The Bible and Beyond
The Bible and Beyond podcast is a series of interviews with scholars who are able to unlock mysteries from extra-canonical books, forgotten scriptures, so-called 'gnostic' gospels, as well as the Bible. Host Shirley Paulson, Ph.D., and her guests explore historical and spiritual questions about Jesus, gender, women, salvation, healing, and the meaning of life. The discoveries these scholars share don’t always fit with what we've been told, but time and again they lead us toward a deeper intimacy with Jesus.
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Was Jesus a Better Jew than the Jews?
10/02/2024
Was Jesus a Better Jew than the Jews?
An Interview with Dr. Amy Jill Levine Amy-Jill Levine, a distinguished New Testament scholar, provides examples of Christian commentators making Jewish practices and beliefs look bad in order to make Jesus look good. A more realistic understanding of these Jewish practices helps us understand Jesus better and understand Judaism more respectfully. Examples of these Jewish beliefs and practices include feminist perspectives, being identified as the Chosen Ones, and stereotypical attitudes about wealth and purity laws. Professor Amy-Jill Levine is the Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler, Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace and University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies America at Vanderbilt. And before that, the Sarah Lawrence Lightfoot Associate Professor of Religion at Swarthmore College. Having grown up in a predominantly Catholic neighborhood and being raised in a Jewish home lays the foundation for her life-long interest in Jewish-Christian relations.
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How Does Paul Understand Resurrection?
09/04/2024
How Does Paul Understand Resurrection?
An Interview with John Dominic Crossan Crossan draws on Paul’s life and experience as a devoted Pharisee to understand his insights and expectations for the meaning of resurrection. Unlike the well-known ancient belief in ascension, which was reserved for the near-Godlike humans, Pharisees believed in resurrection for everyone. This was based on a faith in the end time. Paul’s revelation about the resurrection was his realization that Jesus – as Messiah – had begun the general resurrection! He was the first to see Jesus this way.
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Where Did Gnostic Ideas Come From?
08/07/2024
Where Did Gnostic Ideas Come From?
An Interview with Dr. April DeConick April DeConick theorizes about how gnostic ideas that emerged as a concept in antiquity keep reproducing themselves within different environments. This is one of the things that propelled religion toward its therapeutic aspect and individual relations to God. It came about during the desperate time of harsh Roman occupation, when people felt let down by their gods. Looking for some divine justice, they imagined a new kind of relationship to God, as children of God. Dr. April DeConick holds the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professorship in New Testament and Early Christianity at Rice University, Department of Religion. She founded and chaired the Mysticism, Esotericism and Gnosticism group and chaired the Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism group in the Society of Biblical Literature. She is most noted for her writing on the Gospel of Judas when she challenged sensationalism generated by the National Geographic Society that wrongly claimed that Judas is a gnostic hero in this text and that his heroics would rewrite our understanding of early Christianity. Her most recent book, The Gnostic New Age, won an award from the Figure Foundation for the best book published by an university press in philosophy and religion. April is the co-founder and executive editor of the academic journal, Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies. The article discussed in this podcast is from this journal and is titled "The Gnostic Imagination and Its Imaginaries." Gnosis 8 (2023) 133-166. Transcript available here: https://earlychristiantexts.com/gnostic-ideas/
/episode/index/show/thebibleandbeyond/id/32422007
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Apostolic Authority: An Ancient Text Offers a Humorous Critique
07/03/2024
Apostolic Authority: An Ancient Text Offers a Humorous Critique
An Interview with Dr. Kimberly Bauser McBrien Kimberly Bauser McBrien finds the Secret Book of James to be a humorous critique on the idea of apostolic authority. From our 21st-century perspective, it is difficult to decipher the difference between a weird or absurd tale from a clever parody on a serious subject. She argues that this late second century author is taking shots at his contemporaries who gave weight to apostolic credentials through false claims of unity or the experience of temporary ascending. Dr. Kimberly Bauser McBrien is a Lecturer at Trinity University, teaching various courses in New Testament and Early Christian History. Her PhD from Boston College was on social memory theory and the way it helps us understand how the sayings of Jesus were preserved and produced. This podcast is a discussion of her new article in the Journal of Early Christian Studies, titled “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Third Heaven: Reading the Secret Book of James (NHC I, 2) with a Parodic Imagination,” (Summer 2024 edition). Transcript available here: https://earlychristiantexts.com/apostolic-authority/
