The Greatest Controversies of Early Christian History

by Bart D. Ehrman

Without the presence of Christianity, our world would be considerably different. Whether we view it in religious, social, or political terms, Christianity has deeply and integrally influenced the Western worldview and way of life. Yet, throughout Christian history, compelling controversies have existed surrounding the faith's first three centuries, when it grew from a persecuted sect into a powerful religion. These controversies bring into question many commonly accepted beliefs about Christianity. In this course, an award-winning professor and New York Times best-selling author offers a penetrating investigation of the 24 most pivotal controversies, shedding light on fallacies that obscure an accurate view of the religion and how it evolved into what it is today. In each lecture, you'll delve into a key issue in Christianity's early development: Did the Jews Kill Jesus? Was Jesus Raised from the Dead? Did the Disciples Write the Gospels? Did Early Christians Accept the Trinity? Is the Book of Revelation about Our Future? Who Chose the Books of the New Testament? You'll delve into the conception of the meshiach (messiah) in Jewish tradition, and the basis for the core Christian claim that a suffering messiah was predicted in the Jewish scriptures. In grasping Paul's role in the early faith, you contemplate the key differences between the teachings of Jesus himself and the Christian view of his death and resurrection. And you trace the ambiguous role in early Christianity of the Jewish scriptures, and how these books came to be accepted as the Christian Old Testament. Explore these and other intriguing questions in this unique inquiry into the core of Christian tradition.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Christianity

Audio CD

Published January 1, 2013

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 5 out of 5]

A bit of a misleading name, in my opinion.
But still a good lecture.



The Greatest Controversies of Early Christian History sounds like you're going to hear something about what early church leaders were duking it out over when it came to doctrine, right?
Or maybe that was just me.
What you actually get is just an interesting look at some (mostly) modern-day questions people ask about early Christianity and its main characters, then Ehrman's answer of what's historically provable, what's not, and why.
Almost everything here is something that he's already covered in other books or lectures, but I found this one to be such a nice, concise list of those things that I'll probably end up buying this at some point.



This isn't a faith-based look at scripture, but it's not an attack on faith, either. It's pretty standard.
Faith is faith because you have to suspend a bit of disbelief. And faith and fact are two entirely different things. I wouldn't recommend trying to fit them both in the same lunchbox.

[James Frederick · Rating 5 out of 5]

We used this for a small group Bible study at my church. There were a couple of people who were put off by Bart Ehrman, but I think it was because it forced them to challenge some of their long-held thinking about their beliefs.

I personally like Bart Ehrman a great deal and I find his approach and his humor to be very amusing. That is not to say that I agree with all of his positions on things. But I find that nearly every time I read or listen to him, it does two things: 1) I learn something new; and 2) it makes me think about and consider what effect, if any, the material has on my core beliefs.

There are many Christians who are personally offended by Prof. Ehrman's literary sacrifice of some of their sacred cows. If there is historical evidence that a certain belief or tradition originated in the 4th or 5th century CE instead of the time of Jesus, some people take this as a personal affront.

I think that we all need to maintain a great deal of humility when dealing with matters of faith and antiquity. We are dealing with concepts that the human mind is not fully capable of comprehending, after all.

I personally find that the more deeply I study the history and context of the Bible, the more fascinating and intriguing it becomes. While I sometimes need to question what I believe and whether what I hear matters in the context of what I believe, I find that this exercise results in a deeper and stronger faith, as opposed to a weaker one.

If the notion that Jesus may not have been born in Bethlehem, or may have had brothers and sisters, or if some of the stories you have heard in the Bible may have been later additions to the Canon is going to cause you to lose your religion, then you may want to steer clear of this. If you want to find out more about the diversity of early Christian beliefs and how the ideas of Jesus and the Messiah evolved over time, you will likely be interested in this.

[Laurel · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better books/collection of lectures by Bart Ehrman that I've picked up so far. An informative, thorough, engaging and thought-provoking look at what we know of the historical Jesus and some of the controversies of early Christianity.

[DJNana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Based on the title of this lecture series, I was prepared for some interesting history lessons and theological discussions of the early Christian church. Doctrinal differences and so on.

Instead, we get almost no history of the church - the author being more interested in talking about what is clearly his dearest topic, "The Historical Jesus", and asking other pointless questions such as: was Mary really a virgin when she gave birth? What about Jesus' resurrection, did that happen?

If you're an atheist, what's the point of trying to cover these topics? Let's rather hear about what the church thought, let's go over historical documents, and not what scholars today think scholars back then could possibly, most likely, perhaps, have thought.

Most of the time I was rolling my eyes. Not just at the pointlessness of the topics, but also at the very obvious lack of logic used in many of the author's arguments.

