Peter, Paul & Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History & Legend

by Bart D. Ehrman

Bart Ehrman, author of the highly popular Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code and Lost Christianities , here takes readers on another engaging tour of the early Christian church, illuminating the lives of three of Jesus' most intriguing Simon Peter, Paul of Tarsus, and Mary
Magdalene.
What do the writings of the New Testament tell us about each of these key followers of Christ? What legends have sprung up about them in the centuries after their deaths? Was Paul bow-legged and bald? Was Peter crucified upside down? Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute? In this lively work,
Ehrman separates fact from fiction, presenting complicated historical issues in a clear and informative way and relating vivid anecdotes culled from the traditions of these three followers. He notes, for instance, that historians are able to say with virtual certainty that Mary, the follower of
Jesus, was from the fishing village of Magdala on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (this is confirmed by her name, Mary Magdalene, reported in numerous independent sources); but there is no evidence to suggest that she was a prostitute (this legend can be traced to a sermon preached by Gregory the
Great five centuries after her death), and little reason to think that she was married to Jesus. Similarly, there is no historical evidence for the well-known tale that Peter was crucified upside down. Ehrman also argues that the stories of Paul's miracle working powers as an apostle are legendary
accounts that celebrate his importance.
A serious book but vibrantly written and leavened with many colorful stories, Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene will appeal to anyone curious about the early Christian church and the lives of these important figures.

Genres: Religion, History, Nonfiction, Christianity, Theology, Christian, Biography

304 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2006

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

[Debbie W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was Peter really crucified upside-down?
Did milk, not blood, spurt from Paul's wound upon his beheading?
Was Mary Magdalene really a prostitute and/or married to Jesus with children?
Bart D. Ehrman explores these and many other beliefs of the 3 most prevalent followers of Jesus.

Things I liked about this book:
1. It solidified my understanding that the Gospels are not objective and were not meant to be history lessons, but rather written to proclaim the Good News;
2. It contains several references and footnotes, not just from the Bible, but from other ancient texts as well that the reader can use to verify Ehrman's statements;
3. I learned a lot about Peter and Paul that I wasn't aware of previously:
4. I was most interested in the section about Mary Magdalene. Compared to Peter and Paul, there is extremely little written about her in the Bible; however, she is the most "popular" figure of the three in movies and books; and,
5. Ehrman explains the role of women as seen in the New Testament and other ancient works.

Things that niggled me about this book:
1. Ehrman tends to repeat himself verbatim constantly throughout the book! I'm sure several pages could have been cut out if these repetitions were edited;
2. Even though I was most interested in MM, several pages in her "section" do not mention her name or even refer to her at all; and,
3. Ehrman also wrote TRUTH AND FICTION IN THE DA VINCI CODE. I'm sure it's a fascinating read, and he often referred to it, especially in the section about MM. Some if it was relevant, but a lot of it wasn't.

I highly recommend this book to readers interested in Biblical history and legend, and to readers who are interested in the past, because it helps us think about ourselves and our lives.

[Cathryn Conroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I admit it! I bought this book for the very clever title, which made me smile. I read it for the content, which was a fascinating juxtaposition of the lives—what we know from historical sources, as well as the legends and tales passed down through the centuries—of these three important followers of Jesus.

Written by New Testament scholar and religious studies professor Bart D. Ehrman in easy-to-understand language, the book is divided into three parts, one each for Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene. The author balances well a Christian believer's point of view with the scholar's unflinching look at historical evidence.

PETER
• Jesus gave Simon the name Cephas, which translates as Peter, and means "rock." Find out what Catholics think this means, which is different from the Protestant interpretation.

• Find out so much about Peter's personality you will understand him a lot better than you did before.

• Find out the answers to a number of perplexing questions: Is Peter the author of the two New Testament letters bearing his name? Was he really the first bishop—and the first pope—of Rome? Were he and Paul really enemies?

PAUL
• Did Paul really say that women shouldn't speak in church? Find out a surprising answer that makes total sense.

• There are 13 letters in the New Testament attributed to Paul. Guess what? Some are forgeries. Find out which ones are authentic and which ones were written by someone else claiming to be Paul and why this is important.

MARY MAGDALENE
• Find out why Mary's role at the empty tomb is so important to the validity of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Is she really the first apostle?

