Jesus Seminar on the Road

western nc | education | event notice Saturday August 16, 2008 15:27 by John Shuck - First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton

First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton, 119 W. F St., will host its second “Jesus Seminar on the Road” on Sept. 12-13.

Dr. Hal Taussig and Dr. Arthur J. Dewey will be the speakers for the program, titled “Competing Early Christian Voices: The Contest for Authority.”

First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton, 119 W. F St., will host its second “Jesus Seminar on the Road” on Sept. 12-13.

Dr. Hal Taussig and Dr. Arthur J. Dewey will be the speakers for the program, titled “Competing Early Christian Voices: The Contest for Authority.”

The last 150 years have witnessed a wide range of exciting new discoveries of early Christian literature not included in the New Testament. Documents such as The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Mary (Magdalene), The Gospel of Peter, The Gospel of Judas, The Thunder: Perfect Mind, The Secret Book of John, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, and many others have begun to reshape how the beginnings of Christianity are conceived. In the meantime scholars have also come to terms with the conflicting perspectives within the New Testament. It is now clear that a great diversity of often competing, early Christian literature existed, that cannot be best assessed using the categories of orthodoxy and heresy, biblical or non-biblical.

This workshop concentrates on describing some of the many important new documents from the first two centuries of early Christianity. It looks carefully at how these new documents help make sense of the many differences in early Christian literature, both inside and outside the New Testament.

Taussig is the visiting professor of New Testament at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He is also professor of Early Christianity at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia and serves as co-pastor of Chestnut Hill United Methodist Church. Taussig is the author of “Jesus Before God” and “A New Spiritual Home.”

Dewey is professor of theology at Xavier University in Cincinnati and co-founder of the Healing Deadly Memories Program, which conducts workshops on how to deal with anti-Semitism in the New Testament.

The events will begin on Sept. 12 with a lecture from 7:30-9 p.m. by the two men on “Canon and History: Re-Thinking Early Christianity.”

Four workshops will be held on Sept. 13. They include:

• 9:30-10:30 a.m.: “The Gospel of Thomas: One of the earliest gospels with many new perspectives,” by Dewey.

• 11 a.m. until noon: “Thunder, Pefect Mind: A dramatic self-presentation of female divinity” and “Gospel of Mary: The only gospel with a woman protagonist,” by Taussig.

• 1:30-2:30 p.m.: “Gospel of Peter: Perhaps the earliest story of Jesus’ death and resurrection” and “Secret Book of John: An early Christian attack on the Roman empire and its oppression,” by Taussig and Dewey.

• 3-4 p.m.: “A New Picture of How Christianity Began,” by Taussig and Dewey.

The registration fee for all sessions is $50 if received by Aug. 22, and $60 after that date. Participants may attend sessions individually. The cost for the Sept. 12 lecture is $15 and the cost for the morning and afternoon workshops on Sept. 13 is $25 each.

For information or to register, call 543-7737 or (877) 523-3545 or e-mail, johnashuck@embarqmail.com or events@westarinstitute.org. Register on-line by visiting www.westarinstitute.org. For more information see the church's website www.1stpres-eliz.org or by visiting Rev. John Shuck's blog www.shuckandjive.blogspot.com.