Daniel Falk is a Professor of Classics and Chair of Jewish Studies at Penn State University specializing in prayer and biblical interpretation in early Judaism. His academic work on 'Rewritten Bible' texts in the Dead Sea Scrolls contributes to peer-reviewed scholarship on Jewish textual traditions.

Elaine Pagels is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion Emeritus at Princeton University, specializing in early Christianity and Gnosticism through direct study of Nag Hammadi manuscripts. Her foundational scholarship on Gnostic texts and early Christian debates carries the full authority of a major research university and has become standard reference material in the field.