• Were Mary Magdalene and Jesus married? Perhaps with children? Could "The Da Vinci Code" have gotten this right? Find out the historical evidence.

While some of the information presented is a bit esoteric (or put another way: a bit of a slog), most of it is a fascinating look at historical evidence and what that means for our much-beloved Gospel stories.

[Paul H. · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's difficult for me to think, offhand, of any public theologian more insidious than Bart Ehrman. At least Elaine Pagels (an actual scholar) or Reza Aslan (not an actual scholar) are straightforward about their absurd bias; no one reads Pagels thinking that she's going to give historical facts any real credence, but is aware going in that all of her books are going to contain a postmodern liberal Western viewpoint transparently projected onto the early church, in an almost farcical fashion (i.e., "the real church was a 1960s-style multicultural gay-friendly sex cult that rejected the patriarchy, until those dastardly Nicene bishops came along!", etc.)

Ehrman is so, so much sneakier than this. The tricky thing is that he's a real biblical and textual scholar; his Loeb Classical Library edition of the Apostolic Fathers is amazing, his Oxford collection of Lost Scriptures is first-rate, etc.; he knows the languages, he knows the sources, and all that. And many of his books, such as Did Jesus Exist? are relatively innocuous.

But I shudder to think of any of his undergrad students (or general readership) who don't realize that Ehrman is using his expertise in textual issues to surreptitiously advance an extremely radical anti-Christian perspective, all under the guise of a respected biblical scholar and historian "just presenting the facts," many of which are not facts ... for example, the statement that he makes in many places, that Jesus is not referred to as God in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke -- this is demonstrably false. Ehrman is an ex-Evangelical with a huge ax to grind, and does not have any serious theological training (as such, i.e., beyond passing doctoral comps 40 years ago; he is not well-versed in systematic or dogmatic theology in any tradition). His weakness in this area is readily apparent to his critics (see here, here, here, here ...).

In short, Ehrman's presentations of Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene in this book discount basically all of the actual Church tradition regarding these figures, taking the most skeptical possible reading of all the texts involved, while pretending to write a "just the facts" objective scholarly consensus. Ehrman is nowhere near the scholarly consensus when he wades into these issues, but is at the very far extreme end of the sad little niche of 'Historical Jesus' theology.

Given that even the first-rate material in this area (Crossan) is complete bullshit, it's actually sort of impressive that Ehrman manages to write third-rate Historical Jesus theology (carefully hidden in his faux-historical analysis). Crossan, Ehrman, and all the rest are diametrically opposed to taking the majority of early Christian sources at face value, and are instead desperate to cling to any reading of Q or any second-century Gnostic Gospel that satisfies their prejudices and lapsed faith. For a definitive refutation of this whole line of thinking, see Paul Barnett's work, particularly Jesus and the Rise of Early Christianity, as well as Bauckham’s classic studies on the topic.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can Bart Ehrman even write a bad book? No. No, he can't. This book, like every other of his that I have read, is so beautifully precise in its scope, so judiciously edited and authoritatively sourced, that I was sorry to come to the end of it. Ehrman's prose is carefully chosen to convey exactly what he means to convey, and he makes his points while maintaining all the subtleties and caveats that come with writing about first century people.

This book is divided into three parts, dealing with the apostles Peter, Paul of Tarsus, and Mary Magdalene. He treats each by examining what can be known (or reasonably assumed to be true) about each of them from the records they wrote or what was written about them, and then following their continuing legends through the lens of storytelling about them for the next 2,000 years.

The historical Paul is especially interesting, and Ehrman highlights the difference between the six Pauline letters that are believed to be authentic and the forgeries in the New Testament. What is fascinating about Paul is that based on his vision of a Jesus after his death - and knowing that he never met Jesus in life (so how would he know what he looked like?) - Paul creates the entire essential Christian theology of the sacrificial Messiah, who wins by losing, out of whole cloth and an intensely close reading of a very small subset of Old Testament verses. Amazing, really, considering the effect that this ghost-sighting and after-the-fact rationalization has had on subsequent human history.

Mary's reputation has changed the most from its gospel sources. Ehrman first dispels her conflation with the woman taken in sin, the prostitute, the woman who anoints Jesus' feet, etc. He then focuses on her likely role as one of the people who first believed (and told others) that Jesus was raised from the dead. Finally, he discusses the interesting idea that based on this role, Mary could be considered the first apostle and even the first Christian.