Eg. how do we determine what were the actual words of Jesus, and what was just added to the Gospels later on? Just think whatever the Christians would have wanted to be in the Bible; those are probably the things that Jesus didn't actually say. This approach has so many logical flaws, I don't even know where to start.

Or, the gospel of Mark has very clear, detailed prophecies about the destruction of Jerusalem - that being said, we can confidently place the date of the gospel of Mark after the destruction of Jerusalem.

Eye-rolling so hard.

Initially, I was going to give Mr. Ehrman the benefit of the doubt - perhaps if I could actually speak to him, ask him some questions, he'd have logical answers, instead of his basic, illogical, smug platitudes. There's only so much one can address in a 40 minute lecture, so perhaps this short format makes it sound like he hasn't really studied his topics in depth.

But then I consider the clickbait title, and how the author barely, if at all, delivered on the promise of the title, and I dialed the rating back down to an appropriate level.

I guess both the author and I have very entrenched beliefs; whichever side you fall on, you are more likely to appreciate.

Would I re-read: no.

[Dave Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is what you'd get if you ran the Bible through Snopes
The title is slightly misleading, many of the "Controversies" discussed are modern questions about Early Christianity, but there are many here that were burning topics in their day that seem settled now. There is a lot in here: Was Jesus born in Bethlehem? (and why that matters). Was Mary a virgin? (and why that matters). Did Jesus have a twin brother? (that one was popular before the fall of Rome). Was Jesus married? Did the Disciples actually write the books of the New Testament? Is the book of Revelations about the future? Was Christianity actually outlawed? Oh and one that's sure to start a fist fight, Do we have the original New Testament? and a lot, lot more
Funny thing, I wasn't sure I was enjoying this one. ...but I couldn't shut up about what I was reading. So here an easy guide to should I / shouldn't I read this: How much do you care to know?
If you feel should oughta' read it, Don't bother. You'll be bored to tears. If on the other hand you'd pay money to find out what you don't know about the Council of Nicaea... This might just be Christmas come early (yeah, pun intended).

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really enjoying the lectures by Bart Ehrman, and this one did not disappoint. This was largely a "best of" collection, since much of this material had been discussed at length in previous lecture series.

[Bruce Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Great Courses offering, and largely mirrors Ehrman’s writing in several of his other historical (and highly controversial) accounts of the Bible. In this course are many disputed questions about Christianity including but not limited to:
* Was Jesus married?
* Was his mother a virgin?
* Was Jesus the messiah predicted in the Jewish scriptures?
* Was Paul—not Jesus—the real founder of Christianity?
* Did the Jews really kill Jesus?
* Does the book of Revelation predict humanity’s future?
Lots of good material here presented from an historical perspective. This information comes in 24 lessons/lectures as if the reader were listening to a professor in class. Quite engaging.

[Ivy-Mabel Fling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is excellent and very entertaining introduction to the historical problems associated with the emergence of Christianity and its texts. The controversies are not studied in great depth but the reader gains some insight into them and can pursue his/her study of them using the suggested reading section at the end of each lecture. Having the study guide to recap on the lectures is extremely helpful.

[Kara of BookishBytes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a Great Courses fan, plus I'm a Bart Ehrman fan, so I'm pretty predictably going to like his lecture series. This set of lectures started out with a few weird topics such as "Did Jesus have a twin brother?" which are skippable, but most of the lectures are educational. While I disagree with Mr. Ehrman sometimes on matters of religious belief, I appreciate his expertise on historical biblical times and the early centuries of Christianity.

[Stèf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Opening with the distinction between a theological and a historical review of Christianity should probably not need saying, but I still appreciate the tactful and thorough explanation Bart Ehrman gives.

I am surprised how many things I took for granted that Ehrman makes me now question.

Everything below is notes to myself, and no longer a review.

Gospels are written anonymously (as was common at time) but written by educated Greek speaking people decades after death of Jesus. Unlikely to be the apostles who were Aramaic speaking peasants and very unlikely to be literate. Gospel authors never claim to be apostles, they were attributed to apostles much later. Gospels are clearly written much later as there are impossible chronological errors, named governor of Syria was 10 years later than death of Herod, but both named at time of Jesus' birth.
Everyone's favourite topic, translation discrepancy! Isaiah 7:14 Hebrew "almah" being translated to Greek "parthenos" both meaning young woman but the Greek heavily implying virgin as well, hundreds of years after translation the virgin aspect takes greater weight and thus, we have virgin birth rather than young woman birth in Matthew 1:23.
Interesting, in old testament "son of God" is a mortal chosen by God (multiple examples) "son of man" is a super-natural being; exact opposite of common modern interpretation. Some modern Jewish interpretations have "son of man" (ben-'adam) to mean humanity in general and not any specific individual.
The Ehrman clearly has beef with The Da Vinci Code by how often he mentions that it should not be read as a historical or theological text.

