I was taught about Revelation from a conservative Baptist perspective in high school. After being taught that the rapture was coming soon, that credit cards and tattoos were marks of the devil, and that I should prepare myself for the second coming of Christ, I had no hope for my future. This doctrine ruined my worldview and motivation to prepare myself for a full adult life. This education was extremely destructive for me and took me many years to make sense of what I was taught. I would have benefitted so much from hearing Erhman’s interpretation of Revelation at that time to give me another perspective and to give me hope that I had a promising future in the world. Instead I was left hopeless and scared as no one was talking like this at that time in my world in the 1970s. Teaching end times prophesy to children is cruel, unloving, and nothing short of psychological child abuse.
I agree. After my son was an adult, he told me that when he was in kindergarten, he would go to school fearing that he would miss the rapture and be left behind. It made me regret staying in that fundamentalist church as long as we did, not to mention that it broke my heart.
@@196078614teal I know many parents, like my own , that were unaware of the extreme worldviews their children were being taught in schools and places of worship. We want to trust our religious authorities, but time and time again we see that they are really just self-appointed authorities consumed by ancient theologies.
@@196078614tealI understand and good on you breaking free for the sake of your child! I never have believed in the rapture when i heard first about it as I dont remember it being in the Anglican/ RC tradition, the only churches I knew well. After attending some evangelical and charismatic churches i knew not for me or my kids Yet these fundamental.protestants believe they are "true to the Word,they are not but misubderstand, misibterpret in my view.There is non proof of some pretrib rapture. Paul and the others also believed Jesus would return in their lifetime so reading the epistles in that light the weird teachings of Paul i.e. dont get married etc etc makes sense. I just keep to the Gospels as less confusing!
Thats only cause your little pea brain cannot comprehend. GODs timelime is infinite. So the end is near, to him vould be 3000 years away to his being in exostence for billions of years. To us 4 months is the time is near in comparison to our measley 80 year lifespans. Glad i could wake you.
@@WheresWaldo05 So, according to this speculation, the meaning of the end is near means the end could be thousands of years from now? Why would God tell humans the time is near, but He means thousands of years just because God is infinite? Divine revelations were given to humans rather than to beings that have an infinite reference of time. Let the perspective be changed. I tell my two-year-old son that he will soon be driving a car. Soon to me means fifteen years. Do you think my son will think that fifteen years is soon? My son is my audience. For him to correctly understand what I wish for him to know, I must say it in terms that he has a concept about, otherwise, I am misleading. Nearly five hundred years before Christ, the prophet Daniel was given a prophecy. The prophet Daniel was told that he was to UNDERSTAND the vision was for the time of the end. The time of the end was many days from now, meaning long after Daniel had died. So that Daniel did not misunderstand when the prophecy would occur, he was specifically told to seal up the prophecy. To Daniel’s question as to when the prophecy would happen, he was told he would have long gone to his rest meaning grave (Daniel 8 and 12). In this divine revelation, God did not mislead Daniel by saying the time was soon but actually meaning the time was nearly five hundred years. Just the opposite is told to John. “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near” (Revelation 22:10). Are Bible students to believe God made sure that the prophet Daniel did not misunderstand that the time of the end was in the distant future and not sometime soon, but God deliberately mislead John by saying the time was soon but actually meant thousands of years in the future?
@@PuritanProdcutions That's because people that they consider "unholy" are becoming more accepted. So in a sick, twisted way, they are "correct." Never mind that the people they hate have always existed, so even that is BS.
Thank you very much to both! I'm an Orthodox Muslim but I highly appreciate your scholarship, Prof - despite our divergent views. As a negligible token of my gratitude for the work you have put out there, I have subscribed to your blog/charity projects :)
I think it's great to see people of Muslim faith taking an interest in biblical scholarship. Unfortunately, some Muslims seem to be under the impression that historical criticism only shows the fallacies of the Jewish and Christian faith, thereby strengthening Islam's claim to be the one and only true religion. As a Christian who believes that historical criticism is of vital importance for any faith in the modern age, I find this troubling. I sincerely believe that all people of faith, Jews, Christians and Muslims included, can only grow by understanding that everything we learn about God from our scriptures is a momentary impression of how a specific person or group of people experienced and understood God. There is still room to grow for any person of faith, and aspects of our faith that we can only fully explore when we expose ourselves to different views.
@@haukenot3345 Agreed! I'm reconstructing how Hebrew Scripture may have been sung in different periods of history, and my appreciation for scripture has evolved while my faith has only increased... even though the faith is no longer placed in a literalist interpretation of words on a page, but in my relationship with God as my master, teacher, and father.
Wow! This is perfect timing. I was telling my son that this war was more about oil, last week. Now I need to get your book. Thank you. I’m sharing this video with my father!
It’s so sad that the truth and context of Revelation can be clearly demonstrated and known, but is still rampantly believed to be about something that will happen in modern times. People need it to be true. So they interpret it so it can still be held onto as truth.
Having been a conservative dispensationalist for most of my adult life, Dr. Ehrman’s explanation of Revelation is highly refreshing and could save many people from needless disappointment trying to determine prophetic timelines.
World events prove the prophecies. The signs in the weather, sun moon and stars alone should be enough let alone the lawlessness, perversion, wars, earthquakes volcanoes famine pestilence worldwide. The world is suffering and has been suffering many years outside the west. If these aren't the days of vengeance, then I don't know what people think it is. Millions dying is a pretty good indicator.
Kent Hovind, Mike Winger, Ken Ham, Ray Comfort etc won't agree with Bart's interpretation! Hovind in particular is speculating that Jesus will make his return in 2028, and even when this doesn't happen I doubt the fundamentalists (and people who _need_ to believe in a magical fantasy afterlife) will ever listen to researched biblical interpretations from Bart!
The part about U.S. policy is spot on. There is a completely imaginary view of modern Israel that is an article of faith in the evangelical world, and its impervious to rational thinking, historical understanding, or contemporary reality.
very well said. this is a big part of the reason that so much military aid gets sent to them year after year. and this in turn directly funds an apartheid state. evangelicals defend this by calling anyone that criticizes the government of israel anti-semitic.
@@plotinuswashere Very true. Anti-semitism and disagreeing with the current government of Israel are two completely different things. Ultimately Israel will have to make a choice between being a democracy and being a religious state - it is impossible to be both.
Yup. Exactly right. Even stranger: Many of those same "Pro-Israel" Evangelicals are *themselves* Antisemites, since they see Jews as "Christ-killers"... Meanwhile, Israel isn't stupid, so they're aware of that... Yet they play along with the Evangelicals' charade in order to (I assume) keep the military aid flowing. Talk about a cynical, surreal foreign policy Ouroboros... lol
@@njhoepner And what choice will Syria, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey…make. Or is it only Israel that we worry about? I wonder why that is?
Christ has already returned and the majority are clueless just like they didn't recognize it in the 1st century because they were looking for something different than they were taught for centuries by false teachers.
I am trying to find the quote (maybe somebody can help me out on this), but one of the very early Roman historians who reported on the existence of the Christian cult mentioned that they were FILLED with the "hatred of life." Nothing's changed in the past 2,000 years, because it seems to me that that is what all these Christians who cannot wait to experience the "end times" are ultimately all about: they just hate life and want to watch the world burn.
