This episode examines the Gospel of Thomas, discovered in full in 1945, through an interview with Dr. Michael Licona and Dr. Elaine Pagels. Pagels, dating this work to the 80s or 90s AD, sees this text as a companion piece to be read alongside the three synoptics, which reveal secret teachings of Jesus shared only with his disciples, as referenced in Mark 4. She calls it a “missing link” in the formation of the gospel tradition. Licona disagrees, arguing that the Gospel of Thomas, which he dates to the early 2nd century AD, was excluded by the early church as an authoritative writing. It does not reflect Jesus’ teachings as revealed in the canonical gospels, discusses the resurrection through a pagan lens, and in some places contradicts Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
18 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT
Who Wrote the Gospels? Michael Licona vs. Bart Ehrman - Part 2
Did Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John write the gospels that bear their names? The texts themselves do not name them as the authors and were published and circulated anonymously. In fact, the earliest record of names being associated with the gospel books comes from Irenaeus in 185 AD, over 100 years after Jesus lived. Dr. Bart Ehrman contends that we do not know who wrote these texts and that the names attributed to them must certainly be false, given that the uneducated, Aramaic-speaking, rural disciples would not have the rigorous education required to produce such Greek literary works. Michael Licona disagrees, taking on Ehrman’s contentions and providing a positive case for the traditional authorship of the gospels in this episode of the Risen Jesus Podcast.
11 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT
Who Wrote the Gospels? Michael Licona vs. Bart Ehrman - Part 1
Did Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John write the gospels that bear their names? The texts themselves do not name them as the authors and were published and circulated anonymously. In fact, the earliest record of names being associated with the gospel books comes from Irenaeus in 185 AD, over 100 years after Jesus lived. Dr. Bart Ehrman contends that we do not know who wrote these texts and that the names attributed to them must certainly be false, given that the uneducated, Aramaic-speaking, rural disciples would not have the rigorous education required to produce such Greek literary works. Michael Licona disagrees, taking on Ehrman’s contentions and providing a positive case for the traditional authorship of the gospels in this episode of the Risen Jesus Podcast.
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Who Wrote the Gospels? Michael Licona vs. Bart Ehrman - Part 2
Published 18 Mar 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] There's no other possible explanation for his verbatim alignments with Mark. So my question is, why should anyone believe your current things when even you don't? You're right, you shouldn't. But if you did choose to believe me, it'd be because I think maybe I wasn't clear when I was saying Yeah, the blog. […]
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