This is a great book, full of interesting history, theology, heresy, and records of the way important people's legends accrete more tales as their stories are told over time.

[Jc · Rating 2 out of 5]

As usual, I find Ehrman somewhat frustrating due to his academic scholarship (something I do not doubt) being a bit stifled by a tendency to not separate himself completely from his former evangelical/born-againer home. But I still read his works because he [mostly] has a good feel for the proto- and early-christian history of the first few centuries c.e., and is very good at describing that history. However, I was disappointed by Peter, Paul and Mary as I don't feel he followed through with his promise to look into the legends through the centuries which circled around these three figures. Instead, he spends most of the book stretching out what little material there is in the christian Canon, and other documentary evidence from first couple of centuries of christian history. He speaks more of his interpretation of the legends than of the development and varieties of those legends. This is especially true with his discussion of Mary, for whom there are almost no N.T. references, and very few other references until recent centuries. The book just felt like an attempt to cash in on the post "Da Vinci Code" pop-chat. In fact, Ehrman's earlier "Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code" is much better written and far more informative [also check out Robert Price's "The Da Vinci Fraud: Why the Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction"].

[David H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using his well-attested style and point-of-view as an agnostic New Testament scholar, Ehrman devotes this book to looking at Simon Peter, Paul, and Mary Magadalene, three of Jesus's followers in a variety of contexts--from what is actually written about the three and how they're remembered by others in the early centuries of Christianity. I found it fascinating since most of the books I've read so far from Ehrman have looked at broader issues rather than focused on any one person. Along the way he also drops in references to things that I think will intrigue people even further. The third section, about Mary Magdalene, was especially engrossing as he gets into both the historical & cultural environment that Jewish women were in, as well as some of the theological explanations (especially when he's getting into some of the stranger non-canonical texts).

[Chris Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas, but it makes some leaps in logic and relies on some faulty assumptions.

[Karen Floyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

What do we really know about Jesus' most famous followers, Peter, Paul and Mary Magadalene? Not much, it turns out. Most of what we think we know about them is folklore that accumulated after their deaths. We can't even trust what we read in our Bibles because of the many errors accruing from the original writings (the earliest of which were not written down until decades after Jesus' death) being copied over and over between their first appearance and the modern invention of the printing press. Scribal error is not the only problem. Copiests added their own thoughts and opinions to make the disciples say what they thought should have been said. Ehrman teases out these tangles, endeavoring to show us what little we do actually know, and what we really don't. For instance, Paul did not say that women should be silent in church, a statement which makes no sense given Paul's praise and encouragement of the many women in the churches he corresponded with. That was a later interpolation, in the middle of a sentence that otherwise makes sense. And all the stories and guessing about a relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus? Folklore. The only contact between the two shown in the Bible is after Jesus died. There's nothing to indicate any particular relationship between them while he lived, just people assuming they must have had a "special" relationship to explain why he appeared to her first after his resurrection. Human beings don't like not knowing the why's of things, don't like not knowing the answers. As a result our brains will go to great, often preposterous, lengths to come up with explanations, however illogical.

[Socraticgadfly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not as bad as some of Ehrman's later works, for two reasons.

One is that he has more items of actual value here.

Two is that his popularizing schtick, from the titles of his books on, through the thinness of his popularizing info, wasn't wearing thin 15 years ago.

The best good part is noting that the pseudo-Clementines' battle between Peter and "Simon Magus" is really a battle between Peter and Paul. Ehrman somewhat ties the actual origin of the books of 1 Peter and James to this, though he doesn't go as far as he could, and more critical critical scholars do, to emphasize how much these books are designed to make Peter and James sound like they're supporting Paul.

Second is debunking not just Da Vinci Code cult surrounding Mary Magdalene, but many Xns, from medieval popes through modern evangelical teachers, conflating her with other Marys. I will give him an extra kudo for mentioning the Phibionites; in my reading about Epiphanius, I'd not come across this particular "heresy."

Overall, the book is fairly good on this, and related issues such as women as witnesses to the empty tomb. It's decent but not great, other than the pseudo-Clementines, on Peter and Paul, with some failings there.

And, that said, what's wrong with the book?

