Lecture Overview:

• Uncover and analyze the accounts in Matthew and Luke, revealing not only the widely-known virgin birth narrative but also the lesser-explored passages that hint at a biological link to Joseph.

• Investigate explicit statements and narratives in Mark and John, challenging the established virgin birth narrative and presenting a compelling belief in Jesus as the son of Joseph, driving our examination of Jesus' parentage.

• Actively consider hints in Paul's early writings and alternative traditions from later Christian, Jewish, and pagan sources, illuminating the unusual aspects of Jesus' birth and actively supporting the argument that challenges the notion of his virgin birth.

Key Questions Covered:

• Why is Jesus' virgin birth mentioned only in two passages of the NT; why don’t the other authors (such as Paul, or the authors of Mark and Luke) mention it? Was it simply not important? Didn’t they know?

• Why do three of the Gospels explicitly call Joseph Jesus’ “father”?

• Is it possible that Luke’s entire story of the virgin birth (Luke chapters 1-2) was not original but only added to the Gospel later?
• Why do the two genealogies of Jesus trace their lines down to “Joseph,” and not to Jesus? Did their authors assume that Jesus stood in that genealogical line? If not, what’s the point of giving a genealogy that he is not related to?
  
• If over time Christian scribes changed the texts of the Gospels to emphasize that Joseph was *not* the father of Jesus and Christian storytellers devised narratives to show he wasn’t, does that show that they were arguing the point against earlier Christians who thought otherwise?
  
• Are there any stories in our NT Gospels that make almost no sense if Mary was a virgin? 
• Why did belief in the Virgin Birth become so central to Christian thinking if it is not an idea mentioned, let alone stressed, by most of the NT writings?
  

The regular price for two 50-minute lectures by Dr Bart Ehrman is $29.90. However you enjoy lifetime access  to the course and Q & A for the special bundled price of  $24.95.

Registration Includes Lifetime Access to the 2-Lesson Online Course complete with: 

• Two 50-minute lectures by Dr. Bart Ehrman 
• PDF lesson guides 
• Questions for reflection
• Additional reading list to dive deeper 
• Audio downloads for listening on the go 

($49.95 Value)