Did Jesus Exist? cover art

Did Jesus Exist?

The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Did Jesus Exist?

By: Bart D. Ehrman
Narrated by: Walter Dixon
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

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 Christian Living Christianity Middle East Humanism
All stars
Most relevant  
I was surprised that, after agreeing that Josephus' writings were redacted to include evidence of Jesus as the Messiah, he took Josephus' writings about Jesus as evidence for a historical Jesus, claiming that Josephus still must have written about him. that seemed unscholarly. I would have thought that the section on Jesus in his writings should be considered unreliable as evidence because we don't know which bits, if any, he actually wrote.
Also, his claim that mythicists have an agenda against Christianity is illogical. Whether or not he was a flesh and blood person says nothing as to whether or not he was divine.
He seems to display biases in this book, but he knows the topic so well that it's still a good listen

almost

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Did Jesus Exist?

If just asserting a premise was the standard of a thesis, than Professor Bart Ehrman has written a tour de force. He states no less than 7 times in the opening chapter that Jesus 100% did exist, and then again about once every five minutes for good measure. The question mark in the title is rhetorical.

Bart introduced me to this fascinating topic and thus deserves some respect. And that sentence was it. Because with this almost offensive offering he has all at once made himself irrelevant.
Ehrman may claim to have broken away from his faith years ago, but his thinking has remained as dogmatic as a 4th century bishop. (Altho its possible Ehrman may take that as a compliment)

I don’t mind the snobbery of professors, in fact I expect it. But Ehrman has mistaken his position as educator for that of a parent. He seems concerned we will all get bogged down in uncertainty, so he claims it for us and tells us not to be so skeptical.

If this is the best there is then this field needs an inquest immediately.
5 stars - for writing so badly, so completely void of logical honesty, that this is sure to stimulate many more books in a genre begging for talent. Ehrman sets the bar so impossibly low, that everyone should feel encouraged to have a crack.

Yes, because the scholar tells me so.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.