{"title":"Bart D. Ehrman","description":"\u003cp\u003eExplore the thought-provoking works of Bart D. Ehrman, a scholar renowned for his insightful examinations of early Christianity and its evolution. His books delve into the historical and textual complexities of religious beliefs, offering fresh perspectives on topics such as the divinity of Jesus and the afterlife.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders will find a compelling mix of rigorous scholarship and accessible narrative, engaging with themes of faith, doubt, and the human search for meaning. Ehrman’s writings invite reflection on the origins and transformations of religious ideas within the broader context of history and spirituality.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"how-jesus-became-god-by-bart-d-ehrman-9780061778193","title":"How Jesus Became God","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author and Bible expert Bart Ehrman reveals how Jesus’s divinity became dogma in the first few centuries of the early church.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe claim at the heart of the Christian faith is that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. But this is not what the original disciples believed during Jesus’s lifetime—and it is not what Jesus claimed about himself. \u003cem\u003eHow Jesus Became God\u003c\/em\u003e tells the story of an idea that shaped Christianity, and of the evolution of a belief that looked very different in the fourth century than it did in the first.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA master explainer of Christian history, texts, and traditions, Ehrman reveals how an apocalyptic prophet from the backwaters of rural Galilee, crucified for crimes against the state, came to be thought of as equal with the one God Almighty, Creator of all things. But how did he move from being a Jewish prophet to being God?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a book that took eight years to research and write, Ehrman sketches Jesus’s transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection. Only when some of Jesus’s followers had visions of him after his death—alive again—did anyone come to think that he, the prophet from Galilee, had become God. And what they meant by that was not at all what people mean today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWritten for secular historians of religion and believers alike, \u003cem\u003eHow Jesus Became God\u003c\/em\u003e will engage anyone interested in the historical developments that led to the affirmation at the heart of Christianity: Jesus was, and is, God.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Ingram Book Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46508321734892,"sku":"9780061778193","price":39.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/27071823482209.jpg?v=1748738787"},{"product_id":"love-thy-stranger-by-bart-d-ehrman-9781836431824","title":"Love Thy Stranger","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen you hear of a devastating earthquake thousands of miles away, you might reach into your pockets to make a donation. That’s the fault of an itinerant Jewish preacher from an obscure backwater of the Roman Empire, otherwise known as Jesus Christ.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEarly Christians, like their fellow Roman citizens, had much in common with us: a good life was one in which you could provide for your family, care for your friends and contribute to your community. Bart D. Ehrman asserts Jesus’s moral revolution was both simple and impossible: you should love strangers as much as you love your family. And you should forgive those who wrong you freely. Most of us will never live up to these ideals. But much of the good we do comes from the fact we feel we ought.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy demanding we love, Jesus came to trouble our consciences, not to salve them.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47288566776044,"sku":"9781836431824","price":49.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/98608596c9ac0ddd5aa2dd288eaf560c.jpg?v=1770606649"},{"product_id":"journeys-to-heaven-and-hell-by-bart-d-ehrman-9780300271041","title":"Journeys to Heaven and Hell","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling scholar’s illuminating exploration of the earliest Christian narrated journeys to heaven and hell.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“[An] illuminating deep dive . . . An edifying origin story for contemporary Christian conceptions of the afterlife.”—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom classics such as the \u003ci\u003eOdyssey\u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003eAeneid\u003c\/i\u003e to fifth-century Christian apocrypha, narratives that described guided tours of the afterlife played a major role in shaping ancient notions of morality and ethics. In this new account, acclaimed author Bart Ehrman contextualizes early Christian narratives of heaven and hell within the broader intellectual and cultural worlds from which they emerged. He examines how fundamental social experiences of the early Christian communities molded the conceptions of the afterlife that eventuated into the accepted doctrines of heaven, hell, and purgatory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing on Greek and Roman epic poetry, early Jewish writings such as the \u003ci\u003eBook of Watchers\u003c\/i\u003e, and apocryphal Christian stories including the \u003ci\u003eActs of Thomas\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eGospel of Nicodemus\u003c\/i\u003e, and the \u003ci\u003eApocalypse of Peter\u003c\/i\u003e, Ehrman demonstrates that ancient tours of the afterlife promoted reflection on matters of ethics, faith, ambition, and life’s meaning, the fruit of which has been codified into Christian belief today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47383883317484,"sku":"9780300271041","price":40.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24708153482294.jpg?v=1773385934"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/bart-d-ehrman.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}