/episode/index/show/thebibleandbeyond/id/31909962
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Macrina: A Remarkable 4th-Century Christian Woman
06/05/2024
Macrina: A Remarkable 4th-Century Christian Woman
An Interview with Dr. Erin Galgay Walsh Macrina was born into a wealthy and historically important Christian family. Her virtuous life, devoted to Christ, was based on her ascetic ideals. That is, she rejected human pleasures and comforts in order to free herself to be fully present to Christ. The 4th century text, The Life of Macrina, which was written by her brother Gregory, describes her as a woman living the angelic life, the" life of the resurrected body." Professor Erin Galgay Walsh teaches at the University of Chicago Divinity School and is a scholar of ancient and late antique Christianity. Her research includes a focus on biblical interpretation, asceticism, and gender. Her courses cover biblical and apocryphal literature, the history of biblical interpretation, embodied practices, and Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity. Find a full transcript on https://earlychristiantexts.com/macrina/
/episode/index/show/thebibleandbeyond/id/31415807
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The Strange "Secret Gospel of Mark" is Likely Real, Not a Forgery
05/01/2024
The Strange "Secret Gospel of Mark" is Likely Real, Not a Forgery
An Interview with Dr. Tony Burke If the Secret Gospel of Mark turns out to be authentic, it could provide important insights into early Christian thought and practices. Popular theory claims it is mere forgery, however, created and circulated due to pro-homosexual motives. Professor Tony Burke explains the origin of the text, its content, the basis for the doubt, and the reasons for his own support of the theory of authenticity. He sees a more mystical interpretation than an erotic one. Dr. Tony Burke is a Professor in the Department of the Humanities at York University in Toronto, where he focuses on the study of Christian biographical literature of the second century, children and the family in Roman antiquity, and extracanonical Jewish and Christian writings. His special interest is the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and hs book, The Infancy Gospel of Thomas in the Syriac Tradition won the 2018 Frank W. Beare Award for outstanding book in the area of Christian Origins. Tony is the co-founder of the North American Society for the Study of Christian Apocryphal Literature (NASSCAL), and he is editor of Volumes 1, 2, and 3 of the series New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. It is a collection of little-known and never-before-published texts in English translation. Look for a complete summary of the podcast on the Early Christian Texts website. https://earlychristiantexts.com/secret-gospel-mark-real-or-forgery/
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What Texts Did the Early Jesus People Read?
04/03/2024
What Texts Did the Early Jesus People Read?
An Interview with Dr. David Brakke David Brakke challenges the common notion that Christians had a New Testament type of Bible by around 200. Rather, he claims, their Bible was Jewish scriptures plus a wide variety of written texts by Jesus followers used in multiple contexts. Marcion and his followers would have been the exception, since he rejected the Jewish writings. Brakke’s recent analysis of two ancient Christian texts concludes that the early Christian years were diverse and served different purposes before the biblical canon was established. Irenaeus, the Church Father of the second century, probably set the tone for an approval or disapproval of certain texts. He thought various texts should reflect the rule of faith for that time, and this would have excluded such texts as Valentinian – or so-called gnostic types of writing. On the other hand, Irenaeus was also aware of 'barbarian Christians' who had no text at all. That didn't seem to concern him. Brakke summarizes from his study of the two second-century texts—the Muratorian Fragment and the Secret Book of James—that Christians were very different in antiquity. In 200, people were not interested in asking for a New Testament. They sort of agree on some ancient writings which were very useful, but others not at all.
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Has a Missing Fragment of the Gospel of Mary Been Discovered?
03/06/2024
Has a Missing Fragment of the Gospel of Mary Been Discovered?
An interview with Dr. Sarah Parkhouse Dr. Sarah Parkhouse has made a discovery that is quite noteworthy for anyone interested in the Gospel of Mary. One of the hundreds, if not thousands, of small fragments of papyri found in the garbage dump Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, just might be a missing part of the Gospel of Mary. The fragment includes a description of baptism, which is closely related to the ascent of the soul in the portions of the gospel we already have.
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Simon Magus: Who Is He in the Bible?
02/07/2024
Simon Magus: Who Is He in the Bible?
