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 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.
By Dr. B. Brandon Scott|2022-10-12T08:19:32-04:00October 12th, 2022|Tags: Gospel of John, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, Mary Magdalene|
"Now you know how she lost her reputation. I think it's time in our generation that we give it back to her. She was a noble follower of Jesus from the very beginning." A video featuring Dr. Brandon Scott.
By Dr. B. Brandon Scott|2022-09-19T19:16:52-04:00September 21st, 2022|Tags: Crucifixion, Gospel of Mark, Jesus, New Testament, Religious Boundaries|
Jesus stands before the chief priest powerless and humiliated. Yet he claims to be the Anointed, the son of the Blessed One. His lack of power in the face of the chief priest’s evident power constitutes blasphemy
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2022-09-14T01:56:17-04:00September 14th, 2022|Tags: Gospel of Mary, Prayer, The Thunder Perfect Mind|
I think Thunder got it right: we shouldn’t be surprised to discover how spiritual dullness continues to oppose the quest for spiritual understanding. When we pray in secret, we hear by thunder.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2022-08-31T03:01:23-04:00August 31st, 2022|Tags: Christian Canon, Extracanonical Texts, Gospel of Mary, Gospel of Thomas, New Testament, Noncanonical Texts|
Some obscure points in the canon may have much greater significance in the larger context of other works. Here is a detailed example to illustrate this point. Starting with Colossians.
By Dr. B. Brandon Scott|2022-08-17T06:49:05-04:00August 17th, 2022|Tags: Gospel of Mark, Jesus, New Testament, Religious Boundaries, Syrophoenician Woman|
Our author has provided us with new eyes with which to view the story, the good news. Use those eyes, and the story will open up in amazing ways.
By Eric C. Smith, PhD|2022-08-10T08:55:54-04:00August 10th, 2022|Tags: Bible, Christian Canon, Early Christian Art|
Is a t-shirt with John 3:16 on it bible? It’s not a bible, it’s not the Bible, but it’s bible, in some sense.