@@russellmiles2861 - Jesus said in a parable in the Bible to occupy until He comes back though. So we're to live as if He's long in returning, but ready too for His return if it's soon. He just doesn't want to come back and see us doing nothing but waiting for Him. I mean think about it, it makes sense.
@@melodyseverything6999 All kinds of things can be made to make sense that does not mean they have anything to do with reality In the case of the standard Canon there's so many issues putting stock particularly in the eschatological portions if not some of the theological portions is silly
Reading the bible back when I was a young man, I do remember saying what is this ??? The message is so confused and out of this world. It kind of sounds like clash of the Titans, Star wars, lord of the rings and ..... etc etc.
The “this generation argument “ is quite weak , was not Christ clearly talking about the future generation in the context of the future events he was describing . So the ones that see all those things will not completely pass away until the second coming .
@@raz6630 No. That's just total nonsense. You're coming from a framework that includes as an axiom that you are not ignorant about Christianity and the Bible. That's where this nonsense explanation comes from. If you remove that axiom and allow the possibility that you are even more ignorant about the Bible and Christianity than you are in general, your analysis collapses.
It should be obvious that the symbolism in Revelations is meant to be open to interpretation. That makes the book a handy cudgel for those who seek power over their neighbors. That fact and the horrific language in it make the Book Revelation just plain dangerous.
Fear of doing 'bad' things and it's possible bad consequences has always been a deterrent to some. Being 'good' and it's possible rewards has motivated some too. If God, who created it all, chooses to destroy it all, which side leads to hell fires? Hence (simplistically) Revelation. Lot's of preachers have made a good living off that...
My mother called me frantically and warned me that the rapture will happen "this weekend". I remember riding around on my motorcycle, looking at the sun going down, thinking to myself: Today I'll know if I'm "saved" or not. When we got to the end of 1988 and it still didn't happen, it didn't matter. People who believe it continued to believe. Their explanation was that "no one can know the day or the hour". If you point out that first century people believed they were in the last days, they explain it away by saying a thousand years is as a day to God.
In 1891, an assemblyman stood up during a session of the NJ state legislature and spoke at length about how old busted water pipes in his part of the state needed to be replaced. The Book of Revelation is as important as that guy’s speech. A Catholic priest said told me that.
An important point not covered is that it states that death and hell are cast into the lake of fire and destroyed. This would indicate to me that he'll is not eternal and is a contradiction to other parts within this same book.
Hell is the grave. It's simply means that the curse of death is over and all wickedness is wiped off the earth. Proverbs 10:30. People are just judged then parish forever and are forgotten by God and everyone who ever knew them.
Haha, two things that’ll happen anyway. No god to forget and nobody to remember. Of course, that might’ve been the worst imaginable possibility for the ancients. A lack of proper burial usually meant an inability for anyone to visit the grave and “commune” with the deceased. To your point, they perished forever. Funny that used to be such a big deal.
@@sirrevzalot Unfortunately a lot of people are taught that they are going to be burned and tortured forever. A very useful lie for priests and preachers to control them with. Heaven the carrot, Hell the stick.
Coming back to this episode with everything happening in the world right now. Thanks for this entire podcast, Bart! Megan, you're gonna need to start telling where you get your glasses because they are FABULOUS.
Ever since I had gone to IFB churches from the early 1980s all the way until I deconverted in 2017, all of these old preachers claimed that they believed the Rapture was going to happen before they died, and both those preachers that I remembered by name and searched on the internet I have learned have all died and obviously they all were wrong. I also believed that it was going to happen in my lifetime and I was literally expecting that at some moment I would hear the sound of trumpets, and then find myself in the sky and the clouds with Jesus and other believers. I remember a short time I was in jail for some minor stuff , I heard the sounds of (I thought it was the trumpet of angels) and I literally believed that it might be the trumpets and I was about to be raptured, but it obviously did not happen and I learned that those were nothing more then Sirens that went off around noon time every single day. I thought it was trumpets because I had never heard that before. That's How Strong a Believer I was. I always remembered that every time some theist who replies to me in comments telling me I never really believed as a Christian, and memories of things like the sirens came to my mind to remind me how wrong these people are and how strongly I believed.
@@jeffryphillipsburns shoplifting. I had a drug problem for a few years and I got into trouble for shoplifting, something that has always been against my own values because I have always been adamantly against stealing even from stores, and I found myself shoplifting for a couple years, and of course I got caught a couple times. I did learn my lesson and am proud to get to say that this July will be my seventh year clean from all controlled substances:-)
I recently had a thought "Revelation is just a revenge fantasy" and that makes everything make sense As soon as Bart said "Seven hills" I knew it was about Rome right away
When I dived into _Revelation_ what struck me was how many things were lifted from _Daniel_ and a couple of the other prophets. The writer was clearly deep into his Jewish apocalyptic cult literature. Also, the preterist reading of _Revelation_ always struck me as a most useful way for how Christians could engineer their dogma to where they did not need to be such easy marks for "end times" carnies.
Just because something sells millions of copies doesn't mean it's not a fringe view. Even if you just restrict the audience to the US that is less than 1% market penetration.
(Sorry for the VERY, VERY long "comment". But I believe it NEEDS to be said) Kind Sir Bart D. Ehrman...I believe; IF one would ask 10,000 Pastors, "Please teach me the books of Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation"; they would get untold "different" answers. Sad, but OH so True. IE... After being a Christian for 91 yrs; and listening to untold Pastors; it's a horrible situation; when it comes to those 3 books in the Bible (and other books too). So 16 yrs ago; I finally threw myself on my knees, and sincerely prayed to Jesus, to give me "Wisdom, Understanding and the Truth"! Because, Jesus is THE only "Inerrant and Infallible" being. And Now, I never open my bible, UNTIL I pray to Jesus first; to help me understand of the Bible. And I wish that all Christians would do the same. Instead of having 45,000 Denominations, all over the world. Where most says, "We are Right and the others are Wrong! And WE get our from the Bible!". How terable horrid from satan! May Jesus have mercy... For IF you did it; you would say, that the world's "Pastoral group"; are being led by satan in our Bibles. Where most of what they say, is pure garbage. Believe it or not. May Jesus have mercy on "Judgment Day". When ALL is revealed! In any case kind Sir and Brethren, Please Pray OFTEN and Praise Jesus OFTEN; for He is the ONLY true "God Almighty"; there will ever have been. And may Jesus bless you and yours always. AMEN!
Great, one more person who’s gonna think that, because THEY are doing everything right, every ignorant, random thought that floats through their brain when they read the Bible is JESUS HIMSELF revealing THE correct understanding of Scripture to them. Just what we need. God save us from all of these religious nuts.
@@Neoyoshi-FFXIVat the exact time Camping said it would happen, the sky went from bright and sunny to really dark. Just for a few seconds. Scared the crap out of everyone on the softball field. 🤣
Revelation is like horoscopes and Nostrodamus. People can make it mean whatever they want. The sad truth is that all its original meaning is within a context that stopped existing 2000 years ago.
I guess you have not read the revelation in john. I just say new world order or one world religion, total control of people and mark of the beast etc, this is all right before our eyes.
Comparing the revelations of the bible with Nostradamus is a very weak statement. How much bunk have we heard about the prophecys of this medical doctor haschisch smoking nostradamus and how much from the bible already fullfilled before our eyes and also in history some Generations ago.
