Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee
How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee
How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee
Audiobook10 hours

How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee

Written by Bart D. Ehrman

Narrated by Walter Dixon

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

New York Times bestselling author and Bible expert Bart Ehrman reveals how Jesus’s divinity became dogma in the first few centuries of the early church.

The claim at the heart of the Christian faith is that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. But this is not what the original disciples believed during Jesus’s lifetime—and it is not what Jesus claimed about himself. How Jesus Became God tells the story of an idea that shaped Christianity, and of the evolution of a belief that looked very different in the fourth century than it did in the first.

A master explainer of Christian history, texts, and traditions, Ehrman reveals how an apocalyptic prophet from the backwaters of rural Galilee crucified for crimes against the state came to be thought of as equal with the one God Almighty, Creator of all things. But how did he move from being a Jewish prophet to being God? In a book that took eight years to research and write, Ehrman sketches Jesus’s transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection. Only when some of Jesus’s followers had visions of him after his death—alive again—did anyone come to think that he, the prophet from Galilee, had become God. And what they meant by that was not at all what people mean today.

Written for secular historians of religion and believers alike, How Jesus Became God will engage anyone interested in the historical developments that led to the affirmation at the heart of Christianity: Jesus was, and is, God.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperAudio
Release dateMar 25, 2014
ISBN9780062309136
Author

Bart D. Ehrman

Bart D. Ehrman is one of the most renowned and controversial Bible scholars in the world today. He is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is the author of more than twenty books, including the New York Times bestsellers How Jesus Became God; Misquoting Jesus; God’s Problem; Jesus, Interrupted; and Forged. He has appeared on Dateline NBC, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CNN, History, and top NPR programs, as well as been featured in TIME, the New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and other publications. He lives in Durham, North Carolina. Visit the author online at www.bartdehrman.com.

More audiobooks from Bart D. Ehrman

Related to How Jesus Became God

Related audiobooks

Christianity For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for How Jesus Became God

Rating: 4.0212765957446805 out of 5 stars
4/5

235 ratings24 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Jesus never became God, but as a historian looking to publish books Bart Ehrman claims that fact, even though ALL of our earliest sources of Jesus point to a divine Christology. If you want to dig into strawman tactics than stop no further than Dr. Bart Ehrman.

    2 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Anyone interested in understanding development of western civilization, culture and percent, should consider this book.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Bart dismantles many of the preconceived assumptions made of Jesus through historical and literary criticism. He explores questions regarding Jesus’ divinity I never thought to ask.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Interesting in places and humourous in places, Yalom manages to impart his wisdom with an easy writing style.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is the latest book by Irvin Yalom, whose books I've been following over the years. From the very first page of the introduction, Yalom's writing is gripping & right to the point. He mentions turning 70 years old, which has made him feel a need to "pass on" his knowledge & some of his experience to younger generations of therapists & patients. This is what he tries to do in this substantial book, a book of tips, long on technique & short on theory (as Yalom himself says).Each "tip" that Yalom gives comes from years of experience & in most cases, makes perfect sense. Something that should be noted is that his book is not written, I think, for the non-psychologically trained reader. It's aimed towards psychotherapists, & tries to steer them in the direction of good choices & good therapeutic work with clients / patients. Most tips may seem like common sense to most psychologists / psychotherapists, but if you think a little bit more about them, most of them are not used as often as they should be. Also, apart from the more obvious tips, Yalom offers a whole range of extremely innovative (& maybe some times controversial) pieces of advice. These chapters alone are, in my opinion, well worth the price of the book, since they make you sit down & think.All in all, a great reference book for psychotherapists which comes alive through wonderful, clear writing, & lots of lively clinical examples.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An interesting perspective on therapy. Critical of CBT, a defense of Freud, and a guide for practitioners seeking to develop a meaningful human connection with their patients, while also plugging in his own method of existential therapy. With formal training as a cognitive scientist and as a sociologist, part of me rankles at the lack of any systemic basis for his method of therapy (because without that how do you know when you can do better?), but it's a remarkably charming read, nonetheless.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Really good audio book sounded clear and the speaker did an amazing job
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Scholarly, well written and well documented. Very academic. Enjoyed it nonetheless.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    My first Yalom book, and it's clear that he writes with great insight from many years of experience. The advice in here - a series of letters and notes to Clients and therapists alike - are rooted in a profound understanding of the relationship between two people in a room, one of whom is seeking 'answers', the other seeking to help. Practical and engaging.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book, in it's 260 pages has over 80 chapters (none of which are too long). This helped to move the speed along of reading this book, but also allowed Yalom to have very specific chapters.

