The Advent and Christmas seasons in the West, especially in the United States, have become exceedingly consumerized. The origins of the seasons, of course, lie in antiquity, with the birth of Jesus and the stories about this as found in the Christian Testament Gospels and other early Christian literature. We have discussed stories about Jesus […]
Past
Blog posts relating to the past such as women in antiquity and early church history
Index to the 10th Year
Celebrating 10 years of WisdomWordsPPF! Over 300 evidence-based blog posts on politics, women in antiquity, New Testament archaeology, and the paranormal and the afterlife since October 2015. Thank you for reading! Here is the index for October 2024 to October 2025. Elections, Politics, Donald Trump Where are They Now? Lessons from Some Individuals of Trump […]
Photos from Cities of Paul
Here are some photos of archaeological sites from three cities associated with St. Paul, along with quotes to remind us that his circle included women in leadership roles. Philippi Phil 4:2-3: “I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I […]
New Testament Basics: Counteracting Biblical Literalism
We have often engaged in discussions of various aspects of the New (Christian) Testament of the Bible; in fact, most of the posts in the Past category have something to do with either the Christian Testament or the social context of the early Jesus movement. We have pointed out the important role of women in […]
Recent Archaeological Finds that Illuminate the Social World of Early Christianity
Evidence from Roman Imperial times is constantly being unearthed in archaeological excavations around the Mediterranean. The newly-discovered structures and artifacts frequently hold information that can teach us more about the people of antiquity. Since the Christian (New) Testament has been so influential in the history of the West, scholars who study Christian Testament texts and […]
Unnamed Women in the Christian Testament: Celebrating the Contributions of the Invisible
In earlier posts, we have highlighted women whose names and some of their roles in the Jesus movement we know, many of whom have long been ignored in the history of New (Christian) Testament scholarship (and Sunday School stories): women from Paul’s letter to the Romans, Chapter 16 (the apostle Junia, the deacon Phoebe, the […]
Let’s Discuss Evil
Evil is a huge topic, but since some influential figures on the American right have been using the term more frequently lately to describe those on the left, it’s important to look at the word in our current political context. The straight white man who has been appointed by President Trump as Deputy Director of […]
Bishop Mary
In several earlier posts, we have examined women who were leaders in the early Jesus movement – thus disproving the traditional argument of many Christian denominations that women could not (and therefore cannot) serve as leaders. We have shown how many anti-women assertions in the New (Christian) Testament of the Bible that have long been […]
Friday the 13th and the Heritage of the Goddess
This is being posted on Friday, September 13; there will be another Friday the 13th in December. Friday the 13th (F13) gets a bad rap. Believed by some to be the unluckiest day of the year, many people fear it – probably because both Friday, the day of the week, and the number 13 are […]
Ancient Papyri, Household Codes, Slavery, and non-Western Paul: A Sampling of Current Christian Testament Research
Last year, we reported on the First (2023) Global Virtual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. And we have also discussed Biblical scholarship that has emerged from other SBL meetings (2017, 2020, and 2021). SBL, founded in 1880, is “the oldest and largest learned society devoted to the critical investigation of the Bible from […]