Two months ago I did a three-part lecture series on Zoom as a fundraiser to help defray the expenses of the blog.  I recorded the lectures and have now decided to make them available — still as a fundraiser — to anyone who would wants to hear them.  For details how to get access to them, see further below.

The lectures all discussed stories involving Jesus that are not widely known to the world at large.  Or to *Christians* at large.  Or to *Blog Members* at large.   I’m pretty sure you didn’t hear *these* growing up….  Want to hear them?  These  are the titles and topics:

 

Lecture One.  Jesus and the Other Divine Men

Jesus may be the only miracle-working Son of God people know about today, but in antiquity there were others – “Divine men” who were miraculously born, who could do miracles, and then, at the end of life, ascended to heaven to live with the gods.  How could anyone think such things of mere mortals?  And is there anything that makes Jesus unique?  Was he just one of many?

 

 Lecture Two.  Jesus the Wunderkind.  The Divine Child in Christian Legend

The New Testament Gospels provide us with precious little information about Jesus as a boy.  But what was he like?  What did he do?  Did he already have supernatural powers?  Was he mature enough to control them?  Later Christians told stories that still survive, both entertaining and instructive, intriguing accounts of Jesus the Wunderkind.

 

 Lecture Three.  The Missing Days: Where was Jesus Between His Death and Resurrection?

In the Gospels Jesus was crucified and buried on a Friday afternoon but was not raised from the dead until Sunday morning.  Where was he in the meantime?  Did he simply cease to exist?  Did he go down to Hades like everyone else?  If so, what was he doing there?  Later Christians described those fateful days in books that did not make it into the New Testament, but that were highly influential on Christian thinking for centuries.  Ever hear of the Harrowing of Hell?  You will in *this* lecture!

 

If you do want to take the plunge, below is a link that will give instructions about how to get access to the lectures.  In exchange, we are asking for a donation of $15.  Every bit of that money will go the overhead costs for the blog.  We have never taken any overhead out of the membership fees for those who join the blog — every nickel of that money goes to the charities we support.  For operating expenses we do separate separate fundraising events, and this is one of them. (BTW, in terms of overhead, I don’t get a penny of the overhead fees myself.)  (But if you want to mail me a number of small unmarked bills, that would be fine.)

Here is the link for access:  https://forms.gle/HmjkNKDbVuM2GoqH8    PLEASE NOTE:  You will need to make your donation before filling out the access form.  To do so is dead easy:  Go to the blog site and at the bottom of the landing page and you will find two donation options: PayPal or Stripe (the latter is for credit cards).

Easy schmeazy.   We’re obviously on the honors system here.  But since we are talking about the NT , you know what happens to those who cheat.  If you don’t, read Acts 5:1-11.  😉