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|2023-03-22T01:45:50-04:00March 22nd, 2023|Tags: Demons, Early Christian Art, Healing, Jesus, Magic|
His attitude toward healing was integrated with salvation, so the entirety of one’s being—body, mind, and soul—all belong to and were governed by a renewed relationship to God, the loving Father.
By Dr. B. Brandon Scott|2023-03-12T00:56:55-05:00March 13th, 2023|Tags: Bible, Hebrew Bible, Translation Issues|
Whatever translation you’re using, switch to another. You will gain a new point of view on your favorite scriptures. A switch will remind you that translations are not THE BIBLE, but versions of the Bible.
By Dr. Erin K. Vearncombe|2023-02-28T22:52:55-05:00February 22nd, 2023|Tags: Faith, Gender Issues, Gospel of Mark, Healing|
Who is the miracle-worker in this story? Surely, Jesus has performed many miracles himself, but in this particular case, the miracle-worker is the unnamed woman.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2023-01-22T01:12:48-05:00January 21st, 2023|Tags: Gospel of Mark, Gospels, Jesus, Protevangelium of James|
We are left wondering. A few other important texts not as well-known as the canonical texts provide more information about Jesus’s family identity.
By Dr. Erin K. Vearncombe|2023-01-22T01:05:05-05:00January 21st, 2023|Tags: Comfort, Empowerment, Gospel of Matthew|
When I looked into the realities of ancient clothing, however, I started to see how tied together clothing and the body – and beyond the body, the very stuff of self – really were, for Jesus’ audience.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2023-01-05T15:33:35-05:00January 11th, 2023|Tags: Art Dewey, Gospel of John, Gospel of Thomas, Jesus, Wisdom|
The phrase from the Thomas Saying, “become like me,” is what caught my attention while I was thinking about my New Year’s resolution. I know I am not alone having made resolutions that don’t quite succeed.
By Dr. B. Brandon Scott|2022-12-28T09:06:33-05:00December 28th, 2022|Tags: Biblical Violence, Gospel of Matthew, Magic, Nativity Story, Translation Issues|
This story [of the magi] encapsulates major themes of Matthew’s gospel. It prepares a reader for the story’s ending in the tragedy of Jesus’ execution. Sacred geography has been reordered.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2022-12-10T07:50:28-05:00December 14th, 2022|Tags: Christ, Christmas, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Matthew, Paul|
If we only celebrated the birth of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew, we’d have no angel speaking to Mary …. If we only celebrated the birth of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, we’d have no flight to Egypt.
By Dr. B. Brandon Scott|2022-11-30T07:28:16-05:00November 30th, 2022|Tags: Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Thomas, Translation Issues|
“The (Father’s) empire is inside you and outside you.” The various performances of the right answer suggest the oral tradition had a hard time finding the gist for the correct answer.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2022-11-14T23:35:27-05:00November 9th, 2022|Tags: Eternal Life, Nag Hammadi, Norea, Savior, The Thought of Norea|
She’s modeling for us how to find the divine help for ourselves and how, in turn, we become helpers for others. Norea provides one more window on the world of the early Christ followers.
By Dr. B. Brandon Scott|2022-10-26T05:34:13-04:00October 26th, 2022|Tags: Gender Issues, Gospel of Luke, Mary Magdalene, Mary Magdalene Series, Peter|
Diminishing the women’s role paves the way for the preeminence of Peter and the twelve apostles. Luke completely succeeded. That became the foundation for the myth of Christian origins.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2022-10-19T07:39:50-04:00October 19th, 2022|Tags: Ascent of the Soul, Gospel of Mary, Mary Magdalene, Mary Magdalene Series|
In the Gospel of Mary, Peter asked Mary to tell the disciples the secret teaching she heard from Jesus, but he became angry after she told it.
