We chat about the Gospel of Thomas, and whether or not it can tell us anything about Jesus.  This is an ancient gospel that didn't make it into the Bible, but may have been a contemporary to the gospels that did.  That is, it likely existed side by side Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Even more, it likely competed with them to become the dominant view of Christianity.  Here's the thing, though.  While it shares many sayings and parables with the Bible, there are many sayings that are very peculiar.  We take a look at both the familiar and strange, and consider what Thomas can tell us about the Jesus of Nazareth who roamed the earth so many years ago.     

We chat about the history between Palestine and Israel.  Israel and Palestine are in another war...or rather, continue the war that began over 70 years ago.  The history of between these two peoples is complicated.  You wouldn't think that looking at the black and white versions of reality plastered all over social media.  Merry and I explore the gray zone, the no man's land of the conflict.  We sit within the tension.  And we ponder what everyday-folk can do, if we can, indeed, do anything.  

We chat about the Gospel of Mary, another book that didn't make it into the Bible.  The book is a wee bit weird.  It has language and symbols that are hard to understand.  And then pages are missing, so we are left to fill in a lot of blans.  But, it gives us a peak at the interesting, early centuries, religious movement we now know as Gnosticism.  More importantly, this book tells us how important Mary (Magdalene?) was to the early Christian movements.   

We chat about the Infancy Gospel of James.  What do we know about Joseph and Mary?  We know they are the parets of Jesus?  But what about their lives before all that Jesus stuff started happening?  What was Mary like as a child?  How and when did she meet Joseph?  What was Joseph like?  What's this I hear about an Immaculate Conception?  The Infancy Gospel of James tackles alot of these questions, and tries to provide us with answers.  But did the authors of this gospel really think people would take their stories as facts?  Or did they, and their readres, know that they were merely commenting on the Bible?  Why did they write this Gospel?  What was their point?  We explore all this, and much more, in this week's episode.  

We chat about a gospel account that didn't make it into the Bible, The Infancy Gospel of Thomas.  This book tells us about Jesus' childhood.  What was it like to be a God-Man discovering one's own power?  What was it like to know more than all your teachers?  What happens if you accidentally bump into the shoulder of a young Jesus?  Well...you die, that's what happens.  So what can we learn from this interesting book?  Do we take it seriously?  Was it ancient commentary on more authoritative gospel account?  Perhaps it was just fireside entertainment--like modern day movies or tv?  Listen in as we chat about all this.

We chat about the story of Peter trying to keep Jesus from going to Jerusalem.  Everyone knows what will happen to him if he goes there.  Even Jesus knows what will happen to him.  He will be arrested, tried, and executed.  Naturally, Peter tries to stop him from going.  Jesus calls him a stumbling block, and tells him that he is thinking about human things and not divine things.  We chat about why this story was told among early Jesus followers, and why Matthew may have included it in his Gospel account.

We cover a lot in this episode.  First we chat about our fall plans to participate in a charity golf tournament-- last place wins a canister of tennis balls.  By the end of September, we will be richer by one canister of tennis balls.  We then, unplanned, process the trauma of sending our eldest daughter to kindergarten.  We then get to our subject at hand--Peter confesses to Jesus that he is the king, the savior of ancient Israel that they have been waiting for.  But then Jesus orders his disciples not to tell anyone what Peter just said.  We ask the question, "why?"  Why can't they tell the world this good news?  And we also look at how Peter's confession has more to do with the political then the spiritual identity of Jesus.  Enoy! 

We chat about the story of Jesus healing a Canaanite woman's daughter.  This is one of those tought stories.  Why?  She asks Jesus for a favor, and he ignores her.  The disciples ask Jesus to address her.  She keeps bugging them.  But instead of advocating for the healing she is asking for, they ask Jesus to send her away.  Then Jesus tells the disciples that he won't throw food intended for children to the dogs.  Ouch!  But she persists.  She runs up to Jesus and says that even the dogs get the scraps.  Picture the dogs eating from the trash, not under the table.  What a tough passage.  Jesus doesn't look that good here.  But in the end, he heals the woman's daughter, and is awe struck by her faith.  Join us as we chat about what this teaches us today.   

The gospel of Matthew has a lot to say about Jesus.  And each thing we learn about him is even better than the last.  You could say that Matthew is the Ron Popeil of the New Testament.  We learn that Jesus is teacher.  But wait, there's more.  Jesus is a king.  But wait, there's more.  Jesus is a savior.  But wait.....!  This week, we talk about Jesus as our savior.  But what is Jesus saving us from?  The answer will surprise you.     

Jesus feeds over 5000 people at once.  We chat about what this story meant back then, that it was a way of saying "Jesus is our king, not you!" without really saying it.  Merry also talks about her book, The Diplomacy of Migration.  We then apply her thesis theologically to the the Biblical story to see how we can apply these lessons today in our lives and in our world.