The Revelation of John is such a wild, colorful, and imaginative book that I wish, so bad, that a truly visionary film maker would take it on and bring all of the amazing imagery to life. I'm thinking of someone like Darren Aronofsky. His interpretation of the creation story in Genesis was stunningly beautiful, as was the rest of the imagery in his film Noah.
I don't know how many of you can read the original in Greek and before i finish this video so not to be biased i must inform you of a very crucial fact in this book: It is written in present tense. Νow you know its purpose if you know when it was written
No joke, the most common rebuttal against Dr. Herman I see is that he’s a “pop historian” who “only wants to sell books”. And the irony of that I think is pretty good evidence for the existence of the devil.
Why church give such weight to a dream sequence. Why church dispute that the Gospels are also dream sequences. They seem to want to have things both ways.
It is very much an American Protestant obsession and has probably influenced American policy on Israel many evangelicals involved in the government in the 1980s especially.
Revelation is about the vision “that God will give all the power of Rome and all the wealth of Rome to the Christians”….hmmmm, isn’t that what happened with Rome eventually becoming the center of Christianity?
How can a God who's spirit have a seat that he sits on? Revelation is a book full of symbols. Nothing literal!! Thank you Dr. Ehrman for enlightenment. It's quite refreshing to listen to you. Posterity will judge you kindly
Great interview. I also just ordered the Audible version of ARMAGEDDON. Thanks for making the audio version. I pretty much only listen to books anymore.
great stuff! I remember learning (probably from Bart) that Revelations was written in a kind of 'slang' form of Greek. If so, I would love to learn more about why that was.
@gekksvide0 true, except I would qualify that the Greek of the Marcan narrative isn't "bad" so much as simple, reflecting it's place as the first gospel, transcribed from an oral tradition. It wasn't meant to be read but heard, hence it's simple, imperative syntax
@@jacobus57 This isn't entirely correct. I don't remember which English translation does this (NIV?) but there is an English NT where in Mark you can see some words italicized. These words are italicized because they're additions by the translator that are needed to fix the grammar of the sentence or sometimes even indicate which person is doing what to whom. Well, they had to be added because their equivalents in the original Greek are missing. Mark's writing WAS kinda bad. Basically, he writing sentence not complete so read like this.
Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth sold 28 million copies. By comparison, The Great Gatsby has sold 25 million. Modern US Christian eschatology has more to do with Hal Lindsey than it does with Paul or Jesus.
Have you ever pondered on the church of Ephesians rejecting Paul? He claimed to be an apostle in Ephesians 1:1 but also said that everyone in Asia deserted him in 2 Timothy 1:15. And then on top of that they (the church) were praised for rejecting false apostles in Revelations 2:2. Coincidence? Plus, what you described happens to the Christians that think the world is going to end and they sell their life savings, is a clear example as to how dangerous it is to have faith over knowledge. Blind faith is the best thing Pauline Christianity can offer.
He is communicating to the world what God has shown him - read revelation in conjunction with Daniel and other Old Testament prophets. The message is for all people of all times because the sin nature of man does not change. Technology changes over time so John could only describe what was shown him in terms of what he understood in the world around him.
58:54 His lineage(Christ figures before and after)those born under the 446{4/25-1/28-3/28}Taurean Arien(Immanuel)angel numbers. This includes John his FIRST COUSIN, the representative of God as the Revelation is to him from Jesus.
Sorry. That didn’t make the Book of Revelation seem less strange or disturbing to me. When I read it back in 1999, I concluded that it had to have been written by a schizophrenic. It now appears that schizophrenic literature may have been more common than I’d supposed, and that’s all I’m geting out of this.
Every present day End Times preacher has come up with their own niche interpretation, my favorite being you can't map out when and how unless you combine Revelation with the book of Daniel! Somehow they are both linked prophetically! There are some big hoops to jump through to do this but they do it with athletic ease!! I suspect Lahaye and his Left Behind series laughed all the way to the bank! And it does my heart good to regularly see those books wind up at Goodwill! 🤣 46:05 ... John Hagee/Christian Zionism = modern day heresy!!
It's the only way to read the Christian Bible. You link the books like the authors did. Ehrman does it all the time and he's kind of an expert at reading the book. ;)
I was hoping they'd mention revelation 10:4, the part where God tells John not to write down what the seven thunders said. that part has always mystified me. there are many interpretations, but I'd love to hear Bart's take on it
It's probably a common trope among successful apocalypse writers, similar to a setup for future authors to be able to continue the story. In. Daniel, Daniel is told to seal the book up in Revelation. The book is unsealed. I would imagine that the possibility of there being a trope to pass the time to the next so-called prophet would be hugely beneficial for the unfolding of history to be "included" in the unfolding prophecy
It has come time for me to leave a comment. I must tell you what a good job you are doing. By creating this channel and spreading this information and these ideas for people like myself to listen to has helped me better understand things I have listened to 100 times before. Because of how I have been programmed and my operating system designed I am unable to find time to read books because of my attention deficit. I listen and watch with my headphones as I go about my chores. I will find away to some how repay in kind for these lessons. It is has been well worth my time. I hope you continue to have success in your future. Thank You.
Ironically Israel's existence just shows the mundane reality that people can get ideas from books, and then use these ideas as guides or inspirations for doing real things. For example, Elon Musk's career shows that he's been trying to live like the heroes in the science fiction stories he read growing up. But no one that I know of argues that science fiction supernaturally "predicts the future."
Thanks, Megan and Bart, for this great episode. Bart, here's my question on Revelation: can you shed some light on exactly how this book came to be accepted as canonical? Was it simply a matter of its age and the fact that it was widely accepted before being "officially" adopted? In what year did it first appear? And given what you said about how ancient people would have read and understood it, why, after the reign of Nero, was it still considered relevant? Thanks!
On the effect on US policy: didn't Ronald Reagan bring in Jerry Falwell to talk to the Joint Chiefs of Staff to talk about end times prophecy and its relevance for US foreign and defense policy? And didn't GW Bush confuse the crap out of the French president by seriously referring to Gog and Magog during a meeting on middle east policy? Sending the French president's aides in search of a theologian who could explain what the heck Bush was referring to? Craziness.
After reading more than the first half of the OT, I am away with the impression of a god who is pissed off at almost everyone and keen to kill -- all of the time. If this god is assumed to be largely immutable, why would any believer expect a change for the better ? I suppose I now have a somewhat better understanding of short imperatives that many bible bangers offer. Such as "Fear the Lord" and similar admonitions. This is the short version of the mesage. The more complete version reads: "Fear the Lord. Because if you don't, God will probably kill you." With much of the human contention and torment, etc. related in the OT (that I have read), it seems as if god, himself, is the primary source of a lot of problems of the humanoids.
I wish he could've made a short movie that showed more in detail how things really was in real life back then, and also what was being said in the bible and why, and when it happened and when and who wrote each book. Guy is a wealth of knowledge.
The “this generation argument “ is quite weak , was not Christ clearly talking about the future generation in the context of the future events he was describing . So the ones that see all those things will not completely pass away until the second coming .
Christianity goes all out on Revelation. If all that has been told so far doesn't terrify you this will! I think they were trying to cover all bases for all time. I'm surprised Disney hasn't made a sci fi movie about this one.
