My guest this week is Dr. Marvin Meyer, one of the top international researchers, authors, and speakers on the gnostic gospels. This is my late annual Christmas Show.
Dr. Meyer (Ph.D., Claremont Graduate University; M.Div., Calvin Theological Seminary) is Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies and Co-Chair of the Department of Religious Studies, Chapman University. He is also Director of the Chapman University Albert Schweitzer Institute. Recently he has served as Chair of the Chapman University Faculty and President of the Faculty Senate. He is Director of the Coptic Magical Texts Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont Graduate University, Fellow of the Jesus Seminar, and a past President of the Society of Biblical Literature (Pacific Coast).
Dr. Meyer is the author of numerous books and articles on Greco-Roman and Christian religions in antiquity and late antiquity, and on Albert Schweitzer's ethic of reverence for life. Among his most recent books are The Gnostic Gospels of Jesus (HarperCollins, 2005), The Gospels of Mary (HarperCollins, 2004), Secret Gospels: Essays on Thomas and the Secret Gospel of Mark (Trinity Press International, 2003), The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook of Sacred Texts (Pennsylvania, 1999), The Unknown Sayings of Jesus (HarperCollins, 1998), The Magical Book of Mary and the Angels (P. Heid. Inv. Kopt. 685): Text, Translation, and Commentary (Heidelberg, 1996), and The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus (HarperCollins, 1992). He has also edited or co-edited The Gnostic Bible (Shambhala, 2003), Reverence for Life: Albert Schweitzer for the 21st Century (Syracuse, 2002), Magic and Ritual in the Ancient World (Brill, 2002), Jesus Then and Now: Images of Jesus in History and Christology (Trinity Press International, 2001), From Quest to Q (Peeters, 2000), and Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power (Princeton, 1999).
His books and articles have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Japanese, and the Gospel of Thomas, of which his is the standard edition, has been listed as one of the 100 best spiritual books of the 20th century. He has been interviewed on television programs that have aired on ABC, BBC, CNN, A&E, the History Channel, and Odyssey, and on radio programs that include BBC Radio, National Public Radio, and the Voice of America. He lives with his wife, children, and dog in Orange, California.
Dr. Meyer teaches courses on religion and values, the New Testament and early Christianity, Greco-Roman and Egyptian religion and culture, the life and thought of Albert Schweitzer, and peace studies. He also provides instruction in ancient Greek language and, upon occasion, Coptic Egyptian. He regularly organizes bargain-basement educational trips, for those who eschew luxury and pursue adventure, to such countries as Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. Ask a survivor of one of these trips about hiking up and sleeping on the rock of Mount Sinai, or swimming in the caldera of Santorini, or snorkeling among tropical fish in the Red Sea.

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BIO BELOW FROM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Meyer

Marvin W. Meyer (April 16, 1948 – August 16, 2012) was a scholar of religion and a tenured professor at Chapman University, in Orange, California.

He was the Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies at Chapman University and Director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute. He was also Director of the Coptic Magical Texts Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity. Dr. Meyer authored numerous books and articles on Greco-Roman and Christian religions in antiquity and late antiquity, and on Albert Schweitzer's ethic of reverence for life. He had been interviewed on television programs that aired on ABC, BBC, CNN, PBS, A&E, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and the National Geographic Channel.

Professor Meyer was best known for his translations of the texts of documents associated with the ancient mystery religions, early Christian magic, and Gnostic texts, of which the most notable have been the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Judas, the former of which is included among the Nag Hammadi library. Meyer edited a collection of English translations of the Nag Hammadi texts for the HarperOne imprint, the most recently revised edition of which has been released as the Nag Hammadi Scriptures in 2007, including help from James M. Robinson who has edited an earlier publication of the library.[1] He was regarded as an authority on Gnosticism[2] and had worked on many books on the subject.[3]

Meyer died of melanoma on August 16, 2012.[4]

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BIO BELOW FROM: http://www.chapman.edu/wilkinson/religious-studies/marvin-meyer.aspx

Dr. Marvin Meyer (Ph.D., Claremont Graduate University) was the Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies at Chapman University and Director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute. In addition to his work for Chapman, he was the Director of the Coptic Magical Texts Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity. Dr. Meyer authored numerous books and articles on Greco-Roman and Christian religions in antiquity and late antiquity, and on Albert Schweitzer's ethic of reverence for life. He was interviewed frequently on television programs that have aired on ABC, BBC, CNN, PBS, A&E, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and the National Geographic Channel.

