How Jesus Became God

By: Bart D. Ehrman, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Bart D. Ehrman

The early Christian claim that Jesus of Nazareth was God completely changed the course of Western civilization. What exactly happened, such that Jesus came to be considered God?

To ask this question is to delve into a fascinating, multilayered historical puzzle - one that offers a richly illuminating look into the origins of the Western worldview and the theological underpinnings of our civilization. This fundamental historical question and its complex answer speak penetratingly to the spiritual impulses, concerns, and beliefs that have played a seminal role in our world, even as they reveal the foundation of history’s most global religious movement, and fresh insights into the Western world's single most influential human being.

Tackling all of these matters and more, Great Courses favorite Professor Ehrman returns with the unprecedented historical inquiry of How Jesus Became God. In 24 provocative lectures, Professor Ehrman takes you deep into the process by which the divinity of Jesus was first conceived by his followers, demonstrating how this conception was refined over time to become the core of the Christian theology. A distinguished scholar of Christianity and New York Times best-selling author, Professor Ehrman develops the inquiry with meticulous research and in-depth analysis of texts. In these lectures, Ehrman reveals that the theological understanding of Jesus as God came about through a complex series of factors and events, each of which must be understood in order to grasp this most extraordinary and historically pivotal story.

In the enthralling inquiry of How Jesus Became God Professor Ehrman lays bare the diverse elements that combined to produce both an astonishing true-life story and one of history’s most significant developments. Join a renowned biblical scholar in grappling with this pivot.

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

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Stop Yelling at me!

The information is great but the narrator really needs to work on toning down his delivery. Being yelled at really wears on you after 24 lectures.

fantastic insight

Love it. I've listened to this lecture 3 times and find new insights each time.

A great subject and a great lecturer

Dr. Ehrman is such a strong lecturer, and this course showcases his skills. His knowledge is as deep as his enthusiasm for the content. I've read some of his other books, and this course is just as good.

Didn’t know what to expect

I am not religiously trained so went into this with a very open mind. I really appreciated both the content and the delivery, and now feel I have a better understanding of the history.

Excellent

Informative look into the history of Christianity and the process it took to exalt Jesus from an apocalyptic Jewish teacher that was condemned and executed as a criminal to the status of God.

Very informative Agnostic bemd skews truth

There is a lot of Truth here. Very factual overall. Deceptive on certain points. sometimes it feels like he is ignoring the fact that Christians where in touch at the time with the writers of the books of the Bible. sometimes he infers that Scholars do not believe that someone wrote a book. but I think he ignores the fact that there are Christian Traditions that say why one or another is believed to have written it. sometimes his default argument is that we don't know who wrote the book. the facts for themselves are there. he gives a view that is intentionally trying to make it sound like the apostles did not agree. by pointing to chronological writings of the books as evidence of some kind of evolution in theology. he also ignores the fact that the targum has these Jewish ideas of the word from before the time of Jesus. and never explores deeply the possibility that it is the continuation of that theology before Christ into Christianity with only adding the moniker of the name of Jesus. because he likes to expound on that issue ignoring whether or not it is a giant influence on the Christians period and preferring to rather lean on painting a confused Christianity for the purpose of controversy. but there are many good facts here worth listening to with a critical eye.

Great Course!

These lectures were amazing, there were a lot of questions that I had that were answered, in some things that I believe that we're not addressed, I felt there was a slight amount lacking in certain areas, but overall it was a great course.

Brilliant!

Fascinating tour of Christian and new testament history, showing how Jesus went from apocalyptic preacher to God almighty as the christian faith evolved. I learned so much about the history of the new testament I didn't know. Dr Ehrman's lectures are spellbinding.

history-focus, well presented, insightful lectures

Prof. Ehrman is one of my favorite historical lecturers and the best on the Bible and early Christianity from the Great Courses. This one was no exception - thought provoking, well-organized and kept me listening long after I should have gone to sleep!

That said, I wouldn't start with this one. Depending on your interest, I might start with the Historical Jesus or the New Testament. I completely accept the premise that we are discussing history here - and I've been reading about the historical Jesus for 30 years - but there were some parts here that pushed me. Overall, in a good way, but if you are a Christian just starting your journey with the historical approach, I wouldn't start here.

I also wanted to address the comments about his "yelling". Some people are missing the point that these are lecture style, not reading a book. That said, I did have to turn down the volume on this a few times.

Fascinating early history of Christianity and Judaism.

I really liked the explanations backing the conclusions about aspects of the history. This was no glib statement of belief, but a real scholarly treatment.