
Jesus Before the Gospels
How the Earliest Christians Remembered, Changed, and Invented Their Stories of the Savior
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Narrated by:
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Joe Barrett
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By:
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Bart D. Ehrman
About this listen
The best-selling author of Misquoting Jesus, one of the most renowned and controversial Bible scholars in the world today, examines oral tradition and its role in shaping the stories about Jesus we encounter in the New Testament - and ultimately in our understanding of Christianity.
Throughout much of human history, our most important stories were passed down orally - including the stories about Jesus before they became written down in the Gospels. In this fascinating and deeply researched work, leading Bible scholar Bart D. Erhman investigates the role oral history has played in the New Testament - how the telling of these stories not only spread Jesus' message but helped shape it.
A master explainer of Christian history, texts, and traditions, Ehrman draws on a range of disciplines, including psychology and anthropology, to examine the role of memory in the creation of the Gospels. Explaining how oral tradition evolves based on the latest scientific research, he demonstrates how the act of telling and retelling impacts the story, the storyteller, and the listener - crucial insights that challenge our typical historical understanding of the silent period between when Jesus lived and died and when his stories began to be written down.
As he did in his previous books on religious scholarship, debates on New Testament authorship, and the existence of Jesus of Nazareth, Ehrman combines his deep knowledge and meticulous scholarship in a compelling and eye-opening narrative that will change the way we read and think about these sacred texts.
©2016 Bart D. Ehrman (P)2016 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Faith shaking
- By Fletch on 09-05-12
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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The Triumph of Christianity
- How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: George Newbern, Bart D. Ehrman
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Christianity didn't have to become the dominant religion in the West. It easily could have remained a sect of Judaism fated to have the historical importance of the Sadducees or the Essenes. In The Triumph of Christianity, Bart Ehrman, a master explainer of Christian history, texts, and traditions, shows how a religion whose first believers were 20 or so illiterate day laborers in a remote part of the empire became the official religion of Rome, converting some 30 million people in just four centuries.
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Another Piece of the Jesus Puzzle
- By A Mom on 04-13-18
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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Jesus
- Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In this highly accessible discussion, Bart Ehrman examines the most recent textual and archaeological sources for the life of Jesus, along with the history of first-century Palestine, drawing a fascinating portrait of the man and his teachings. Ehrman shows us what historians have long known about the Gospels and the man who stands behind them. Through a careful evaluation of the New Testament (and other surviving sources, including the more recently discovered Gospels of Thomas and Peter), Ehrman proposes that Jesus can be best understood as an apocalyptic prophet.
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I must read for those whose wanting to expand their insight from a single perspective (devotional) to include historical
- By RGO on 11-25-19
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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The New Testament
- By: Bart D. Ehrman, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Bart D. Ehrman
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
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Whether taken as a book of faith or a cultural artifact, the New Testament is among the most significant writings the world has ever known, its web of meaning relied upon by virtually every major writer in the last 2,000 years. Yet the New Testament is not only one of Western civilization’s most believed books, but also one of its most widely disputed, often maligned, and least clearly understood, with a vast number of people unaware of how it was written and transmitted.
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If you want a balanced overview this is not it
- By Amazon Customer on 02-27-16
By: Bart D. Ehrman, and others
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Armageddon
- What the Bible Really Says About the End
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff, Bart D. Ehrman
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In Armageddon, acclaimed New Testament authority Bart D. Ehrman delves into the most misunderstood—and possibly the most dangerous—book of the Bible, exploring the horrifying social and political consequences of expecting an imminent apocalypse and offering a fascinating tour through three millennia of Judeo-Christian thinking about how our world will end. By turns hilarious, moving, troubling, and provocative, Armageddon presents inspiring insights into how to live our lives in the face of an uncertain future.
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The best explanation I have heard in my 70 years on Revelations
- By Ian Huntington on 05-19-23
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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Lost Christianities
- The Battles of Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: Matthew Kugler
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs. Some groups of Christians claimed that there was not one God but two or twelve or thirty. Some believed that the world had not been created by God but by a lesser, ignorant deity. Certain sects maintained that Jesus was human but not divine, while others said he was divine but not human.
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The Early Church(es)
- By Margaret on 01-06-14
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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When Christians Were Jews
- The First Generation
- By: Paula Fredriksen
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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In this electrifying social and intellectual history, Paula Fredriksen answers the question of how Jewish missionaries ended up inaugurating a movement that would grow into the gentile church by reconstructing the life of the earliest Jerusalem community. As her account arcs from this group’s hopeful celebration of Passover with Jesus, through their bitter controversies that fragmented the movement’s midcentury missions, to the city’s fiery end in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, she brings this vibrant apostolic community to life.
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nothing to see here, nothing to read here
- By Anonymous User on 12-10-18
By: Paula Fredriksen
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After Jesus, Before Christianity
- A Historical Exploration of the First Two Centuries of Jesus Movements
- By: Erin Vearncombe, Brandon Scott, Hal Taussig, and others
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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From the creative minds of the scholarly group behind the groundbreaking Jesus Seminar comes this provocative and eye-opening look at the roots of Christianity that offers a thoughtful reconsideration of the first two centuries of the Jesus movement, transforming our understanding of the religion and its early dissemination.
