What Did Jesus Look Like?
Looking past popular depictions of Jesus to get a sense of how he would have appeared to others is hugely important because his appearance tells us a lot about who he was and what he really taught.
Five Misconceptions about Jesus
Did Jesus study with Buddhist monks in India? Were the official documents from Jesus’s trial before Pilate kept in Rome? Did Jesus establish the Christian church?
How Did Jesus Heal People?
His attitude toward healing was integrated with salvation, so the entirety of one’s being—body, mind, and soul—all belong to and were governed by a renewed relationship to God, the loving Father.
Did Jesus Have Brothers and Sisters?
We are left wondering. A few other important texts not as well-known as the canonical texts provide more information about Jesus’s family identity.
Inspiration for Keeping a New Year’s Resolution
The phrase from the Thomas Saying, “become like me,” is what caught my attention while I was thinking about my New Year’s resolution. I know I am not alone having made resolutions that don’t quite succeed.
Dealing Under the Table: Ritual Negotiation of Women’s Power in Early Christ People’s Gospels
This Bible and Beyond Discussion addresses two gospel texts with a woman and Jesus at their center. Both texts have gender controversy with Jesus and both display complex gender power. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Dr. Shirley Paulson)
Jesus at His Trial in the Gospel of Mark
Jesus stands before the chief priest powerless and humiliated. Yet he claims to be the Anointed, the son of the Blessed One. His lack of power in the face of the chief priest’s evident power constitutes blasphemy
Sophia/Wisdom/Jesus/God in the First Three Centuries CE
We'll examine the key character of Sophia/Wisdom in the development Jesus peoples of the first two hundred years of the Common Era, the development of Second Temple Judaism, and initial development Rabbinic Judaism. Presenter: Dr. Hal Taussig (with host Dr. Shirley Paulson)
The Gospel of Mark: The Good News of Transgressing Boundaries
Our author has provided us with new eyes with which to view the story, the good news. Use those eyes, and the story will open up in amazing ways.
Noncanonical Texts Illuminate the Bible
"This is the biggest thrust from After Jesus Before Christianity. How will we end up talking about those first two centuries, now that you’ve exposed that these words don’t work right?" An interview with Dr. Shirley Paulson.
How After Jesus Before Christianity Could Rewrite History
The book challenges the general public, many churches, and most scholars to re-consider how to think about Jesus and these hundreds of years before there were ‘Christians.’
What Did Jesus Teach about Healing Violence?
The first time I read the relatively unknown text called the Letter of Peter to Philip from the Nag Hammadi collection, I was stunned with its overall message of guidance in the face of violence.