This is a special edition of the misquoting Jesus podcast.

We had scheduled this episode a while back, but when time came for taping it, an emergency

had come up in my family, and I had to take two weeks off.

Fortunately, my friend, James Tabor, agreed to fill in for me.

Many of you know who James is. He is a prominent scholar of the

New Testament and early Christianity, who has published a good deal in a lot of different areas.

In this episode, Megan interviews him about the importance of the Apostle Paul for understanding

the early Christian movement. This is obviously a crucial matter for anyone interested in the New Testament or in how

Christianity developed after the time of Jesus.

And James is one of the leading experts on the topic, having studied it intensely and

published about it for over 40 years.

In the episode, Megan refers to it being a two-week show, but we chose to stitch the two recordings together so that you can hear

them in continuity, and that way I'll be back next week for the next episode. I'm sorry to say

that in addition to my family emergency, Megan had a bit of a health

problem and lost her voice, but not completely. And so her voice is a little weaker than normal,

but her questions are as forceful and interesting as ever. Since this is a special episode,

it will not include question and answer or other segments that we've come to

enjoy, at least I've come to record, but we will be including those segments again next week.

Here's Megan and James. I hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to Miss Quoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman, the only show where a six-time New York Times bestselling author and world-renowned Bible scholar uncovers the many fascinating, little-known facts about the New Testament, the historical Jesus and the rise of Christianity. I'm your host, Megan Lewis. Let's begin.

Hello, everybody, and welcome.

Bart is unfortunately unable to join me today, so instead I'm very lucky to have Dr. James

...