BROADCASTS.com

Original release March 1, 2016.

Encore release December 9, 2018.

Encore release September 1, 2017

We interview Dr. Bart D. Ehrman about his new book\xa0Jesus Before the Gospels: How the Earliest Christians Remembered, Changed, and Invented Their Stories of the Savior. Dr. Ehrman looks at what research on memory--how it's formed, how it's recalled, how it can change when transmitted from person to person, and how it can be remolded based on historical perspective and current events--and what it can tell us about how the written accounts of Jesus' life\xa0were created.\xa0Jesus Before the Gospels\xa0is available in\xa0hardcover,\xa0audiobook\xa0and for\xa0Kindle. For more about Dr. Ehrman's work, visit bartdehrman.com.

Plus:

Here are some recent and upcoming books our listeners might find interesting:

Scientology: A to Xenu\xa0by former Scientologist Chris Shelton. It's a detailed and critical analysis of every aspect of Scientology, focusing on its organization and the damaging actions it takes against its current and former members.\xa0Also,\xa0check out Shelton's \xa0YouTube channel,\xa0podcast\xa0and\xa0blog.

The End: What Science and Religion Tell Us about the Apocalypse\xa0by\xa0Phil Torres. Would you trust science or religion to tackle ther existential risks facing the world today--risks like\xa0synthetic biology, nanotechnology, nuclear weaponry, and (possibly, soon) superintelligence

Secular Meditation: 32 Practices for Cultivating Inner Peace, Compassion, and Joy\xa0by\xa0Rick Heller\xa0of\xa0the Humanist Community at Harvard University.\xa0In this book, Heller has attempted to\xa0filter out anything that sounds like woo from meditation and put it on a purely secular basis, as a kind of exercise for the mind.

The Devil You Know: The Surprising Link between Conservative Christianity and Crime\xa0by\xa0Elicka Peterson Sparks. This book focuses\xa0on the negative impact of Christian nationalism on violent crime in the US, as well as the impact of this belief system on criminal justice policies.