Some Informative Online Courses about Early Christianity and Early Jesus Followers
Want to learn more about early Christian texts and the early Jesus followers? There are many online courses available, including our own Bible and Beyond courses created by Shirley Paulson, and courses created and presented by other important scholars in the field.
Two Revelations, Two Johns, One Secret
In this Bible and Beyond course, we explore two extraordinary texts from early Christianity: the biblical Revelation to John and the Secret Revelation of John, discovered at Nag Hammadi in Egypt. Written in the shadow of Roman oppression, these texts wrestle with suffering, power, salvation, and the nature of reality itself—but in dramatically different ways. This course consists of three sections with several lectures in each section. The self-study course is $29.95 (registration required). Learn more.
Can you imagine what it was like to hear Jesus teach through parables? Their meaning was rarely obvious at first. Even today, after hearing them many times, we still have to pause, listen carefully, and remain open. This three-module mini course explores several parables that draw us closer to Jesus while still inviting us to see something new. These stories confront false powers, stretch our imagination, and continue to inspire genuine transformation of heart and life. This self-study course is $9.95 (registration required). Learn more.
When we think about healing today, most people picture doctors, medicine, or therapy. But in the ancient Mediterranean world, healing meant something far deeper—and far stranger. Illness wasn’t only about the body. This three-module mini-course explores how ancient people understood healing, why it was so closely tied to divine and social power, and how Jesus and his followers developed the meaning of healing into something new and enduring. This self-study course is $9.95 (registration required). Learn more.
Introducing Nag Hammadi and Related Texts
Introductory Course For the Nag Hammadi Series – The Nag Hammadi collection and other major 20th-century textual discoveries inspire and challenge today’s Christians. This course introduces these remarkable ancient texts. Learn what they’re about, why they were lost for so long, why they are so controversial, and what impact they could have on modern Christianity. This self-study course is free (registration required). Learn more.
The Gospel of Thomas Goes Public
First in the Nag Hammadi Series – New and revised second edition now available. Presenter Dr. Shirley Paulson explains the complex but extremely important relationship between the recently discovered Gospel of Thomas and the Bible, while helping you gain confidence in your own ability to interpret and make use of it. Learn more.
Healing Violence in the World: Letter of Peter to Philip
Second Course in the Nag Hammadi Series – Learn about some surprising new ideas about Jesus in this little-known text, the Letter of Peter to Philip. Jesus gives his ambassadors (i.e. disciples) instructions in six steps that lead his followers (from long ago and now) to experience peace, joy, and even healing in the face of violence. Learn more.
The Thought of Norea: Christ’s Sister Savior
Third in the Nag Hammadi Series – In this course, students will discover that a female divine Savior was among a few other Saviors who helped the early Christ followers. The Thought of Norea, found in the Nag Hammadi texts in 1945, not only indicates the reality of this female Savior, but in her divine-human state, she illustrates for humanity how her divinity might be attainable by others. Learn more.
Fourth Course in the Nag Hammadi Series – This course explores the ancient writing titled the Secret Revelation of John. [Note: this is not the biblical Revelation TO John.] The remarkable 1945 discovery of this ancient text expands our modern understanding of the early Christ people in extraordinary ways. Written about the same time or just a bit later than other biblical texts, it reveals a side of the Jesus movement that had been lost to the world for over 1600 years. In this online course, Dr. Shirley Paulson explores the book’s three major ideas – gems – that support its healing and saving message. Learn more.
Mary Magdalene: A Leader for the First and Twenty-First Centuries
Christians have imagined Mary Magdalene as the repentant prostitute for well over a thousand years, but now, after the discovery of the Gospel of Mary and other early Christian writings, we know there is not a shred of truth to that. She was also the one person most closely associated with the resurrection of Jesus. Was she actually one of Jesus’s disciples? Or even the first apostle? Learn more.
Ancient Christian Texts for Modern Healing
This course focuses on healing in the first centuries after Jesus and how those ideas can be made practical today. The course introduces several extracanonical texts including the Nag Hammadi works. Experienced readers of the texts and those new to the material will find engaging material, challenging learners to engage in healing the world we live in now. Learn more.
After Jesus Before Christianity: New Discoveries
This course, After Jesus Before Christianity: New Discoveries, is presented by Dr. Shirley Paulson and Dr. Deborah N. Saxon. The course is designed to help students gain a better understanding of early Jesus people by examining information from a wide variety of sources, including extracanonical texts found in the last century and the book After Jesus Before Christianity. Learn more.
Courses Offered by Other Scholars of Early Texts
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