Like other Erhman books, this has one problem that is common to them. He dates all four gospels too early. Mark, IMO, is post-70. Matthew is almost certainly post-85 and Luke post-90 if not post-95. Acts is likely at 100 John, even in semifinal and not fully final form? Post-100. I know I'm out of the academic norm on Mark, but I can justify it. I'm not out of the academic norm, at least not way out, on the others.

Second, he ignores Pauline factors in the denigration of Peter.

Third, as for the alleged early success of Christianty, Ehrman starts a mental thread that plays on his writing 15 years later. Christians did miracles. They reflect pagan stories of the gods (like Zeus and Hermes visiting Baucis and Philemon. (A deconstructionist critic would aay, hey, Ovid put this in Tyana, where Apollonius was from, and Paul wrote a letter to a Philemon, and would go from there.) Pagan miracles of the present, like the aforesaid Apollonius, don’t get mentioned. Nor do Jewish miracles.

Fourth, as he (and I) deplore mythicists "arguments from silence" on some issues, he does the same on Jesus' alleged celibacy, even when the answer from 1 Corinthians is staring him in the face.

Paul says celibacy is to be preferred, but not everybody has "the gift" that he does.

Well, Paul can't be above Jesus, and all three Synoptics are dependent on Paul, somewhat directly via Markan material and somewhat in a broader sense. (Ehrman also tries to put too much daylight between Luke and Paul on interpretations of Jesus' death.)

So, Mark doesn't talk about Jesus having a wife. (If he was writing from Rome, and had seen Paul's letter, that might have been an influence.) So Matthew and Luke don't, either. (The "sayings gospel," known academically as "Q," presenting Jesus as a Jewish counterpart to an itinerant Cynic philosopher or similar, would have taken him as celibate for those reasons.) John may have heard enough, at least orally, from all three synoptics, and other sources, to just go forward with this. Anyway, just because no gospels list Jesus as married doesn't mean it's true.

[Edie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not required reading but absolutely my jam - written by an academic for the general public. I am comfortable enough with the material, it is interesting to read a variety of viewpoints. Would only recommend to Bible nerds.

[Bob Buice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bart Ehrman, a Professor of Religious Studies, a fundamentalist Christian turned agnostic, and a highly published author, writes in a way that clarifies his own agnostic beliefs, but shows no contempt for the faithful. In fact, in many ways his writings might appear to encourage the faithful.

Dr. Ehrman’s justification of the need to understand history is quite convincing. He says, “That is to say, at the end of the day, no one has a purely antiquarian interest, an interest in the past for its own sake. Instead, we are interested in the past because it can help us make sense of the present, of our own lives, our own beliefs, values, priorities, of our own world and our experience of it” and “The most unfortunate aspect of history is that it is gone forever. Once something happens, it is over and done with, and while there may be traces of past people and events, these traces are always incomplete, partial, slanted, vague, and subject to a range of interpretations.” Moreover, Dr. Ehrman’s frequent explanations of the techniques used in researching history enhance the meaning of his entire presentation.

Dr. Ehrman presents a truly scholarly account of early Christian beliefs and of three essential New Testament figures.

The first century theology of “lateral dualism”, describing an earthly “Kingdom of God” that was “at hand” and was soon to appear. The shift to a “horizontal dualism” – the belief that the Christian reward would be in an afterlife rather than on earth – that came about in the second century after the earthly “Kingdom of God” had not appeared.

The fickle, impetuous, and vacillating apostle Peter, the unschooled and illiterate Peter, who spoke only the Aramaic language of the common people. The Peter whom Jesus rebukes, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” The Peter who claims to be willing to die for his master, but then denies Him three times.

The well educated, Greek speaking, apostle Paul, who took the message to the gentiles. Paul, the hero of the Acts of the Apostles, but whose teachings in Acts differ substantially from his teachings in his own epistles.

Mary Magdalene, often misunderstood and incorrectly presented, who is mentioned only once during Jesus’s ministry (Luke 8:2) and only during and after the crucifixion in the other three gospels. The Mary Magdalene about whom history has left very little information, yet who has become a major figure in sermons and religious literature, not to mention Broadway plays, Musicals, Movies, and TV shows.

Dr. Ehrman considers himself an agnostic. However, despite his personal beliefs, the knowledge I have gleaned from reading five of his books has strengthened my Christian faith far more than any sermon I have heard.

