Bart Ehrman (born 1955) is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of New Testament, historical Jesus, and development of
Jerusalem is a city in the Middle East. It is located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of
Gospel is the Old English translation of Greek evangelion, meaning "good news". It originally meant the Christian message itself, but in the 2nd
Paul's new doctrine met with disapproval from the Jewish-Christians of the Jerusalem Church led by James, who regarded the substitution of Jesus' atoning death for the observance of the Torah as a lapse into paganism.
Paul was duly summoned to Jerusalem by the leaders James, Peter and John to explain his doctrine in 50 AD.
The Synoptic Gospels strictly portray Jesus through a human lens as an honorable prophet, a moral hero, and a devoted martyr. They do not present him as a literal God who assumed human flesh, nor do they frame his life as a cosmic sacrifice intended to die and rise again for the spiritual salvation of mankind.
Paul was deeply unyielding toward alternative views of the faith, explicitly writing in Galatians 1:9 that if any person preached a gospel different from the one his followers had received, that individual should be completely accursed. This indicates he aggressively dismissed the legalistic, Jewish-Christian perspectives held by original disciples like James and Peter.
The Gospel of Matthew, aimed at law-abiding Jewish-Christians, did not support Pauline doctrine and actually stood in direct opposition to it.
The canonical gospels were composed during the second half of the 1st century, with Mark widely dated around 65-70 CE, followed by Matthew and Luke between 80-90 CE, and John close to 90-100 CE. These dates mean the texts were compiled decades after Jesus' earthly ministry, drawing on reliable oral traditions and early eyewitness testimonies.
In Galatians 1:6-9, Paul strongly condemned anyone preaching a different gospel, reflecting a significant conflict in the early church between his Gentile-inclusive mission and strict adherence to the Law.
The author of the fourth gospel is believed to be a Greek convert with limited knowledge of traditional Judaism, who frequently uses 'the Jews' as an antagonistic term over 60 times in the Gospel of John alone.
Apocrypha are works, usually written works, that are of unknown authorship, or of doubtful authenticity, or spurious, or not considered to be within a particular canon.
The Apocrypha (Greek for 'hidden away') are revered Biblical text which were excluded from the canon Bible. They were literally hidden away from the early Christians, and tell a very different story of Jesus.
Gospel of Nazoreans
Gospel of Ebionites
Gospel of Egyptians
Gospel of Peter
Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Hebrews
Thomas is the most important non-canonical Gospel recently discovered in the last century. It positively features in current studies of Christian origins and the historical Jesus.
Gospel of Thomas with sayings of Jesus is thought to be earliest written record of his life produced within ten years of his death.
In the 2nd century, some Christians felt John gospel was so different in tone and approach in comparison to the other three synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke); it should have been excluded from the cannon.
The books of Arius and his followers, after the first Council of Nicaea (325 C.E.), were burned for heresy by the Roman emperors Constantine, Honorius, and Theodosius I, who published a decree commanding that, 'the doctrine of the Trinity should be embraced by those who would be called catholics; that all others should bear the infamous name of heretics'.