Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Most people hear "apocalypse" and think of the end of the world. Nuclear war. Climate collapse. Jesus coming back on the clouds.
But that's not what the word originally meant...
In this conversation, Bart talks with Dr. Jason Staples of North Carolina State University, an expert in early Judaism and Christian origins, about where apocalyptic thinking actually came from and why it took hold so completely in the centuries around Jesus.
Jason explains what "apocalypse" originally meant, why the Hebrew Bible contains almost none of this literature, and how the encounter with Persia during the Babylonian exile helped turn older Near Eastern myths into something new. He also makes the case that the doctrine of resurrection emerged as an answer to a problem the older prophets couldn't solve: why do the righteous keep losing?
By the first century, these ideas were everywhere. They helped fuel three Jewish revolts. And versions of them still shape decisions being made in Washington and Tehran today.
Jason's semester-long course, Visions of the End: Early Jewish and Christian Apocalypticism, covers 28 lectures across 14 weeks, with live Q&A following each session. He works through Daniel, 1 Enoch, Jubilees, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the historical Jesus, Paul, and the later Christian apocalypses.
Find it at bartehrman.com/discovervisions where you can get $50 off at checkout.
Most people hear "apocalypse" and think of the end of the world. Nuclear war. Climate collapse. Jesus coming back on the clouds.
But that's not what the word originally meant...
In this conversation, Bart talks with Dr. Jason Staples of North Carolina State University, an expert in early Judaism and Christian origins, about where apocalyptic thinking actually came from and why it took hold so completely in the centuries around Jesus.
Jason explains what "apocalypse" originally meant, why the Hebrew Bible contains almost none of this literature, and how the encounter with Persia during the Babylonian exile helped turn older Near Eastern myths into something new. He also makes the case that the doctrine of resurrection emerged as an answer to a problem the older prophets couldn't solve: why do the righteous keep losing?
By the first century, these ideas were everywhere. They helped fuel three Jewish revolts. And versions of them still shape decisions being made in Washington and Tehran today.
Jason's semester-long course, Visions of the End: Early Jewish and Christian Apocalypticism, covers 28 lectures across 14 weeks, with live Q&A following each session. He works through Daniel, 1 Enoch, Jubilees, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the historical Jesus, Paul, and the later Christian apocalypses.
Find it at bartehrman.com/discovervisions where you can get $50 off at checkout.
