Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman Did Jesus Actually Claim to be God?
6 snips
Jun 24, 2025 
Dr. Bart D. Ehrman, a prominent Bible scholar and six-time New York Times bestselling author, delves into the intriguing question of Jesus' claim to divinity. He explores how Jesus is portrayed in the Gospels and whether he self-identified as God. Ehrman examines the fluid concept of divinity in ancient cultures, drawing parallels with other historical figures. The discussion also navigates ancient Jewish perspectives on divine attributes, revealing the complex interplay between mortality and divinity in the context of Jesus and his contemporaries.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Jesus' Divinity Mainly in John
- Jesus' self-identification as divine appears mainly in the Gospel of John, not the earlier Synoptic Gospels.
- Scholars like Bart Ehrman recognized this divergence only in advanced academic study rather than early Christian teaching.
Divinity as a Continuum in Antiquity
- Ancient cultures viewed divinity as a continuum between gods and humans, rather than a strict divide.
- Ordinary people could be considered divine due to extraordinary qualities or semi-divine parentage.
Jewish Views on Divine Claims
- Declaring oneself as God-God was blasphemous in Jewish tradition, though claiming angelic status was frowned upon.
- Some were talked about as divine but rarely taken seriously within Jewish contexts.