[Lee Harmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be my favorite among Ehrman books. It details the legends of three of the most important followers of Jesus in the Bible.

Few of the stories told are considered historical; even stories that derive from the Bible are not considered literally true by Ehrman. For example, many of our stories come from the book of Acts, and about a quarter of Acts is made up of speeches by its characters, mostly Peter and Paul. But the speeches all sound about the same; Peter sounds like Paul and Paul sounds like Peter. This may seem a bit odd, given the fact that Peter was an illiterate peasant who spoke Aramaic, whereas Paul was a well-educated, highly astute author raised in a Greek-speaking environment. Ehrman handles these situations with characteristic bluntness: “When we examine what Peter is alleged to have preached, we are in effect seeing what different authors imagined him to have said—which may come down to the same thing as seeing what authors would have wanted him to say.”

Nevertheless, even knowing that nearly all we have about these characters is legend, the legends are fascinating and the book is fun to read. Ehrman takes a shot at unraveling which epistles are written by these three (a few of the Pauline epistles is all) and he dives into a number of second-century non-canonical Christian writings, presenting his findings in three parts: One part for each character. The section on Peter is absolutely fascinating; the section on Paul is argumentative, and not so original (Ehrman’s usual chip on the shoulder regarding pseudonymous writing makes an appearance); and the section on Mary will leave you bewildered, definitely thinking differently about her and the role of women in early Christianity. Ehrman puts it like this:

“The Christian religion is founded on the belief that Jesus was raised from the dead. And it appears virtually certain that it was Mary Magdalene of all people, an otherwise unknown Galilean Jewish woman of means, who first propounded this belief. It is not at all far fetched to claim that Mary was the founder of Christianity.”

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started this book, I was skeptical. This historian from Univ. of NC Chapel Hill talks of legends and history, offers his own opinions, I believe calls himself an agnostic. However, he presents a good case of realism about Peter, Paul and Mary Magdalene - the three famous followers of Jesus. He separates fact from fiction and backs up how he deciphers fact from fiction. He is well versed in the cultures of the early centuries C.E. (he prefers this over A.D.) He is recognized as a scholar of early Christian literature. He is an excellent conversational writer. Easy to read. The pictures he presents are of sincere people with common personality traits, how they react to knowing Jesus and how their lives interact and change. Overall the book reinforced my own beliefs in Jesus and clarified some questions that come up in life with other people. For example, he presents a good picture of Peter and his temper. He clarifies how some of Paul's letters don't sound like Paul and he shows how Mary Magdalene is NOT a prostitute. I would recommend this book to anyone, just because it is easy to read and understand. It doesn's have to be just for the scholar.

[Hilary "Fox" · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars was about right for this book for me.

Bart D. Ehrman is probably my favorite author when it comes to New Testament scholarship, and his books never fail to hold my interest. That having been said, this book was a rather large missed opportunity in my opinion. Much of what is said is repeated from section to section, and later traditions are not treated at all. I understand the purpose of this book was to explain what historical figure lies behind the traditions, but the traditions could have been treated more thoroughly prior to pulling back that mask.

Also missing were quotations from the texts themselves. I'd more highly recommend a book like Lost Christianities or even Misquoting Jesus for this sort of information. This book could easily have been much better.

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have found Ehrman's writings on the New Testament utterly fascinating, but I have also found that the more of them I read, the less there is that is new to me. This makes it difficult to say whether PP&M is not as good as Ehrman's previous books or if I have simply reached a point of diminishing returns with Ehrman.

Perhaps it's a bit of both. Of all the books I've read by Ehrman, this has the least compelling premise, being the story of three significant figures in Christianity who appear to have been chosen simply so the book could be titled after a sixties folk act.

I didn't even make it through the first of the three. The book utterly failed to hold my interest.

I'm not giving up on Ehrman yet, but I am worried that I'm at a point where anything I read by him will be at least half things I've read almost verbatim in earlier books. I am hoping this is simply a lesser Ehrman book and that the next one I read will win me over yet again, but since the Goodreads rating on this book is similar to that of the others I've read, I am not hopeful.

