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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.
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The Secret Revelation of John: Not without Controversy
For those who want to hold power and authority over others, the value of this ancient text remains controversial, because it discusses the kind of freedom that offends authoritarian control.
‘Teknon’ in The Prodigal Son Parable: Child or Son?
The elder is not simply a son; he is the father’s child, … In the terms of first century cultural expectations, the observant reader will notice that this father is playing the role of a mother.
An Ancient Prayer of Gratitude for the ‘Divine Womb’
Take in, if you can, the depth of this Divinity, and the way it is expressed. Notice how it proposes that Divinity itself is characterized primarily by growth.
Sophia (Wisdom) in the Bible and Other Christian Texts
Wisdom is ideally prepared to save humanity from its sinful ways precisely because she is wise enough and experienced enough to understand all the tempting ways of the devil.
The Origin of the Word ‘Christ’
The shifts from ‘Messiah,’ to christos, to christus, to ‘Christ’ were momentous. In the process, the root meaning of g-d’s anointed king was forfeited and with that several things were lost.
Who Is the Bible’s Seth and Why Is He Important?
Although Seth stories are told in a variety of versions in these religions, Seth is always good and often heroic. And in a number of these stories, his role as Savior takes on a divine status.
Should “Ekklēsia” Really Be Translated as “Church”?
In the King James translation of the Hebrew scripture (so-called ‘Old Testament’), the translators consistently employed the gloss ‘assembly,’ while in the New Testament they used ‘church.’
How to Explain War in Ukraine to a Child
This is an uncommon set of instructions in the face of grave danger, to say the least! It neither promises a miraculous escape, nor does it call for violence in return.
Jesus’s Resurrection: Spiritual or Physical?
The spiritual, present, collective understanding of resurrection has special longer-term promise for integrity, imagination, community, and new frameworks for divine presence.
What Did Mary Experience at the Empty Tomb?
The more I read these other texts, the more light I find shining on the Bible and the spiritual things I’m interested in. Getting a better view of what Mary saw in Gethsemane is worth it.
Christ and Norea: Loving Divine Siblings
Now that these new discoveries have shown us the very close ties between Norea, the Father God, and Christ, there is a new set of possibilities for ways Christian divinities can be seen.
What and Where Is Heaven?
Heaven was not found in another place or time, but right in the midst the world she inhabited. The world’s fire was blazing, but in her other dimension of thought, Thecla was holding tight to God.
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.’
Finding Joy in the Midst of Suffering
“Joy to the world!” “‘Tis the season to be jolly.” The Christian Advent wreath reminds us that joy welcomes the Messiah. But there’s a tension between uninhibited joy and the knowledge of pain in the world.
I Am in You and You Are in Me
When I would look across the car, and see the fierce confidence of a dancer, I would find myself silently saying “I am in you and you are in me.”
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.
Where Is God When Things Go Wrong?
Using the myth of the demiurge, the author of the Secret Revelation of John shows why humans feel the kind of pain and sorrow that God never inflicted on them.
What Does the Biblical Book of Revelation Mean?
But based on the two predominant views, the Revelation to John has never made sense to many—often most—Bible readers, much less to non-Christians.
What Really Happened When Jesus Healed Someone?
The lessons he taught concerning the realm of God may well have touched the soul and caused the kind of awakening that actually healed the sick.
The Immovable Generation: Spreading the Contagion of Calm
We might discover a greater healing power in our conversations when we consider the means of becoming part of the "immovable generation."
Is the Gospel of Mary a Gnostic Text? Does It Matter?
"This is the kind of life that seems most consistent with Jesus’s other teachings, and the accusations against Gnosticism hardly apply to this text."
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