    This book is full of personal experiences and examples from his many years of therapy, and in general is good for a counselor-to-be to read. It is an open letter to incoming counselors, and was recommended by my professors as a 'Must Read' for counseling students.

    I will say, however, that the more I read about counseling, the less mystical it seems to me. Professors who I used to believe were sooo intelligent and profound...I now know think similiarly as many of the 'great' therapists. This was hard for me at first...but gives me the confidence that perhaps some day I too will have that great of understanding in these topics. :)
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Just by looking of what is told in the description we can see the dude is mad

    4 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    It’s hard to believe the author was a New Testament professor of prestigious universities. He seems to take passages from the Bible out of context to convince the reader of his point. His argument hangs on the idea that the Gospels are made up due to an ideology and agenda. I forced myself to listen to his arguments as I would with listening to my atheist friends convincing themselves that Christianity is just made up.

    E.g., he argues that it’s more probable that Jesus’ crucified body was never buried and instead was eaten by birds. He argues that Pontiff Pilot was too ruthless to allow an exception to allowing bodies to hang on the cross.

    E.g., in chapter 3 he claimed that Jews thought it possible that man are dignified into the realms of angels and then cites some book from Abraham that was not authenticated as official doctrine. I understand that he’s trying to make a point but it’s such a far stretch that it’s hard to take him seriously.

    3 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is an historical examination of how Jesus came to be viewed by many as God. It's not a theological examination and the author doesn't try to "prove" or "disprove" the divinity of Jesus -- he looks at the various, but few, historical sources available and traces how and when references to Jesus as divine, as God, came into prominence. He also explains the historical context of the writings we have about Jesus. At times, I found the logic of certain arguments to follow, but overall this is a very interesting look at the early history of Christianity.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Ehrman is widely recognized for his reputation for biblical scholarship and this book does not disappoint. However, while there is some interesting anecdotal information and some good historical work, as one might expect, there is nothing really new for serious students of the historical Jesus. The book is very readable, and might challenge some readers who are unfamiliar with historical scholarship on the subject. And while I don't agree with all of his assertions, I, too, have wondered how Jesus saw himself, how he saw his own identity during his life. Ehrman's writing is intriguing and the questions are worth exploring, and even for the student of biblical history, this and the book's anecdotal stories and illustrations as well as the extensive bibliography make it definitely worth the time.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Controversial, but a good beginner's book on the historical jesus. The evidence is paper thin in many places. Worthwhile. Ehrman is a very accessible author.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I found much of this book fascinating and enlightening and I learned a lot about the development of early Christian Christology. I cannot say I agree with all of Ehrman's conclusions, but he does lay out the evidence quite well. I am especially struck by his admission that he himself is an agnostic. He was once a believer, but has since left the fold.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is an exhaustive look at the evolution of Christian thinking with regard to the divinity of Jesus. Dr. Ehrman's conclusions are well derived from a large number of sources. While many literalists will be uncomfortable with the book, Ehrman stays within the existing literature and shows how Christian belief has changed from the first century to our own. Some of the narrative is a bit redundant, but this should be required reading for anyone unafraid to venture beyond the covers of their favorite translation of the Bible.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    An outstanding, objective and well researched analysis of how the understanding of Jesus evolved from earliest Christianity to the Counsel of Nicea (and actually a bit beyond). Mr. Ehrman is an excellent speaker and writer, and sets forth in clear terms the fascinating account of how views of Jesus changed from a poor, fully human apocalyptic preacher to God.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I learned quite a few new things from this book. The author explains some of the difficulties historians face when working on the historical Jesus. He explanation about how historians can not make historical judgements about the resurrection and the miracles described in the New Testament is quite understandable.