[Paul Cool · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this in 2006 and finally got around to reading it. I wish Bart Ehrman's work was available when I was taking "religion" on high school and "theology" at university. The questions of what Jesus actually said and meant, and who PP&M actually were and what they might have said or done, become a lot more problematic when you deconstruct, unpack, break down and figure out that a lot of legend has been superimposed upon the original and no longer available New Testament texts. For example, of Paul's 13 letters in the NT, he appears to have written only 7, while the other 6 were written by others using his name, and not infrequently reversing his opinions while using his name. How the Catholic Church can understand Paul's true position on women and Mary M's importance as effectively the first apostle and first Christian and still assign women to lower positions within the church is beyond me. Written in the most accessible manner possible. Recommended, whatever your beliefs.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This took me a lot longer to read than I would have liked. Ehrman is great at interpretations and bringing up questions and nuances I would have never considered and I did enjoy reading this, but it was hampered by the fact that this book often felt more like a long slog than light side reading. I wouldn't recommend it to someone unless they were already interested in the topic. Certainly will continue reading his books.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a very illuminating look at what is known, speculated and disputed about its three subjects. Ehrman does a great job at sticking to the topic and really diving into the detail on these figures. And as usual he treats the subject with historical and scientific rigor and does not give undue deference to tradition. My one criticism is that this, like some of his other books, contains a fair amount of repetition and could easily be cut down for a more condensed and streamlined read.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bart Ehrman does his usual excellent job of differentiating fact from myth regarding these early Christian figures. He reports what we actually know from the sources and illustrates how later sources told stories to fit their author's theological viewpoints. The book does seem a bit padded--there is considerable repetition of some of the information.

[Igor · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is difficult to add something after reading other reviews. This was my third book from Prof Ehrman.

Liking or not what this book says, it is hard to deny the information brought. It is a matter of reading the bible + reasoning.

You may not change your beliefs, but at least some respect of this author is expected.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and interesting but it was also a little boring at times. Ehrman was determined to have six chapters on each individual, which would have worked if he had similar sources for each person. But he did not so it resulted in some repetition at times. The book would have flowed better if he had presented what he had to say and not tried to stretch the information to fit a formula.

[Rebeca · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book pissed me off, because ehrman employs the gospels as historical chronicles, but only when it suits his claims, when it doesn't, then they do become "theological rewritings". please, make up your mind. it still will be useful for my dissertation though, since he refers to a few other apocryipha i didn't know about.

[Derek Post · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crushed many stories you hear with true facts... if you want first source information.. this is your book.

[John Funk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This triple biography is phenomenal.
Ehrman may be unmatched in writing this genre. These books are fun and informative. I recommend this book. Ehrman knows his stuff.

[Antonio Nunez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Erhman has carved a niche for himself as an unflinching popularizer of contemporary scriptural analysis. Here, he makes a stab at getting at the real Peter, Paul and Mary (Magdalene) across thickets of inconsistencies and obfuscation, not just in the canonical scriptures but also in all sorts of (sometimes repellent) apocrypha. There are no big surprises here. Mary Magdalene probably was not Jesus’s favorite disciple (she wasn’t even a disciple, but an apostle, not quite the same thing), she was probably not married to him, nor is it likely that they had children together. Jesus probably was celibate and single, as most of us have always thought. Paul and Peter very likely did squabble about whether gentile converts should be subject to Mosaic laws. There were a few surprises for me, among them that nearly half of Paul’s letters were not in fact written by Paul but by others of sometimes different opinions. In his actual letters Paul is in fact not misogynistic, he even mentioned (in Romans) a female apostle named Junia (which some commentators renamed Junius for propriety’s sake). All through the book, Ehrman comes back to his hobbyhorse, that Jesus and all his direct followers were Jewish apocalypticists who thought the world was about to end and the Kingdom of God was forthcoming in this world, in material, physical form, and the powers of evil would be undone. The references to Docetists (heretics who believed Jesus was not a real man but only appeared to be one) are also interesting, Ehrman is good at showing how such arcane theological disputes could have direct political and popular relevance. It is also clear why the gnostics (descendants of the Docetists but with distinct Hellenic flavor) could claim Paul as one their own, as could their orthodox rivals. While the book is not at all uplifting in a moral or religious senses, it is interesting and highly amusing as history and a close reading of the New Testament.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why haven’t I read this type of book earlier, after all, the history of Christianity is something I’ve been interested in since my age reached “a whole hand.” The three characters discussed in this book, Simon Peter, Apostle Paul, and Mary Magdalene, are the most interesting people in the development of my Western civilization.

