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Did Jesus Really Change Western Morality? Bart Ehrman

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Mar 28, 2026

Guest

Bart D. Ehrman

Bart Ehrman, James A. Gray Distinguished Professor and bestselling scholar of the New Testament, discusses how Jesus reshaped moral concern for outsiders. He traces ancient ethics, the Hebrew and Greco-Roman limits on altruism, the historical Jesus and apocalyptic context, and how Christian practice built hospitals and charities. He also reflects on his own move from evangelicalism to agnostic atheism.

01:12:20

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ANECDOTE

Runaway Car Rescue That Sparked Questions

Bart Ehrman recounts chasing and jumping into a runaway car in Chicago to help a screaming woman with a child.
The chaotic rescue included running the car into a police paddy wagon and later front-page coverage in the Chicago Tribune, prompting Ehrman to question his motives.

insights

INSIGHT

Pure Altruism Is Hard To Prove

Pure altruism is philosophically and psychologically ambiguous because motives can include pleasing God, self-image, or avoiding guilt.
Ehrman and Shermer discuss evolutionary, reciprocal, and virtue-based explanations but conclude motives often blend altruistic and egoistic elements.

insights

INSIGHT

Greek Roman Ethics Excluded the Stranger

Ancient Greek and Roman ethics valued virtue within kin, city, or reciprocal groups but did not endorse radical concern for complete outsiders.
Ehrman argues modern Western stranger-helping norms aren't native to Greek-Roman moral systems but emerged later.

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Ehrman's Journey from Evangelicalism to Agnostic Atheism

02:25 • 2min

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Why Scholarship and Suffering Led Ehrman to Leave Faith

04:15 • 2min

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Can Free Will and Suffering Reconcile With God?

05:51 • 3min

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Defining Altruism: A Runaway Car Rescue Story

08:36 • 6min

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Is Pure Altruism Possible?

Evolutionary Roots of Altruism and Its Limits

17:37 • 2min

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Were Greeks and Romans Altruistic Toward Strangers?

20:06 • 8min

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Hebrew Bible: Love Your Neighbor, But Who Is 'Neighbor'?

27:56 • 4min

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Who Was the Historical Jesus?

Dating Jesus' Sayings and Apocalyptic Expectations

34:54 • 6min

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Jesus' Kingdom: Within, Among, or Imminent?

41:08 • 7min

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Resurrection, Atonement, and the Shift in Early Christianity

Forgiveness versus Atonement in Jesus' Teaching

51:21 • 5min

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Why Be Good If the End Is Coming?

55:55 • 5min

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Politics, Jesus, and Modern Claims About Christian Ethics

01:01:00 • 4min

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Bible on Immigration, Abortion, and Moral Selectivity

01:05:04 • 3min

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Christian Institutions: Hospitals, Orphanages, and Charities

01:08:06 • 3min

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Tension Between Voluntary Charity and Government Welfare

01:10:40 • 3min

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Wealth, Tithing, and Hypocrisy in Modern Churches

01:13:35 • 2min

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Jesus Transformed Western Moral Conscience

• Mentioned in 11 episodes

Love Thy Stranger

How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West

Bart D. Ehrman

#1200

• Mentioned in 33 episodes

Late Great Planet Earth

Carole C. Carlson

Mr. Hal Lindsey

The Late Great Planet Earth is a treatment of dispensational premillennialism that compares end-time prophecies in the Bible with then-current events. The book, written by Hal Lindsey with contributions by Carole C. Carlson, was first published in 1970 and became the bestselling nonfiction book of the decade according to The New York Times. It discusses various signs foreseen by prophets from Moses to Jesus, such as the rebirth of Israel, the threat of war in the Middle East, an increase in natural catastrophes, and the revival of Satanism and witchcraft, all of which are seen as portents of the coming of an antichrist and a war that will bring humanity to the brink of destruction. The book emphasizes the importance of biblical prophecy in understanding the imminent future of the planet.

#1907

• Mentioned in 23 episodes

Misquoting Jesus

The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why

Bart Ehrman

In 'Misquoting Jesus', Bart D. Ehrman provides a detailed account of the textual criticism of the New Testament. He explains how the earliest surviving manuscripts of the Bible were copied by hand, often by amateur scribes, and how these copies introduced various textual variants. Ehrman discusses both accidental and intentional changes made to the manuscripts, including alterations to de-emphasize the role of women in the early church, to harmonize different portrayals of Jesus, and to oppose certain heresies. The book also includes Ehrman's personal reflections on how his study of Greek manuscripts led him to abandon his ultra-conservative views of the Bible. Despite the variations, Ehrman and other scholars agree that these changes do not affect the essential Christian beliefs.

#8104

• Mentioned in 6 episodes

The quest of the historical Jesus

Albert Schweitzer

In 'The Quest of the Historical Jesus', Albert Schweitzer reviews all prior work on the question of the 'historical Jesus' starting from the late 18th century. He discusses how Jesus' image has changed with the times and with the personal proclivities of various authors. Schweitzer concludes with his own synopsis and interpretation, emphasizing that Jesus' life and thinking must be understood in the context of 'late Jewish eschatology'. He argues that Jesus believed his ministry would bring about the end of history and did not anticipate a prolonged period between his time on earth and God's final judgment. The book also addresses the discrepancies between the historical figure of Jesus and his representations in the gospels, highlighting the need for critical evaluation of these texts.

#9356

• Mentioned in 5 episodes

Heaven and Hell

A History of the Afterlife

Bart D. Ehrman

#3305

• Mentioned in 14 episodes

How Jesus Became God

The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee

Bart D. Ehrman

In this book, Bart Ehrman explores the historical developments that led to the affirmation at the heart of Christianity: Jesus was, and is, God. Ehrman reveals how Jesus’s divinity became dogma in the first few centuries of the early church. The book sketches Jesus’s transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection, highlighting the visions of Jesus’s followers after his death as a crucial factor in this transformation. Ehrman’s work is based on eight years of research and is written for both secular historians of religion and believers alike.

How much of what we call "basic morality" is actually inherited from Christianity? Bart Ehrman joins Michael Shermer for a wide-ranging conversation about one of the biggest moral questions in history: why do we feel obligated to care for strangers at all?

Drawing from his new book Love Thy Stranger, Ehrman argues that the idea of helping people outside your tribe, family, or nation was not a moral given in the ancient world. Greek and Roman ethics made room for loyalty, friendship, and civic duty, but not for radical concern for the outsider. He makes the case that Jesus changed that moral equation—and that his teachings still shape the modern West, including many people who no longer consider themselves religious.

The conversation also covers Ehrman's own path from evangelical Christianity to agnostic atheism, the problem of suffering, whether pure altruism really exists, and the difference between forgiveness and atonement.

Bart Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and The New York Times bestselling author of Misquoting Jesus and How Jesus Became God. His new book is Love Thy Stranger: How Jesus Transformed Our Moral Conscience.

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