Welcome!
Welcome to the Beehive!
In the next nine months, we will be exploring a vast treasury of sacred texts, history, art and legends that present many different stories about Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Early Christianity. Some of these stories will be very familiar to those steeped in traditional Western religion and Biblical studies. Other sources, though very old, are likely be new and surprising.
We will encounter both Canonical Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and early Christian texts which did not make it into the Bible, were lost for 1600 years and only recovered in the 20th century. Reading them side by side may well offer new insights and exciting windows into the role of women, Mary Magdalene and the teachings of Jesus.
We will also learn about the climate and culture in which both the authorized and un-authorized texts arose, paying equal attention to roots of both the "Father" (Jewish monotheism) and "Mother" ( the Greek philosophical tradition and mystery religions) of Christianity in order that we might glean a deeper understanding of how the Jesus movement emerged and developed as a new religion. We will return to the roots of Jesus's culture through a look at the Aramaic and Hebrew languages which he spoke-- languages which have very different nuances, concepts and even genders embedded within them.
As we journey through these next nine months, we will turn again and again to the question which Jesus asks his disciples: "Who do you say I am?" and we will see how different texts and traditions offer different answers for who Jesus, Mary Magdalene and even God are. We will see how Early Christians spoke of "Holy Spirit" as "She" and whole communities described God by an ungendered Greek word that means "The Fullness".
You are invited to think both critically and imaginatively about all the stories we encounter. Do they seem persuasive from a literal or historical view? If not, is there yet some deep psychological meaning that emerges from contemplating them?
How do they support, enhance, deepen or challenge your own beliefs?
We will discover that early Christians read the different texts about Jesus in layers, moving back and forth from literal, moral and spiritual perspectives. We will want to develop our own facility with these layers and levels of meaning. To do so, we will also be encountering a wide variety of spiritual practices cherished by early Christian monastics as a way to draw closer to inner knowing. These tools (liturgical observances, chanting, lectio divina, illuminated manuscript making, visio divina and body prayer) are invaluable at awakening the imagination and are at least as important as any academic content we will be exploring.
Please dedicate a journal to create an illuminated manuscript for this class, and bring this with you to each Chapel and Seminar where we will use them as a way to discover what lies within you.
In the next nine months, we will be exploring a vast treasury of sacred texts, history, art and legends that present many different stories about Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Early Christianity. Some of these stories will be very familiar to those steeped in traditional Western religion and Biblical studies. Other sources, though very old, are likely be new and surprising.
We will encounter both Canonical Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and early Christian texts which did not make it into the Bible, were lost for 1600 years and only recovered in the 20th century. Reading them side by side may well offer new insights and exciting windows into the role of women, Mary Magdalene and the teachings of Jesus.
We will also learn about the climate and culture in which both the authorized and un-authorized texts arose, paying equal attention to roots of both the "Father" (Jewish monotheism) and "Mother" ( the Greek philosophical tradition and mystery religions) of Christianity in order that we might glean a deeper understanding of how the Jesus movement emerged and developed as a new religion. We will return to the roots of Jesus's culture through a look at the Aramaic and Hebrew languages which he spoke-- languages which have very different nuances, concepts and even genders embedded within them.
As we journey through these next nine months, we will turn again and again to the question which Jesus asks his disciples: "Who do you say I am?" and we will see how different texts and traditions offer different answers for who Jesus, Mary Magdalene and even God are. We will see how Early Christians spoke of "Holy Spirit" as "She" and whole communities described God by an ungendered Greek word that means "The Fullness".
You are invited to think both critically and imaginatively about all the stories we encounter. Do they seem persuasive from a literal or historical view? If not, is there yet some deep psychological meaning that emerges from contemplating them?
How do they support, enhance, deepen or challenge your own beliefs?
We will discover that early Christians read the different texts about Jesus in layers, moving back and forth from literal, moral and spiritual perspectives. We will want to develop our own facility with these layers and levels of meaning. To do so, we will also be encountering a wide variety of spiritual practices cherished by early Christian monastics as a way to draw closer to inner knowing. These tools (liturgical observances, chanting, lectio divina, illuminated manuscript making, visio divina and body prayer) are invaluable at awakening the imagination and are at least as important as any academic content we will be exploring.
Please dedicate a journal to create an illuminated manuscript for this class, and bring this with you to each Chapel and Seminar where we will use them as a way to discover what lies within you.
To register for the nine month series, click here. Tuition is $600.00. If you enroll mid-stream, fear not! You will receive links to catch up and will be sent a code in order to access the private pages on this website which have both our recordings and supplemental resources.
