{"title":"Books by Bart D. Ehrman","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780061778193","title":"How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher From Galilee","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author and Bible expert Bart Ehrman reveals how Jesus's divinity became dogma in the first few centuries of the early church.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe claim at the heart of the Christian faith is that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. But this is not what the original disciples believed during Jesus's lifetime--and it is not what Jesus claimed about himself. \u003cem\u003eHow Jesus Became God \u003c\/em\u003etells the story of an idea that shaped Christianity, and of the evolution of a belief that looked very different in the fourth century than it did in the first.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA master explainer of Christian history, texts, and traditions, Ehrman reveals how an apocalyptic prophet from the backwaters of rural Galilee crucified for crimes against the state came to be thought of as equal with the one God Almighty, Creator of all things. But how did he move from being a Jewish prophet to being God? In a book that took eight years to research and write, Ehrman sketches Jesus's transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection. Only when some of Jesus's followers had visions of him after his death--alive again--did anyone come to think that he, the prophet from Galilee, had become God. And what they meant by that was not at all what people mean today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten for secular historians of religion and believers alike, \u003cem\u003eHow Jesus Became God\u003c\/em\u003e will engage anyone interested in the historical developments that led to the affirmation at the heart of Christianity: Jesus was, and is, God.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56222101143925,"sku":"9780061778193","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780061778193_0df74116-1285-472b-a7a4-263b11334827.jpg?v=1786011400"},{"product_id":"9780062206442","title":"Did Jesus Exist?","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eDid Jesus Exist?\u003c\/em\u003e historian and Bible expert Bart Ehrman confronts the question, \"Did Jesus exist at all?\" Ehrman vigorously defends the historical Jesus, identifies the most historically reliable sources for best understanding Jesus’ mission and message, and offers a compelling portrait of the person at the heart of the Christian tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKnown as a master explainer with deep knowledge of the field, Bart Ehrman methodically demolishes both the scholarly and popular “mythicist” arguments against the existence of Jesus. Marshaling evidence from within the Bible and the wider historical record of the ancient world, Ehrman tackles the key issues that surround the mythologies associated with Jesus and the early Christian movement.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eDid Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth, \u003c\/em\u003eEhrman establishes the criterion for any genuine historical investigation and provides a robust defense of the methods required to discover the Jesus of history.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56222422565237,"sku":"9780062206442","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780062206442_32be6c31-b152-46a5-8b82-6d93b5bf0f36.jpg?v=1786011475"},{"product_id":"9780195124743","title":"Jesus, Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium","description":"This controversial new book argues that Jesus, like many of his later followers, proclaimed that God was soon to intervene in human affairs and bring all of history to a screeching halt. Through a careful evaluation of the New Testament Gospels and other surviving sources, including the more recently discovered Gospels of Thomas and Peter, Ehrman shows why Jesus should be understood as an apocalyptic prophet who anticipated the destruction of evil, the end of the age, and beginning of a new world - not 2000 years after his lifetime, but in less than 30.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56225859404149,"sku":"9780195124743","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780195124743_fdaf1e9f-7b6f-404f-8475-40b4190e0e27.jpg?v=1786011147"},{"product_id":"9780195182507","title":"Lost Scriptures","description":"We may think of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament as the only sacred writings of the early Christians, but this is not at all the case. Lost Scriptures offers an anthology of up-to-date and readable translations of many non-canonical writings from the centuries after Christ--texts that have for the most part been neglected or lost for nearly two millennia. Here is an array of remarkably varied writings from early Christian groups whose visions of Jesus differ dramatically from our contemporary understanding. Readers will find Gospels supposedly authored by the apostle Philip, James the brother of Jesus, Mary Magdalen, and others. There are Acts originally ascribed to John and to Thecla, Paul's female companion; there are Epistles allegedly written by Paul to the Roman philosopher Seneca. And there is an apocalypse by Simon Peter that offers a guided tour of the afterlife, both the glorious ecstasies of the saints and the horrendous torments of the damned, and an Epistle by Titus, a companion of Paul, which argues page after page against sexual love, even within marriage, on the grounds that physical intimacy leads to damnation. In all, the anthology includes fifteen Gospels, five non-canonical Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles, a number of Apocalypes and Secret Books, and several Canon lists. Ehrman has included a general introduction, plus brief introductions to each piece.  