Home » The Bible and Beyond » Blog
In The Bible and Beyond blog, you’ll read explorations of historical and spiritual questions about Jesus, women, salvation, healing, the meaning of life, and where Christianity came from. This blog, curated by Shirley Paulson and Hal Taussig, opens the conversation that will help us – writers and readers – unlock some of the mysteries from extra-canonical books, forgotten scriptures, so-called “gnostic” gospels, and the Bible.
Please share your insights in the comments area of each post. Also, come on over to the Early Christian Texts Facebook page for more conversation, or share posts on Twitter to invite others to join in. Your thoughts can help the whole community see from a broader perspective. Comment policy is available here.
Your questions and ideas about The Bible and Beyond blog will help guide what topics are chosen for discussion. Please use the form at the bottom of this page to share your suggestions.
Thank you for joining in this great conversation!
While Weak Leaders Claim Persecution, Norea Claims Strength
Even worse in my eyes is the way Athanasius staged a comeback and regained power, time and again, by gaslighting people into believing that he was not a criminal, but instead, the ultimate victim.
Who Was the Beloved Disciple?
What counts about the student is not his name but that he is loved by Jesus, is in his bosom. That is how he is to be known.
Jewish and Christian Traditions in the Didache
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.
Gospel of Thomas and Gender Constructions
Gender is an important construct in a wide range of writings from the early Jesus peoples and groups. One of the most interesting of these writings to consider when it comes to gender is the Gospel of Thomas.
Which Came First: Chaos or Order?
I am more impressed with the ‘default situation’ of On the Origin of the World than of perpetual chaos and violence. Peace rests on the logic of the infinitude of good, or truth.
How Did Jesus Die?
Given the centrality of Jesus’s death to the traditions of Christianity that emerged out of the ancient world, precision in our imagining and recounting of this death is of the utmost importance.
Five False Assumptions about Jesus
Literacy is at the heart of protestant Christianity. Reading the Bible is the way to salvation, a notion unknown before the reformation. . . But the Bible in our sense is unknown in the ancient world.
Quest for the Historical Jesus: Surprising Conclusions
How is it that Jesus has had such a profound and enduring impact on the world since his birth over two millennia ago? This may well be the question that prompted the quest for the historical Jesus in the first place.
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?
What Did Jesus Teach about Wealth and Poverty?
Jesus taught how the very riches that were supposedly proof of divine favor could instead become the stumbling blocks that prevent the divine experience.
A Better Way to Hear the Hebrew Bible: The Everett Fox Translation
The Hebrew Bible as originally created "was meant to be heard, not read silently. By reading it aloud you will discover, even feel, its rhythm. This text demands performance."
Original Christian Identity: A Matter of Belonging
When Perpetua, like so many of the early martyrs in these ancient stories, declared, “I am Christian,” what she really declared was, “I belong to the party of the Christ.”
When Biblical Scholarship Challenges Your Faith
What I’ve discovered is that the more I understand the world in which these ancient texts were written, the more I can relate to the God-experiences these writers were talking about.
Mary Magdalene: A Leader and Her Ally
Levi uses his place of privilege in the community to uphold Mary and Mary’s leadership, to call out bad behavior, and to encourage communal reflection and learning.
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.
How to Choose the Best Bible Translation
Whatever translation you’re using, switch to another. You will gain a new point of view on your favorite scriptures. A switch will remind you that translations are not THE BIBLE, but versions of the Bible.
The Unnamed Woman Miracle-Worker in the Gospel of Mark
Who is the miracle-worker in this story? Surely, Jesus has performed many miracles himself, but in this particular case, the miracle-worker is the unnamed woman.
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.
How to Stop Worrying: The Biblical Remedy
When I looked into the realities of ancient clothing, however, I started to see how tied together clothing and the body – and beyond the body, the very stuff of self – really were, for Jesus’ audience.
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.
Questions or suggestions for future blog posts?
Have a question or suggestion you’d like to be addressed in future blog posts? Here’s the form for you!
For longer comments or questions, it will be easier to use the contact form here.