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The Resurrection

A Guided Reading

  

with Dr. Travis Proctor 

   

The Real Easter, Before the Eggs. Re-discover the earliest accounts of Jesus's resurrection, learning what we can know historically about the events that launched a world religion.

 

  • Dates: Thursdays, April 9th - May 28th (The First day: 16th)
  • Time: 1:30-2:30pm ET

 

The Messiah was dead, his disciples scattered to their hometowns. The religious movement of Jesus of Nazareth seemed destined to be a historical footnote. And then something strange happened.

Learn from an expert on early Christianity about the shocking claim made by Jesus's earliest followers: that, contrary to all expectations, he rose from the dead.

The resurrection has been credited as the moment that truly transformed Christianity, from a backwater messianic movement to the world religious force that it is today. But what really happened in those days after Jesus's death?

selected

  •  
    Featuring:
  • ✔ Four 60-Minute Sessions
  • ✔ Taped Live and Instantly Available
  • ✔ Community Discussion
  • ✔ Transcripts

In this guided reading brought to you by The Religion Department, you'll explore the earliest resurrection accounts in a relaxed, collaborative environment. You'll explore questions like:

  • Why did some followers of Jesus claim that Jesus had been "resurrected"? What did they discover or see?
  • What did the earliest Christians actually mean when they said “resurrection”—and is it what we think it is?
  • Who was the first disciple to see Jesus? Why were some disciples so doubtful about what they were seeing?
  • Where do we get the origins of the "empty tomb" tradition? Did Jesus's followers expect him to stay in the tomb?
  • Why do our earliest accounts have both similarities and differences when it comes to the resurrection? Who changed what?
  • What about books that got left out of the Bible? Do they have anything to say about the resurrection?

You will explore these questions through close and curiosity-friendly collaborative readings of our earliest sources for the first Easter, including Paul's letters, the canonical gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John), and "apocryphal" sources (such as the Gospel of Peter). You'll also have the chance to ask your own questions through discussion forums and other activities.

All readings will be provided from open access sources. Believers, skeptics, and everyone in between are welcome!

What You’ll Learn

Course Details

Experience Level

No prior background required

Learning Pace

Comfortable

Interaction

Attend live or participate in the comments

Your Textbook

Your Instructor

Dr. Andrew Henry

Dr. Travis W. Proctor

Travis W. Proctor is a scholar and public educator of the bible and early Christianity. He received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies (with honors) from UNC-Chapel Hill, where he studied under Bart D. Ehrman and specialized in early Christianity and ancient Mediterranean religions. He has also received training at Washington University in St. Louis and Oxford University. He is currently Associate Professor of Religion at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. Dr. Proctor's teaching and research draw from religious studies, classics, and environmental history. His first book, Demonic Bodies and the Dark Ecologies of Early Christian Culture (Oxford University Press), explored how early Christian understandings of the "bodies" of demons had major ramifications for early Christian cultures and environments. 

His work has appeared in academic journals such as the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Journal of Early Christian Studies, Harvard Theological Review, and the Journal of Ecclesiastical History, as well as public venues including Bible Odyssey, Religion for Breakfast, Religion Dispatches, The Bart Ehrman Blog, and the “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” podcast. He has received fellowships and prizes from the Society of Biblical Literature, North American Patristics Society, the Louisville Institute, and the National Humanities Center, among others, and has given invited public lectures at the University of Chicago, Ohio State University, and Duke University. To learn more about his work, request an interview, or schedule an appearance, visit www.traviswproctor.com.

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Textbook

Get Your Book Here

Your Instructor

Dr. Andrew Henry

Dr. Travis W. Proctor

Travis W. Proctor is a scholar and public educator of the bible and early Christianity. He received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies (with honors) from UNC-Chapel Hill, where he studied under Bart D. Ehrman and specialized in early Christianity and ancient Mediterranean religions. He has also received training at Washington University in St. Louis and Oxford University. He is currently Associate Professor of Religion at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. Dr. Proctor's teaching and research draw from religious studies, classics, and environmental history. His first book, Demonic Bodies and the Dark Ecologies of Early Christian Culture (Oxford University Press), explored how early Christian understandings of the "bodies" of demons had major ramifications for early Christian cultures and environments. 

His work has appeared in academic journals such as the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Journal of Early Christian Studies, Harvard Theological Review, and the Journal of Ecclesiastical History, as well as public venues including Bible Odyssey, Religion for Breakfast, Religion Dispatches, The Bart Ehrman Blog, and the “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” podcast. He has received fellowships and prizes from the Society of Biblical Literature, North American Patristics Society, the Louisville Institute, and the National Humanities Center, among others, and has given invited public lectures at the University of Chicago, Ohio State University, and Duke University. To learn more about his work, request an interview, or schedule an appearance, visit www.traviswproctor.com.

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