The History of the Bible: The Making of the New Testament Canon

By: Bart D. Ehrman, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Bart D. Ehrman

Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

What different kinds of books are in the New Testament? When, how, and why were they written? And why did some books, and not others, come to be collected into what Christians came to consider the canon of scripture that would define their belief for all time? With these 12 lectures, get a fast-moving yet thorough introduction to these and other key issues in the development of Christianity. Designed to deepen the understanding of both Christians and non-Christians alike, this lecture series takes as its perspective the historical, rather than the theological, issues behind the development of the Bible. And it's an illuminating perspective, indeed, ranging across issues of language, oral history, the physical limitations of spreading the written word at a time when the printing press lay far in the future, and, of course, the theological forces that were shaping Christianity, molding a commonly accepted canon from the various expressions of the faith spreading across the ancient world. Professor Ehrman recreates the context of the times in which the canon was being assembled so that you can understand what the message of each written work would have meant to ancient Christians. You'll come to see how the diverse books of the New Testament were gathered together into the form we now know, whether it's the four canonical Gospels (whose authorship was only attributed by later Christians), the book of Acts, the 21 Epistles, or the book of Revelation (sometimes called the Apocalypse of John).

These lectures are a compelling introduction not only to the development of the Christian canon, but to all of the forces that would play a role in early Christian history.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2005 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2005 The Great Courses

Very informative and evenhanded

Very informative lectures without bias. You can tell Ehrman has a deep respect and interest in the Bible and it’s history.

Very Nice!

I really enjoyed this series and wish it was longer. I bought a Bible as a result and am enjoying reading the New Testament.

Very basic intro to books of NT - not what the course title says

I was looking for an informative look into how the Bible was formed and transmitted through the ages. That is not what this book delivered. It is a solid undergraduate intro to the New Testament which has a brief discussion of assembling the canon and it’s transmission. There is helpful discussion of literal versus figurative/spiritual reading. Solid course but needs a new title.

What a read!

These lectures are exactly what Dr. ehrman says, historical and not faith based. I am a practicing member of the LDS church (Mormon) and personally love religious history. This book helped me understand how the New Testament was made and how it came to be. Also reaffirmed my faith in the doctrine of Mormonism. I am fascinated by dr. Ehrmans personal knowledge and enjoy his wit and lecture style. Great series.

Excellent Historical Reference

I loved this lecture. It offered an excellent historical reference on the creation and history of the Bible.

Basic introduction to Ehrman’s book

Excellent best of lectures. I’ve read many of Ehrman’s books. This course offers an excellent survey of his ideas in many areas of early Christian thought and history.

Enlightening.

Having waded for most of my life, through the orthodoxies of modern religion, I wanted a much more objective, evidence grounded and historically contextualized understanding of why Christians believe, what they believe … and how that came to be, in full light of recent discoveries (Nag Hammadi, Qumran, …).

Barts work has stimulated me toward a new journey that is as much introspective, as it is archeological. Every re-listen triggers new insight and new questions. Highly recommended.

must listen for everyone touched by christianity

Answers to the questions many of us have including who wrote the new testament and how do the books relate to each other. Which books do you want to believe after critical analysis?

What we don’t know

I had heard that the myth that the Council of Nicaea involved voting which books to include was false but I hoped this lecture series would tell how it actually happened. It seems the answer is we just don’t know.

This series details many different views of early Christians and Ehrman depicts them very well. It seems that each competing group accepted books which seemed to agree with their understanding of Christ and rejected any others as heretical. Not surprisingly, the views of the dominant church in Rome won out. Our earliest list of books that matches the modern New Testament dates to several hundred years after the books were written.

So there it is, we found the list. But... how did it become official? If not at the Council of Nicaea, perhaps at another ecumenical council? Or decreed by some pope? Of course some things are just lost to history but this is so significant I had expected a more concrete resolution to the ultimate question of how the New Testament canon was made.

My only real criticism of Dr. Ehrman is that he made no comment on this. For all I know at the moment of finishing this lecture series, there may be an event where the canon was made official which Ehrman chose not to include here. Or perhaps there is no such recorded event in history. In either case I wish had addressed it.

Again Wow

I I found this to be and easy listen, and just a great book overall