The New Testament, Parts 1 and 2, audio course taught by Professor Bart D. Ehrman, U. North Carolina

Professor Bart D. Ehrman

The Teaching Company

Whether you consider it a book of faith or a cultural artifact, the New Testament is among the most significant writings that the world has ever known. Yet the New Testament is also among the most widely controversial and least clearly understood books in history. In these lectures, Professor Ehrman develops a carefully reasoned understanding of the New Testament - and the individuals and communities who created its texts. His approach is that of a historian, and the course suspends belief or disbelief to understand how, when, why, and by whom the New Testament was written in light of historical research. He also reviews key texts omitted from the New Testament. Many people remain unaware of how the New Testament was written and transmitted. This course draws on modern biblical scholarship, recent archaeological discoveries, and careful literary analysis to trace the history of the New Testament and of the early Christian faith community. Professor Ehrman brings impressive scholarly evidence to bear on the task of reconstructing the life and ministry of Jesus and the origins of Christianity in the decades before and during the composition of the books that make up the New Testament.

The New Testament

From Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity

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 - that supported its own views? These 24 lectures provide a fresh and provocative perspective on how a movement of perhaps only 20 lower-class followers of a Jewish apocalyptic preacher crucified as an enemy of the state grew to include nearly four million adherents in only 300 years. Professor Ehrman looks at the faith's beginnings, starting with the historical Jesus, Jewish-Christian relations, the way Paul and other Christians spread the new faith, hostility to the Christian mission, internal struggles within the faith, and the formation of traditional Christianity as we know it today. Christianity argued its ancient roots by retaining the Jewish scriptures and arguing that it was, in fact, the fulfillment of what those scriptures had promised. Throughout these lectures, Professor Ehrman challenges old misconceptions and offers fresh perspectives on aspects of Christianity and its roots that many of us might have thought we already understood. By offering you a scholar's perspective on the origins of what Professor Ehrman describes as the most important institution in Western civilization, this engaging course will increase your understanding of Christianity today.

History

World

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.

The Greatest Controversies of Early Christian History

The Teaching Company/ The Great Courses

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Professor Bart D. Ehrman. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Professor Bart D. Ehrman

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Professor Bart D. Ehrman. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The New Testament, Parts 1 and 2, audio course taught by Professor Bart D. Ehrman, U. North Carolina

The New Testament

From Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity

The Greatest Controversies of Early Christian History

From Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity