Author: Kegan A. Chandler
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Forbidden Gospels, the Gnostic Jesus, and Dr. James Charlesworth
Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by world-renowned biblical scholar Dr. James Charlesworth, Professor of NT Language and Literature at Princeton. Charlesworth was joined by Dr. Lee McDonald (Acadia Divinity College) at the beautiful Lanier Theological Library for an evening of discussions around the Apocrypha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the canonization process,…
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Dr. Dustin Smith on the Embodiment of Wisdom
Dr. Dustin Smith has recently released two videos regarding the portrayal of God’s wisdom in Jewish literature, and how it relates to the famous prologue of the Fourth Gospel. I’ve found Smith’s work especially accommodating to my own position on John 1:1-14, and I believe his evidence is worth considering. As I laid out in…
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Ancient Lit. SpotLight #1: The Suda
The Ancient Lit. SpotLight series is designed to introduce works of Judaism, Christianity, paganism, and Gnosticism to a wider audience, in hopes of increasing awareness of the religious and philosophical thought of the ancient Mediterranean world. With the above goal in mind, there are few texts better to begin our exploration with than the Suda.…
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Artapanus and the Egyptian Moses: Jewish Syncretism in Alexandria
In the study of historical Gnostic religions, one is inevitably drawn towards the period of Graeco-Egyptian syncretism occurring in the wake of Alexander’s Egyptian conquest (c. 300 BCE). My upcoming (and currently under-wraps) research project has been especially dependent upon such study. One surprising element I have regularly encountered in this research is the participation of…
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Visit to LTL
Last week I had the opportunity to visit the now seven-year-old Lanier Theological Library (LTL), a 17,000 sq. ft biblical research library in Houston. The library features over 85,000 titles in the fields of Church History, Dead Sea Scrolls research, Egyptology, Theology, Biblical languages, and more. It is also home to several interesting artifacts, including a…
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Webinar & Book Give-A-Way
Last night I had the opportunity to give a webinar on my new book The God of Jesus in Light of Christian Dogma. The extensive discussion was graciously hosted by Restoration Fellowship, and featured appearances by Sir Anthony F. Buzzard, and Carlos Xavier (Restoration Fellowship); Dr. Joe Martin (President, Atlanta Bible College); Pastor Robin Todd (Washington Church…
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Audio Interview: A Discussion on My Book, and on Pagan and Gnostic Influences on Orthodox Theology
This week I joined Sean Finnegan again for another interview on the excellent Restitutio podcast. In this interview, Finnegan and I discuss my new book, The God of Jesus in Light of Christian Dogma. You’ll hear about the books’ content and fundamental arguments, and a conversation on how historical pagan and Gnostic thinking influenced the development of orthodox…
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Audio Interview: A Restorationist Discovers the God of Jesus
This past week I had the honor of being interviewed for the Restitutio podcast. Restitutio.org is a website hosted by Sean Finnegan, pastor at Living Hope Community Church in New York. The weekly podcast features topics related to biblical study and historical Christianity, and the site hosts a wealth of articles, videos, and audio teachings exploring the biblical…
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Plotinus Among the Gnostics: The Neoplatonic Trinity in the Late Third Century
Most Christians today seem woefully unaware of the important religious interchange which gave rise to their most beloved church doctrines. Hardly noticed are the historians who have challenged the common, whitewashed Church history perpetuated by mainstream evangelicalism, which has ever sought to paint such ecclesiastical standards at the doctrine of the Trinity (or at least…
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The Woman of Blood: The Gnostic Exegesis of the Gospels
In my last blog I provided an introduction to the Nag Hammadi codices, the so-called Christian “Gnostics”, and what evidence of early diversity within Christianity might mean for “orthodox” interpretations of Church history. This post will offer a brief introduction to the Gnostic worldview through the unique way in which some of these Christians interpreted…
Kegan Chandler, PhD 