[Eric Wurm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This course is not a devotional course. It is not intended necessarily for Christians, but for those who are interested in the history of Christianity. This is not Christianity from a theological perspective. In other words, this is education. It is not a course on faith.

Professor Ehrman is an erudite scholar on the Bible and the history of Christianity. If you wish to receive an objective education on the subject, this course is appropriate for you.

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bart Ehrman writes about very interesting subjects in (usually) an interesting way and he's probably quite good in a seminar but, Lord, he's not a good lecturer. Which is the worst thing I can say about this collection of lectures produced by The Teaching Company for their The Great Courses series (which is only part 1, bringing us up to c. AD 250, and a final talk about what caused the persecutions).

I have a pretty good, generalist's background in the period from my misspent graduate days and later reading so I didn't learn much new in a "macrocosmic" sense; I did, however, learn some interesting things on a "microcosmic" level:

The Apostle Paul (lecture 5): Though he would have cringed to be so described, Paul was one of the greatest innovators in religious thought and was decisive in turning Christianity from being a purely Jewish apocalyptic sect into something that appealed to Gentiles. He first elevated Jesus' death and resurrection as the keys to salvation, and first argued that it came not by observance of the Law (no matter how "good" as it came from God) but by faith in Jesus.

Origins of anti-semitism: Ehrman focuses on two important themes the emerged in the expanding Christian community. The first is Justin Martyr's, who argued that the Law was given not as a sign of Israel's "chosen" status but as a sign of punishment - these Jews were too recalcitrant and stubborn and needed to be strictly kept in line. Jesus was always present in Scripture but the Jews never discerned him (e.g., "Let us (i.e., God and Christ) make man").

The other point of view Ehrman brings up is represented in the Epistle of Barnabas, whose author argued that the OT wasn't even Jewish - It was instead a prefiguration of Christ not to be taken literally (as the Jews had been doing for thousands of years). A view, which taken to its logical conclusion, would hold that the Jews had never been chosen; that status had to wait until Jesus came to set the Law's interpretation correctly and then it fell to his followers, the Christians.

Christian evangelism: Ehrman also covers the latest research into the spread of Christianity as if you're not a believer, the new religion's success needs more explanation than "it's God's plan." Here, he mentions Rodney Stark's book The Rise of Christianity. Stark is a sociologist by training and his early work focused on modern religious conversion - that is, why do people convert? He took the techniques and results from that research and applied it to antiquity to show that many of the same reasons applied: alienation and efficacy. Converts, for some reason, feel dissatisfied with their native religion + the new faith shows that it makes a positive impact on the converts' lives. Once even a small group makes the conversion, they raise their families in the new faith. Relatively soon, a group of c. 50 followers of Jesus becomes 2-3% of the Roman Empire by AD 300.

Another point Ehrman brings up here is that pagan (or Jewish) religious culture was not moribund. Graeco-Roman culture was entering a period of religious enthusiasm and ferment (similar in some ways, perhaps, to today), whose wave Christianity rode successfully.

Roman persecution: The final point I'll mention is the Roman government's response to Christianity - They largely tried to ignore it. No systematic persecution by the authorities is attested to before Decius' in c. AD 250. The chief problem, from the Roman viewpoint, was Christian refusal to offer cult to the Emperor but it wasn't that big of a deal before the crises of the third century. Before then, most governors followed Trajan's advice to Pliny - don't seek the Christians out but if you do find a cell, and they don't make offerings to the Emperor, execute them.

Despite Prof. Ehrman's deficiencies as a lecturer, I'm definitely going to pick up Part 2 from the library soon.

[Isa]

Very similar to his Great Controversies lecture series but still a worthy listen with plenty of good information.

[Beauregard Bottomley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Understanding means learning how things became the way they are. Things are the way they are because they became the way they are. It's a tautology, but understanding often relies on a conclusion residing in a premise. (After all, F=ma is a tautology, and it got us to the moon, while it took the relativistic correction to that equation to give us GPS).

Just like there is a paleofantasy about the perfect diet (see the book Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us about Sex, Diet, and How We Live) there is something I would call the Christianofantasy. It's the belief that the early church (as mentioned in the 'bible') is the only real true church and we need to emulate that in order to be holy. Sadly, for modern day Christianofantasist they would have to give up their trinity and their bible and other dogmas that evolved well after the 2nd century.

