How Jesus Became God — Season 1, Episode 3: Humans as Gods in the Greco-Roman World

Episode synopsis

Delve further into the interface between the human and the divine in pagan cultures. Examine narratives describing people born of the sexual union of gods with mortals, highlighting examples such as Alexander the Great. In the Roman and Egyptian worlds, look at cases of humans who were exalted to the status of gods.

About How Jesus Became God

In 24 provocative lectures, Professor Ehrman takes you deep into the process by which the divinity of Jesus was first conceived by his followers, demonstrating how this conception was refined over time to become the core of the Christian theology. A distinguished scholar of Christianity and New York Times best-selling author, Professor Ehrman develops the inquiry with meticulous research and in-depth analysis of texts. In these lectures, Ehrman reveals that the theological understanding of Jesus as God came about through a complex series of factors and events, each of which must be understood in order to grasp this most extraordinary and historically pivotal story. In the enthralling inquiry of How Jesus Became God Professor Ehrman lays bare the diverse elements that combined to produce both an astonishing true-life story and one of history’s most significant developments.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1Jesus - The Man Who Became God
• E2Greco-Roman Gods Who Became Human
• E4Gods Who Were Human in Ancient Judaism
• E5Ancient Jews Who Were Gods
• E6The Life and Teachings of Jesus
• E7Did Jesus Think He Was God?
• E8The Death of Jesus - Historical Certainties
• E9Jesus’s Death - What Historians Can’t Know
• E10The Resurrection - What Historians Can’t Know
• E11What History Reveals about the Resurrection
• E12The Disciples’ Visions of Jesus
• E13Jesus’s Exaltation - Earliest Christian Views