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Excellent and informative
- By Claire Z. on 04-17-22
By: Erin Vearncombe, and others
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Journeys to Heaven and Hell
- Tours of the Afterlife in the Early Christian Tradition
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: John Tefler
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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From classics such as the Odyssey and the Aeneid to fifth-century Christian apocrypha, narratives that described guided tours of the afterlife played a major role in shaping ancient notions of morality and ethics. In this new account, acclaimed author Bart Ehrman contextualizes early Christian narratives of heaven and hell within the broader intellectual and cultural worlds from which they emerged.
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New Hits Here. Not Repackaged Hits.
- By Adam on 06-19-22
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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Creating Christ
- How Roman Emperors Invented Christianity
- By: James S. Valliant, C. W. Fahy
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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This explosive work of history unearths clues that finally demonstrate the truth about one of the world's great religions: that it was born out of the conflict between the Romans and messianic Jews who fought a bitter war with each other during the first century. The Romans employed a tactic they routinely used to conquer and absorb other nations: they grafted their imperial rule onto the religion of the conquered.
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life is one big lie
- By Anonymous User on 12-25-19
By: James S. Valliant, and others
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Lost Scriptures
- Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: James Clement
- Length: 18 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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While most people think that the 27 books of the New Testament are the only sacred writings of the early Christians, this is not at all the case. A companion volume to Bart Ehrman's Lost Christianities, this book offers an anthology of up-to-date and easy-listening translations of many noncanonical writings from the first centuries after Christ - texts that have been for the most part lost or neglected for almost two millennia.
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Great book destroyed by horrific narration.
- By Stephen P Bielski on 05-31-21
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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God's Ghostwriters
- Enslaved Christians and the Making of the Bible
- By: Candida Moss
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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For the past two thousand years, Christian tradition, scholarship, and pop culture have credited the authorship of the New Testament to a select group of men: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul. But hidden behind these named and sainted individuals are a cluster of enslaved coauthors and collaborators.
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I just selected the wrong book
- By N. Thompson on 02-02-25
By: Candida Moss
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James, the Brother of Jesus
- The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls
- By: Robert Eisenman
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 43 hrs
- Unabridged
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James was a vegetarian, wore only linen clothing, bathed daily at dawn in cold water, and was a life-long Nazirite. In this profound and provocative work of scholarly detection, eminent biblical scholar Robert Eisenman introduces a startling theory about the identity of James - the brother of Jesus - who was almost entirely marginalized in the New Testament.
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Regretable. Hard to follow. Repetitive.
- By Jimi on 08-18-17
By: Robert Eisenman
What listeners say about Jesus Before the Gospels
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- Dan A. Goff
- 05-18-20
Knowledge of Jesus’s history.
Bart did a wonderful job with this book and gave a good insight to early giving good examples from the gospels, and non-canonized gospels. This is a good read for all.
Thanks Bart!
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- Michael LaFond
- 06-07-22
superb and original thinking
never disappointing, prof ehrman provides a deeper understanding of the new testament. I will listen again.
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- Jeremy Gregg
- 06-14-21
A thought-provoking look at Jesus
Once again, Professor Ehrman presents provocative but historically provable facts about the man Jesus. If you are a fan of his other work you will not be disappointed. This is not the story of Jesus that you learn about in Church. Professor Ehrman once again demonstrates that the gospels, written decades after the supposed death of Jesus, evolved and were created by people who had no first-hand knowledge. A great read if you are interested in learning religious history without Dogma.
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- mary
- 07-13-16
Information about Jesus
Loved it. Everyone who thinks they know Jesus , needs to listen to this book.
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- Greg Blush
- 02-21-23
All of his books are wonderful
I love learning from these books. I’ve gone through all of his books and also have gone through the new testament scores of times
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- Landon S. Sperry
- 09-09-23
Thought Provoking
A fascinating synthesis of two different fields of study. Well constructed and easy to digest, this was one of my favorites from Bart Ehrman.
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- Vic
- 04-21-17
Good book, bad reading
Any additional comments?
A good popular level book about the role of memory as it relates to the Scriptures that have been handed down to us.
I wish it had been another reader, though.
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- Jon Weimer
- 09-27-16
Excellent Book, Boring Reader
This is an interesting meditation on the Gospels as seen through the lens of modern theories of human memory (and it's fallibility).
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1 person found this helpful
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- Kandieman
- 02-22-19
It's not what you know it's how you remember it.
This book is a departure for Dr. Ehrman in that it deals story telling and how we remember these stories, tells, and in most cases facts. It also deals with how fact can get corrupted through the constant retelling of the story.
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- Giancarlo
- 10-08-17
A most interesting job
The Author revised critically various Gospels and the relative bibliography with great competence, always without offending listener's ideas.
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2 people found this helpful