I went to college in North Carolina, and Edgar was on the radio every morning predicting the rapture and selling his book! Really brought back memories 😅
I wonder how much money he made selling books, and did he spend it all before the predicted dates? For that matter, did he sign any long-term contracts that would benefit _him_ after that date? Because, without ever reading about the man, I would wager a fair sum that _He_ didn't sell _His farm_ nor sell all _His Worldly possessions_ and donate it all to the poor in the days leading up to that date. I'd wager he woke up the next day with a number followed by several zeros in his checkbook. I'd also wager he also maintained a savings account too, perhaps even had investments, but wait, if you truly thought the end was nigh why save or invest for the future?
Actually, the power wasn't literally "taken from Rome": The capital of the Empire was indeed moved to Constantinople by Emperor Constantine the Great, two centuries later but as a christianized Empire the state lasted until 1453 A.D.... 🙂
I have to admit, when Bart said ppl sold their farms based on the predictions of the Rapture, I was expecting it to be Harold Camping's nonsense. I think Camping predicted the Rapture about... 3 or 4 times?
I just think of all the times growing up that various preachers would assure me with complete confidence that "now is the time." It was absolutely certain that bar codes were "the mark of the beast." It was absolutely certain that the European Economic Community was the "beast with seven heads and ten horns" because it had ten members (it's now the EU and has 27 members). It was absolutely certain that the Soviet Union was Gog and Magog. On and on and on...all wrong...and that's just from preachers/prophets I heard directly in my lifetime. If one goes back into history there are so many more...and all of them get it wrong. And yet, with that track record, people keep believing every new prophet who comes around. Amazing.
By the way the reference to the fig tree is in matthew , chapter 24 , not 25 , verses 32 to 35 where jesus refers to those THEN living who would still be alive to see the end times and his return with his fathers celestial kingdom !
Not surprised that John's Apocalypse was not copied at the rate as the other books. Reading those curses in the first few verses for making any error in copying the text, whew. Assuming that if someone is copying it, they believe in it... who would take that kind of risk?
What if his return in the clouds is a spiritual return that everyone will see because he’ll first come as a savior King then as a thief to those who reject him at different times. I’ll admit it’s a scary thought.
Terrific podcast, really helps me understand the evangelical and fundamentalist Christians around me, although I was hoping Bart would have given some tips on how to deal with people who think the book is relevant prophecy of our near future.
Jesus said be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove My family is Pentecostal I have heard every end of the world nonsense version of revelation Arguing w a fool is like pushing on the ocean
Most of the time it's best to just humour them and move on. The world is clearly not going to end and Jesus is never going to return. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
They find comfort in believing the prophecy. You won't shake their conviction but just say you are open minded about it all and you are still learning what there is to know about it.
I used to be a staunch evangelical and had a fascination with the end of times (i began reading the Book of Revelation on 5th grade) and read all the Left Behind books (including prequels). It was a huge part of my worldview. I even wanted to become a theologian and apologist. Eventually I enter college and start realizing my fascination for these topics was no different to being a fan of Star Wars or a conspiracy theorist. Good bye doom’s day paranoia. I don’t miss it.
42:00 It isn't fulfilling scripture~ in a sense, from a Christian's POV Rome did Kinda fall and rose in Christianity since Rome Became the center of the _Holy Roman Catholic Church._ Sorta/kinda if you look at it from an angle and squint your eyes just right like looking at modern art...
Why do some people refer to it as the Book of Revelations when the name doesn't have a "s" in it? My estimation is about a third of the people do this.
Quite impressive but HOW!!? know it's possible, my colleague at work got her first investment return of 40K after two weeks and she quit the job, I would appreciate if you show me how to go about it..
I've been hearing lots of good things about trading & investments with Mrs Paula Mary Allen and how good she is and how she keeps changing lives of her clients from around the world...
I'll prove that none of you know what you're talking about. 1. How long was Ephraim's punishment? 2. Who is Ephraim? 3. Did Ephraim repent? 4. When did Ephraim's punishment begin? 5. How long was yeshua supposed to be separated from Israel?
The Book might have been talking about *ancient* Rome but "Rome" still retains great modern significance for Revelation decoders because (their favorite false prophet) the Pope still runs the Catholic Church from there and the "Treaties of Rome" (1957) were signed there to create their favorite bête noire... the European Community! They will have "Rome" to kick around for a long time.
I was taught about Revelation from a conservative Baptist perspective in high school. After being taught that the rapture was coming soon, that credit cards and tattoos were marks of the devil, and that I should prepare myself for the second coming of Christ, I had no hope for my future. This doctrine ruined my worldview and motivation to prepare myself for a full adult life. This education was extremely destructive for me and took me many years to make sense of what I was taught. I would have benefitted so much from hearing Erhman’s interpretation of Revelation at that time to give me another perspective and to give me hope that I had a promising future in the world. Instead I was left hopeless and scared as no one was talking like this at that time in my world in the 1970s.
Teaching end times prophesy to children is cruel, unloving, and nothing short of psychological child abuse.
I agree. After my son was an adult, he told me that when he was in kindergarten, he would go to school fearing that he would miss the rapture and be left behind. It made me regret staying in that fundamentalist church as long as we did, not to mention that it broke my heart.
@@196078614teal I know many parents, like my own , that were unaware of the extreme worldviews their children were being taught in schools and places of worship. We want to trust our religious authorities, but time and time again we see that they are really just self-appointed authorities consumed by ancient theologies.
@@196078614tealI understand and good on you breaking free for the sake of your child! I never have believed in the rapture when i heard first about it as I dont remember it being in the Anglican/ RC tradition, the only churches I knew well. After attending some evangelical and charismatic churches i knew not for me or my kids
Yet these fundamental.protestants believe they are "true to the Word,they are not but misubderstand, misibterpret in my view.There is non proof of some pretrib rapture. Paul and the others also believed Jesus would return in their lifetime so reading the epistles in that light the weird teachings of Paul i.e. dont get married etc etc makes sense.
I just keep to the Gospels as less confusing!
I agree, adults talking about the end of the world seriously damages children
One common trait for all prophets of 'the end is near' is that they have all been 100% wrong, 100% of the time.
The end of the people the prophets were talking to.
Thats only cause your little pea brain cannot comprehend. GODs timelime is infinite. So the end is near, to him vould be 3000 years away to his being in exostence for billions of years. To us 4 months is the time is near in comparison to our measley 80 year lifespans. Glad i could wake you.
But some day they will be right. 😅
@@justmenotyou3151that’s guess work not prophecy
@@WheresWaldo05 So, according to this speculation, the meaning of the end is near means the end could be thousands of years from now? Why would God tell humans the time is near, but He means thousands of years just because God is infinite? Divine revelations were given to humans rather than to beings that have an infinite reference of time.
Let the perspective be changed. I tell my two-year-old son that he will soon be driving a car. Soon to me means fifteen years. Do you think my son will think that fifteen years is soon? My son is my audience. For him to correctly understand what I wish for him to know, I must say it in terms that he has a concept about, otherwise, I am misleading.
Nearly five hundred years before Christ, the prophet Daniel was given a prophecy.
The prophet Daniel was told that he was to UNDERSTAND the vision was for the time of the end. The time of the end was many days from now, meaning long after Daniel had died. So that Daniel did not misunderstand when the prophecy would occur, he was specifically told to seal up the prophecy. To Daniel’s question as to when the prophecy would happen, he was told he would have long gone to his rest meaning grave (Daniel 8 and 12). In this divine revelation, God did not mislead Daniel by saying the time was soon but actually meaning the time was nearly five hundred years.
