In this episode, Professor Arthur Dewey explains why Christians felt so differently about Jesus's crucifixion long after the event than his immediate followers did. Jesus had taught the presence of God and how to live that, but the shock of his death caused re-thinking and re-evaluating of this shame-inducing passion experience for many decades and centuries. Jesus's counter-cultural message brought hope to members of the Roman-occupied community, but his crucifixion strengthened their memory and faith.

Dr. Celene Lillie discovered in some ancient texts a remarkable metaphor, a rape narrative that relates to both the imperial actions of ancient Rome and modern forms of destructive behavior. Three writers of the second century re-imagined the story of Eve in Genesis as a representation of the violation of Rome's victims. Despite the violence, Eve overthrows victimization and becomes a healing Christ figure. Her children become saviors of the world.

Dr. Sara Parks found gender parallels in the parables in Q that show Jesus's deliberate valuing of women for God's kingdom ('basileia'). For example, a man who lost a sheep rejoices when it is found; a woman who lost a coin rejoices when it is found. The basileia is within – for both women and men. But Parks explains that Jesus's egalitarian values did not automatically lead to a dismantling of patriarchal norms of the day.

'Heresy' sells. Maybe it's because it's mysterious, dangerous, or entertaining. But the idea of ancient 'Christian heresies' is misleading. The tendency to make ideas 'right' or 'wrong' confuses the issues. Strong early Christian women, such as Mary Magdalene, Thecla, and Perpetua, posed a threat to the developing male hierarchy, but their words seem to be consistent with the words of the men. Heresy, then, is not a natural category; it is more about who the power brokers were.

Dr. Karri Whipple's experience with intimate violence organizations guides her studies of violence and trauma in New Testament studies. She demonstrates how multiple readings from various Biblical and extracanonical texts help us process trauma. But readers should also take care to understand the context of the stories of gender and racial violence so that the examples do not become an excuse to perpetuate violence. Reading from a variety of perspectives also helps readers find many paths to the healing of trauma and pain.

Dr. James McGrath introduces us to the Mandaeans, a modern-day community that practices a religion with ancient roots. Their sacred texts mention John the Baptist and Jesus and other names that are familiar from the Bible. If you're interested in the New Testament, in Christianity, you'll also be interested in this group. Since they practice baptism as their main ritual, these people may be the 2,000 year-long descendants of John the Baptist.

Elizabeth Schrader describes her discovery of the addition of Martha in the Gospel of John. Did she find enough evidence to lead to her conclusion that Mary and Lazarus had no sister named Martha? Or that Lazarus' sister Mary might actually have been Mary Magdalene? Elizabeth speculates about all this, but she has found motives and other evidence that lend strong support for her theories. A CORRECTION: At 13:17 in the podcast, Elizabeth meant to say 'Boanerges,' rather than 'Bartimaeus.'

Dr. Lily Vuong – from a family of Vietnam refugees – found the 'outsider' point of view in the Protevangelium of James resonated with her own experience. It's an apocryphal text, but instead of thinking of it as a 'failed scripture,' Vuong encourages us to appreciate the beauty and meaning of the book on its own merit. The story recounts Mary's preparation to become the mother of Jesus. Historical facts are less important than the value and meaning of purity.

In Shepherd of Hermas, Elliott finds distinguishing Christian feature: the poor are to be honored. All of us – slaves and masters – should be servants to God.

Barry's deep love of both the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) and New Testament inspires us to listen in new ways to familiar texts as well as the ones we're not so aware of. They awaken our moral imagination to deeper values of justice and peace.

About Barry

Dr. Barry R. Huff is Assistant Professor of Religion at Principia College. His interests include wisdom literature, Psalms, Torah, creation theology, Intertextuality, ecological hermeneutics, and the reception history of the Bible. He received his PhD in Biblical Studies from Union Presbyterian Seminary, a ThM from Columbia Theological Seminary, and his MTS from Eden Theological Seminary.