What were the religious and cultural landscapes in which Christianity emerged? How did inhabitants of the ancient Mediterranean world speak about the concept and significance of religion? How have scholars of early Christianity answered these questions? What are the implications of their various readings of early Christian history? In the first half of this course, we shall address these questions by examining the formation of Christianity from its origins as a Jewish movement until its legalization, using a comparative socio-historical approach. In the second half of the course, we shall examine the earliest literature produced by the Jesus movement and consider it within a comparative framework developed in the first half of the course. Format: lecture/discussions. Requirements: one class presentation; three 3-page papers, one 5- to 7-page paper, and a final paper (15 pages). No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 10). Preference given to sophomores but is open to all classes.