Just the opposite is told to John. “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near” (Revelation 22:10). Are Bible students to believe God made sure that the prophet Daniel did not misunderstand that the time of the end was in the distant future and not sometime soon, but God deliberately mislead John by saying the time was soon but actually meant thousands of years in the future?
Most Christians don't realise, that _"every generation for the last 2000 yrs",_ *has been expecting Jesus to return in their lifetime.*
I figured that out when I was 10 .
It's because they want to be included and be special
But it’s never been “this bad” before!!!!!!!!!!! According to them XDXDXD
@@PuritanProdcutions That's because people that they consider "unholy" are becoming more accepted. So in a sick, twisted way, they are "correct."
Never mind that the people they hate have always existed, so even that is BS.
@@PuritanProdcutionsexactly! What’s the end of the world coming to?
Thank you very much to both! I'm an Orthodox Muslim but I highly appreciate your scholarship, Prof - despite our divergent views. As a negligible token of my gratitude for the work you have put out there, I have subscribed to your blog/charity projects :)
I think it's great to see people of Muslim faith taking an interest in biblical scholarship. Unfortunately, some Muslims seem to be under the impression that historical criticism only shows the fallacies of the Jewish and Christian faith, thereby strengthening Islam's claim to be the one and only true religion. As a Christian who believes that historical criticism is of vital importance for any faith in the modern age, I find this troubling. I sincerely believe that all people of faith, Jews, Christians and Muslims included, can only grow by understanding that everything we learn about God from our scriptures is a momentary impression of how a specific person or group of people experienced and understood God. There is still room to grow for any person of faith, and aspects of our faith that we can only fully explore when we expose ourselves to different views.
@@haukenot3345 Agreed! I'm reconstructing how Hebrew Scripture may have been sung in different periods of history, and my appreciation for scripture has evolved while my faith has only increased... even though the faith is no longer placed in a literalist interpretation of words on a page, but in my relationship with God as my master, teacher, and father.
Wow! This is perfect timing. I was telling my son that this war was more about oil, last week. Now I need to get your book. Thank you. I’m sharing this video with my father!
_No One Knows The Mind Of God,_ (when convenient)
*The rest of the time, I know his wishes, traits & goals, and what he wants you to do.*
It’s based on Nero or Domaitian. The book was written to Christians at the time to encourage them to hang tough during the Roman persecution.
It’s so sad that the truth and context of Revelation can be clearly demonstrated and known, but is still rampantly believed to be about something that will happen in modern times. People need it to be true. So they interpret it so it can still be held onto as truth.
Having been a conservative dispensationalist for most of my adult life, Dr. Ehrman’s explanation of Revelation is highly refreshing and could save many people from needless disappointment trying to determine prophetic timelines.
World events prove the prophecies. The signs in the weather, sun moon and stars alone should be enough let alone the lawlessness, perversion, wars, earthquakes volcanoes famine pestilence worldwide. The world is suffering and has been suffering many years outside the west. If these aren't the days of vengeance, then I don't know what people think it is. Millions dying is a pretty good indicator.
Dispensationalism is the worst rabbit hole to fall down into.
Kent Hovind, Mike Winger, Ken Ham, Ray Comfort etc won't agree with Bart's interpretation! Hovind in particular is speculating that Jesus will make his return in 2028, and even when this doesn't happen I doubt the fundamentalists (and people who _need_ to believe in a magical fantasy afterlife) will ever listen to researched biblical interpretations from Bart!
The part about U.S. policy is spot on. There is a completely imaginary view of modern Israel that is an article of faith in the evangelical world, and its impervious to rational thinking, historical understanding, or contemporary reality.
very well said. this is a big part of the reason that so much military aid gets sent to them year after year. and this in turn directly funds an apartheid state. evangelicals defend this by calling anyone that criticizes the government of israel anti-semitic.
@@plotinuswashere Very true. Anti-semitism and disagreeing with the current government of Israel are two completely different things. Ultimately Israel will have to make a choice between being a democracy and being a religious state - it is impossible to be both.
Yup. Exactly right. Even stranger: Many of those same "Pro-Israel" Evangelicals are *themselves* Antisemites, since they see Jews as "Christ-killers"... Meanwhile, Israel isn't stupid, so they're aware of that... Yet they play along with the Evangelicals' charade in order to (I assume) keep the military aid flowing. Talk about a cynical, surreal foreign policy Ouroboros... lol
It's bat shit looney!
@@njhoepner And what choice will Syria, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey…make. Or is it only Israel that we worry about? I wonder why that is?
The so-called signs are so vague and common, they occur in every generation.
Not worldwide in every country full of lawlessness perversion and death and dying. Most westerners are clueless.
That's why it resonates with people throughout the ages. Same with the 10 commandments.
Ironic that evangelicals are looking forward to, as well as trying to bring about the end of the world so Jesus can return to save it.
Christ has already returned and the majority are clueless just like they didn't recognize it in the 1st century because they were looking for something different than they were taught for centuries by false teachers.
I am trying to find the quote (maybe somebody can help me out on this), but one of the very early Roman historians who reported on the existence of the Christian cult mentioned that they were FILLED with the "hatred of life."
Nothing's changed in the past 2,000 years, because it seems to me that that is what all these Christians who cannot wait to experience the "end times" are ultimately all about: they just hate life and want to watch the world burn.
Yes,but they take out insurance, invest in bonds etc. I don't feel they expect anything much to happen
@@russellmiles2861 - Jesus said in a parable in the Bible to occupy until He comes back though. So we're to live as if He's long in returning, but ready too for His return if it's soon. He just doesn't want to come back and see us doing nothing but waiting for Him. I mean think about it, it makes sense.
@@melodyseverything6999
All kinds of things can be made to make sense that does not mean they have anything to do with reality
In the case of the standard Canon there's so many issues putting stock particularly in the eschatological portions if not some of the theological portions is silly
Reading the bible back when I was a young man, I do remember saying what is this ??? The message is so confused and out of this world. It kind of sounds like clash of the Titans, Star wars, lord of the rings and ..... etc etc.
Bart Ehrman is an international treasure.
Changed my life..
I just found him recently as I've started my deconstruction. Ihave binged so many of his videos
I remember that book. I was a freshman at UNC that year - it was a frightening book for a kid who'd come from an Evangelical background.
The “this generation argument “ is quite weak , was not Christ clearly talking about the future generation in the context of the future events he was describing . So the ones that see all those things will not completely pass away until the second coming .
@@raz6630 No. That's just total nonsense. You're coming from a framework that includes as an axiom that you are not ignorant about Christianity and the Bible. That's where this nonsense explanation comes from. If you remove that axiom and allow the possibility that you are even more ignorant about the Bible and Christianity than you are in general, your analysis collapses.
I love this podcast with Megan and Bart, but I wonder just how many glasses Megan owns. She is so great, always asking the pertinent questions.
It should be obvious that the symbolism in Revelations is meant to be open to interpretation. That makes the book a handy cudgel for those who seek power over their neighbors. That fact and the horrific language in it make the Book Revelation just plain dangerous.
