RELI 183 - Jesus and Christian Origins

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

There may be no other figure in Western history who has consumed the minds, hearts and imaginations of so many as Jesus - fascinating believers and unbelievers alike. Can history tell us what Jesus was actually like? Was he an itinerant, charismatic teacher, a healer and miracle-worker, a social revolutionary - or all of these? This course examines the texts, conflicts, social movements, and theologies that shaped early Christianity during its formative period. How did the ecstatic mysticism of a small, obscure minority group become the official religion of the Roman Empire? How did this “success” affect the way Christianity developed afterward, and its attitude toward heresy, authority, and difference? Ms. LiDonnici.