Can We Trust the New Testament?
4/2/20261 hr 24 min
Even if you don’t believe he walked on water, the teachings of Jesus still have a certain power. My guest this week, the New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman, calls himself a “Christian atheist.” I asked Ehrman to come on the show to explore Jesus’ message, discuss how the Bible has shaped the morality of the Western world and explain what even the biggest skeptic can learn from one of mankind’s oldest texts.
- 0:00 - Intro
- 02:20 - Jesus’s moral teachings
- 08:15 - Ehrman’s path away from Christianity and faith
- 21:22 - The historical evidence for Jesus and the New Testament
- 33:26 - The challenges in interpreting the Gospels
- 52:07 - The contradictions in the New Testament
- 01:04:10 - Historical and geographical validity
- 01:09:25 - The visions and reality of the Resurrection
- 01:19:21 - A “Christian atheist”
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMasha Gessen· Soundbite0:00
[pensive music] In theory, I knew that this kind of thing can happen in any family. Upstanding citizens are always turning out to be secret criminals, and I wouldn't even call my cousin Alan an upstanding citizen. But it's one thing to know and another thing to understand.
Speaker 10:15
Alan murder me?
Masha Gessen· Soundbite0:18
What the hell was Alan thinking? From Serial Productions and The New York Times, I'm M. Gessen, and this is The Idiot. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Ross Douthat· Host0:28
Hey, listeners. So New York Times Opinion is hiring. We are looking for an audio engineer that would work closely with this show. The role will be based in DC, and notwithstanding this episode, will not require an encyclopedic knowledge of the New Testament. So if you or someone you know may be interested in applying, the link for the job posting is in the description for this week's episode. [upbeat music] From New York Times Opinion, I'm Ross Douthat, and this is Interesting Times. Did Jesus actually rise from the dead or heal the sick or turn water into wine? How close do the gospel stories take us to what really happened at the