By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2026-05-11T22:12:59-04:00May 13th, 2026|Tags: Chaos, Christian History by the Century, Christianity, Fear and Protection, Mandaeans, Religious Boundaries|
In the 7th century, Christianity was not only taught—it had to be proven. Christian truth was increasingly measured in power: to heal, to command loyalty, to hold territory, and to outlast rivals.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2026-03-01T03:41:55-05:00December 23rd, 2025|Tags: Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Nativity Story, Religious Boundaries|
Ever wonder why Mary was chosen or how shepherds knew of Jesus’s birth? Early Christians filled in the missing details with imaginative stories that deepened faith in Jesus as God’s promised messiah. An interview with Dr. Tony Burke
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|2025-10-06T10:40:57-04:00October 1st, 2025|Tags: Christianity, Early Church, Jesus, Religious Boundaries, Theology|
This is not only an entertaining story, but deeply significant in terms of the development of Christian thought going on in the second century, when so many things were happening, and in such a robust period of time. An interview with the Reverend Benjamin Wyatt
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2024-11-06T07:31:29-05:00November 6th, 2024|Tags: Ancient Writings, Gnosticism, Religious Boundaries, Valentinus|
There’s a comfortable mix between Jewish and Christian ideas, definitely. We have a writing that's coming from a group of Jesus followers who had inherited the teachings and ideas of James, the brother of Jesus. An interview with Dr. Samuel Zinner
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2024-06-27T00:23:20-04:00June 26th, 2024|Tags: Early Christian Communities, Early Church, Greco-Roman, Manichaeism, Religious Boundaries|
We have a habit of confining our thinking about early Christianity only in the context of the Roman Empire. But the real maps of Christian location were far greater and much further East. Presenter: Dr. Jason BeDuhn with guest host Sara Barnacle
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2025-03-25T05:01:24-04:00April 24th, 2024|Tags: Christian Canon, Fundamentalism, Noncanonical Texts, Religious Boundaries, Syrophoenician Woman|
Jesus told a Canaanite woman she was unworthy of the blessings reserved for his own people, but her counter-text challenged his 'canon.' Shirley Paulson's experience with extracanonical writings resonates with this challenge. Presenter: Dr. Shirley Paulson with host Helen Mathis.
By Dr. Joshua Schachterle|2023-08-23T01:07:34-04:00August 23rd, 2023|Tags: Christianity, Didache, Hebrew Bible, Judaism, Religious Boundaries|
The author reveres Jesus as a servant of God, a prophet, and follows the Jewish law. It would seem that assumptions of many regarding the early separation of Judaism and Christianity may have been wrong.
By Dr. B. Brandon Scott|2022-09-19T19:16:52-04:00September 21st, 2022|Tags: Crucifixion, Gospel of Mark, Jesus, New Testament, Religious Boundaries|
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
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.
By Dr. B. Brandon Scott|2022-08-17T06:49:05-04:00August 17th, 2022|Tags: Gospel of Mark, Jesus, New Testament, Religious Boundaries, Syrophoenician Woman|
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.
By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2026-02-14T05:27:40-05:00June 2nd, 2021|Tags: Christian Heresies, Early Church, Gnosticism, Nag Hammadi, Religious Boundaries|
So they feel there’s a need to say, 'OK, we know this is a time of crisis, so we need to know who counts in our group and who doesn’t.' An Interview with Chance Bonar.
