Those of us who love Pompeii will be happy to know that research there continues, which is always good news for a site that is frequently in danger of succumbing to the elements, political exigencies and funding shortages. Scholars in religious studies, classics, archaeology and other fields routinely reveal new evidence from excavations and novel […]
Past
Blog posts relating to the past such as women in antiquity and early church history
Offering Hope in the Easter Season: Posts on the Resurrection and the Afterlife
We have discussed the afterlife and related issues, from the perspective of paranormal research, on a number of occasions. These are related to the Christian concept of the resurrection – at least in the sense that Christians’ belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ promises hope of our own eternal life with God after we […]
Celebrating Women’s History Month
In the United States, March is Women’s History Month. Here is a list of our past blog posts about women – with the caveat that women in antiquity, including women in the early church, have, for better or worse, greatly influenced the status of women worldwide. We will also include posts about goddesses, goddess worship […]
The Legend of Abgar and Jesus, Part II: The Philippian Correspondence
In Part I, we presented an overview of the legendary correspondence between King Abgar of Edessa and Jesus, noting its popularity and how it was preserved in both literary and archaeological sources. Here we will look specifically at the archaeological sample found at Philippi in northern Greece. As we have noted elsewhere, Philippi is important […]
The Legend of Abgar and Jesus, Part I: Introduction
Sometime in antiquity, a story developed that King Abgar V of Edessa, a Syrian city located in Mesopotamia, became ill, perhaps with leprosy, and wrote to Jesus of Nazareth to ask for a cure. In the correspondence, Abgar invited Jesus to come to Edessa to escape persecution. Jesus, according to the legend, replied in writing, […]
Index to the Fifth Year
Thank you for your interest in these blog posts! Here is a listing by topic for posts since October 2019. (Some topics overlap.) Social and Racial Justice, Diversity Giving Thanks for Our Native American Neighbors – Nov. 22, 2019 The House Financial Services Committee: A Report Card for 2019 – Dec. 27, 2019 Trump and […]
The Women Artisans of Philippi
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 […]
Women’s Occupations in Graeco-Roman Antiquity
We have met some of the women of Graeco-Roman antiquity in the past, especially those that may shed light on the early Jesus movement. We have looked at St. Paul’s female colleagues, a female ceramicist from Crete, the first apostle Mary Magdalene, several women named Salome, the sainted Thecla, and priestesses in pagan religion. This […]
The Cult of Livia at Philippi: The State of Religion at a Pauline City in the Early Christian Centuries
As we have seen in other posts, the city of Philippi in northern Greece was significant in the growth of the so-called “Christ cult” in the first century. St. Paul wrote a letter to the Jesus followers at Philippi, which has come down to us in the New (Christian) Testament and is a major reason […]
Questioning Christian Orthodoxy in the Christmas Season
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 […]