Tag: Historical
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Alien Jesus?
You’ve probably seen these guys (and girls) online. They are sometimes assembled into small congregations and even find some success in the weirder parts of the USA (Los Angeles.) They are driven by the belief in both Christianity AND Extra-Terrestrials and have merged them into one fascinating new belief system; Jesus was an alien.
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Understanding Jesus: Separating Faith from Early Christian Influence
If you grew up in (or are currently a member of) a protestant church, you have probably been allowed to believe that your faith has been relatively unchanged throughout the millennia. Catholicism (your church’s grand-pappy) has had a colorful history filled with all manner of exciting events among them the councils. The catholic councils would…
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The Lost Gospel: Q
First of all, No. This has nothing to do with the conspiracy theory bearing the same letter as a name. During studies of Christian origins, one is very quickly guaranteed to run into the term Q-source quite often when discussing the synoptic gospels. Q stands for “Quelle”, the German word for “source.” It is a…
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“Hypocrite”- What One Single Word Tells Us About Jesus’ Working Years.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!” -Matthew 23:13 When seeking more knowledge about the man that is their Messiah, Christians often focus on the last few years of his time on earth. While not specifically mentioned in the Bible, we can find clues about who the man was by examining…
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Political Intrigue and the Crucifixion; First-Century Watergate. Part Two: Changing Money.
The scene of Jesus overturning the tables of the Temple money-changers is one of the most iconic of the New Testament. While his righteous wrath at the desecration of the Temple seems to be in line with what we know about Jesus, just about everything else in the story seems very odd. In this entry,…
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Papias of Hieropolis
Papias of Hieropolis is more than just an amazing name for your next child; he may be one of the most important players in early Christian history that you have (probably) never heard of. It is through him that what little we know about the author of the “main” gospel, Mark, comes to us today.…
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Gnosticism; Then and Now
Most of us are aware of the story of Jesus around which the world’s largest religion is shaped. Over the almost two millennia since the death of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christian version of his story has coalesced into the form that most of us are familiar with today. As popular and nearly ubiquitous as…
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Thecla; the First First-Woman of the Church.
For as long as anyone can remember, Mary the mother of Jesus has held the position of the highest revered woman of the Church. By sheer volume, more prayers are said to her than any other person; including Jesus. In the early Church however, there was another woman who contended for that honor. Thecla. The…
The Incredible Jesus 