Heaven and Hell: Contemplating the Ultimate Future | The Forum at St. Bart's

Bart Ehrman, the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, chronicles the historical development of Christian ideas about the afterlife.
Please email your questions for our speakers to the Reverend Peter Thompson at [e-mail] or post in the comments during the livestream.

[@Flapperjaw]

Love your videos....the historic aspect of early Christianity is fascinating to me . I totally understand and agree with your statement about fundamental Christians and their views.

[@danielwilda8167]

Glad to have found you. Been looking fur an organization that researches the true meaning of what God said study to show your self approved thahk you you have my support 🇺🇸⭐️💙❤️🏳️‍🌈👍💜🌈💪

[@justicederock6642]

I like this statement, intelligent faith is better than ignorant faith. Thank you sir.

[@OctaviaOG]

Bart is amazing. his integrity in teaching christianity as a non christian blows me away. love this guy. i have a theology degree from seminary and am an atheist now, myself, but i haven't lost interest in the religion i grew up in and devoted most of my life to. i hope to have this level of integrity in my own criticism of christianity. it seems to me that those of us who took our christianity most seriously are those who have left the faith more times than not, and continue to believe in the better parts of the christian faith more than evangelical christians today. i believe that evangelical christians are very heretical in their beliefs and use the scripture for their cultural purposes rather than following anything good that jesus said. i still abide by a lot of christian morality and ethics. because it is good human teaching and calls to our better selves. evangelicals if i can be blunt make me vomit... white christian nationalism, theocratic politics, discrimination, racism, hatred of anything different, un-education, anti socialist welfare for the needy, anti health care, and what they've done to the USA... it's abhorrent, heretical, evil, and harkens loudly of naziism. i hope we can pull out of this sooner than later, and it begins with education as to where their beliefs originate and what christian beliefs actually were. education is everything.

[@SandraGildenhuys]

Very interesting

[@SamOgilvieJr]

Hello there) I share your feelings about the importance of Bart's scholarship and the fine example his integrity is for all us. He does a particularly fine job of focusing on historical roots and education and avoiding evangelizing or promoting his own beliefs, at least in what I have seen thus far. However, after 48 years in the faith, I continue to believe that Jesus embodied all the essence of God, which is love. I believe that I have a personal relationship with the Creator and ask daily for a truthful revelation of Jesus's nature and purposes. I don't think it is any accident that I encounter the rare men and women who possess a sweet nature and exude love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and a genuine humility. I sense those qualities/fruit in you, ChesireKat and in Bart. I understand Bart's despair with the state of things but he is playing a strong role in alleviating injustice and working for the greater good. You are, too, no doubt.

[@OctaviaOG]

@@SamOgilvieJri'm not against anyone's religious beliefs until they want to install the national govt as an implement of religion and to place a nation under the beliefs of one religion. that's where i have a serious problem with american christian's today. kierkegaard said "once everyone has become christian, christianity has ceased to exist" kierkegaard lived under a theocratic govt with compulsive church attendance, policies directed by christian beliefs, etc. christianity never was meant to set up a theocracy. when religion crosses the line of trying to create a theocracy i'll fight them tooth and nail over it. it's anti american and it's anti christian. the reformers and those immediately after often were FOR the separation of church and state exactly because christianity should never be meddling in the state (render unto caesar passage, etc) but what i find in conversation with christian's is that they don't even know their own theology, much less understand jesus' teachings. and what they do embrace is heretical nazi-like ideology to establish a christian-state in their image. my desire for christians is that they learn where and why and under what beliefs and climate christianity originated, but they refuse to accept scholarship. especially the scholarship of dr ehrman and those like him. on a separate note: chapel hill (where dr ehrman teaches) had a school shooting two days ago where a prof was killed and my condolences and heart go out to those affected.

[@alsdyall]

Great interview; great interviewer ; great interviewee.

[@peterjordaan4090]

Great insight from Prof B Ehrman.

[@ThePetlowany]

Viewed logically, the notion of an incorporeal "soul" should provide relief to those weaned on the physical horrors of Hell. Kind of takes the sting out of gnashing of teeth and other ghastly ideas.

[@toddjenest3212]

I REALLY enjoyed this interview. Thank you!!

[@SaeedKhan-yh3ko]

Informative as always. Thanks!

[@SamOgilvieJr]

Social reformer, major advocate for justice, i.e., economic justice, gender justice, immediate justice-the kingdom of God is here and now.