The starting point for most knowledge is to assume things have always been the way they are now (more or less). The universe was considered 'static' until 1920 and even up to the 1950s with Fred Hoyle mocking the big bang as absurd. It was probably the dominant paradigm among the common folk until the discovery of the CMB. Or consider plate tectonics and continental drift it was denied until the 1960s.

There's a similar thing going on with most Christian churches. They just think what is considered orthodox today is the way it always has been. The Trinity, the perfect example, developed over time and would have been considered heterodoxy in it's time. (Isaac Newton, my favorite person who ever lived, was a unitarian and he believed the bible offered no support for the Trinity). The bible did not have a canonical status until the loudest voices won out.

I just really enjoy Ehrman's books and lectures. I always find them edifying. Truth (and knowledge) have a liberal bias and I love continuing to learn how we became the way we are. The more one learns about the history of the Church, the more unreasonable religion seems and the more one must appeal to faith alone for religious belief.

[Evan Bullock · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know the Ehrman is coming from a purely historian perspective on this topic but it was evident throughout that he discounts all "Orthodox" Christian perspectives on this topic, even if for historical context. The evolution of early Christianity is fascinating and the weird early offshoots are interesting asides, but even after the entire lecture series I feel like I still don't have this topic "in my belt" which I feel should have been the point. Lecture 11 is probably one of the worst of the bunch with the whole, "Christians can't be persecuted since they can just recount their faith and get off". For someone who is supposed to be an expert on this topic, Ehrman fundamentally misunderstands the people who believe Christianity. There were many interesting and good lectures in this series but as a whole are undermined by the lecturer.

[Joe Vigil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Professor Bart D. Ehrman is a historian. Not a pastor, priest, bishop, or the like. Therefore, he thoroughly cuts through the legends and forgeries associated with Christianity. A must for anyone interested in the history of the early church.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

[listened to the audio lectures]
This was both what I expected and not at all what I expected. The things I liked about it were a pretty detailed dive into the history surrounding early Christianity, and a different perspective than I'm used to hearing. Definitely made me ask myself some hard questions and get more serious about my study of the Bible.

[Gay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This lecture series was frustrating. Professor Ehrman repeated himself so many times that I felt the series could have been a third shorter than what it was. This was very distracting and made it hard for me to stay engaged in it.

[Jeremiah Lorrig · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected more objective facts and stories from the era. It was mostly interpreting and reading into texts that I was already familiar with without providing the historic context that I was looking for.

[Kara of BookishBytes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a Bart Ehrman fan. His books and his Great Courses series are solidly interesting and well done. I've listened to this one a few times. Always rewarding.

[Ross Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read several of Bart Ehrman's books. He is a great lecturer! Fun and engaging to listen to.

[Brian Ferrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lecture series is a fascinating exploration of early christianity. It's focused on the first few centuries and provides insight into the beginnings of the religion as well as the internal struggles that divided various sects and finally the development of the church itself. Writings are taken extensively from what is now the biblical canon but other writings from the time help paint a broader picture of the varying thoughts and attitudes of early christians. The lectures are kept engaging by weaving back and forth rather than presenting everything chronologically. The conversion of Constantine is a great place to end as it marked the beginning of christianity as an "official" religion, which helped it spread at a tremendous rate.

The only thing that detracted from my enjoyment of these lectures is the lecturer himself. While often quite adequate, he is by no means eloquent and there are times when he stumbles over words or goes back to correct himself midway through a sentence. That said, professor Ehrman is incredibly knowledgeable about the subject so I would still recommend this series to anyone interested in early christianity.

[Sixo Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great introduction to the history of Christianity.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a lot in here that I didn't know before and I found fascinating. It's so interesting to learn how diverse Christianity was in the details, like was Jesus an actual son of a diety, or was he a human with a human dad?

It was also interesting to learn more about the beliefs of the pagans of that time and how it connected to Christianity. They believed many gods but they also believed humans could be gods, which is why they thought it totally plausible if Christ was a god. The only problem they had was the fact Christians (or atheists as the pagans called them) didn't sacrifice to gods to satisfy the god's needs and they wouldn't get upset.

Another interesting fact is that early pagans thought that Christians were cannibals and incestuous. The whole reason they thought this is because Christians would get together for their church and not tell anybody about it, greet each other with a kiss, call each other brother and sister, and eat of Jesus's flesh and blood. Not only that, but they would say they would eat of the Son, so they freaked out and said they were eating children.

A tidbit that shocked me is when it said that scholars know that Jesus had brothers, but they also thought Jesus had a TWIN brother. They think that the brother would be Thomas, because Thomas means twin in Aramaic. This is crazy, because if Thomas was Jesus's twin brother, that would shake the Christian world.

Another thing that was interesting was hearing about all the books that weren't added to the New Testament and which books were added. A lot of books in the New Testament contradict each other or are written by someone other than the person that people think wrote it. For example, very few books "written" by Paul were actually written by Paul.

Something that I always wondered in these past few years of self reflection was, why was the home of Christianity in Rome instead of Jerusalem? Ehrman cleared up that there were many sects of Christianity fighting each other over details and saying their version was true. Many emphasized different things to get followers. Like for example, many people back then wouldn't believe a new religion, only an old one, so that faction made sure to add the Old Testament, to show they were an old religion, despite the Old Testament being so different from the God they talked about. Or how in Matthew, it goes over Jesus's Jewish heritage (or is it really true?), because the person using that was trying to convert Jews. Anyway, the sect that eventually won was the Roman one, and this was the one Constantine converted to, because it was Roman and it applied to him. This drastically changed Christianity because he gave favors to Christians, which encouraged conversion. But Constantine's conversion wasn't firm, since he still showed that he would make coins for the sun god, and didn't even get baptized until he died. But he was still instrumental in it.

Anyway, this was a great read and I learned a lot.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This set of lectures examines the detailed history of the creation of Christianity by examining the span of historical events and writings from about 30 CE to the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine in the early 4th century...a scant 300 years. These lectures are not about faith or spiritualism. They are about Dr Ehrman's careful and methodic tracing of the actual facts surrounding the origin of Christianity, today's largest religion, by examining followers of an obscure, itinerant, Jewish apocalyptic preacher (who left no written records of his life or his apparent ministry). These followers (most prominent being Mathew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter and Paul...though there were a whole lot more later on), recorded the teachings of this man named Jesus into letters and documents some of which later became the New Testament, a major foundation of the faith.

The rise of Christianity from followers numbering around 20 people in the mid 1st century to as many as 2 million in the early 4th century to more than 2 billion today is so amazing...even more so, when the roots of this religion are exposed. Basically it began as a sect within Judaism (Jesus lived and died a Jew) that held a worldview that maintained that the present age is controlled by forces of evil, but that these will be destroyed at the end of time, when God intervenes in history to bring in his Kingdom, an event thought to be imminent. This is still a common theme in nearly all Christian churches today. While Jesus' life and teachings were perhaps unremarkable, it was his apparent resurrection after his crucifixion by the Romans that rocketed him to stardom and cemented his place in history as the son of god. All this was made possible through the extensive writings from the apostles, principally Paul, written from 10 to more than 90 years after the execution. There are no first hand accounts of these happenings...no sources, as any historian would say...and the accounts written by the apostles do not always agree with one another.

The focus of these lectures in the end...and emphasized by Dr Ehrman...is that without the support of the Roman Empire, namely the conversion of Constantine to Christianity, the Roman world may well have increased its persecution of Christians to the point of outlawing the faith and destroying all the 'holy' texts that today are held dear to the faithful. The ultimate 'what if' that boggles the mind.

Highly recommended (as are the really great reviews from some pretty smart folks in the Great Courses cadre).

[Alan Dahl · Rating 2 out of 5]

An ex-Christian spends hours justifying his ex-Christianity. While he purports to just be telling the history, he takes decidedly biased positions without ever acknowledging that other academics may disagree with him (e.g. Jesus was just an apocalyptic preacher who never presented suggested he was divine). He also extrapolates comments from one or two sources into grand conclusions (e.g. one early Christian scholar said something anti-Semitic, therefore the entire early Christian church was “virulently anti semitic”). Then he harps on really odd and demeaning ideas, like repeatedly emphasizing how Nero didn’t persecute Christians for their religion after the burning of Rome, he persecuted them for alleged arson. Isn’t that a bit like saying, Trump wasn’t demeaning Haitian immigrants for being immigrants, he was demeaning them for allegedly eating cats? Oh, I also enjoyed his repeated statement that “it wasn’t illegal to be a Christian because you could always renounce it and not be killed!” Doesn’t that sound stupid? Finally, this is a lecture series and Dr. Erhman is not a talented or engaging lecturer. How the Great Courses hooked up with him is beyond me.

