The Women Artisans of Philippi

| Past

The rock reliefs carved on the acropolis hill at Philippi in northern Greece are a unique archaeological artifact that raise a number of important questions for the history of Christianity, the role of women in the church (and hence the West) and the legacy of St. Paul. The reliefs – which depict primarily the goddess […]

Valuing Silence in a Noisy World^

| Present

In June 2016, we explored the lives of the Sisters of St. Margaret, an Episcopal order of sisters based in Duxbury, Massachusetts. During this current season of staying at home – for longer periods of time than most of us ever imagined – much has been written about silence, isolation, loneliness, and other results of […]

Questioning Christian Orthodoxy in the Christmas Season

| Future,Past,Present

It will strike some readers as “heresy” for members of one of the mainstream Christian denominations (in this case, the Episcopal Church) to question several tenets of a major document of the church – especially when the questioning comes during the major season of Christmas. For other readers, though – perhaps those searching in a […]

Franklin Graham, the Bible and the Gay Issue, Part II: Scholarly Evidence for Same-Sex Relationships

| Past,Present

In our last post, we discussed the Rev. Franklin Graham’s negative attitudes toward same-sex relationships, especially in the context of his criticisms of Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and Graham’s use of Bible verses to support his stances. Here we will outline some of the scholarly research concerning same-sex relationships in the early church (from […]

A Neolithic Site in Turkey, its Goddess and its Women

| Past

There is a strong possibility that in prehistory – in Old Europe and perhaps elsewhere – our ancestors lived for centuries in peaceful, matrilineal societies that revered an all-powerful Nature Goddess. To illustrate what life might have been like in such a Neolithic society, we can focus on an archaeological site called Çatal Hüyük (also […]

They Know What We’re Up to: Paranormal Evidence about Our Deceased Loved Ones

| Future

From Electronic Voice Phenomena to near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, and the work of reputable mediums, the paranormal evidence shows that our deceased loved ones do not “go off” somewhere far away and become disconnected from us. Nor do they cease to exist and enter some kind of eternal emptiness. Rather, they stick pretty close to […]

Ancient Corinth II: Women in St. Paul’s Time

| Past

Last week, we examined the deities worshiped in ancient Corinth and saw how influential goddesses, as well as gods, were before, during and after the time of St. Paul. Here we will look at the status and role of women at Corinth, especially how their involvement in society and local cults may have influenced Paul […]

Random Christmas Thoughts

| Future,Past,Present

Three days before Christmas: a good time to share some random thoughts on the reason for the holiday – the man Jesus with the title “Christ.” Jesus the man lived nearly 2,000 years ago as a Jewish subject in the Roman Empire. After he died, his followers kept his memory alive in a myriad of […]