Famed New Testament scholar and self-described agnostic Bart Ehrman has spent his career rigorously questioning the historical and religious foundations of Christianity. Yet, in his latest work, the renowned skeptic makes a surprising case: the modern Western impulse to help strangers and those in need is a direct inheritance from the moral teachings of Jesus Christ.
In a recent discussion surrounding his new book, Love Thy Stranger: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West, Ehrman challenges a common misconception about the origins of human altruism. While many assume that a universal moral duty to assist others has always existed, Ehrman argues that in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, the idea of helping a stranger simply because they were in distress was virtually nonexistent.
Today, whether one identifies as Christian, atheist, or agnostic, Western society largely operates on a shared moral reflex. When natural disasters like hurricanes or earthquakes strike, people routinely donate money or volunteer their time to assist individuals they will likely never meet. According to Ehrman, this deeply ingrained instinct to aid the unknown sufferer stems fundamentally from a first-century moral revolution sparked by Jesus.
The turning point, Ehrman explains, lies in how Jesus adapted and expanded his own Jewish heritage. While the ancient Jewish tradition taught followers to love their fellow Israelites, Jesus radically universalized this concept to include outsiders and even enemies.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The famous story describes a Jewish man beaten and left for dead by robbers. After a priest and a temple assistant actively ignore the dying man, a Samaritan—a member of a group historically viewed as bitter enemies of the Jews—stops to save him. By framing the Samaritan as the true "neighbor," Jesus shattered ethnic and religious boundaries, decreeing that anyone in need is a neighbor worthy of love.
This moral revolution did not just change personal ethics; it laid the foundation for sweeping institutional transformations across the Western world. Ehrman credits this Christian innovation with the eventual creation of public hospitals, orphanages, elder care facilities, and systemic government assistance for the poor.
While the book serves primarily as a work of cultural and intellectual history, Ehrman acknowledges its sharp relevance to contemporary political divides. Though he refrains from endorsing a specific political agenda, the scholar's ultimate message serves as a striking reminder for the modern era: those who claim to follow Jesus are called, above all else, to actively care for the vulnerable and the stranger.