What Did the Prophet Isaiah Say About Jesus?

Episode Outline:
0:00 Does the Book of Isaiah really predict Jesus?
1:08 Bart and Megan on summer weather, the Bart Ehrman Blog, and using it as a research resource
5:52 Why Isaiah matters so much for Christianity and for claims about fulfilled prophecy
7:04 What the Book of Isaiah is, when it was written, and why its original context matters
8:53 Why scholars divide Isaiah into First, Second, and Third Isaiah
11:17 How prophetic books like Isaiah may have functioned in their original communities
12:59 Course promo: Paul and Jesus: The Great Divide
14:30 Why Christians have especially turned to Isaiah for prophecies about Jesus
17:27 Reading Isaiah 53: why Christians immediately hear Jesus in this passage
19:55 How scholars determine what Isaiah 53 is actually talking about
21:42 Key clue: the servant is identified elsewhere in Isaiah as Israel
25:43 If the servant is Israel, then who are the “us” and “our” in Isaiah 53?
27:54 Would the historical Jesus himself have seen Isaiah 53 as referring to him?
30:56 How Christians came to reread Isaiah after Jesus’ death and resurrection
33:22 Is it wrong for Christians to read Isaiah as about Jesus?
36:53 Weekly Update: New Insights into the New Testament conference is coming back, focused on Paul
39:05 Listener Q&A: pseudonymous writings in Jesus’ name, Catholic vs Protestant New Testaments, lost letters of Paul, Matthew 16:28, and whether Paul would have gone to China
48:01 Final summary: historically Isaiah is not predicting Jesus, but Christian theology later made Isaiah central to understanding him

Episode Description

Was the prophet Isaiah pointing to the coming of the messiah, seven centuries before Jesus? Since the beginning of Christianity, his followers have claimed that he did; and some passages of the ancient prophet certainly seem to be advanced notices of what would happen in Jesus's life and death. If these are not predictions of Jesus, how can they be understood? If they do reflect his story, how can that be explained?

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Why the Doctrine of Inerrancy Contradicts the Gospels
Why the Doctrine of Inerrancy Contradicts the Gospels

Did Jesus Really Go to Hell?
Did Jesus Really Go to Hell?

Megan asks Bart:

- Why do you think it’s important to look at whether the book of Isaiah has any relationship to Jesus?

- What can you tell us about the book of Isaiah? When and where was it written, and what happens in it?

- Why do scholars think it was written?

- How would it have been used? Would it have been read for comfort and solace, or instruction, or something else?

- Why has the book of Isaiah been important for Christian communities?

- Is Jesus likely to have seen himself as fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecies?

- Since prophecies in the Hebrew bible were so tied into current events, how did it come to be important to Christian communities hundreds of years later?

- Are Christians today wrong to think that the Bible predicts Jesus?