    I found the step by step progression of the arguments involved engrossing. I think I understand the history quite a bit better now. The author has researched and taught Bible history for over 30 years. His preparation and materials show the fine work he has done on them. I recommend this history to any one with an interest in the story of Jesus and early Christian history.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    It is well written. I am not enough of a biblical scholar to truly have "enjoyed" the book - but certainly see how well researched and written this is. i purchased the book after hearing Professor Ehrman speak. He was fascinating.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Aside from Karen Armstrong, Ehrman has become my go to author on the history of Christianity. Once an evangelical Christian filled with the desire to convert all he met, Ehrman became an agnostic the more he studied the Bible and the history surrounding its making and Christianity. Specifically, Ehrman devotes a lot of time and effort to explaining what the Bible actually says and the historical context of it.Is Jesus God? This is an argument historians, theologians, and Christians have been having for centuries. The very idea of a holy Trinity makes heads spin; how can Jesus be both divine and human? How can he be both God and Son of God?Using historical methodology applied the the Bible and available historical documents, Dr. Ehrman makes the case that Jesus was made God as nuanced, sophisticated thought entered the designing of a consistent Christian theology. In order to explain some of the things Jesus presumably said, the writers of the Bible (and later commentaries) added their ideas about what Jesus actually meant, eventually leading to the elevation of Jesus as man to Jesus as God, on the right hand of God.What I appreciate most about Ehrman's work is that he freely admits to his evangelical past and gives the reader the viewpoint of someone who once believed in an inerrant document handed down over centuries meant to be taken as literal. It helps to understand how believers can get so caught up that critical thinking takes a back seat.I find this stuff fascinating.Nit: In Chapter 6, The Beginning of Christology, Ehrman discusses the practice of prominent Roman families adopting grown men and raising them to prominence above the biological sons of the family. This was a common practice.The example chosen to illustrate the effect of this adoption is that of Julius Caesar's illegitimate son by Cleopatra, who was fated to become known only for his illegitimacy. The adopted son was a nephew named Octavian, who went on to become well-known in history.The reason for Caesarion's obscurity is that it would have been political suicide (not to mention marital) for Julius to proclaim this illegitimate son by the Egyptian ruler as his son. Julius could not, and did not want to, acknowledge Caesarion as his. Cleopatra thought their son would be the way to tie Rome and Egypt more closely together. She had her own schemes for ruling Rome with Julius.I found Ehrman's use of Octavian's adoption as elevation into higher society and power spurious in the context of explaining how common this practice was so that making Jesus into Son of God made sense.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Bart Ehrman delivers a well researched and examination of the evolution of Christianity. Of course with most religious topics one is preaching to the choir so to speak in what particular stance they take. Ehrman is a bit unique as his background, training, and beliefs are rooted in Christianity. At some point in his life in focused examination he changed his beliefs in the story to doubt and eventually disbelief.Firm believers will not probably be persuaded here as they dig into their deep bag of counter arguments and attacks. The disbelievers will be given much to reinforce their position. The one thing I am always amazed by with religions is how stories and doctrines set millennium ago by in many cases total unknowns can hold sway.I found the book fascinating in the early examination of the life of Jesus and his followers. I was going to give it a 4 star rating but the coverage of the debates and councils after the crucifixion I found a bit tedious.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    While returning to Chicago from Croatia on my 10 hour transatlantic flight, I sat next to an amiable self- described “servant of Christ,” who was engaged in translating the bible into the Kurdish language. Although he had been reading the bible seriously for forty years, he was not bothered by the very different way Jesus is described in the four canonical gospels. To him, they were just different views of the same person, with no more variation than one would expect in four different biographies of Abraham Lincoln.Not so for Bart Ehrman, the distinguished University of North Carolina professor and agnostic biblical scholar. He looks carefully at the different descriptions of Jesus and then takes into account the timing of when the different descriptions were written. In the earliest gospel (Mark), Jesus is neither referred to as God, nor does Jesus claim to be anything other than a human messiah. Yet by the latest gospel (John), which was written some 30 to 40 years after Mark, Jesus has morphed into the “Word,” an eternal being that is the equal of God the creator of the universe, and in some (impossible to define) way, IS God. Ehrman queries, if Jesus claimed to be God, don’t you think that was important enough to mention in any of the first three gospels? Isn’t it more plausible that the belief that Jesus was God developed or evolved after the synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke) were written?As Ehrman summarizes in a Huffington Post interview about the book:"Jesus was a lower-class preacher from Galilee, who, in good apocalyptic fashion, proclaimed that the end of history as he knew it was going to come to a crashing end, within his own generation. God was soon to intervene in the course of worldly affairs to overthrow the forces of evil and set up a utopian kingdom on earth. And he would be the king. ... It didn't happen. Instead of being involved with the destruction of God's enemies, Jesus was unceremoniously crushed by them: arrested, tried, humiliated, tortured, and publicly executed. ... 