Some will choose NOT to read this book, despite their interest in the topic, because historical facts may undermine their fundamental understanding of their life and faith. I’m happy to report that the author recognizes this potential fragility and is respectful of his subjects. Personally, my Christian faith is strong and after enjoying the many new things I learned, I’m more excited about God than ever. Disclaimer: I believe in a metaphysical, Unity-type, of Christ.

The book taught me that biblical characters like Paul are lightning rod controversial. I didn’t know this but see it clearly in retrospect. Many believe Paul vastly changed Jesus’ message, something I like to believe. Peter, on the other hand, appears historically as very human and more likable. There are few sources regarding Mary but the popular Da Vinci Code novel is almost entirely fiction.

The best thing I learned from this book is to appreciate the different perspectives and tools history offers. I find these refreshing.

[Oscar · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a student of religion and big fan of Professor Ehrman. It's hard for admit but this book was a big disappointment. I expected high academic quality as all of his previous books. Didn't happen.
It seems Professor Ehrman had material only for 20 pages when he was asked to do this book. So he started copying and pasting material from previous books a d writing reviews of popular movies and books. Many times I had the feeling I was reading entire paragraphs from previous books.
This book looks like a college essay where a student was asked to type 60 pages so he starts adding very long phrases such as "I am unable to do what you are requesting of me" instead of "I can't" so he can meet that requirement.

Professor Ehrman wrote a very disorganized book that seems very low quality for an author of his stature. He is all over the place and very repetitive.

To sum up the book in a sentence: 10% of the book is, as usual, his personal experience from Christian to agnostic; 60% fiction and non-cannonical literature; 20% random Christian history (sometimes it doesn't seem related to the topic at hand); 5% actual canonical books; and 5% actual historical material related to Paul, Peter, and Mary Magdalene.

Like I said, I was disappointed. Not recommended at all if you have read at least one of his books. Most likely, you won't learn anything new here.

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in history and Legend by Bart Ehrman is a very readable exploration of some of Jesus' most famous apostles. Ehrman is a good writer and a fantastic scholar, and he leverages both of those traits to good effect here. If there is an issue, it is that Ehrman often introduces doubt by highlighting discrepancies in texts, dismisses accounts that he believes are too supportive of ideas that the author would have wanted to be true, and instead uses some strands of evidence to often take things in nearly the opposite direction of what the orthodox view is. I'm a fan of this type of critical scholarship. When I was new to this type of material, I ate it up with such fervor that I was a very big fan of his - especially given his Great Courses work. But the more I get exposed to it, and the more I encounter other approaches to the material, the more it grates a little. This book isn't even a particularly bad example of that practice, but echoes of it are felt throughout as I went through the material. As such, I imagine a very different book would have been created with even a slightly different pedagogical approach.

Even so... it was a good book, and I'm a fan of Ehrman.

[Abdul Alhazred · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of Ehrman's lesser known titles, but it's one of his better ones. He really shines and illuminates when discussing the very first moments of christianity and even though he's discussed the people around Jesus in his other books, it's never to this depth. With the actual scriptures giving only a rough sketch, we need to delve into supporting materials, apocrypha, historical research and plain speculation and interpretation, and that's where it gets really interesting. How much of the stories around these principal characters were later inventions? How do theological battles figure into how they're portrayed? Did alternative christianities exist that would have ranked them differently (the battle between Peter and Paul is of particular interest here)? Making it about the other people of the Bible experiencing and interpreting the events makes the questions it prompts much more relatable.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have long been impressed with Bart Ehrman and he delivers again with this book that explores what we know and don't know about Peter, Paul and Mary Magdalene. This is a fascinating read in scripture theology but a warning to the literalists - read this with an open mind. Scripture is a tricky thing - there are differing accounts, many contradictions and lots of questions about authorship of particular books. Ehrman points all of this out and then offers much insight in how to best interpret scripture. Heads up - the Bible is NOT a history book. At the end, my regard for these three Biblical characters was much improved. It really does help to step back and examine the whole 2000-year history (with the edits made and legends promulgated) to better appreciate the impact that Peter, Paul and Mary Magdalene have had on humanity.