I’m giving two stars because there’s some interesting history tossed in between all the axe grinding (particularly in the latter half of the series).

[Doug Trani · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sequence was not planned, but it worked well. First, I read "The Robe", the entertaining and inspirational work of historical fiction by Lloyd C. Douglas that was popular in the 1940's and early 50's. That got me thinking about what really happened in the Roman Empire during the early years of the Christian church. So, I followed up by listening to the always enlightening Kenneth's Harl's lecture series on "The Fall of the Pagans and the Origins of Medieval Christianity". This series provided a broad historical context for understanding the Roman world at the time of Christ and the next three centuries or so. This helped explain how even Christian persecutors, like the Emperor Diocletian, laid the administrative foundation that allowed for the rapid expansion of the Christian church under Constantine I. Finally, Bart Ehrman's lecture series, "From Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity", provided more details about how the Christian religion developed and grew over this same period of time. Although this is an outstanding lecture series in its own right, having first read “The Robe” and then having listened to the lecture series by professor Harl, the experience of this series was greatly enhanced.

[Eowynselixure_book Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

Step back to Christianity's first three centuries to see how it transitioned from the religion of Jesus to a religion about Jesus. How did a single group from among many win the struggle for dominance to establish the beliefs central to the faith, rewrite the history of Christianity's internal conflicts, and produce a canon of sacred texts - The New Testament - which supported its own views.

Now conversely I am not a particularly religious person but I am fascinated by the history of religion and how it changes reflect how what people need of it through the years.

These were fascinating lectures, probably more so for a non believer as it does expose where many of the original beliefs of Christianity actually came from and the key major events that made it what Professor Ehrman describes as the most important institution in Western Civilization.

However as you can imagine it takes a certain amount of interest and perseverance to listen to. Some topics can be quite dry and repetitive. However Professor Ehrman was a good narrator and enthusiastic about his topic.

Overall I enjoyed it and it's given me a greater understanding of the evolvement of one of largest religions on the world.

[Robert John Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ehrman portrays early Christianity as highly fluid and contested and tries to give plausible external or circumstantial reasons for why doctrine, liturgy, and creeds developed the way they did. For example, Paul's vision of the resurrected Christ led him to justify or fund purpose in Christ's death, leading him to teach of Christ's resurrection and its role in human salvation.

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, I find the parallels between early Christianity and the early restored church to be frequent and fascinating, not only in terms of doctrine (some widely accepted doctrines were later doing to be heretical, such as Origen's explication of Christ's premortal life), but also the slow development of creeds (or articles of faith) and a hierarchical leadership structure. For example, early chaos leading to distinct doctrinal factions, with one eventually coming to dominate. On the whole, the doctrine and practices of Restored Church seems closer in some ways to early Christianity than Catholicism (e.g. certain teachings only for the initiated, non-trinitarian or at least not in its Nicene form, an open scriptural cannon, etc.) but by extension, to also be heretical in the eyes or what Ehrman calls proto-orthodoxy, or what became catholic Christianity.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lectures about the evolution of Christianity over the first three centuries. Provides insights into the competitive landscape of (first) Judaism vs Christianity, (later) paganism (polytheism) vs Christianity, and (finally) the competing Christian sects from which mainstream Christianity eventually emerged. This also covers the evolution of the canon and provides an overview of non-biblical authors and conflicting beliefs that helped shape final doctrine.

Final comments: This is driven by the known corpus of canonical and non-canonical sources (some of which were discovered in more recent archeological digs). It is written within a historical framework (covering the range of scholars' opinions of dates and authorship) rather than a more traditional framework. The author's education is both from Wheaton College and Princeton, which would seem to give him a fairly broad perspective. And, finally, although I like Audible -- it would be nice to see this in book form with timeline diagrams covering the ranges of probable authorship dates, with a good bibliography for follow-up reading. I recommend you take better notes than I did.