An interview with Dr. David Litwa The strange story of Simon in the Bible illustrates the uncomfortable truth that Christianity seems to reinvent itself when it defines itself in opposition to its perceived enemies. In this biblical account, Simon (later called Simon Magus) appears to have been repenting properly from his mistake of offering to pay for the spiritual instructions, when Peter lashed out at him harshly. Litwa thinks the Acts of the Apostles was written many decades after the struggle between Simon of Samaria and Peter, and the author of Acts appears to have used a document known as “Simon and the Great Declaration,” for a source. This earlier Simonian document, written by Simon’s followers, refers to him as Simon Christ, concurring with Simon’s own declaration of his equality with Christ. Such a move would have put him in direct competition with Peter and in opposition to the objectives of the author of Acts to position Peter as the head of the Christian movement.
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Jesus's Peaceful Resistance to Rome Based on Genesis 1
01/03/2024
Jesus's Peaceful Resistance to Rome Based on Genesis 1
An Interview with John Dominic Crossan John Dominic Crossan draws on his own Irish life experiences to create an image of Jesus living in an empire dominating the Jewish world of Jesus. The Roman Empire might have been perceived as “the world of civilization,” accomplishing great power and wealth. But this success came at the expense of its conquered nations. Jesus’s nonviolent opposition to Rome originated in his perception of Sabbath creation of Genesis 1, in other words, the divine means of distributive justice.
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The Jewish World of Jesus: A Modern Rabbi’s View
12/08/2023
The Jewish World of Jesus: A Modern Rabbi’s View
An Interview with Rabbi Evan Moffic Rabbi Evan Moffic, senior rabbi at a vibrant Reform Jewish congregation in northern Illinois, thinks Christians can understand Jesus’s words and works better – and Jews and Christians can understand each other better -- by considering the Jewish world of Jesus more fully. In this podcast interview, he explains Jesus’s relationship to his students, why Jesus himself was not apocalyptic, the Jewish origin of his ‘Lord’s Prayer,’ and the spiritual purpose behind his miracle acts and healings.
/episode/index/show/thebibleandbeyond/id/28986113
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Marriage and Singleness in Early Christianity: Attitudes and Practices
11/01/2023
Marriage and Singleness in Early Christianity: Attitudes and Practices
An interview with Dr. Susan M. (Elli) Elliott In answer to a listener’s question about how attitudes toward singleness evolved in Christianity, Dr. Elliott draws on her knowledge of family legislation that Caesar Augustus inflicted on the Romans well before Jesus’s ministry. Followers of Jesus often followed the common but conflicting Roman attitudes toward elite and lower-class women. But early on, they also assumed a counter-cultural position against the notion that spouses were disposable.
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Contemplating the Complexities of Christian Martyrdom
10/04/2023
Contemplating the Complexities of Christian Martyrdom
An interview with Dr. Deborah Saxon. Martyrdom in antiquity was often a painful choice. The dual powers of religion and politics made those decisions complex, but also caused a search for identity. Christians had to determine whether they would live under Roman systems, by Christian faithfulness, or by imagining a reward with Christ after martyrdom. Disagreements arose between advocates for martyrdom and those who opposed its glorification. Our modern reading of the ancient writings should take these differences into account.
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Read Ancient Texts Outside the Bible
09/06/2023
Read Ancient Texts Outside the Bible
An interview with Dr. James McGrath Professor James McGrath explains why you should read ancient texts outside the Bible. A knowledge of apocryphal and other noncanonical texts give more background to biblical writings. The meaning of canon itself becomes clearer in the context of the many cousin-like texts that relate to the biblical writings. McGrath demonstrates this with an exploration of the books of Enoch, the history of the Maccabeans, the widespread beliefs in demons or unclean spirits, angels, the meaning of hell (Gehenna), and other topics.
/episode/index/show/thebibleandbeyond/id/27922851
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Exploring Ancient New Testament Gospel Manuscripts
08/02/2023
Exploring Ancient New Testament Gospel Manuscripts
An Interview with Dr. Jeremiah Coogan Dr. Jeremiah Coogan, a scholar of ancient manuscripts, explains the significance of the recent discovery of an ancient palimpsest. That’s an ancient writing found underneath other writing that had covered it. The object we’re discussing contains the Old Syriac translation fragment of the gospel of Matthew, and it gives us a window into what the text of some Greek copy of Matthew would have looked like in the late second century. Coogan also discusses his work with gospel prefaces.
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Was Ancient Manichaeism Christian?
07/05/2023
Was Ancient Manichaeism Christian?
