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|2019-05-09T03:12:15-04:00May 9th, 2019|Tags: Book Reviews, Early Christian Art, Early Christian Communities, Early Christian Texts|
"Kateusz’ approach to her study (her methodology) is almost as important as the results of her research, because it opens up new channels of discovery beyond her own work."
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2019-04-25T05:37:46-04:00April 25th, 2019|Tags: Climate, Early Christian Texts, Ecology, Secret Revelation of John|
"Maybe it’s not too great a leap of faith to consider that the Creator of the world would be able to revive it (transform it / save it) when we allow the Spirit of Life to transform us first."
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2019-04-11T03:39:55-04:00April 11th, 2019|Tags: Early Christian Communities, Early Jesus Followers, Jesus, Resurrection|
"Even if the stories about the crucifixion were contradictory or embellished, the fact is that there was something important about the meaning of Jesus, told in so many ways..."
By Deb Saxon, PhD|2019-03-25T01:27:03-04:00March 28th, 2019|Tags: Early Jesus Followers, The Care of the Self in Early Christian Texts|
In [the] ancient texts, I found a model of what I have longed for— a tradition in which I can explore the meaning of Jesus for my own life but also work alongside those whose beliefs differ from mine.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2019-03-12T04:53:15-04:00March 15th, 2019|Tags: Divisiveness, Early Christian Communities, Racial Justice|
We can't look to antiquity to find the model for classless (raceless) society, but some ancient writers do help us consider whether our divisions are based on theologically sound viewpoints.
By Mark M. Mattision|2019-03-02T02:15:28-04:00March 1st, 2019|Tags: Christian Canon, New Testament, Old Testament|
The canonical books of the Christian New Testament are foundational spiritual texts for Christians, but they are not the only texts written by early Christians.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2019-02-11T09:21:19-04:00February 11th, 2019|Tags: Love, Odes of Solomon|
Throughout the Odes of Solomon, the writer praises the source of love that wells up and overflows into love for everything and everyone.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2019-01-27T05:33:56-04:00December 1st, 2018|Tags: Healing, Secret Revelation of John|
This was the God I learned in Jesus. Someone in the second century knew something very important about this God that encourages me even now.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2019-01-20T20:13:30-04:00November 1st, 2018|Tags: Concepts of God, Religious Boundaries|
We simply relate to God and God’s role on earth differently, even though we read the same scriptures and worship what we think of as the same God.
By Deb Saxon, PhD|2019-01-30T23:20:57-04:00October 1st, 2018|Tags: Gnostic Gospels|
Irenaeus and others claimed that certain books contained "gnostic" heresy. ... "Gnosis" simply means "knowledge," and in fact, many considered having "gnosis" a good thing.
