How Can You Tell When an Ancient Text Is Gnostic, Jewish, or Christian?
Release Date: 11/06/2024
Gnosis, a Roman Catholic Womanpriest, and Inner Awakening
The Bible and Beyond
An Interview with Rev. Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan What is “gnosis,” and does it belong within Catholic tradition? In this conversation, Rev. Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan—bishop in the Roman Catholic Womanpriests movement—shares how inner, experiential knowing of God has long shaped Christian mysticism. From the Gospel of Mary to Teresa of Ávila, she explores how forgotten voices and lived experience challenge hierarchy and renew faith, offering a vision of a more inclusive and Spirit-led church today. Rev. Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan is a bishop in the and a prophetic leader in the global...
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Rethinking Eve: New Insights into the Genesis Story
The Bible and Beyond
An Interview with Shawna Dolansky Historian Shawna Dolansky invites listeners to rethink the story of Eve in Genesis. Rather than a villain responsible for humanity’s fall, Eve may be the story’s protagonist—reasoning, choosing, and moving history forward. Dolansky explores how ancient readers understood the Eden story, how later interpreters—from Ben Sira to Augustine and Milton—reshaped it, and why recovering the story’s ancient Near Eastern context can change how we understand Genesis today. Professor Shawna Dolansky is an historian who specializes in the emergence of the Hebrew...
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Two Fathers of Jesus: A New Perspective
The Bible and Beyond
An interview with Nathan Houstin Nathan Houstin discusses the often-overlooked role of Joseph as the father of Jesus based on his reading of the New Testament, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Philip (which depicts Joseph as the carpenter of the cross!). Taken together, these texts illuminate Joseph’s portrayal and significance in the context of Jesus’ dual parentage. They highlight theological implications, the nature of fatherhood, and how these concepts resonate in contemporary understandings of family. Nathan Houstin is a doctoral student in New Testament and Early...
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Karen King Discusses Mary Magdalene as a Leader in Early Christianity
The Bible and Beyond
In this Bible and Beyond podcast episode, Shirley Paulson interviews Dr. Karen L. King, a prominent scholar of the early text, the Gospel of Mary. In this podcast, Shirley and Karen explore the portrayal of Mary Magdalene as a leader and the implications for women's roles in early Christianity. They also discuss themes of identity, the nature of sin, the journey of the soul, and the concept of the good in relation to ethical living. Dr. King's insights highlight the relevance of the ancient teachings in contemporary spiritual and social contexts. Dr. Karen L. King is the Hollis Research...
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How Later Anti-Jewish Readings Distort the New Testament
The Bible and Beyond
An Interview with Dr. Meredith J. C. Warren How did anti-Jewish interpretations become embedded in readings of the New Testament? In this Bible and Beyond Podcast episode, Shirley Paulson speaks with biblical scholar Meredith Warren about “Judeophobia”—its historical context and the responsibility of modern Bible readers. Drawing on her new co-edited volume, Judeophobia and the New Testament, Warren explores how later interpretations distorted ancient texts—and how reading critically and kindly can help prevent harm today. Dr. Meredith J. C. Warren is a Senior Lecturer in Biblical and...
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Why the Ancient Romans Destroyed the Jewish Temple
The Bible and Beyond
An Interview with Dr. Ward Sanford Dr. Ward Sanford recounts the dramatic history of the ancient Romans’ destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. His historical novel weaves fictional characters into well-researched events, bringing the story alive for modern readers. The full arc, from 63 CE to 70 CE, unfolds across four books. In this interview, he focuses on the forces at play in the first volume, covering 63 to 66 CE, when tensions between Rome and Jerusalem began to erupt. Before becoming a novelist, Dr. Ward Sanford enjoyed a 35-year career as a highly respected scientist with...
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Beyond the Canon: Why Apocrypha Matters
The Bible and Beyond
An Interview with Dr. Tobias Nicklas Professor Tobias Nicklas explores the surprising world of Christian Apocrypha — stories and traditions that continued shaping faith far beyond the biblical canon. From the Infancy Gospel of Thomas to the Acts of John and the Acts of Paul and Thecla, these writings raise profound questions about Jesus’s humanity and childhood, a suffering God, and the role of women and imagination in early Christianity. Their influence, Nicklas shows, still colors Christian memory and art today. Professor Tobias Nicklas studied Theology and Mathematics at Universität...
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Heresies, Power, and the Forgotten Voices of Early Christianity
The Bible and Beyond
Heresies, Power, and the Forgotten Voices of Early Christianity An Interview with Dr. Bart Ehrman Shirley Paulson talks with Bart Ehrman about his . Together they explore why “right belief” became a matter of life and death, how women and household voices were often silenced, and what these early debates reveal about power, diversity, and faith. Christianity is the only religion to have evolved on a foundation of right and wrong belief. Their conversation touches on Christianity’s complex origins—and why those ancient arguments still matter today. Bart D. Ehrman is an American New...
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The Council of Nicaea at 1700 Years: Why It Still Matters
The Bible and Beyond
An Interview with The Reverend Benjamin Wyatt This year marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, a turning point in Christian history. In this episode, Rev. Benjamin Wyatt, Episcopal priest and author of Christ and the Council, joins Shirley Paulson to explore the controversies that led to the Nicene Creed, Constantine’s role in enforcing unity, and why debates about Christ’s divinity mattered so deeply. Their conversation sheds light on the messy, human realities behind doctrines still shaping Christianity today. The Reverend Benjamin Wyatt is an Episcopal priest, serving as...
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Is It Possible Paul Didn’t Write ANY of the New Testament Letters?
The Bible and Beyond
An Interview with Dr. Nina Livesey After Livesey demonstrated that authenticity of the Pauline letters was inadequately and uncritically determined, she didn’t think it was possible to make a good case that the letters were authentic, even though it's so commonly assumed that they are. Once she had gone through all of that, she looked for evidence of Pauline letters. The first ones appear in the mid-second century, from the school of Marcion! Livesey was not the first to make that discovery. Dr. Nina Livesey a professor emerita of religious studies at the Oklahoma University College of...
info_outlineAn interview with Dr. Samuel Zinner
Dr. Samuel Zinner describes the ancient Apocryphon (or Secret Book) of James, then, focusing on two common elements in so-called ‘gnosticism’—the meaning of the demiurge and ascending—he shows how this text does not neatly fit any category. It includes no reference to demiurge, but it does involve a lengthy and unusual description of Jesus, Peter, and James all ascending. Inclusion in the Nag Hammadi collection does not necessarily define something as ‘gnostic,’ as this text illustrates.
Zinner is an award-winning author and scholar of Holocaust studies, ecumenism, modern and ancient languages, literature and history, and has been published internationally in a variety of languages by Oxford University Press, de Gruyter, and others. He has contributed articles to Religions Journal and served as peer review referee for several academic journals. He is also a documentary script writer, having worked with Jean-Claude Bragard, the creator of award-winning programs for the BBC. Zinner has collaborated with eminent scholars on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Hebrew scriptures. He's currently an editor for the forthcoming Origins and Applications of Language and Number with contributions from several eminent scholars, and he presents at conferences such as "The Bible and the Qur’an: Comparative Studies” at the Shahid Beshita University in Tehran.
His current book that we discuss in this podcast interview is The Apocryphon of James (NHC 1,2), a scholarly work on the text more popularly known as the Secret Book of James.