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|2020-07-09T07:10:55-04:00July 9th, 2020|Tags: Early Christian Texts, Gospel of Philip, Injustice, Salvation|
Am I (and everybody else) supposed to work on my own behavior alone with God, or … should I sell everything I have and give to the poor, as Jesus teaches (Mark 10:21)?
By Dr. Hal Taussig|2020-06-24T00:52:32-04:00June 25th, 2020|Tags: Ancient Writings, Bible, Early Christian Communities, Early Christian Texts|
I have worked for thirty-plus years on early texts from the Christ movements, the rest of the Bible, and all kinds of ancient writings, because it has been one of the ways I claim meaning.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2020-06-11T10:46:20-04:00June 11th, 2020|Tags: Early Christian Texts, Immovable Race, Injustice, Racial Justice, Secret Revelation of John|
But it’s neither a form of escapism, nor privilege for a favored few. It requires faithful living with the gifts of the spirit, not the alluring attractions of materialism.
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.