Fear of doing 'bad' things and it's possible bad consequences has always been a deterrent to some. Being 'good' and it's possible rewards has motivated some too. If God, who created it all, chooses to destroy it all, which side leads to hell fires? Hence (simplistically) Revelation. Lot's of preachers have made a good living off that...
My mother called me frantically and warned me that the rapture will happen "this weekend". I remember riding around on my motorcycle, looking at the sun going down, thinking to myself: Today I'll know if I'm "saved" or not.
When we got to the end of 1988 and it still didn't happen, it didn't matter. People who believe it continued to believe. Their explanation was that "no one can know the day or the hour". If you point out that first century people believed they were in the last days, they explain it away by saying a thousand years is as a day to God.
In 1891, an assemblyman stood up during a session of the NJ state legislature and spoke at length about how old busted water pipes in his part of the state needed to be replaced. The Book of Revelation is as important as that guy’s speech. A Catholic priest said told me that.
I never read the Book of Revelation and now I don't have to. Thank you so much.
An important point not covered is that it states that death and hell are cast into the lake of fire and destroyed. This would indicate to me that he'll is not eternal and is a contradiction to other parts within this same book.
Hell is the grave. It's simply means that the curse of death is over and all wickedness is wiped off the earth. Proverbs 10:30. People are just judged then parish forever and are forgotten by God and everyone who ever knew them.
Haha, two things that’ll happen anyway. No god to forget and nobody to remember. Of course, that might’ve been the worst imaginable possibility for the ancients. A lack of proper burial usually meant an inability for anyone to visit the grave and “commune” with the deceased. To your point, they perished forever. Funny that used to be such a big deal.
@@sirrevzalot Unfortunately a lot of people are taught that they are going to be burned and tortured forever. A very useful lie for priests and preachers to control them with. Heaven the carrot, Hell the stick.
Coming back to this episode with everything happening in the world right now. Thanks for this entire podcast, Bart!
Megan, you're gonna need to start telling where you get your glasses because they are FABULOUS.
Ever since I had gone to IFB churches from the early 1980s all the way until I deconverted in 2017, all of these old preachers claimed that they believed the Rapture was going to happen before they died, and both those preachers that I remembered by name and searched on the internet I have learned have all died and obviously they all were wrong.
I also believed that it was going to happen in my lifetime and I was literally expecting that at some moment I would hear the sound of trumpets, and then find myself in the sky and the clouds with Jesus and other believers. I remember a short time I was in jail for some minor stuff , I heard the sounds of (I thought it was the trumpet of angels) and I literally believed that it might be the trumpets and I was about to be raptured, but it obviously did not happen and I learned that those were nothing more then Sirens that went off around noon time every single day. I thought it was trumpets because I had never heard that before. That's How Strong a Believer I was. I always remembered that every time some theist who replies to me in comments telling me I never really believed as a Christian, and memories of things like the sirens came to my mind to remind me how wrong these people are and how strongly I believed.
i was also influenced by the end of days preaching/fear mongering and was also convinced it was the truth, at 16 I was very easily influenced.
( Episcopalian here, from German-Lutheran background -- very immune to Rapture / Pre-Millenenialism / Scofield Reference A.D. 1700s QAnon Bible etc !
“In jail for some minor stuff”?
@@jeffryphillipsburns Yes, it happens. Even if it wasn't minor, most people on the inside aren't so different, just less lucky than us!
@@jeffryphillipsburns shoplifting. I had a drug problem for a few years and I got into trouble for shoplifting, something that has always been against my own values because I have always been adamantly against stealing even from stores, and I found myself shoplifting for a couple years, and of course I got caught a couple times. I did learn my lesson and am proud to get to say that this July will be my seventh year clean from all controlled substances:-)
I recently had a thought "Revelation is just a revenge fantasy" and that makes everything make sense
As soon as Bart said "Seven hills" I knew it was about Rome right away
I wonder which book did the most damage: Edgar Wisenant's or Hal Lindsey's?
When I dived into _Revelation_ what struck me was how many things were lifted from _Daniel_ and a couple of the other prophets. The writer was clearly deep into his Jewish apocalyptic cult literature. Also, the preterist reading of _Revelation_ always struck me as a most useful way for how Christians could engineer their dogma to where they did not need to be such easy marks for "end times" carnies.
sure if you ignore all the predictions that are actually made
@@scambammer6102 predictions endlessly open to interpretation..
@@mausperson5854 a lot of the predictions in revelation are very specific-and ridiculous.
"End-Time Carnies" ftw
@@scambammer6102 specific to iron age eschatological oddballs. Yep.
Just because something sells millions of copies doesn't mean it's not a fringe view. Even if you just restrict the audience to the US that is less than 1% market penetration.
I'm sorry, it may not be fringe in the US, but for me as a German, it's still fringe - extremely fringe.
I don't live with my parents any more but they have given me a key to their house in case they get raptured.
Gazoontheight!
(Sorry for the VERY, VERY long "comment". But I believe it NEEDS to be said)
Kind Sir Bart D. Ehrman...I believe; IF one would ask 10,000 Pastors, "Please teach me the books of Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation"; they would get untold "different" answers. Sad, but OH so True. IE...
After being a Christian for 91 yrs; and listening to untold Pastors; it's a horrible situation; when it comes to those 3 books in the Bible (and other books too). So 16 yrs ago; I finally threw myself on my knees, and sincerely prayed to Jesus, to give me "Wisdom, Understanding and the Truth"!
Because, Jesus is THE only "Inerrant and Infallible" being. And Now, I never open my bible, UNTIL I pray to Jesus first; to help me understand of the Bible. And I wish that all Christians would do the same. Instead of having 45,000 Denominations, all over the world.
Where most says, "We are Right and the others are Wrong! And WE get our from the Bible!". How terable horrid from satan! May Jesus have mercy...
For IF you did it; you would say, that the world's "Pastoral group"; are being led by satan in our Bibles. Where most of what they say, is pure garbage. Believe it or not. May Jesus have mercy on "Judgment Day". When ALL is revealed!
In any case kind Sir and Brethren, Please Pray OFTEN and Praise Jesus OFTEN; for He is the ONLY true "God Almighty"; there will ever have been. And may Jesus bless you and yours always. AMEN!
Great, one more person who’s gonna think that, because THEY are doing everything right, every ignorant, random thought that floats through their brain when they read the Bible is JESUS HIMSELF revealing THE correct understanding of Scripture to them. Just what we need. God save us from all of these religious nuts.
I'm so happy to see them focus on Revelations, because it's a book that's lead figures in the world to do and say the most problematic things.
Taking in current worldwide events chaos and lawlessness.....what are you expecting?
@@markstuber4731 May 21, 2011 and Harold Camping. :) I mean, to name one example. xD
@@Neoyoshi-FFXIVat the exact time Camping said it would happen, the sky went from bright and sunny to really dark. Just for a few seconds. Scared the crap out of everyone on the softball field. 🤣
Revelation is like horoscopes and Nostrodamus. People can make it mean whatever they want. The sad truth is that all its original meaning is within a context that stopped existing 2000 years ago.
that isn't sad
It was popular back then to tell stories from village to village
I guess you have not read the revelation in john. I just say new world order or one world religion, total control of people and mark of the beast etc, this is all right before our eyes.
Abolition of money...etc
Comparing the revelations of the bible with Nostradamus is a very weak statement. How much bunk have we heard about the prophecys of this medical doctor haschisch smoking nostradamus and how much from the bible already fullfilled before our eyes and also in history some Generations ago.
