Did Jesus Exist?

The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth

By: Bart D. Ehrman

Narrated by: Walter Dixon

Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Large numbers of atheists, humanists, and conspiracy theorists are raising one of the most pressing questions in the history of religion: "Did Jesus exist at all?" Was he invented out of whole cloth for nefarious purposes by those seeking to control the masses? Or was Jesus such a shadowy figure - far removed from any credible historical evidence - that he bears no meaningful resemblance to the person described in the Bible?

In Did Jesus Exist? historian and Bible expert Bart Ehrman confronts these questions, vigorously defends the historicity of Jesus, and provides a compelling portrait of the man from Nazareth. The Jesus you discover here may not be the Jesus you had hoped to meet - but he did exist, whether we like it or not.

©2012 Bart D. Ehrman (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers

a variation on the same theme

Is there anything you would change about this book?

it really should just be an article. Ehrman continues with his initial scholarship but at times seems to be rehashing sections of his other books

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

the concept that people consider Jesus to be mythical

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

yes

Could you see Did Jesus Exist? being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

no

Jesus as taught .

I am 81 and decided to read this. I was raised in the Catholic religion . This reading was very mind blowing. I lot of what I was taught was put to test. I found myself saying why wasn't this mention when I was in catholc school were I attended for 9 years. My mind would have Liston . Now It causes havoc in the dark places of my mind. I am reaching the last chapter and debating with myself will I finish or put it away for awhile and think of all I have read. The things discussed are well put with good background by the author . I will see what my soul and mind tell me.

Too much of a good thing for a layman!

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as other of Dr. Ehrman’s books.
He could have convinced me that a man named Jesus did exist at the time and place he said in a pamphlet.

Partially enjoy able and partially tedious!

A book for Atheists and religious alike to read.

What made the experience of listening to Did Jesus Exist? the most enjoyable?

Dr. Bart Ehrman has done his home work on this book. Reading it really brought out many of my beliefs and changed a few of them.

What about Walter Dixon’s performance did you like?

Mr. Dixon has a voice that is easy to listen to. He came through loud and clear on my MP3 player while I listened at work.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A simple and thought provoking look at a man that was made into a God.

Any additional comments?

Christians must remove their God glasses to really understand what the book says to us.

An Edifying Book

Would you consider the audio edition of Did Jesus Exist? to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print version.

Any additional comments?

The narration was excellent. I was very much impressed with Professor Ehrman's arguments. I did not agree with his arguments against the divinity of Jesus, but I found his arguments in support of Jesus' historicity to be compelling. Anyone doubting the historicity of Jesus should read or listen to this book.

Well-Cited Argument for the Existence of Jesus

I chose this title after hearing much hubbub about Dr. Ehrman from the YouTube atheist community, specifically Holy Koolaid and Genetically Modified Skeptic. I recommend it wholeheartedly as Walter Dixon’s performance is articulate.

My only confusion/qualm rests on the evidence for the existence (or previous physical existence) of the documents Q (no, not *that* Q), M, & L. I am going to mine Ehrman’s bibliography for more secondary source material on that subject—hopefully presented in Ehrman-like prose.

Comments from a reader

As a non-religious person, I feel that this book gets me to think that Jesus existed, but is not the person most people think he was. The book I think can help you to see religions for what they really are.

Vintage Ehrman

By now Bart D. Ehrman, lapsed Evangelical Christian turned Agnostic with Atheist undercurrents, is well-known and well established as a populariser of 19th and 20th century critical Bible scholarship. In "Did Jesus exist?" Ehrman again brings the insights of critical scholarship to the table to engage (not with Evangelical Christians) but with Mythicists (atheists holding the believe that Jesus didn't exist) on the question of how historical Jesus Christ really was. Did he really exist or was he made up?

In my opinion Ehrman does a good job of confirming that Jesus was a real man of flesh and blood that lived in the first century C.E. He argues from a modernist historical perspective and makes a convincing argument that there are enough "reliable" sources to attest to a historical Jesus.

After he looked at some of the evidence for Jesus' existence he analyses some of the commonest arguments of leading mythicists. He convincingly shows that this group of people has an agenda that clouds good scholarship. He offers a convincing rebuttal for all their major arguments against Jesus.

He then offers a scholarly reconstruction of Jesus and offers a comfort prize to the Mythicists, the Jesus of the Christian Church doesn't completely correspond with the real Jesus. He illustrates by bringing together the different earliest sources that has been identified from the gospels that Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet of his time.

Some of this may sound familiar, if you have read or listened to Ehrman previously. There are quite a lot of data and information that has been presented in different packages in his previous books.

One thing that bothered me a bit about Ehrman's reconstruction of the historical Jesus, was his insistence that Jesus didn't refer to himself when he spoke of the "son of Man." There is definitely not scholarly agreement on this theory and it is still hotly debated. Ehrman presents it as a well-known scholarly fact.

While this book repeats various of his arguments from previous books, it is still a worthwhile book. Ehrman is known for following his arguments through. This book is a must for anyone that is not convinced that there lived a historical Jesus.

Walter Dixon narrated the book superbly. He might become synonymous with Ehrman's future audio books.

One thing about the production that was bothering is that to the end one or two chapters of the book is repeated. This is probably the case due to a bad cut and past job.

This is vintage Ehrman, excellent but with a much needed acquired taste!

Erudite, thoughtful [as always], and well read

Point 1 - it isn't a 'story' but I gave it 5* anyway! Perhaps this shouldn't be mandatory because there is a lot of non-fiction here [thankfully!].

As an atheist who has believed for a very long time that Jesus was an actual person who did have quite a bit to say [or is said to have had] about the human condition it was nice to read a well researched [as always with this author] explanation that clarified my ideas. I suppose he was starting with a 'believer' so my enjoyment of the book was probably a 'slam dunk' anyway. What impressed me even more was the way in which the argument was explained always using examples from known texts. Using comparisons and a clear path of argument to enlighten the reader. I am slowly reading all of Bart Ehrman's books and, so far, I think this is the one I enjoyed [and understood] more than any other. This later fact was also down to the sympathetic reading which was clear, concise, and very easy on the ear. I shall look for this Narrator in the future.

A good introduction into Bart Ehrman's works and a very interesting book which is highly recommended to any person interested in the man which changed the world.

Beyond Interesting!

If you could sum up Did Jesus Exist? in three words, what would they be?

Insightful, balanced, authoritative

What was one of the most memorable moments of Did Jesus Exist??

Well, it's not a story. I think the timeline of New Testament authors and their influences upon one another were very well documented and explained. I really appreciated the author's creation of context in terms of the languages, customs, and circumstances (political, military, etc) of the times.

Which character – as performed by Walter Dixon – was your favorite?

Not really applicable to this type of treatise.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I liked to take my time with it and listen and re-listen to the variety of teaching points made. Would love to take a course from this guy.

Any additional comments?

This is an interesting and compelling argument that furthers one's understanding of the historical Jesus. Terrific job of being respectful to opinions and positions of others on this subject. As a practicing Catholic, in no way did this book diminish my faith or enthusiasm .... indeed it deepened both. Great documentation and use of logic and reason and a good example of historical research methods as well. Just a treat. Congratulations to the author and all who choose to read this. Wise choice.

This level of scholarship is sorely needed in our divinity schools in this country.