And yet, remarkably, soon afterwards his followers began to say that -- despite all evidence to the contrary -- Jesus really was the messiah sent from God. More than that, he was actually a divine being, not a mere human. And not just any divine being. He was the Creator of the universe. ... How did that happen? How did we get from a Jewish apocalyptic preacher -- who ended up on the wrong side of the law and was crucified for his efforts -- to the Creator of all things and All-powerful Lord? How did Jesus become God?"Ehrman attributes the belief of the early disciples in the Resurrection to “visions” several of them had in the first few months after the crucifixion. Those visions are no more nor less historically reliable than the many later appearances of the Virgin Mary to various people. Nonetheless, those who had the visions could conclude that since Jesus appeared to be in some sense alive after being crucified, he was in some sense divine. Ehrman explains that “there were lots of people like this in the ancient world,” i.e., people who were understood to be in some sense divine. For example, the Roman emperors from Augustus on all claimed to be gods. And there was a man named Apollonius whose popular cult in the first and second centuries contended for believers with Christianity. His followers thought that he too ascended into heaven and lived on after being executed by the Romans. Thus, it would not have been terribly unusual for ancient people to think of Jesus as becoming one of the many “divine” beings rather than an eternal entity, coeval and coequal with the Creator. It is difficult to pinpoint the cause of Jesus’ promotion from a (lower case) god to God, but the time of the promotion appears to have begun in earnest between the publication of the last of the synoptic gospels and the writing of the gospel of John. Ehrman thinks the change in the perception of Christ was gradual. In fact, he demonstrates that for the first two centuries of Christianity, there were many debates about the nature of Christ. It was not until Emperor Constantine forced the Christians to convene the Council of Nicea in 325 C.E. that the gospel of John’s version of Jesus became orthodox doctrine. And indeed, various “heretical” concepts of Christ’s nature have endured and have been held by many Christians over the centuries. Ehrman explains various techniques used by historians to vet ancient documents, techniques he described and applied in some of his previous books like Misquoting Jesus. He then applies those techniques to the gospels, and comes to some conclusions that may startle, scandalize, and appall practicing (but not critically thinking) Christians. For example, he contends that it was highly unlikely that Jesus was given a decent burial; more likely, he was not buried at all, being left on the cross like virtually all other victims of Rome’s harsh “justice.” Thus, he finds the stories of the “empty tomb” to be highly incredible. To some extent, this book repeats theses propounded in Misquoting Jesus. Ehrman states that his basic theses are not revolutionary. In fact, they are taught in most main stream Protestant seminaries. He ascribes the fact that they are not widely known among the laity to reluctance on the part of pastors to share ideas that might weaken the faith of the faithful. These are important ideas, and Ehrman is an excellent explicator of them. Even though this book restates many ideas that Ehrman has expressed before, it is a good read and important in its own right. (JAB)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have read and enjoyed several of Professor Ehrman’s books and for his latest book had the chance to hear him give a book talk in Raleigh. A professor of religious studies at UNC Chapel Hill, Ehrman is an historian and a scholar of the New Testament who brings his scholarship and research to bear on the evolution of Christian teachings over the centuries. Ehrman describes himself as agnostic, having lapsed from a quite fundamentalist Christian upbringing and early study at a noted fundamentalist bible institute. From a deeply researched and analytic basis, Ehrman’s works critique – even debunk -- the assumptions and holdings of established religion. Although I consider myself a church-affiliated Christian, I hold that skepticism about “beliefs” passed down through the ages and thoughtful, rational reconsideration of theological constructions is a perfectly valid frame of reference that does not conflict with an honest place in established religion. In my personal religious pondering I am far, far distant from acceptance of the bible as literal truth and from unquestioning adherence to the “teachings” that mortal men have derived from religious tradition. For me anyway, I find that the more one delves into history and socio-political influences on the development of religious tenants the more comfortable and satisfying a “fit” there is in one’s spiritual