[@KamranSher]

Excellent talk. Thanks for uploading

[@chrishartz2397]

Excellent …

[@tanned06]

The conception of heaven and hell as one among many destinations one can reappear afterlife can be found with great details in Dharmic religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism in accord to the principle of cause-and-effect judging on one's moral conduct. Such an idea, although perhaps not as elaborate, could also be found among certain Greek philosophers at an era when Christianity was still at its formative age.

[@jackfrosterton4135]

Which philosophers?

[@shipaskof8371]

Jesus said the kingdom of god is within you.

[@justicederock6642]

Thank you Mr Ehrman and you always educate me and you are making sense of this story Bible (book). I believed when you said, we have to be critical thinkers. God didn’t wrote Bible (book).

[@JustSaying1957]

“Jesus thought the resurrection of the dead was coming soon. He didn’t think there was going to be a long haul” you say. By this same logic I suppose Jesus didn’t have a clue he was going to end up on the cross until he started ruffling some feathers. Being he was just a “guy”. That right?

[@mariam.1273]

Excellent video to this day still! Oh, I think you should join forces with the Bible expert - Don Juravin and his code2God organization. You can teach the world with your combined knowledge!

[@DisabledPsychedelica]

I definitely am with Christianity bc looking at the whole picture of religious/spiritual thought it’s the continuation of understanding of shared experiences. As well, It might be more helpful to research outside of the past like 3,000-4,000yrs, life after death isn’t just a hundred years around Jesus, it’s a concept that goes back further, same with the understanding of Jesus. We do, in addition to the breath of life we have the breath of God which eternal and in such we live forever via God by his will. Heaven is mostly the presence of God as well as his creation when it’s not fallen, so we’re in a fallen heaven. Hell is apt to describe a fallen heaven, but more so it’s clearly the state of being not in Gods presence but still existing as free energy groaning to collapse back into existence or go to God… which is what Sheol was until Jesus and now we go to God. Dying is the reversing of creation, the breath leaves and the body decays into fundamentals and the breath of God holds us. Quantum physics helps this understanding, and since it’s based on religious beliefs science counts as a valid understanding for spiritual stuff as well. The timeline of the end times makes more sense if we realize like we go all the way back to Eve, she thought it would be Able but it wasn’t… still apart of the generations then and now. Plus God won’t destroy XYZ if there’s X believers, and we all have a destiny… it could happen rn or in a million years, eventually we all die along with everything. We don’t know the time bc it’s not one fixed time, it’s a quantum tangle of millions of dynamic time frames. I also think the concept of separations are like how we are saint and sinner instead of being separated light and dark… so on this fallen era there are separations until the final judgment in which it all gets recreated into the original states. Those in hell imo might just stay in existence but in the quantum realm never able to actually become matter again, maybe even being constantly cycled as file for everything like regular base energy or they get destroyed like annihilated or they’re stuck in a never ending world of their own torments. Jesus was supposed to die, like even pre-Jewish thought understood this bc it’s all there. As well the transition from storm and war to fertility and abundance makes a whole lot more sense bc that dynamic has always been present but ignored due to bias. Jesus rescuing ppl from hell predates Judaism, at this point scripture must be fully inclusive of the whole understanding and not just a select few that fit current understanding, all or nothing.

[@MrRezillo]

First time here. Are you Catholic or Episcopal? Thanks; I'm a Bart Ehrman fan. Okay: Episcopal, I think. Peter said he was a rector, not "Father Peter." Also, I think priests have a little notch in the clerical collar. The lack of one in his collar indicates he's Episcopalian.

[@brianbannon6746]

1 Corinthians 15:3-4

[@shipaskof8371]

Just making bigger needles for the camels to pass through lol

[@mugglescakesniffer3943]

So, Purgatory is poor man's Heaven.

[@quetzelmichaels1637]

