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The Bible and Beyond Discussions Recording Archive
Monday Textual Study Archives
Once a month, at 8:00–9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday nights (generally the fourth of the month), Early Christian Texts hosts a presentation and discussion of one of the early Christian texts. Dr. Shirley Paulson generally leads the sessions by first sharing a well-framed overview of the particular subject and after that providing time for all participants to ask questions or share their own insights.
There is no charge, but attendees are invited to donate or become a Bible and Beyond patron. You may attend any or all sessions — you are welcome any time. We look forward to your participation.
Humor and Joy in Mark, Thomas, Matthew, and Luke
Within the gospels of Mark, Thomas, Matthew, and Luke is a large set of pithy sayings whose primary meanings are humor and joy. It is probable that most of these sayings existed before these gospels were written and were for generations part of oral lore. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
Rethinking the Revelation to John
This last book in most (but not all) canons of the New Testament was contested even before there was a notion of canon or New Testament. It was contested in a number of the pre-canonical lists of books to be read, including by the likes of Martin Luther 1300 years later. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
The Thunder: Perfect Mind: One of the Most Heralded Nag Hammadi Documents
Although not particularly noticed by scholars or religious groups, The Thunder: Perfect Mind has become one of the most engaging recently discovered early Christ texts. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
The Mother, Eve, and Norea Among the Christ People
Unlike in later and present Christianity, Eve was often known especially among both the Christ People and the people of Israel as the mother of humanity, and was often in this dimension a powerful salvific figure for all time. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
Violence in the Letter of Peter to Philip
In the “Letter of Peter to Philip,” the Christ people ‘ambassadors’ (traditionally transliterated as apostles’) cry out to God and Jesus Christ for help against the Roman rulers who are threatening to kill them just as they killed Jesus. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
The Life of Polycarp’s Death
Most stories of Polycarp have him being killed by Roman rulers in his old age, after having been a successful leader of a Christ group of the second century in Smyrna. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
Luke, Didache, and Prayer of Thanksgiving: It Began with Meals
The study of these three texts helps point to the very meal-based practice of the first two centuries of Christ people gatherings and the early lack of the later church-based liturgical and mass-related ‘worship services.’ Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
Light and Fragrance in the Gospel of Truth
The Gospel of Truth—written sometime in the second century—is almost certainly the most lush and sensuous of early Christ literature. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
Jesus Sophia in the Bible
Gender bending, gender pluralism, and divine-human figures provided backdrops for understanding the intersections of Wisdom, Jesus, and Sophia in ancient literature and contemporary theology and spirituality. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
Stories of Jesus’s Resurrection, Especially Gospel of Peter
The Gospel of Peter has a story of the resurrection of Jesus like no other. The story starts in ways that are like some of the stories in the Bible, and then it veers wildly with intense metaphor that opens up completely new interpretations. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
The Gospel of Mary
The Gospel of Mary is a document whose attractiveness is still on the rise since its discovery about 120 years ago. This discussion focuses directly on the character of the gospel and whether it makes a difference for the principle challenges and opportunities of our day. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
Jesus’s Beginnings in the Gospel of John
The Gospel of John is based in two different story-like persona: the figure of the Word or Logos from ancient Greek philosophy and the figure of Wisdom or Sophia from Hebrew wisdom literature. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
The Relationship of ‘The Odes of Solomon’ to Jesus
Despite being called 'The Odes of Solomon,' implying directly that the songs (odes) are from King Solomon of Israel about a thousand years before Jesus, many of the songs in this text (if not all of them) are clearly about Jesus. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD) Includes transcript!
Israel Everywhere: Clement II
Clement II is quite a precious early writing in that it shows clearly how it belongs thoroughly to greater Israel, even while being devoted to Jesus. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
Thecla, Paul, Jesus, and Family
The earliest version of The Acts of Paul and Thecla explicitly picture her as never having submitted to a Roman death. This study will also continue with these themes, but we will also look substantially into the very experimental role she played in challenging traditional family values. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (the Didache)
Thought of by many as the first community handbook written for communities of Christ and Jesus peoples, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles has a fairly complicated organization and set of teachings. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
Gender Creativity and Problems in the Gospel of Thomas
Jesus himself in the Gospel of Thomas is not singly gendered, and is pictured more than once like the female divine Wisdom/Sophia. A close look at its whole teaches us much about the complexities of gender in the ancient Mediterranean world and our own. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
Creativity in and Rejection of Hebrews
The creative metaphors for life in Jesus Christ in the Letter to the Hebrews are some of the most imaginative to come out of the first two centuries. But Hebrews has been mostly ignored by official Christendom. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Shirley Paulson, PhD)
Norea: Key Dimension of God’s Fullness and/or Eve’s First Daughter
Norea is a powerful female character in both texts, which complement what we know about her but do not give a completely matching picture. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Dr. Shirley Paulson) Includes transcript!
Many Jesuses or Just One? (Part II)
When we compare the Jesus in the Gospel of Mark with the Jesus in the Gospel of John, we notice many major differences. So many, in fact, that it raises the question of whether this is even the same Jesus! Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Dr. Shirley Paulson) Includes transcript!
Many Jesuses?
With more and more different documents about Jesus discovered, a certain kind of question is being asked more frequently. The question goes something like this, "Since Jesus seems quite different and quite attractive and meaningful in many texts, can we think about one Jesus? Or would it help to think of different Jesuses?" Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Dr. Shirley Paulson)
Parables of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Thomas has more or less three kinds of parables: those with almost exact parallels with Matthew, Mark, or Luke; those with similar story-lines to canonical gospels but with strikingly different meanings; and those that have little or no similarities to canonical gospels. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Dr. Shirley Paulson)
First Revelation of James
James and the Lord talk at some length about the reputation that the Jesus movement welcomes women. Indeed in this document Jesus seems to be known for his association with four women leaders. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Dr. Shirley Paulson)
The Gospel of Mark
One of the recent interests in the Gospel of Mark are its resistance and responses to (especially) violence through its comical, flexible, and complicated identity constructions. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Dr. Shirley Paulson) Includes transcript!
The Wisdom of Solomon: A First Century Divine Female
"The Wisdom of Solomon" is now considered to have been an important writing for the hundreds of thousands people of Israel in first century Egypt. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Dr. Shirley Paulson)
