<![CDATA[SHAWNGARAN.COM - Messages & Lectures]]>Sat, 07 Mar 2026 22:54:40 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Talk Gnosis Interview]]>Sun, 05 Oct 2025 22:34:59 GMThttp://www.shawngaran.com/messages--lectures/talk-gnosis-interviewA few years ago I was invited on Talk Gnosis,( ⬅️ subscribe by clicking the link) a podcast that explores the wisdom of the Gnostic tradition. In that interview I talked about what it looks like to bring some of those insights into the life of the church, not as something strange or threatening, but as something that can deepen the way we live our faith.

For me, Gnosticism has never been about secret codes or elitism. At its heart it is about inner awakening, about listening to the voice of the soul, and the Christ who calls that voice out of us. When Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), he is inviting us to discover the divine presence already alive in our lives. The Gnostic texts echo this same invitation.

What I shared on Talk Gnosis still rings true for me now: the Christian life is not only about believing but about becoming. It is about letting faith move from the surface down into the depths. When we bring together the tradition we’ve inherited and the mystical insights that have too often been pushed aside, we rediscover a faith that transforms us from the inside out.

That interview stays with me because it was a reminder that the early church was not one-dimensional. It was alive with different voices, all wrestling with what it meant to follow Christ. That same work is still before us today.
]]><![CDATA[Looking Back at the Figure of Mary Magdalene]]>Sun, 05 Oct 2025 22:28:00 GMThttp://www.shawngaran.com/messages--lectures/looking-back-at-the-figure-of-mary-magdalene
A while back Rev. Dr. Max Grant and I had the chance to interview Elizabeth Schrader, a scholar whose research is reshaping how we see Mary Magdalene in the gospels. Elizabeth has uncovered evidence that early manuscripts of John may have been altered to downplay Mary’s role. Instead of being a secondary figure, she stands at the center of the resurrection story as the first witness to Christ.

The way we tell her story shapes how we see the church and ourselves. If we let her voice rise again, we rediscover not only Mary Magdalene but also the Christ she proclaimed.
]]><![CDATA[Research Topic Lecture: The Philippson Bible and Freud’s Search for Meaning]]>Sat, 04 Oct 2025 21:43:13 GMThttp://www.shawngaran.com/messages--lectures/research-topic-lecture-the-philippson-bible-and-freuds-search-for-meaningIn this lecture, presented at the Blanton-Peale Psychoanalytic Institute, I explore the history and significance of the Philippson Bible, a 19th century edition created by Ludwig Philippson that combined Hebrew text, German translation, commentary, and more than a thousand illustrations. This monumental work was a bridge between Jewish tradition and European modernity, and it became the Bible owned by Freud’s family.

The lecture traces how this text shaped Freud’s earliest encounter with Scripture and influenced his complex relationship with religion, often leaving him wrestling with questions of faith, reason, and nihilism. From there, I consider how depth psychology invites us to move beyond the collapse of meaning and reengage with spirituality in ways that are both psychologically grounded and spiritually alive.

This lecture is part of my ongoing effort to integrate psychology, theology, and cultural history. Recordings of my lectures and teachings will be available here for reflection, study, and conversation.
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