Home » The Bible and Beyond
Enjoy posts about a variety of subjects, all designed to help you look at religion, the Bible, and early Christian texts in a new way.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2020-05-30T18:11:26-04:00May 29th, 2020|Tags: Early Christian Communities, Early Christian Texts, Early Jesus Followers, Hal Taussig|
He brings what we love most about the Early Christian Texts project: his willingness to listen like a pastor, his eagerness to probe the scholarly questions …, and a healthy dose of surprise.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2020-05-14T00:34:48-04:00May 14th, 2020|Tags: COVID-19, Extracanonical Texts, Prayer, The Thunder Perfect Mind, Vulnerability|
Somewhere in all this, I rebel. Is God really unwilling or unable to help? Can prayer do something to help the vulnerable during a pandemic?
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2020-04-22T19:40:15-04:00April 23rd, 2020|Tags: COVID-19, Extracanonical Texts, Gospel of Thomas, Nag Hammadi|
I started to wonder: what else (besides an invisible virus) might be right in front of my face that I may not be noticing?
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2020-04-09T03:33:39-04:00April 9th, 2020|Tags: Comfort, COVID-19, Dialogue of the Savior, Nag Hammadi|
It could be that my mother’s confidence in this greater good – this ‘presence’ – is what prepared me to appreciate the calming messages in many of the ancient Christian texts.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2020-03-26T07:23:19-04:00March 26th, 2020|Tags: Early Christian Communities, Gratitude, Music, Odes of Solomon|
We’re so accustomed to reading about early Christians, but now try to imagine them singing! And today, we invite you to sing again.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2020-04-08T22:25:14-04:00March 12th, 2020|Tags: COVID-19, Crucifixion, Gospel of Truth, Jesus|
Right now, we’re in an “all-in-it-together” world. Why not consider the power of the contagion of calm to see what happens while we’re figuring out how to deal with this “all-in-it-together” experience the best way?
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2020-02-16T15:37:50-05:00February 26th, 2020|Tags: Demons, Healing, Magic, Psalms|
It's very likely that other demons were associated with other particular things. And it's interesting that he says this demon – that's the ‘noonday demon’ – is the demon represented in Psalm 91.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2020-02-13T02:48:44-05:00February 13th, 2020|Tags: Jesus, Letter of Peter to Philip, Violence|
I don’t think I’ve ever heard this message preached in church, in self-help books, or even among friends! What an unusual way to respond to fear, violence and injustice! To heal others.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2020-01-10T05:11:25-05:00January 23rd, 2020|Tags: Faith, Letter of Peter to Philip, Odes of Solomon, Secret Revelation of John, Sentences of Sextus, Testimony of Truth|
I understand study leads to loss of faith. But I also want to bear witness to the way this study can be the source of deeper faith and trust.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2020-01-02T01:36:32-05:00January 9th, 2020|Tags: Empowerment, Freedom, Hypostasis of the Archons, Reality of the Rulers, Secret Revelation of John|
Dr. King drew on Biblical imagery for his conviction in this empowerment, and he would undoubtedly have appreciated the powerful message in support of his cause from the then-unknown extracanonical texts.