Jon Ahrendsen, MD, received his undergraduate and medical degree from the University of Iowa in 1978 and 1982.  He completed his residency at Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines.  Dr. Ahrendsen has been with WMC since 1985. He was the family practice representative for the Iowa Lactation Task Force from 1995-1999. He is a Medical Associate of La Leche League International, a Senior Aviation Medical Examiner, a DAN (Defeat Autism Now) physician, the Medical Director of Wright County Hospice and the Wright County Medical Examiner.  In 2000, Dr. Ahrendsen took a ten month working sabbatical at the Ceduna-Konniba Aboriginal Health Clinic in South Austtralia.   He also went to  La Paz Mexico and took an 8-week Medical Immersion "Spanish Course" to help him with the language barrier of our Hispanic patients.  He is board certified with the American Board of Family Practice, is an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor with the University of Iowa and helps to train third year medical students.

Dr. Ahrendsen has a wife, Becky, and 3 children and lives in Clarion. He has a special fondness for bison and actually owns some. His professional interests include the evaluation and treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).  He is on the board of directors of the Clarion-Goldfield Sports Boosters and the president of First Lutheran Church

Swami Kriyananda is one of the world's foremost experts on meditation, yoga, and spiritual practice. He has authored more than 140 books and composed over 400 pieces of music. Kriyananda is a member of the Club of Budapest, where he serves along with the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mikhail Gorbachev, Elie Wiesel, Jane Goodall, Peter Gabriel, and other leaders of the planetary evolution of consciousness.

A prolific and internationally regarded author, speaker, accomplished composer, playwright, artist, and world-renowned spiritual teacher, Swami Kriyananda refers to himself simply as "a humble disciple" of the great spiritual leader Paramhansa Yogananda.

Our audience will have a rare and unique opportunity to bask in the wisdom of a revered spiritual leader seldom accessible to the public. Swami Kriyananda is the last still-teaching direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda--world famous spiritual leader and author of Autobiography of a Yogi.

Swami Kriyananda will expound on the teachings of Yogananda.

"There are times when a human being, though perhaps not remarkable in himself, encounters some extraordinary person or event that infuses his life with great meaning, " recalls Kriyananda. "My own life was blessed with such an encounter in 1948. I met a great, God-known master whose constant vision was of eternity. His name was Paramhansa Yogananda. He was from India, though it would be truer to say that his home was the whole world."

For the last four years of Yogananda's life, the young disciple absorbed his guru's teachings and wisdom, and committed his life to furthering the Master's vision and message. Yogananda appointed him as head of the monastery, authorized him to teach in his name and to give initiation into Kriya Yoga, and entrusted him with the tasks of writing and developing what he called "world brotherhood colonies."

And for the last 60 years, Kriyananda has done just that.

Kriyananda's books and audios have sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 28 languages. He is the author of more than 140 books on a variety of topics, including leadership, education, creativity, and moral values. His bestselling titles include Awaken to Superconsciousness, God is for Everyone, Conversations with Yogananda, Meditation for Starters, The Art of Supportive Leadership, The New Path " My Life with Paramhansa Yogananda, Money Magnetism, The Essence of Self-Realization, Affirmations for Self-Healing, Education for Life, and his bestselling Secrets gift books. He has written extensive commentaries on the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita.

