Exploring Early Christian Narratives of Heaven & Hell w/ Dr. Bart Ehrman

00:00:00
/
00:42:19

14 May 2022

42 mins 19 secs

Your Host

About this Episode

We're grateful to learn from Dr. Bart Ehrman about his helpful new book entitled "Journeys to Heaven and Hell: Tours of the Afterlife in the Early Christian Tradition," which is published by Yale University Press.  It’s a fascinating look into the ancient literature that describes descents into hell and ascents into heaven.

In this episdoe, Dr. Ehrman discusses:

  • Guided tours of heaven and hell in the ancient world
  • How to read ancient literature (and understand context)
  • What Jesus meant when discussing Gehenna (Hell)
  • Ancient Hebrew ideas about death and annihilation
  • Early Christian thinking on Jesus and his descent into hell
  • Harrowing of Hell
  • The Apocalypse of Peter
  • The Gospel of Nicodemus
  • The Origin of Purgatory
  • Ancient thinking of where heaven and hell were located
  • How to be critical readers of the Bible
  • Academic study tools for Biblical interpretation _

Dr. Bart D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed his M.Div and Ph.D. degrees at Princeton Seminary and started his teaching career at Rutgers University. He has written or edited over thirty books, six of which were New York Times best sellers. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages.

The video and show notes: mikedelgado.org