Bart Ehrman presents LOVE THY STRANGER
Schedule
Tue Mar 24 2026 at 05:30 pm to 07:00 pm
UTC-04:00Location
752 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd (Historic Airport Rd, Next to The Root Cellar), Chapel Hill, NC, United States, North Carolina 27514 | Chapel Hill, NC
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From the New York Times bestselling author comes a surprising history of Jesus’ most radical commandment—a new kind of altruism—tracing how the extraordinary duty to love even those who are strangers to us has shaped our world and our lives.Flyleaf will offer seating for up to 70 in-person guests, with priority access given to folks who purchase the book. Please indicate in the "Customer Comments" field (at checkout) if you’d like 1-2 seats held for you at the event!
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When we donate money to victims of natural disasters, or offer our forgiveness, or consider it a government’s responsibility to provide some basic assistance to those in need, we are (knowingly or not) demonstrating the enduring legacy of a particularly Christian kind of love.
For centuries, Greek and Roman moral philosophers prioritized generosity towards friends and family. Even Old Testament exhortations to love your neighbor gave little reason to consider the suffering of those beyond your own community.
Jesus changed all this, introducing a revolutionary new ethical obligation to love those you didn’t even know—unconditionally—and to demonstrate that love through acts of care. The implications of this radical commandment would be debated, misunderstood, and resisted by early Christians. But by the fifth century, a new “common sense” began to transform the moral conscience—and the politics—of the West.
In Love Thy Stranger, New Testament historian Bart D. Ehrman charts the causes and consequences of this ethical revolution with his signature sly humor and verve. For in this moment of renewed debate over the limitations of Christian love, Jesus’ most demanding commandment remains a thrillingly provocative one, even two millennia on.
Bart D. Ehrman is a leading authority on the New Testament and the history of early Christianity. A distinguished professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he is the author of six New York Times bestsellers, including "Misquoting Jesus, How Jesus Became God, and The Triumph of Christianity". He has also created nine popular audio and video courses for The Great Courses. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages, with over two million copies and courses sold.
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Where is it happening?
752 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd (Historic Airport Rd, Next to The Root Cellar), Chapel Hill, NC, United States, North Carolina 27514Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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