By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2026-04-29T04:18:36-04:00May 6th, 2026|Tags: Apocryphal Texts, Christian Heresies, Gnosticism, Magic, Peter|
“On the basis of the Acts alone, we certainly cannot conclude that Simon is—as you mentioned—a scumbag, nor is he portrayed as an ally of evil, as he will be portrayed in later sources.” An interview with Dr. Benjamin DeVos.
By Website Admin|2026-05-08T04:33:08-04:00April 8th, 2026|Tags: Christian Heresies, Christian History by the Century, Climate, Concepts of God, Greco-Roman, Theology|
For many ordinary people, daily life was overshadowed by catastrophe. The Plague of Justinian… swept across the Mediterranean world, killing millions and leaving entire regions depopulated.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2026-05-08T04:33:47-04:00March 11th, 2026|Tags: Christian Heresies, Christian History by the Century, Early Christian Communities, Early Church, Manichaeism, Mary|
While Nicene Christianity remained dominant in the Eastern Empire, Arian rulers governed much of the West, often tolerating Nicene Christians but maintaining separate ecclesiastical systems. Thus theological division mirrored geopolitical division.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2025-10-23T18:52:05-04:00October 24th, 2025|Tags: Christian Heresies, Christianity, Gnosticism, Religious Boundaries, Salvation|
One of the reasons I'm really interested in the diversity of early Christianity is because it helps us be more tolerant of the other when you start seeing how diverse it was originally. An interview with Dr. Bart Ehrman
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2025-04-16T14:39:48-04:00April 23rd, 2025|Tags: Christian Heresies, Genesis, Gnosticism, Martyr, Plato, Revelation|
Since the discovery of a substantial trove of ancient texts—unfamiliar to the modern world until the late nineteenth through mid-twentieth centuries—we’ve begun to hear a different side of the gnostic story, one that’s worth listening to.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2024-08-03T13:36:10-04:00August 7th, 2024|Tags: Christian Heresies, Concepts of God, Genesis, Gnosticism, Injustice, Religion|
So these guys weren't just intellectually thinking about this stuff. They were practicing. It put them in different states of consciousness in which they claim that they would experience that God. An interview with Dr. April DeConick.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2024-07-31T00:59:04-04:00July 31st, 2024|Tags: Christian Heresies, Concepts of God, Genesis, Gnosticism, Irenaeus, Material World|
Irenaeus may remain the champion of the God who made a difficult place for humans to grow, but the gnostic thinkers should be granted champions of the God who created the inherently good creation.
By Dr. Marko Marina|2024-07-28T20:41:20-04:00April 10th, 2024|Tags: Christian Heresies, Irenaeus, Material World, Nag Hammadi, Valentinus, Valentinus Series|
Despite Irenaeus's effort to discredit Valentinus's Christian contribution by sounding too strange, these Valentinian ideas were similar enough to some other authentic Valentinian texts to suggest that Irenaeus did not invent his "Great Account" entirely himself.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2026-03-24T01:14:08-04:00March 27th, 2024|Tags: Ancient Writings, Christian Heresies, Early Christian Communities, Nag Hammadi, Noncanonical Texts, Oxyrhynchus|
Some of the earliest so-called Gnostic manuscripts ever discovered, as well as a variety of extra-canonical and magical manuscripts that challenge traditional notions of orthodoxy and heresy, came from the Oxyhrynchus garbage heap. Presenter: Adeline Harrington with host Dr. Shirley Paulson
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2024-02-05T00:33:26-05:00February 7th, 2024|Tags: Book of Acts, Christian Heresies, Genesis, Peter|
On the basis of Acts, it's very clear that Simon wants to do good, because he wants to convey the Holy Spirit, just like Peter and John do. An interview with Dr. M. David Litwa.
By Dr. Marko Marina|2026-04-09T21:36:44-04:00October 18th, 2023|Tags: Christian Canon, Christian Heresies, Christianity, Gnosticism, Valentinus, Valentinus Series|
Modern scholarship has, therefore, painted a much more complex picture of early Christianity. It was a fluid world with different streams, communities, and leaders. And Valentinus was among them! (Part 1 of 4)
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2026-02-14T05:15:32-05:00September 7th, 2022|Tags: Christian Heresies, Christianity, Gnosticism, Manichaeism, Religious Boundaries|
Some scholars treat Manicaheism the same way Americans treat Asian-Americans. They’re from somewhere else. Guests, but not from here – they’re outsiders. An interview with Dr. Jae Han.