An interview with Dr. Jason BeDuhn. Dr. Jason BeDuhn, an expert on Manichaeism, takes us into the ancient world where Mani was a leader of early Jesus followers in the East, before the fourth century Council of Nicea. He paints an intriguing picture of Mani’s interpretation of Jesus’s teachings and how Christianity might have been different if he hadn’t lost the competition with other leaders from the West. Mani’s followers saw his willingness to sacrifice for others parallel to Jesus’s martyrdom.
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The Historical Jesus: Surprise Yourself!
06/07/2023
The Historical Jesus: Surprise Yourself!
An Interview with Dr. Joseph Bessler. Dr. Joseph Bessler challenges and delights us with his suggestions that learning what we can about the historical Jesus contributes to the betterment of society. The surprise of the past few decades has been the revelation that our traditional teaching of Jesus has been used to silence the voices of any ‘other.’ Certain texts reinforce certain theologies. But the loving gesture of listening to others brings to our attention surprising texts we have not noticed before.
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Unraveling the Blood Curse in the Gospel of Matthew
05/03/2023
Unraveling the Blood Curse in the Gospel of Matthew
An interview with Dr. Arthur J. Dewey Arthur Dewey explains how the “blood curse,” based on Jesus’s trial before Pilate, has been taken out of context and turned into a false basis for blaming Jews as a whole for the death of God. The “trial” in the Gospel of Matthew (which could not have taken place historically) was based on Mark’s original critique against the leaders of the Jews. This was another one of many squabbles among different Jewish factions.
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The Biblical Meaning of Resurrection
04/05/2023
The Biblical Meaning of Resurrection
An interview with Dr. B. Brandon Scott Dr. Brandon Scott explains the complicated history of resurrection. It was not an Easter celebration during biblical times, but the hope of God’s restoration of things was handed down from Daniel and the Maccabees. Sacrifice was widespread in the ancient world, not because of sins, but as an act intended to realign the world with God. Writing of Jesus’s death come from a conviction that his death was not defeat but that God made him alive. Bernard Brandon Scott is the Darbeth Distinguished Professor of New Testament Emeritus, Phillips Theological Seminary, Tulsa. He is a charter member of the Jesus Seminar and co-chaired Westar’s Christianity 1 Seminar. Scott is the author and editor of many books, including The Real Paul: Recovering His Radical Challenge, The Trouble with Resurrection, Hear then the Parable, and Re-imagine the World: An Introduction to the Parables.
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The Bible and Beyond Podcast’s 50th Episode
03/01/2023
The Bible and Beyond Podcast’s 50th Episode
Early Christian Texts is celebrating the 50th episode of our Bible and Beyond Podcast! We have collected snippets from ten episodes featuring several of our interviews since the podcast first aired in 2019. All fifty episodes have been quite unique and fascinating, but these ten excerpts exemplify the depth and breadth of the topics we covered — from why anyone should even look at extracanonical writings to the meaning of Jesus’ passion.
/episode/index/show/thebibleandbeyond/id/26044425
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Is the Book of Acts Historically Accurate?
02/01/2023
Is the Book of Acts Historically Accurate?
This month Shirley interviews Perry Kea, an expert scholar on the Book of Acts. Dr. Kea explains why the objectives of the author of the Book of Acts differ from simple historical documentation. The letters of Paul provide an excellent example of such differences and illustrate why the objective of the Book of Acts is inconsistent with historical facts. Stories in Acts were a means of using resources to address other questions, such as the source of authority for the new Christian movement.
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A Jew and a Christian Discover Commonality
01/04/2023
A Jew and a Christian Discover Commonality
Dr. Jennifer Stollman, a Conservative Jew, surprised herself by discovering a couple of ‘game-changers’ in her reading of Paulson’s book, Illuminating the Secret Revelation of John: Catching the Light. As a self-described activist, Stollman was startled to consider an elevated sense of God that challenges traditional beliefs in the permanence of evil. A second ‘game-changer’ for Stollman was the new interpretation of Eve as a partner for Adam, an idea lifting women from being complicit and susceptible.