Dr. Stoyan Sarg - Sargoytchev is a Bulgarian born Canadian. He holds engineering diploma and PhD in Physics in the field of space research. From 1976 to 1990 he was involved in space projects sponsored by the program Intercosmos coordinated by the former Soviet Union. He participated also a collaborative project with the European Space Agency. For his pioneering work he was rewarded with medals from Intercosmos, Russia and Bulgaria. In 1990 he was invited as a visiting scientist by Cornel University and worked in Arecibo Observatory, P.R. on a Lidar project funded by the NSF (USA). This was the place where the first SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program was operated before 1985 using the world largest radio telescope - radar. In 1991 he immigrated to Canada, where he worked on projects coordinated by the Canadian Space Agency. Since 2002 he is with the York University, Toronto, Canada. He has over 50 publications in peer review journals and a few patents related to space research.

During his 30-year work in space research Dr. Sarg was aware about some aerial phenomena that are unsolved mysteries for contemporary physics. After extensive study the history of physics and reviewing thousand of articles in different fields of physics he realized that there is a problem in the current understanding of space. Working extensively on this issue he arrived to a challenging new idea about the space-time, matter and gravitation. For a few years of intensive but morally awarded work he was able to develop and publish in 2001 his treatise "Basic Structures of Matter - Supergravitation Unified Theory" (BSM-SG). Dr. Sarg wrote three books in English and one in Bulgarian language. A book review of his theoretical monograph was published in Physics in Canada journal, v. 62, No. 4, p. 206-207, (2006). His work provided for a first time the missing physical relation between the EM field and gravity. This permitted him to analyze the enigmatic UFO phenomenon from a new physical point of view. One of the major predictions of the BSM-SG theory is the possibility to change the gravitational and inertial mass of a specifically design spacecraft. Being also experimentalist Dr. Sarg discovered an unique gravito-inertial effect by a laboratory experiments. This discovery, understandable only from the BSM-SG point of view, was reported at the Annual meetings of the Society for Scientific Explorations in 2007 and 2008 in Boulder, Colorado and also at the Annual meeting of the Natural Philosophy Alliance, 2010, Long Beach, California. His recent book is titled "Field Propulsion by Control of Gravity - Theory and Experiments" (Amazon.com). The described propulsion mechanism is completely different from the jet propulsion. It is invoked by EM activated plasma and does not need combustion or jet. The publications and experiments of Dr. Sarg are widely discussed in Internet. He believes that his discovery will contribute to the further advances in interplanetary and deep space travels.

Edward R. Close, PhD, PE, is a recognized expert in environmental science, has served as environmental advisor to more than fifteen Fortune 500 companies, and has more than forty years experience in the environmental field. He is the author of numerous technical papers and five nonfiction books, including Nature's MoldRx - The Non-Toxic Solution to Toxic Mold (2007), as well as the DVD: Toxic Mold ? A Breakthrough Discovery.

Dr. Close holds degrees in math, physics and environmental science and engineering. He studied physics, math, philosophy, and creative writing at Central Methodist College, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in Math and Physics in 1963. He spent one year in the graduate physics program at the University of Missouri at Rolla and one year in the environmental engineering PhD program at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Additional studies were completed at UCLA, UC Davis, Case Western Reserve and elsewhere. He completed his thesis and received his PhD in environmental science and engineering in 1988.

Dr. Close has more than forty years? experience in environmental planning and management, engineering, hydrology, hydrogeology, and industrial-waste management with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 1965-1978, and private consulting firms, 1978-1995. While working as a research hydrologist in the Water Resources Division of the USGS, he was chosen from hundreds of employees, nationwide, to become one of the seven scientists selected to form the first Department of Interior, Systems Analysis Mathematical Modeling Group, where he worked with internationally known environmental mathematicians, including Dr. Nickolas Matalas, Dr. John Bredehoft, and Dr. Benoit Mandelbrot.

In 1995, Dr. Close opened Close Environmental Consultants in Southeast Missouri. He continues to serve clients that range from Fortune 500 companies, mid-size and small local businesses to individual property owners as principal consultant with EJC Enterprises. He has worked in eleven U.S. States, on the island of Puerto Rico, and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Close is a member of numerous professional societies, including the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA), the National Society of Professional Engineers, the American Water Resources Association, the National Water Well Association, the American Institute of Hydrology, the Cape Area Engineers, MENSA, and the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (ISPE). He currently serves as Science Editor for ?Telecom,? an ISPE quarterly periodical, is a Registered Professional Engineer (PE) in the State of Missouri, a Registered Environmental Site Assessor, a Registered Well Installer, and a Registered Professional Hydrologist.

