The Stranger Gospel + Bart D. Ehrman

About this episode

Katelyn and Roxy discuss with Bart D. Ehrman how Jesus' teachings have shaped the moral framework of Western society.

What if Jesus really meant what he said? Like, including all that love your enemy stuff. The better question maybe is what would happen if Jesus's followers believed he really meant what he said — and acted on it? It could change society and, according to Bart Ehrman, it already has. On this episode, Katelyn and Roxy talk with Ehrman — a New Testament scholar, agnostic atheist and somewhat unlikely defender of Jesus' most radical teachings — about how Jesus' command to care for people on the periphery shaped the moral "common sense" of the Western world. From public hospitals to disaster relief to orphanages, much of our social safety net can be traced back to Christian invention, he argues. It's a particularly urgent conversation at a time when Christianity is claimed in the name of everything from war to mass deportations to repealing women's right to vote. GUEST: Bart D. Ehrman is a distinguished professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of numerous books on the New Testament and early Christianity, including his latest "Love Thy Stranger: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West." Learn more…

People in this episode

Hosts: Katelyn, Roxy

Guest: Bart D. Ehrman

Topics covered

• Jesus' teachings
• moral conscience
• Christianity
• social safety net
• New Testament scholarship

Keywords

• Jesus
• Bart D. Ehrman
• Christianity
• moral teachings
• social impact
• New Testament
• religious studies

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Books & works: Love Thy Stranger: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West

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