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How Wild Can it Get? The Diversity of Early Christianity
Show notes
Episode Outline:
Early Christianity was never just one thing
Bart and Megan catch up on teaching and Digital Hammurabi
Why it matters to study divisions in early Christianity
Why Christianity became more exclusivist than surrounding pagan religions
Why Christian groups fought over belief in ways pagans usually did not
Did the major early Christian groups exist at the same time and place?
How scholars know what these groups believed
Proto-Orthodox, Ebionites, Marcionites, and Gnostics in brief
What these competing groups still had in common
Why Proto-Orthodoxy won and became “Christianity”
Bart’s Weekly Update: preparing the Mark course
Bart Reflects on Life: academic freedom and the Hamline controversy
Final summary and reading recommendations
Episode Description
You think Christianity is diverse today? Fundamentalists? Roman Catholics? Mormons? Methodists? Branch Davidians? Episcopalians? Russian Orthodox? And on and on? In fact, the wide varieties of Christianity today pale in comparison with what you could find in antiquity, with beliefs that virtually defy belief. How could people with views that seem so far beyond the pale (that there were many gods? That the Creator was evil? That Christ never died?) call themselves Christian and claim they were following the teachings of Jesus? That's what we discuss in today's podcast.
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Also watch these episodes:
Why is the Book of Revelation in the Bible?
Why is the Book of Revelation in the Bible?
Decoding Gnosticism: Secrets of a Heretical Christian Belief
Decoding Gnosticism: Secrets of a Heretical Christian Belief
The Gospel Truth: What Are the Gospels of the New Testament?
The Gospel Truth: What Are the Gospels of the New Testament?
Early Christianity was never just one thing
Bart and Megan catch up on teaching and Digital Hammurabi
Why it matters to study divisions in early Christianity
Why Christianity became more exclusivist than surrounding pagan religions
Why Christian groups fought over belief in ways pagans usually did not
Did the major early Christian groups exist at the same time and place?
How scholars know what these groups believed
Proto-Orthodox, Ebionites, Marcionites, and Gnostics in brief
What these competing groups still had in common
Why Proto-Orthodoxy won and became “Christianity”
Bart’s Weekly Update: preparing the Mark course
Bart Reflects on Life: academic freedom and the Hamline controversy
Final summary and reading recommendations
Episode Description
You think Christianity is diverse today? Fundamentalists? Roman Catholics? Mormons? Methodists? Branch Davidians? Episcopalians? Russian Orthodox? And on and on? In fact, the wide varieties of Christianity today pale in comparison with what you could find in antiquity, with beliefs that virtually defy belief. How could people with views that seem so far beyond the pale (that there were many gods? That the Creator was evil? That Christ never died?) call themselves Christian and claim they were following the teachings of Jesus? That's what we discuss in today's podcast.
****************************************
Also watch these episodes:
Why is the Book of Revelation in the Bible?
Why is the Book of Revelation in the Bible?
Decoding Gnosticism: Secrets of a Heretical Christian Belief
Decoding Gnosticism: Secrets of a Heretical Christian Belief
The Gospel Truth: What Are the Gospels of the New Testament?
The Gospel Truth: What Are the Gospels of the New Testament?
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