Dr. Close has on-going interests in language, linguistics, symbolic logic, and consciousness studies. One of his books, Transcendental Physics (1997), explores the interface of modern physics and consciousness and has been cited in numerous publications including Dr. David Stewart's book The Chemistry of Essential Oils Made Simple.

Growing up on small farms in the Missouri Ozarks, Dr. Close acquired a deep respect and appreciation of nature. He is an avid outdoorsman, enjoying hiking, exploring, and horseback riding. Another of his published books, Big Creek ? History, Folklore and Trail Guide (2003), recounts his adventures exploring caves, farm sites, and Native American villages in south-central Missouri. While working with the USGS in Puerto Rico, he served as the expedition hydrologist with a group of ten scientists on the second-ever float trip down the Rio Tanama. The expedition went underground, floating through caves five times, while observing rare species of orchids, unusual geologic formations, and giant freshwater shrimp.

Stefan Wils, a Shu'em Healer and Shaman will be on the show Saturday as part of the Spirituality, Healing and Faith series. Stefan has given many thousands of healings starting in 1986 where Shuem Shamanic Healing offered courses, meditation, and healing live online. It started as a small healing practice and soon became a training center for those who like to use Shuem Shamanism as a way to spirituality, healing and transformation.

In 1998, Stefan founded the School of Transformative Shamanism where people learn to use shamanism as an instrument to find more peaceful and and balanced state of life. Shuem Shamanism can change one's perspective on life radically and in a relatively short time many people experience a more relaxed state that makes it easier to deal with life circumstances.

Stefan is an animated speaker/teacher who is able to let his students and clients share in widening states of consciousness in order to experience harmony and well-being in daily life and this is available to everyone through the internet.

Author and composer, Keith Blanchard, was born on November 30, 1963, in Houma, Louisiana, and had a typical middle class Catholic upbringing. In his early teens, he often entertained himself by pondering the big questions about God and the universe. Little did he know that the day would come when those questions would form the spiritual foundation upon which he would build the rest of his life.

In his late twenties, Keith went through a crisis that stripped him of everything he held dear and left him with no choice but to turn inward for answers. This he did, but the peace and stability he so wanted still eluded him.

When he was thirty-two, celestial beings began to appear to him, sharing glimpses of his future and the world's. Not only did they enlighten and guide him, they instructed him to pass their message on to others so that they, too, could learn a higher way of living.

Now in his forties and living a peaceful, stable life as a father, professional musician, and spiritual seeker, Keith continues to pursue his passion to both learn and teach about Truth.

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Keith Blanchard, Musician, Composer, Live/Studio Sound Engineer, Bass Player, Guitar Player, Singer, Spiritual Teacher, Psychic, Channeler, Speaker, Healer of Vibrational Medicine (Radionics), Father, and Author of the Best selling book: The Divine Principle Anchoring Heaven On Earth.

Grammy nominated pianist David Lanz has enthralled music lovers around the world for decades with his engaging playing style and original compositions.

Lanz, who was nominated for a Grammy in 2000, is well known as a top instrumental recording and concert artist, reaching worldwide prominence with his number one Billboard hit, Cristofori's Dream.

His unique impressionistic style is emulated by countless pianists, and his compositions and arrangements performed and studied around the world.

On his latest CD Liverpool - Re-imagining the Beatles, this legendary platinum selling recording artist now turns the musical spotlight on his two greatest songwriting role models, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Not content to just record a collection of Beatle covers, Lanz poured his heart and soul into these arrangements, re-imagined through his own highly defined musical voice. The results are more a collaboration, than just mere tribute. David is joined here with several featured musical guests and collaborators including, world flutist Gary Stroutsos, cellist Walter Gray, and the late legendary session musician, Larry Knechtel, in one of his last recorded performances.

Listen, as they come together to rediscover and re-imagine the Beatles.