Lost Scriptures gives readers a vivid picture of the range of beliefs that battled each other in the first centuries of the Christian era. It is an essential resource for anyone interested in the Bible or the early Church.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56225863041397,"sku":"9780195182507","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780195182507_2b7ca796-77f5-43d3-87f6-522390f763c6.jpg?v=1786011170"},{"product_id":"9781786074836","title":"The Triumph of Christianity","description":"How did Christianity become the dominant religion in the West?In the early first century, a small group of peasants from the backwaters of the Roman Empire proclaimed that an executed enemy of the state was God’s messiah. Less than four hundred years later it had become the official religion of Rome with some thirty million followers.   It could so easily have been a forgotten sect of Judaism.   Through meticulous research, Bart Ehrman, an expert on Christian history, texts and traditions, explores the way we think about one of the most important cultural transformations the world has ever seen, one that has shaped the art, music, literature, philosophy, ethics and economics of modern Western civilisation.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56305619403125,"sku":"9781786074836","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781786074836_7b6aecba-f7d8-4eff-968f-76cb4b67b591.jpg?v=1786025729"},{"product_id":"9781836431824","title":"Love Thy Stranger","description":"When you hear of a devastating earthquake thousands of miles away, you might reach into your pockets to make a donation. That’s the fault of an itinerant Jewish preacher from Palestine, an obscure backwater of the Roman Empire, otherwise known as Jesus Christ.   Kindness to strangers is not hardwired in our DNA. Nor was it esteemed by the great canon of ancient Western philosophy – the Greeks and Romans prioritised generosity to your friends and family. When Jesus told his followers to give up everything they owned to the poor, he heralded a moral revolution. The needy, the sick, the outcast were to be cared for – even if they were unknown to you. This was a tough pill to swallow for early Christians, and to this day, many insist Jesus didn’t really mean it. Nonetheless Jesus’ most radical commandment transformed the moral conscience of the West: its legacy lives on in public hospitals, the billions given in charity each year and even government welfare.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56369293132149,"sku":"9781836431824","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781836431824.jpg?v=1791212832"},{"product_id":"forgery-and-counter-forgery","title":"Forgery and Counter-forgery","description":"Forgery and Counter-Forgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics by Bart Ehrman, the New York Times best-selling author of Misquoting Jesus and recognized authority on early Christianity, is the first major contemporary work on forgery in early Christian literature. It examines the motivation and function behind Christian literary forgeries. Ehrman guides readers through Christian literary forgeries of the first four centuries CE while providing coverage of other ancient texts. He asks why early Christians lied about themselves when writing polemical works; and then answers by showing how unknown Christian authors used forgeries to defend their own faith and attack other interpretations of early Christianity. He further asks why many scholars resist acknowledging their forgeries; and he answers that the forgeries uncomfortably call into question the authority of the New Testament. The book is essential reading for those interested in early Christianity and the New Testament.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466546356597,"sku":"9780199928033","price":63.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780199928033.jpg?v=1785654605"},{"product_id":"heaven-and-hell","title":"Heaven and Hell","description":"Where did the ideas of heaven and hell come from?'An engaging but expert guide.' THE TIMESAs strange as it may seem to us now, there was a time when no one thought they would go to heaven or hell after they died. In fact, there is no mention of them in the Old Testament, and Jesus did not believe the souls of the departed were bound for either realm.   In this gripping history of the afterlife, Bart Ehrman reveals how the concepts of heaven and hell developed and took hold, and why they endure to this day. He examines the social, cultural and historical roots of competing views held by Greeks, Jews and Christians, and traces how beliefs changed over time. Ultimately, he shows that many of our ideas about heaven and hell emerged long after Jesus’s time, through the struggle to explain the injustices of the world.   ***'There’s no one I’d rather read on what Christians believe, and why they believe it, than Bart Ehrman.' TOM BISSELL, AUTHOR OF APOSTLE'An impressively readable, clear and wide-ranging study.' SPECTATOR'This elegant history explores the evolution of the concept of the afterlife in Western thought... presented with engaging clarity.' THE NEW YORKER","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57481715646837,"sku":"9780861541201","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780861541201.jpg?v=1786090034"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-bart-d-ehrman.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}