Mary Magdalene has demons cast from her, then follows Jesus. This is the only time she is mentioned by name as accompanying Jesus, until the crucifixion and resurrection where she is mentioned by name again. An unnamed woman who anoints Jesus' feet is called a "sinner" how she sins is never mentioned, she is later conflated with Mary Magdalene and prostitution was ascribed to her "sin" outside of the gospels. Later another unnamed woman is caught in the act of adultery, she is also conflated with Mary Magdalene, but adultery does not have to be prostitution. The three women being one is first recorded in a sermon by Gregory the Great.

Interestingly there are several theories of the etymology of Iscariot and we will likely never be sure.

Lecture 8: What Secrets Did Judas Betray? ends with Ehrman using the phrase "Jesus believed" multiple times. Ehrman backs up his statements with very plausible evidence, and I agree that is most likely what Jesus did believe. However, as this is historical rather than theological, or other method; I don't think anyone can state what Jesus believed without directly quoting a source, or clearly prefacing that it is Ehrman's opinion. Again, I don't contest Ehrman's conclusions, I am only criticizing his delivery.

The money changer story is both my favourite as a biblical parable and as a historical analysis -- almost opposite conclusions -- Parable against greed and corruption, historical tribalism and localism. Regardless of motivations the consequences were to unfairly prevent non-locals from participating in the festivals.

The historical context of the crucifixion of Christ and the roman legal system at the time, makes me think that technically Jesus was guilty for what he was charged. Mind you, the punishment is far in excess of the crime.

pseudonymous: Pen-name vs pseudepigraphy (by attribution or forgery). It is important to distinguish these two primary times and the two subtypes. Contemporary terms are Nothos meaning bastard (by attribution) and Psuedos meaning lie (forgery), these terms were used to describe or discredit falsely attributed books. pseudepigrapha was condemned throughout history just as today.

HOT TAKE Apocalyptic writing does not have to be about the future. Revelations can be interpreted as writing about contemporary events, not predicting the future. Confort for contemporaries -- despite it looking and feeling like hell is on earth, god is still in control.

[Robert Federline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first in the Great Courses series to disappoint. This course says far more about the professor than it does about his topic. It is obviously guided by his biases and perspectives than it does about early Christianity.
While some of the issues he explores may, with some imagination, be understood to be controversies, in order to flesh out his course and make it last for a semester, he also sets up straw men to strike down. It is also interesting that he fails in some instances to resolve what he has declared to be a controversy. He raises the question. He then tries to flesh it out with some details and some facts (and much speculation) and never arrives at a conclusion, nor even a reasoned summary of the supposedly opposing views.
He also cherry-picks his "facts" and "sources." At times he goes to the Bible as sources, and yet ignores it on other issues. Is not the Bible the foundational document for what Christians believe? He does not hesitate to go to apocryphal works to show there may be a controversy, and yet fails to explore fully the mainstream view.
The Church has, from Biblical Times used councils to discuss and determine controversial issues. This method has been used to determine what is heresy and what is orthodoxy. Should not these councils and their debates be sources as well for the so-called controversies? Not if you are working hard to create the impression that controversies exist or existed when orthodox belief has not wavered.
This is not to say that there were not controversies in the early Church, nor in its history, nor even today. He simply is trying to hard because he has a course to sell.
It is interesting, despite this, because it does open other chains of thought and perspective. But this does not rise to the level of academic rigor and achievement as the other Great Courses.

[Kade · Rating 5 out of 5]

These lectures are so good they actually make me a little sad.

I am typically not one to offer effusive praise, as I tend to approach things with a critical eye, a trait that has earned me the playful labels of "robot" or "alien" from my friends. In efforts to maintain objectivity and fairness, I know I can sometimes seem a bit cold and out of touch. At the same time, I am a very empathetic person. The same friends also recognize me as one of the kindest individuals they have encountered.

It is a curious dichotomy to feel things SO deeply and yet SEEM so detached.Yet, I wonder if Professor Ehrman shares that experience of duality. Either way, I really thoroughly enjoy everything he presents, whether through his writings or lectures.

Professor Ehrman has a remarkable ability to delve into the minds of historical figures such as Judas, Jesus, and Pontius Pilate, allowing us to comprehend and empathize with each of their distinct motivations. Despite what people may imagine (based on his religious views) Ehrman’s lectures always leave me feelings a great deal of empathy and sympathy for Jesus.

As another example of his abilities, Ehrman has the ability to convincingly demonstrate that a document is forged while also simultaneously explaining why a person would do this.

His empathy and thoughtfulness shine through in his teaching, making complex concepts accessible and engaging. I have immersed myself in several of his courses and books, with the intention of exploring all that he has to offer. And when I reach the end, I will undoubtedly embark on the journey once more. Despite some overlap in content, the value of his teachings never diminishes, leaving me with a sense of fulfillment and anticipation for what lies ahead.

[Wendy Reese · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a LOT to digest here. Made me think differently about the New Testament, which is not a bad thing but not necessarily faith promoting either. If you’re looking for answers to the questions presented, this isn’t the place to go. I felt many of his explanations lacking. For instance, in one lecture he says Jesus was not married because there was no record of it. In that same episode and on later episodes as well, the author clearly states we don’t have accurate records because they have been changed hundreds of thousands of times by amateur scribes over many centuries of time. And we have no original manuscripts. Well, if the records aren’t reliable with HUGE sections missing (another claim by the author) how can you definitively state a “truth” based on the logic that “there’s no record of it” from such unreliable records? If you’re looking for what feels like a detached analysis of a written record presented in an entirely academic way, this is for you. The author presents a lot of good information, which I appreciate. It’s the “definitive” interpretation of that information I wasn’t always a fan of. If you’re looking for a book to clarify who Jesus is, what Jesus knew about himself in His role as the Savior of mankind, I recommend the Book of Mormon. It is another testament of Jesus Christ that can clear up much of the confusion the author states is inherent the Bible. The Book of Mormon helps prove the authenticity of the Bible. Thank heavens for another witness!

[Rosanne Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am surprised by how much I liked this.
This was a rather intriguing listen where I found interests highly piqued by the varied reasons and circumstances in which the current bible/New Testament and shape of Christianity was formed.
This is certainly not a book for someone with absolute blind faith.
Someone with a scholarly, curious mind would find this book appealing.
***Caution, do not consume this work if you have strong convictions about the Christian faith***
There is a reason people are cautioned about not getting into arguments about religion.
I love books and information like this because they open topics up for discourse and dialogue, but some people are too close-minded to consider that.
This book is most-certainly not for a close-minded person.

[Isa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great idea to put 24 lectures up to answer 24 important questions about Christianity. If you haven’t read Bart’s books, this could be an ideal alternative that is less time consuming but still gives you all of the same information (albeit in a condensed version).

Once again though, I do see that the explanations given by Bart and the evidence he provides to be at odds with one another, making me think that there may be an agenda at play.

[Hannah Scanlon · Rating 3 out of 5]

After finishing it, I immediately wanted to listen to it again, because I know that there is so much nuance and detail that I missed. It did, however, give me a good appreciation for the complexity of our Christian history, and got me thinking afresh of how important or unimportant I value historical accuracy in my faith life. I haven't come to an absolute conclusion, but I do know that the God in whom I believe is much larger than any God limited to the confines of human knowledge.

[Norjak · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Presented as a very clinical approach. In general, I liked the thoroughness and treatment of the subject but found that too often nuance seemed to be sacrificed for a more definitive stance. Improbable became statements or assumptions of impossible and likely (or best guess of most probable) seemed to be better caveated (although still at times treated as fact).

[Sharolyn Stauffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

His tone sounds a little more antagonistic in this lecture series, to be honest, but I still loved learning more about many of these controversies I was aware of but didn’t have much of a historical picture. Herman is always fascinating.

[Dayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

How did we get the 27 books of the New Testament? Canon = a collection of books

It took centuries before the canon of NT was agreed upon. (The Torah and the Prophets were accepted as the Jewish canon.)

“Don’t muzzle an ox while it is treading wheat.”

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an extensive and powerful collection of religious history is displayed in these lectures. I learned a lot and Dr. Ehrman is an excellent speaker.

[Joshua Van Alstine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The part about the gospel of Barnabas is hilarious.

[Abdul Alhazred · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you only have time for one of Ehrman's series of lectures with Great Courses, this is probably the one to pick. It's like a "best of" cut through what he covers in the rest of them.

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Dkettmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Professor Ehrman is an unrivaled legend in Teaching Company / Great Courses lectures. This is another wonderful series by him, and I couldn't have loved it more.

[Rana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Professor Ehrman as he is looking at the controversies from the historian's point of view.

[Angela Clayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bart Ehrmann at his best. A great compilation of controversial topics from the origins of Christianity, from his usual accessible yet scholarly perspective.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent presenter, based upon his research of historical facts. Part of the Great Courses curriculum.

[Geoff Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ehrman is one of the great Christian studies authors. I appreciate his scholarly work and the balanced way he approaches the subject.

[MG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good survey but nothing too surprising if you have read Bart's other books. Still, a solid book if this is new territory.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars