Welcome to Misquoting 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, everyone, and welcome back to misquoting Jesus. The last time Bart and I recorded, we spoke

about Jesus' mother Mary. But what about Joseph? What role does he play in the story of Jesus' birth?

And what other stories about

him developed in Christianity's early days? Do the non-canonical Gospels tell us anything that

the New Testament doesn't? And why does he have such a secondary role in Christianity? Before we get

to that though, but hello, how are you doing today? I'm doing well. So while we're recording

this, I'm looking forward to Christmas.

When it's playing, we've just finished Christmas.

December 26th, for me, is always kind of like somewhere between kind of a anti-climax letdown and a relief.

It's funny how a lot rides on holidays. I think it's one reason that so many people find Christmas a difficult holiday instead of a time of joys because there's so much pressure put on the day that it can lead to very difficult things. And obviously, families get together sometimes when they don't want to win. But in my case,

we've spent Christmas for many years at Sarah's mom's house in Woodbridge, which is in Suffolk

in England. You know, it's always great. We really enjoy it, but it can be fraught for some people.

How about you? You're looking forward to the day? I am. I am. I enjoy Christmas Day very much.

And I really enjoy the day after Christmas in the UK, as you will know, Barty's Boxing Day.

And it's our family kind of a continuation of Christmas. We kind of get up late and have a nice

breakfast together. We will usually have old family friends

coming over. Or at least we did when I was a child. Obviously, I don't live at home with my parents

...