The Bible and Beyond

An Interview with Dr. Karen Winell Is the Kingdom of God a place, a rule, a future hope—or something more? Dr. Karen Wenell challenges familiar assumptions by exploring the Kingdom as sacred space that is lived, performed, and experienced among people. Through a rich discussion of biblical texts, embodiment, ethics, and community, she offers fresh ways of understanding one of Jesus's central teach...

An Interview with Dr. M. David Litwa What did ancient Hermetic spirituality have in common with early Christianity? In this conversation, Dr. M. David Litwa introduces the Hermetica—ancient Egyptian spiritual writings centered on Hermes Trismegistus—and explores their influence on concepts such as spiritual rebirth, divine consciousness, salvation through gnosis, and humanity's relationship to the...

An Interview with Dr. Benjamin DeVos This episode reexamines Simon Magus, a controversial figure from the book of Acts, and his evolving role in early Christian tradition. Moving beyond the familiar story, it explores how later texts—especially the Pseudo-Clementines—transform Simon into a complex philosophical rival to Peter. Along the way, the discussion uncovers themes of truth, rhetoric, power...

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 chall...

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...

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...

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 t...

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 , Wa...

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 firs...

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 wo...

Heresies, Power, and the Forgotten Voices of Early Christianity An Interview with Dr. Bart Ehrman Shirley Paulson talks with Bart Ehrman about his new course on early Christian heresies . 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...

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 divini...

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 m...

An Interview with Dr. Perry Kea When the young teen, Thecla, heard Paul's preaching about a new kind of life following Christ, she became infatuated with both the message and the messenger. Abandoning her fiancé and her Roman aristocratic life style, she faced two death threats, discovered her own strength and worth, and matured in her appreciation for both Paul and his teachings. She bought into...

The Complicated Lives of Enslaved Women of the Bible An Interview with Dr. Christy Cobb Bible readers tend to skip over the stories of enslaved people because they seem to be treated as props for the 'real' meaning or main message of the biblical account. But a closer look at the lives of these marginalized enslaved people in the stories—such as sex workers who were might have been sold to brothel...

Part 2 of our interview with Matthew Goff and Dylan Burns continues the discussion we started in Part 1 about the relationship between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library. Goff and Burns explain the significant differences between the two, such as their different dates and locations of origin. But they also explore the similarities, with their mutual interest in more ancient writings,...

Is There a Connection Between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library? An Interview with Dr. Matthew Goff and Dr. Dylan Burns (Part 1) Professors Matthew Goff and Dylan Burns realized there were some surprising commonalities between the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi Library. Traditionally, these ancient writings are studied separately, despite their modern discoveries around the same t...

An interview with Dr. Kimberley Fowler Dr. Kimberley Fowler explains the Gospel of Philip, one of the lesser known texts from the Nag Hammadi collection. She loves it and finds it "charmingly and remarkably weird," even though is it does not stray too far from orthodox Christian theology. Although it includes a brief reference to Jesus kissing Mary, that kiss seems to be only one of the many ritua...

An Interview with Dr. Meredith J. C. Warren We asked Dr. Meredith J. C. Warren to describe how Jesus's family and followers would have practiced their religion. They were probably a typical Jewish family, where the types of houses and everyday life were all intertwined with religious practices. She claims that both Jesus and his mother were probably less unusual than we have been taught to think,...

What is the Nag Hammadi Library? An Interview with Dr. Dylan Burns Dr. Dylan Burns, a leading scholar on the "Nag Hammadi Library" and related texts, describes the significance of the 1945 archaeological discovery in Nag Hammadi, Egypt. It is not only of great importance for a better understanding of Christian origins, but many of the texts also reveal a great beauty and probing inquiry into the m...

An Interview with Dr. David Galston Some obvious differences between Plato and Jesus would include the fact that Plato preceded Jesus by three and a half centuries. Jesus was a Jewish teacher; Plato was a Greek philosopher. Plato taught with dialogues; Jesus taught with parables. But they are both figures of wisdom. Both styles are placed in everyday life, and yet both teachers encourage their stu...

An Interview with Dr. Andrew Crislip Ancient concepts of bodily functions differ so radically from modernity, we need a basic overview of these beliefs in order to understand both early Christian and non-Christian healing methods. Two competing concepts were viewed as causes for disease: an imbalance of 'humors' in the body and an 'invasion' of the normally healthy body.  Jesus's approach was addr...

An 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...

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 incl...

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 th...