Bart Ehrman: Is Jesus Responsible for Our Moral Common Sense?

Bart Ehrman: Is Jesus Responsible for Our Moral Common Sense?

From A Pastor and a Philosopher Walk into a Bar by Randy Knie & Kyle Whitaker

April 3, 2026 · 1h 28m · Season 6 · Episode 7

About this episode

Bart Ehrman discusses how the teachings of Jesus may have shaped Western moral instincts.

Text us your questions! Bart Ehrman, an atheist New Testament scholar with a penchant for annoying evangelicals, now claims that the teachings of Jesus determined the moral instincts of the West. Bart joins us to talk about his new book Love Thy Stranger and why acts of care for immigrants, refugees, and people outside “our tribe” may be downstream of Jesus, even when the people doing the caring don’t believe in him. We get into what makes Jesus’ ethics so hard to swallow when you read them ...

People in this episode

Hosts: Randy Knie, Kyle Whitaker

Guest: Bart Ehrman

Topics covered

  • morality
  • ethics
  • Jesus
  • New Testament
  • immigrants
  • refugees

Keywords

  • Bart Ehrman
  • Jesus
  • morality
  • ethics
  • Love Thy Stranger
  • immigrants
  • refugees

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Love Thy Stranger

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