domain. (Reading the bible as a work of literature is also a valuable way to approach its meanings.)The theme of Ehrman’s book is how was it that an illiterate preacher from an obscure region of Palestine become to be considered as not only divine, but to be God himself? Ehrman starts his analysis by pointing out that in ancient religions and beliefs the distinction between humans and the gods was not as clearly bounded as we hold today. It was common to believe that the gods sometimes take human form, for the gods to intermingle personally directly with humans (often via sexual liaisons) and for humans to achieve divine status. The Roman emperors were considered to possess divinity. Ehrman describes life of the legendary Apollonius whose reputed holy characteristics and works were strikingly similar to those of Jesus. Ehrman says that humans became godly in several ways: through physical intercourse between gods and women whose offspring were semi-divine, through “incarnation” – gods who came to earth assuming human form, and through “exaltation” – humans who were elevated to a divine at some point in their lives or at their deaths.The book examines what the gospels and writings of Paul say about Jesus’ divinity. Ehrman traces the evolving conceptions of Jesus through the synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke and their “sources” – Q, M and L –) and the quite different treatment of Jesus’ divine identity in the gospel of John. He says that the synoptics do not overtly support the belief that Jesus was God, but they begin to hint at it through intimations of how he became divine. Mark holds that Jesus became divine at his baptism by John the Baptist. Luke concludes that at his conception Jesus came into divine status. Matthew, in contrast, describes the nature of Jesus’ birth to a virgin as in accord with prophesy found in scripture. Matthew shows us that a major intent of the gospel writers was to make a link between Jesus and the prophecies and lineages found in the Old Testament – that his existence and purposes fulfilled Hebrew scripture, particularly the prophesized coming of a messiah who would establish a godly kingdom on earth. But, despite their varying perspectives and motives, these claims, which on one level were made (or made up) to establish Jesus’ legitimacy among the Jews, open the way to the much more radical notion that Jesus was not only divine but that his divinity was pre-existent and that he was, in fact, God himself.What did Jesus say about his divine nature, that he is one with God? It turns out he said nothing of the sort. The gospel of John, however, takes a major leap in this direction. It is the latest of the four gospels and the only one in which Jesus describes himself as God incarnate. Ehrman holds that the words of Jesus about his sameness with God were in reality John’s words, never uttered by Jesus. Except for John’s bald assertions, you cannot find anywhere in the other gospels any self-reference by Jesus that he is really God.Paul is a bit equivocal on the matter, but intriguingly in Paul’s letters you find passages which are by context and language clearly from pre-Pauline sources. These very early words suggest the beginnings of ideas that Jesus may have been divine.Ehrman contends that the hinge to these beliefs was Jesus’ resurrection: it was because of his resurrection that Jesus was divine; perhaps even a manifestation of God himself. Ehrman holds that while the fact of the resurrection cannot be historically proven, it can be rationally concluded that the disciples had visions of Christ as a resurrected body (not in a spiritual sense, but an actual corporeal body). He delves into the psychology of individual and mass visions, which are entirely common throughout human experiences. The resurrection put Christian thinkers on the path that Jesus must have been divine not only through his death, but divine in a pre-existence eternal sense. In other words, he was not “created” by God at a certain time to perform his mission of salvation, but always existed and was sent to earth to save mankind. The meaning of his sacrifice for the sins of others becomes exponentially magnified when holding that he possesses infinite existence and is, in fact, God. Ehrman tackles the evolution of the concept of the trinity which is a theological means to hold onto a monotheistic view of God while incorporating Jesus and the Holy Spirit as one in God – not separate gods or separate parts of God.The question of the nature of Jesus’ divinity and his status as God, while beginning to emerge very early in post-Jesus times and evolving over a few centuries, was not without controversy and alternative views. Ehrman outlines the various views that led to struggles between “orthodox” and “heretical” thinking, resulting finally in the dominance of the triune viewpoint at the Council of Nicaea in the 4th century.At the book talk given by Ehrman one would have expected that his views (which cut against the most fundamental beliefs of believers) would have been challenged by some from the audience, especially since this region is known to be quite religious. Ehrman bluntly stated that it is not possible from an historian’s perspective to reach a conclusion that Jesus’ life and nature points to his divinity, or that he is a manifestation of God. He says that such spiritual beliefs are matters of faith and cannot form the basis of counter arguments to the historian’s perspective. His questioners were actually quite polite and aimed at eliciting additional explanatory commentary by Ehrman on the points raised in his book. In all, a very interesting evening and a very interesting book.