To torture means to test for purity, as in metals. To torment means to interogate or question. Sulfur/ Brimstone was desirable for its cleansing, curitive powers, and ability to ward off disease. As silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin are smelted to remove the impurities, you will be refined and your impurities removed in the everlasting lake of fire. Depart from me, you accursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (Mat 25:41 NABO) The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it. (Rev 12:9 NABO) He, who "for a little while" was made "lower than the angels... did not help angels... therefore, he had to become like his brothers (Heb 2:9-17 NABO) Jesus destroys all power, rule, and authority, 1Cor 15:25. In Jesus, you have someone who can relate to you through his sacrifice. In David, the Cornerstone of Christ’s work of salvation, you have someone you can relate to through his salvation. The Son of David hands the kingdom over to his Father and ascends beyond the heavens themselves, from whence he came. In his name this man stands before you healed. He is 'the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.' (Act 4:10-11 NABO) the Lord God will give him the throne of David his Father (Luk 1:32 NABO) Blessed is the kingdom of our Father David that is to come! (Mar 11:10 NABO) then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father (1Co 15:24 NABO) I am the root and offspring of David, the bright Morning Star. (Rev 22:16 NABO) Nor does the Father judge anyone (Joh 5:22 NABO) The Father and I are one." (Joh 10:30 NABO) so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me (Joh 17:21 NABO) The Son himself will (also) be subjected to the “One” who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all. (1Co 15:28 NABO) No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. (1Jo 4:12 NABO) God is Spirit (Joh 4:24 NABO) No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is at (your) Father's side, has revealed him. (Joh 1:18 NABO) there are, to be sure, many "gods" and many "lords", yet for us there is one God, the Father, (1Co 8:5-6 NABO) David, the bright Morning Star." (Rev 22:16 NABO) You belong to your Father the devil (Joh 8:44 NABO) How have you fallen from the heavens, O Morning Star, son of the dawn! (Isa 14:12 NABO) On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. (Gen 3:14 NABO) "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. (Joh 6:35 NABO) Is not my house firm before God? He has made an eternal covenant with me, set forth in detail and secured. Will he not bring to fruition all my salvation and my every desire? (2Sa 23:5 NABO) the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail (Mat 16:18 NABO) David, their king, whom I will raise up for them. (Jer 30:9 NABO) From David's throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains By judgment and justice, both now and forever. (Isa 9:6 NABO) David, the Morning Star or Shining One, the Snake or Adversary, the ruler of this world, the Ancient Serpent of Old, the king of Babylon... whose people set out from Babylon seeking a promised land, a better home, a heavenly home... has his senses restored, his kingdom returned, and becomes much greater than before, as the Ancient One of Days, seated upon a throne on the Mount of Assembly. The Son of Man, being presented before him, washes his feet, as the Ancient One of Days subjects himself and his kingdom to him. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. (Eph 6:12 NABO) obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims, which was opposed to us, he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross; despoiling the principalities and the powers, he made a public spectacle of them, leading them away in triumph by it. (Col 2:14-15 NABO) so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the (Assembly on the Mount) to the principalities and authorities in the heavens (Eph 3:10 NABO) You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts. (2Pe 1:19 NABO) You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. (Exo 19:6 NABO) who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever (and ever). Amen. (Rev 1:6 NABO)

[@christineveazey3705]

Why couldn't the 'resurrection of the dead' mean reincarnation? Not the kind of reincarnation that is the myth, ie God could punish a human and make him come back as an animal. In the Gospel of Thomas #47, Jesus says several metaphors about some things just not happening, such as, "Aged wine is not poured into new wine skins, or it might spoil." Or, "An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, since it would create a tear." In other words, if our soul is at the age of a human, it is not going to come back as a dog, cat or insect.

[@Mrm1985100]

Resurrection is a totally different concept.

[@truthgiver8286]

heaven and hell is here on earth it's what you make of it.

[@tedlawrence4189]

If you have been bad,you will find yourself, spending an eternity in either Camden N.J. or in Gary Indiana. So repent now!

[@edeveland2056]

Wow, he's soo wrong. Jesus did mention Hell. He's very convincing esp to those already not wanting to believe Jesus already. False teachers beware of what Jude, Paul and Peter warned.

[@k8cking]

Another layman Christian that haven't a clue🙄 you do realise that professor Ehrman has studied the Gospels in its original greek for centuries!! I do hope you realize that you sound like a fundamental fool and as arrogant as all other Christians that Pretend they know jesus ?? Ehrman is talking about the historical jesus not the theological one wich Christians rely on and is a delusion!!

[@Mrm1985100]

Yes, Jesus did talk about gehenna but its meaning is not eternal torment but destruction. The wicked will perish and disappear after judgement.

[@symphonyinkart]

Been trying to learn about the bible for couple of years now. And if I’m honest. I’m scared to trust any “translation” and who are we to say we know which is correct? Not manipulated ? Mean this is the nicest way…. But it’s scary

[@edeveland2056]

Check out James White or Daniel Wallace. They are believing Textual Critics and Greek Scholars. They can guide you in your search. I pray you find it. Give it another look, ok?

[@cathrinegustavsson9775]

Yes you be warned about what Paul taught 😉 after all he was a man that never met Jesus , but took it upon himself to speak for him! So christianity is mostly based on Saul or Paul in many ways😉 And so you should surely educate yourself before you say Bart Ehrman doesn't know what he's talking aboutw😉😉