It's always good to listen to you
Why did they sell the farm instead of giving it away? Were they thinking of using the money wherever the rapture would take them?
The Revelation of John is such a wild, colorful, and imaginative book that I wish, so bad, that a truly visionary film maker would take it on and bring all of the amazing imagery to life. I'm thinking of someone like Darren Aronofsky. His interpretation of the creation story in Genesis was stunningly beautiful, as was the rest of the imagery in his film Noah.
I'm thinking Midjourney. 😂
I didn't know we could watch the podcast!!
Short answer. No.
Long answer. Definitely not!
I don't know how many of you can read the original in Greek and before i finish this video so not to be biased i must inform you of a very crucial fact in this book: It is written in present tense. Νow you know its purpose if you know when it was written
No joke, the most common rebuttal against Dr. Herman I see is that he’s a “pop historian” who “only wants to sell books”.
And the irony of that I think is pretty good evidence for the existence of the devil.
Yeah, that really ironic. How can anyone be so stupid to believe in the existence of a devil?
Why church give such weight to a dream sequence. Why church dispute that the Gospels are also dream sequences. They seem to want to have things both ways.
It is very much an American Protestant obsession and has probably influenced American policy on Israel many evangelicals involved in the government in the 1980s especially.
Revelation is about the vision “that God will give all the power of Rome and all the wealth of Rome to the Christians”….hmmmm, isn’t that what happened with Rome eventually becoming the center of Christianity?
The wealth of Rome was never distributed to any Christians!
😜
How can a God who's spirit have a seat that he sits on? Revelation is a book full of symbols. Nothing literal!! Thank you Dr. Ehrman for enlightenment. It's quite refreshing to listen to you. Posterity will judge you kindly
Great interview. I also just ordered the Audible version of ARMAGEDDON. Thanks for making the audio version. I pretty much only listen to books anymore.
great stuff! I remember learning (probably from Bart) that Revelations was written in a kind of 'slang' form of Greek. If so, I would love to learn more about why that was.
@gekksvide0 true, except I would qualify that the Greek of the Marcan narrative isn't "bad" so much as simple, reflecting it's place as the first gospel, transcribed from an oral tradition. It wasn't meant to be read but heard, hence it's simple, imperative syntax
@@jacobus57 This isn't entirely correct. I don't remember which English translation does this (NIV?) but there is an English NT where in Mark you can see some words italicized. These words are italicized because they're additions by the translator that are needed to fix the grammar of the sentence or sometimes even indicate which person is doing what to whom. Well, they had to be added because their equivalents in the original Greek are missing. Mark's writing WAS kinda bad. Basically, he writing sentence not complete so read like this.
Those glassss are pretty awesome
Quite a cliffhanger for the next episode, Violence in Revelation - sounds like a Mandalorian episode :)
Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth sold 28 million copies. By comparison, The Great Gatsby has sold 25 million. Modern US Christian eschatology has more to do with Hal Lindsey than it does with Paul or Jesus.
Have you ever pondered on the church of Ephesians rejecting Paul? He claimed to be an apostle in Ephesians 1:1 but also said that everyone in Asia deserted him in 2 Timothy 1:15. And then on top of that they (the church) were praised for rejecting false apostles in Revelations 2:2. Coincidence?
Plus, what you described happens to the Christians that think the world is going to end and they sell their life savings, is a clear example as to how dangerous it is to have faith over knowledge. Blind faith is the best thing Pauline Christianity can offer.
I have often thought that the book of revelation is like political cartoons
He is communicating to the world what God has shown him - read revelation in conjunction with Daniel and other Old Testament prophets. The message is for all people of all times because the sin nature of man does not change. Technology changes over time so John could only describe what was shown him in terms of what he understood in the world around him.
58:54 His lineage(Christ figures before and after)those born under the 446{4/25-1/28-3/28}Taurean Arien(Immanuel)angel numbers. This includes John his FIRST COUSIN, the representative of God as the Revelation is to him from Jesus.
Sorry. That didn’t make the Book of Revelation seem less strange or disturbing to me. When I read it back in 1999, I concluded that it had to have been written by a schizophrenic. It now appears that schizophrenic literature may have been more common than I’d supposed, and that’s all I’m geting out of this.
So sorry to hear about the shooting at your school!!
Every present day End Times preacher has come up with their own niche interpretation, my favorite being you can't map out when and how unless you combine Revelation with the book of Daniel! Somehow they are both linked prophetically! There are some big hoops to jump through to do this but they do it with athletic ease!!
I suspect Lahaye and his Left Behind series laughed all the way to the bank! And it does my heart good to regularly see those books wind up at Goodwill! 🤣
46:05 ... John Hagee/Christian Zionism = modern day heresy!!
If you think there wont be a rapture then you will be in for a rude awakening
It's the only way to read the Christian Bible. You link the books like the authors did. Ehrman does it all the time and he's kind of an expert at reading the book. ;)
Jesus was supposed to come in 1988, i was born in 1988. The math checks out.
I was hoping they'd mention revelation 10:4, the part where God tells John not to write down what the seven thunders said. that part has always mystified me. there are many interpretations, but I'd love to hear Bart's take on it
It's probably a common trope among successful apocalypse writers, similar to a setup for future authors to be able to continue the story. In. Daniel, Daniel is told to seal the book up in Revelation. The book is unsealed. I would imagine that the possibility of there being a trope to pass the time to the next so-called prophet would be hugely beneficial for the unfolding of history to be "included" in the unfolding prophecy
It has come time for me to leave a comment. I must tell you what a good job you are doing. By creating this channel and spreading this information and these ideas for people like myself to listen to has helped me better understand things I have listened to 100 times before. Because of how I have been programmed and my operating system designed I am unable to find time to read books because of my attention deficit. I listen and watch with my headphones as I go about my chores. I will find away to some how repay in kind for these lessons. It is has been well worth my time. I hope you continue to have success in your future. Thank You.
Ironically Israel's existence just shows the mundane reality that people can get ideas from books, and then use these ideas as guides or inspirations for doing real things. For example, Elon Musk's career shows that he's been trying to live like the heroes in the science fiction stories he read growing up. But no one that I know of argues that science fiction supernaturally "predicts the future."
The next-to-last verse of the Bible has Jesus, in red letters, saying "Surely I come quickly." Well, I wonder what "quickly" meant to Jesus?
hi "Goodbye Planet Earth" worked it out to 1988 also by Hal Lindsey :)
Thanks, Megan and Bart, for this great episode. Bart, here's my question on Revelation: can you shed some light on exactly how this book came to be accepted as canonical? Was it simply a matter of its age and the fact that it was widely accepted before being "officially" adopted? In what year did it first appear? And given what you said about how ancient people would have read and understood it, why, after the reign of Nero, was it still considered relevant? Thanks!
I love these videos, but could they be numbered so we can watch them in the correct order?
On the effect on US policy: didn't Ronald Reagan bring in Jerry Falwell to talk to the Joint Chiefs of Staff to talk about end times prophecy and its relevance for US foreign and defense policy?
And didn't GW Bush confuse the crap out of the French president by seriously referring to Gog and Magog during a meeting on middle east policy? Sending the French president's aides in search of a theologian who could explain what the heck Bush was referring to? Craziness.
