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Christian Beginnings
Other Voices within & beyond the Canon
Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre & Shelly Matthews
The Jesus Seminar has always cast a broad net, looking beyond the New Testament to the wider variety of texts and traditions that made up earliest Christianity. In the current phase of its work, the Seminar is asking what these materials might tell us about the diverse origins of Christianity. Shelly Matthews and Melanie Johnson DeBaufre will introduce participants to the fascinating world of Christianity "beyond the canon."
LECTURE
Shelly Matthews
Mary of Magdala: the Woman Who Knew too Much
There is much about Mary of Magdala in the Bible, but there is a rich vein of material associated with her authority outside the canon as well. Our exploration of “other voices” will begin with this apostle – not one of the twelve, but truly an original apostle.
Friday, 7:30–9 P.M.
WORKSHOPS
Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre
The Other Voices of Jesus
How did the early Jesus followers use and value the sayings of Jesus? Why did they collect them in texts like the sayings gospel "Q" and the Gospel of Thomas? Examining the worldview and imagination of these early texts, we find a communal interest in the kingdom of God and in accessing secret wisdom about the nature of true humanity and the cosmos. Given that some of these views did not survive into mainstream Christianity, how has Jesus' own voice became one of the "other voices" lost in the unfolding history of early Christianity?
Saturday, 9:30 A.M.-NOON
Shelly Matthews and Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre
Recovering the Diversity of Early Christianity
In 2006, the Jesus
Seminar turned its attention to the question of Christian origins. Shelly Matthews and Melanie Johnson DeBaufre will introduce this work,
and the fascinating diversity of early Christian belief and practice to
be explored in a variety of sources. And they will take your questions
about Mary, Judas Thomas, Thecla, James the
brother of Jesus, and other forgotten voices from this intriguing past
Saturday, 1:30–4 P.M.
Shelly Matthews ( Th.D., Harvard Divinity School) is Dorothy and B.H. Peace Professor of Religion at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. She is the author of First Converts: Rich Pagan Women and the Rhetoric of Mission in Early Judaism and Christianity (2001) and co-editor of Violence in the New Testament (2005, with E. Leigh Gibson).
Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre (Th.D., Harvard Divinity School) is Associate Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Drew Theological School and the Graduate Division of Religion, Madison, New Jersey. She is the author of Jesus Among Her Children (2005) and Mary Magdalene Understood (with Jane Schaberg, 2006).
Sponsored by Friends of the Historical Jesus
ALL EVENTS AT
First Congregational United Church of Christ
1031 South Euclid Avenue
Sarasota, FL 34237
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To register by mail or fax, use the printable registration form
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Westar Institute
P.O. Box 7268
Santa Rosa, CA 95407
tollfree (877) 523-3545, (707) 523-1350 fax
events@westarinstitute.orgor
David Ryan
Friends of the Historical Jesus
D2MRyan@verizon.net
(941) 365-4027