[Don Heiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

“From Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity” Teaching Company lectures by Professor Bart Ehrman was released in 2004. Ehrman is the James Gray distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina’s Department of Religious Studies. His doctorate is from Princeton Theological Seminary. He was born in Lawrence, Kansas in 1955. These lectures trace Christianity from the time of Christ’s birth, discuss oral and written early Christian traditions, and explore significant elements in the writings of Paul and the canonical gospels. I found his lectures on Jewish-Christian relations and his Old Testament references very interesting. I also liked his discussions about Roman Christianization events and early Christian Apologists, 2nd century communities and proto-orthodox foundations of beliefs. His closing lectures on Constantine’s conversion and the evolution of Christian liturgies were also very interesting. (P)

[Tretiakov Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I've learned a few things.
Christ is a Greek word that means Messiah.
He was a Jewish apocalyptic prophet -- he was mostly preaching about the imminent end of the world.
Modern Christianity is radically different from what Christ was teaching, e.g. the idea of trinity is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible. Trinity is also a highly paradoxical idea formed as a counter to different early branches of Christianity.
Current Christian ideas were mostly formulated by Paul, who came up with a religion _about_ Christ, as opposed to what he was teaching.
Being a small Jewish sect initially, Christians quickly split into a separate movement. On one hand they had to keep Jewish Torah for street credibility to show that they are old, on the other they had to make a case that whatever's written there doesn't really matter i.e. was overriden by Christians, e.g. Christians didn't have to observe most laws laid out in it.
In 1945, a gospel of Thomas was found (along with other early writings), that scholars consider to be a genuine writing. That gospel has parts of the other four gospels, but also other sayings, and has a different message to it i.e. what gnostics were teaching.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not without reservation I liked most of what I encountered in the lecture series. I would have thought that Professor Ehrman might have polished some of them up for presentation, but still not bad overall. Clearly this was history informed by some theology, and I sensed that Ehrman really does know the difference between following Jesus and studying about Jesus - the former would have made these lectures quite different, I believe. It might be well to listen to some of them again in pursuing understanding of how Christianity arrived where it is today, but I does get some tiresome to have Biblical truth set aside because it was not captured by a modern scholar of history.

[Kostas Kiousis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great course, in the form of audible seminars, narrated exquisitely by the author himself. There's a ton of scientifically established knowledge [not just wishful thinking and personal views] to be gained by these lectures, on how an insignificant apocalyptic preacher on the margins of Judaism became God, changing forever the course of human history.
It's pointless to state here all the valuable lessons I obtained from this listening. Suffice it to say, that we know very little about Christ and Christianity, and presume or believe a lot, that are totally unsubstantiated!
I'm planning on reading all of Ehrman's books.
P.S. He has a great sense of humor, too!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his 24-half-hour lecture course, From Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity, Bart Ehrman, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, provides a fascinating and in-depth overview of Christianity during Roman times. He examines both the evolution of Christian theology and the experiences of the early Christian converts under Roman rule. Ehrman is a sophisticated scholar and an experienced and accessible teacher. He explores the key debates and precisely analyzes the evidence underpinning them. The course added to my understanding of Roman History, the origins of Christianity, and its impact on the West. Highly recommend.

[Mars Cheung · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bart Ehrman takes the listener through a very thorough dissection of the history of Christianity from the time of its genesis to when it became the religion of the Roman Empire. The listen could have been dry for a topic of this sort but the course was easy to listen to and very informative. You’ll learn about the development of mainstream Christian theology, the multiplicity of views as to what was considered orthodox and what was through of as heresy and even about the books that did/did-not make it into the New Testament canon. Eye opening, enjoyable and informative.

[David Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professor Ehrman is a clear and engaging lecturer. He has perfected the technique of repeating a point several times in the course of a few sentences, again at the end of a section, and again in later lectures. Poorly executed this can be annoying; Ehrman does it well and my retention of the material is greater than I had expected it to be. He treats Christian beliefs purely historically, yet is perfectly respectful of faith, and never reveals his own beliefs.

I have come away from this course of lectures with a much stronger understanding of the development of the early church.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this audio Great Course, Bart Ehrman, a professor of religious studies at North Carolina University at Chapel Hill, presents a straight forward historical account of the growth of Christianity in twenty four lectures. His presentation is fact orientated rather than theological. Ehrman frequently backs up his points by reading from texts written at the time, introducing the student to a variety of documents from before and after those in the New Testament. Ehrman’s delivery is good, but not always polished.

We listened to these thirty minute lectures in the car while doing errands.