I wanted to call attention to a new Blog recently inaugurated by Dr. April DeConick, who holds a named chair in Biblical Studies at Rice University. I have shared a few seminars and programs with Dr. DeConick over the past few years and we share a passion for Christian Origins and with many common ideas and approaches. Dr. DeConick calls her new effort The Forbidden Gospel Blog.

Dr. DeConick’s early posts are a a fascinating and instant draw. She has some very important new insights into the Gospel of Judas that appear to overturn what the public was told last April in the publicity barrage that accompanied its release. Her remarks titled “Beyond the New Testament,” are a summary of the paper she delivered at the Scripture and Skepticism Conference last week at UC Davis that drew a standing and sustained ovation.

I particularly look foward Dr. DeConick’s discussion of the Gospel of Thomas. This is her specialty and her thesis, that Thomas, at its core, can be traced back to the Jerusalem community of James the Just, is a vital contribution to our attempts to recover the historical “brother of Jesus” and explore this non-Pauline strand of the early Jesus movement.

I offer Dr. DeConick my warmest best wishes and sincere thanks for taking the time to share with us all her knowledge and insights. Be sure and visit her Blog regularly. You will not be disappointed.

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