Meggan Watterson - Silenced Voices, Lost Christianities (N363)

About this episode

Tim interviews Meggan Watterson about early Christian texts and the implications of women's voices in Christianity.

In this episode, Tim speaks with feminist theologian and author Meggan Watterson about the Gospel of Mary and the Acts of Paul and Thecla — early Christian texts that didn’t make it into the New Testament. They explore what these stories reveal about the diversity of early Christianities, the formation of the biblical canon, and the ways women’s voices were preserved, reshaped, or silenced. What does it mean that some communities treasured these texts enough to pass them on — and how might Christianity have looked if Mary and Thecla had been read alongside Paul and Peter? The conversation moves from history into questions of authority, embodiment, and discernment. Meggan reflects on what drew her to these texts and what she means by “inner authority,” while Tim probes the tension between personal revelation and communal accountability. Together they ask what kind of faith might emerge if we loosen our grip on a single master story without losing our grounding. Following the interview, Nomad hosts Tim and Joy reflect on growing up with a narrow vision of “the early church,” the uneasy relationship between canon and power, and what it means to reclaim inner authority without losing…

People in this episode

Hosts: Tim, Joy

Guest: Meggan Watterson

Topics covered

• feminist theology
• early Christian texts
• diversity of early Christianities
• biblical canon
• women's voices
• inner authority
• faith and community

Keywords

• Gospel of Mary
• Acts of Paul and Thecla
• feminist theology
• biblical canon
• inner authority
• early church
• Christianity

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Gospel of Mary, Acts of Paul and Thecla

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