After reading more than the first half of the OT, I am away with the impression of a god who is pissed off at almost everyone and keen to kill -- all of the time. If this god is assumed to be largely immutable, why would any believer expect a change for the better ?
I suppose I now have a somewhat better understanding of short imperatives that many bible bangers offer. Such as "Fear the Lord" and similar admonitions. This is the short version of the mesage. The more complete version reads: "Fear the Lord. Because if you don't, God will probably kill you."
With much of the human contention and torment, etc. related in the OT (that I have read), it seems as if god, himself, is the primary source of a lot of problems of the humanoids.
I wish he could've made a short movie that showed more in detail how things really was in real life back then, and also what was being said in the bible and why, and when it happened and when and who wrote each book. Guy is a wealth of knowledge.
It's kinda funny that a "One for Israel" ad appeared while I watched this.
Thank you Dr. Erhrman for the very interesting presentation on this topic and Megan for the very nice organisation of the conversation. 🙂
The “this generation argument “ is quite weak , was not Christ clearly talking about the future generation in the context of the future events he was describing . So the ones that see all those things will not completely pass away until the second coming .
Christianity goes all out on Revelation. If all that has been told so far doesn't terrify you this will! I think they were trying to cover all bases for all time. I'm surprised Disney hasn't made a sci fi movie about this one.
Great episode! Thanks Dr Megan and Dr Bart!
I went to college in North Carolina, and Edgar was on the radio every morning predicting the rapture and selling his book! Really brought back memories 😅
I wonder how much money he made selling books, and did he spend it all before the predicted dates? For that matter, did he sign any long-term contracts that would benefit _him_ after that date?
Because, without ever reading about the man, I would wager a fair sum that _He_ didn't sell _His farm_ nor sell all _His Worldly possessions_ and donate it all to the poor in the days leading up to that date.
I'd wager he woke up the next day with a number followed by several zeros in his checkbook.
I'd also wager he also maintained a savings account too, perhaps even had investments, but wait, if you truly thought the end was nigh why save or invest for the future?
So revelation predicts that the power will be taken from Rome and given to the Christian’s. Didn’t that kind of happen? 🤔 42:34
Actually, the power wasn't literally "taken from Rome": The capital of the Empire was indeed moved to Constantinople by Emperor Constantine the Great, two centuries later but as a christianized Empire the state lasted until 1453 A.D.... 🙂
I have to admit, when Bart said ppl sold their farms based on the predictions of the Rapture, I was expecting it to be Harold Camping's nonsense. I think Camping predicted the Rapture about... 3 or 4 times?
I just think of all the times growing up that various preachers would assure me with complete confidence that "now is the time." It was absolutely certain that bar codes were "the mark of the beast." It was absolutely certain that the European Economic Community was the "beast with seven heads and ten horns" because it had ten members (it's now the EU and has 27 members). It was absolutely certain that the Soviet Union was Gog and Magog. On and on and on...all wrong...and that's just from preachers/prophets I heard directly in my lifetime. If one goes back into history there are so many more...and all of them get it wrong. And yet, with that track record, people keep believing every new prophet who comes around. Amazing.
My ex demanded we head for God's Country, aka Texas, in 2010 and I left her like bowling shoes...
@@njhoepnerit makes them good money to especially those like the late pat Robertson and Jack van impe
@@AzimuthAviation😅😂
By the way the reference to the fig tree is in matthew , chapter 24 , not 25 , verses 32 to 35 where jesus refers to those THEN living who would still be alive to see the end times and his return with his fathers celestial kingdom !
As soon as you mentioned the phone call in August of 1988, I started laughing. 😀
I don't understand the relationship between the return of Jesus and the build of jewish temple. Can you explain me more please.
Bart Ehrman makes learning fun.
I Always Tune in for Anything Bart.
Thanks Megan and Bart
Dear me, the Jehovah's Witnesses wouldn't have a religion if the book of Revelation isn't relevant to now.
I don't know about the other signs, but the recent increases in ocean temperatures (2023) are concerning.
As always another great episode
If we are approaching the end of the world, then I dont see the point of adverts.
The punishment of "Jezebel" sounds a lot like the punishment of Lilith from Jewish myths.
Why would Constatine include the book,in the official Bible if it was known to be about the fall of Rome?
Not surprised that John's Apocalypse was not copied at the rate as the other books. Reading those curses in the first few verses for making any error in copying the text, whew. Assuming that if someone is copying it, they believe in it... who would take that kind of risk?
If the end of the world is coming before i get to watch your latest course do I get a refund?
I loved the conversation. Good job Megan and Dr. Ehrman!
Thank you for doing what you do!!! So thankful for the work, time and passion you’ve given to make so many things make sense!!!🧡
Great interview, thanks!
👏🙂
Very interesting
Have valentines day everyone
What if his return in the clouds is a spiritual return that everyone will see because he’ll first come as a savior King then as a thief to those who reject him at different times. I’ll admit it’s a scary thought.
This guy John was educated. Rome, 7 hills, reads, writes, etc.
Terrific podcast, really helps me understand the evangelical and fundamentalist Christians around me, although I was hoping Bart would have given some tips on how to deal with people who think the book is relevant prophecy of our near future.
Jesus said be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove
My family is Pentecostal I have heard every end of the world nonsense version of revelation
Arguing w a fool is like pushing on the ocean
Why deal with them at all? Live and let live.
Most of the time it's best to just humour them and move on. The world is clearly not going to end and Jesus is never going to return. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
They find comfort in believing the prophecy. You won't shake their conviction but just say you are open minded about it all and you are still learning what there is to know about it.
@@seanodeli7031The Pentecostal reports of expelling demons is very convincing especially Derek Prince.
I used to be a staunch evangelical and had a fascination with the end of times (i began reading the Book of Revelation on 5th grade) and read all the Left Behind books (including prequels). It was a huge part of my worldview. I even wanted to become a theologian and apologist. Eventually I enter college and start realizing my fascination for these topics was no different to being a fan of Star Wars or a conspiracy theorist. Good bye doom’s day paranoia. I don’t miss it.
42:00 It isn't fulfilling scripture~ in a sense, from a Christian's POV Rome did Kinda fall and rose in Christianity since Rome Became the center of the _Holy Roman Catholic Church._ Sorta/kinda if you look at it from an angle and squint your eyes just right like looking at modern art...
I often wonder if the power of suggestion, ( group energy) might in fact produce a Manifestation of Jesus. I seriously consider it at times.
Some very good points sir
That's an extremely blue green light?
Babe, wake up, new Bart Ehrman video just dropped
Why do some people refer to it as the Book of Revelations when the name doesn't have a "s" in it? My estimation is about a third of the people do this.
Why do some people called the Revelation to John when in fact it's the revelation of Jesus...🙂
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~
I'll prove that none of you know what you're talking about.
1. How long was Ephraim's punishment?
2. Who is Ephraim?
3. Did Ephraim repent?
4. When did Ephraim's punishment begin?
5. How long was yeshua supposed to be separated from Israel?
The Book might have been talking about *ancient* Rome but "Rome" still retains great modern significance for Revelation decoders because (their favorite false prophet) the Pope still runs the Catholic Church from there and the "Treaties of Rome" (1957) were signed there to create their favorite bête noire... the European Community!
They will have "Rome" to kick around for a long time.