This course is designed to maximize our time together in discussion and learning from each other. Please finish watching all of the video lectures for each section before we meet together by Zoom.

The dates for our Zoom classes are Jan 14, Jan 28, Feb 11, Feb 18, Mar 4, and Mar 18.

• Please note that between the third and fourth sections, there is only ONE week to prepare. This is to accommodate Shirley’s personal schedule.

We meet from 7pm - 8 pm Eastern every other week (except Feb 18).

The Zoom classes are schedule as follows:

Section 1: Jan 14, 7pm—Mary Magdalene: Our Guide Inside and Outside the Bible

Section 2: Jan 28, 7 pm—The Gospel of Thomas: Our Guide to the Canon

Section 3: Feb 11, 7 pm:—The Disciples: Our Guide to the Ancient Church

Section 4: Feb 18, 7 pm—Nag Hammadi: Our Guide to the ‘Gnostic Texts’

Section 5: Mar 4, 7 pm—The Letter of Peter to Philip: Our Guide to Life After Jesus

Section 6: Mar 18, 7 pm—The Odes of Solomon: Our Guide to the Earliest Christian Worship

For example, our first Zoom meeting will be Wednesday, Jan 14, from 7 pm - 8 pm Eastern. So you will watch all four video lectures and collect your thoughts for discussion. Then, at our Zoom call, we will discuss some of the main topics of interest from that section. If you have to miss one of the meetings, all of the class discussions will be recorded and archived.

We also want to let you know that the main course image and many images included in the course videos were generated using AI (DreamStudio from stability.ai). We created these images help you better imagine the people and situations involved in the texts, since there are really no surviving images from that time. It’s not possible to know what the people referenced actually looked like. We don’t claim our generated images are accurate representations of these historical figures and situations. We have intentionally included many photos of ancient art depicting people and events to provide you with the ability to see how artists have imagined these characters throughout history.