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The Magi and the Star in the Christmas Story
12/07/2022
The Magi and the Star in the Christmas Story
An interview with Dr. Eric Vanden Eykel 'The Magi' of antiquity were usually religious professionals who were almost always associated with people in power, such as kings. But they were not kings themselves. Therefore Dr. Eric Vanden Eykel thinks the author of the Gospel of Matthew uses the characters of 'the magi' (instead of the shepherds who appear in the Gospel of Luke) to make a political point about the kingly identity of Jesus. A close reading of the details about the star and the gifts in Matthew also supports the political message.
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Mary Magdalene was Probably Not from Magdala
11/02/2022
Mary Magdalene was Probably Not from Magdala
An interview with Elizabeth Schrader Polczer Elizabeth Schrader Polczer claims that there has always been controversy over Mary Magdalene’s name and birthplace. She argues that Mary Magdalene was probably not from Magdala. So the name we use to refer to her should be ‘Mary Magdalene’ and not ‘Mary of Magdala’ for both historical reasons and the fact that Mary appears in better light if she came from Bethany instead of Magdala. However, Polzcer discusses the conflicting evidence from antiquity and concludes that acknowledging multiple legitimate interpretations is probably the best way to honor her memory.
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Correcting the Mary Magdalene Smear Campaign
10/05/2022
Correcting the Mary Magdalene Smear Campaign
An interview with Rev. Kyndall Rae Rothaus Kyndall Rae Rothaus, a popular young female minister, tackles the ancient Mary Magdalene smear campaign as an example of the damage which can be done by mistaken assumptions. To her, it’s yet another example of the way people discredit strong women, both in the past and today. She believes that unraveling the Mary Magdalene smear campaign can help all people discover the divine feminine within.
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Ancient Manichaeism: An Example of the Christian Insider-Outsider Debate
09/07/2022
Ancient Manichaeism: An Example of the Christian Insider-Outsider Debate
Scholar Jae Han describes the ancient Manichaean Christian religion as an outsider in the minds of Roman western Christians because it originated in Persia. Manichaeans considered themselves Christian, but heresiologists called them “Manichaeans.” In the same vein, Manichaeans called Catholic Christians “Jews.” From a Western perspective, if any religion originated in the East, it can’t be truly Christian. It was unnatural for Westerners (Romans) to consider a religion Christian if it originated in the East.
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An Ancient Gold Glass Challenges Biblical Boundaries
08/03/2022
An Ancient Gold Glass Challenges Biblical Boundaries
An interview with Eric C. Smith, PhD Eric C. Smith, a scholar of biblical studies, uses an ancient gold glass as an example of why we should expand our concepts of what we call ‘biblical.’ The Bible itself is an “assemblage” of people, history, geography, and oral traditions that contributed to the creation of some portion of the Bible. Objects of art depicting similar stories and events are also assemblages, in that the stories may have come from the same or similar sources.
/episode/index/show/thebibleandbeyond/id/23944131
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The Secret Behind the Secrets in So-Called Gnosticism
07/06/2022
The Secret Behind the Secrets in So-Called Gnosticism
An interview with Nicola Denzey Lewis Nicola Denzey Lewis helps crack the code on perplexing questions about so-called ‘Gnosticism.’ Where is it from? What is it about? Why the secrets? Her own story about how she got involved explains why it is appealing to some and unnerving to others. She explains why it was such an important part of the development of Christianity in the second century and how it wrestled with major philosophical questions related to creation and the meaning of evil.
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Why Should We Believe Anything in the Secret Revelation of John?
05/31/2022
Why Should We Believe Anything in the Secret Revelation of John?
A conversation between Dr. Shirley Paulson and Dr. Arthur Dewey When books like the Secret Revelation of John are not in the biblical canon, questions arise concerning their worth. The conversation between Shirley Paulson and Arthur Dewey includes reasons for the Secret Revelation of John’s extracanonical status as well as its intrinsic worth. They also discuss its unusual treatment of the Hebrew text, Genesis, its adaptation to the context of Platonism in Alexandria, Egypt, and how these connections serve the greater purpose of developing insights.
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What Kind of Person Was Judas Really?
05/04/2022
What Kind of Person Was Judas Really?
In this interview with Dr. David Brakke, he discusses his new translation and commentary on the Gospel of Judas. The basic message is that Jesus is explaining to Judas why his own terrible sacrifice is necessary for God to set the universe right. In doing so, the author of the gospel is critiquing his contemporary Jesus-followers for their ritual practices of sacrifice. Such sacrifices distort the true relationship between the human (dying mortals) and spiritual (non-dying) part of one’s being.
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