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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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Christianity by the Century: Seventh Century CE (600-700)
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.
Christianity by the Century: Sixth Century CE (500-600)
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.
Christianity by the Century: Fifth Century CE (400-500)
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.
Christianity by the Century: Fourth Century CE (300-400)
The fourth century stands as a decisive turning point in Christian history. Communities that had once defined faith through suffering and martyrdom now faced the challenges of legitimacy, authority, and power.
Christianity by the Century: Third Century CE (200-300)
It was during the third century CE that suffering became a defining marker of Christian identity—socially, politically, and theologically. By the start of the third century, the term ‘Christian’ began to gather specific meaning.
Christianity by the Century: Second Century CE
The second century CE was a time of upheaval and creativity. Jesus’s followers wrestled with questions of identity, authority, and faith. Amid trauma and transformation, the century gave birth to Christianity’s astonishing diversity and its enduring theological foundations.
Christianity by the Century: First Century CE
Jesus was remembered as a towering moral and spiritual presence amid a century of turmoil. The memory of Jesus as victor—not as a defeated Jew—became the defining theme.
Christianity by the Century: First Century BCE
The first century BCE reshaped Judea through Roman domination, Herod’s brutality, and the fragile hope and expectancy of David’s royal lineage. Into this turbulent landscape Jesus was born, carrying both the peril and promise of Bethlehem’s Davidic heritage.
Christianity by the Century: Second Century BCE
The second century BCE was a crucible for Christian evolution. Jewish heritage provided the containment for the melting and fusing of new materials from Greek culture—the flowering of seeds planted in this tumultuous century.
Christianity by the Century: Third Century BCE
What older scholarship once dismissed as a “silent” era—an apparent gap between the Hebrew Bible’s prophetic writings and later Jewish literature—turns out to have been a crucible of creativity.
Christianity by the Century: Fourth Century BCE
Plato’s influence was initially more significant than Aristotle’s for early Christianity. However, the long-term influence of both of them was not due to their ideas alone, but also to historical circumstances—especially, the timing and scope of Alexander’s military success.
Christianity by the Century: Fifth Century BCE
Engage in the collective rethinking of how Christianities evolved across the centuries—past, present, and future. In this post we look at the 5th century BCE.
From Scroll to Scripture: The Formation of the New Testament Canon
Communities across the ancient world contributed more to the process than we might expect. While some authoritative men offered strong opinions about which texts were useful or correct, the eventual canon reflected a broader practice of community practices.
Why Gnosticism Became a Threat to the Orthodox Christian Church: It was Likeable
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.
Contradictory Resurrection Stories but Mary Magdalene and the Empty Tomb Align
Try as they might to erase Mary’s role with Jesus, the fact that her presence is the only consistent thread across all the gospel empty tomb accounts points to Mary’s pivotal role in our understanding of this key event.
The Nag Hammadi Library
The Nag Hammadi Library is a treasure trove for anyone interested in the origins of Christianity, the role of women in early religious movements, and the broader philosophical questions of existence.
Can You See God?
It’s God’s love for us that gives us the understanding of God, so that we, too, can see and talk with God. This is no more complicated than claiming “I see what you mean!”
Jesus’s Birth Stories Reveal Some of the Mysteries of Life
Noting how often the concept of birth in general was discussed in the context of a divine action, we gain more appreciation of Jesus’s spiritual conception. The focus turns toward the spiritual perfection and divine purpose of the Father/Mother/Creator.
Rethinking Thanksgiving and Canonical Boundaries
I hope the exposure of both myths—Thanksgiving traditions and canonical traditions—resets the course for a more informed appreciation of the treasures buried in the pseudepigrapha even as some Americans have embraced a more inclusive Thanksgiving table.
Jesus’s Words on Quieting the Anxiety and Fear Within
Jesus did have things to say to people who felt oppressed by unjust forms of power. First, anger can’t win. Second, people are not to be feared, because they are not the real enemies.
What Did Jesus Say About Dying?
These are strong words that seem to indicate the great separation between the concepts of life that make us die and the concepts of life that are “awesome.”
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