REL 210(S) Wonder-Workers, Priests, Philosophers, and Heroes: Christian Origins in Context

What were the religious and cultural landscapes within which Christianity emerged? How did inhabitants of the ancient Mediterranean world speak about the concept and significance of the concept of religion? In the first half of this course, we shall address these question 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 the comparative framework developed in the first half of the course. Readings will include: Jonathan Z. Smith, Drudgery Divine; Greg Riley,One Jesus, Many Christs; Morton Smith, Jesus the Magician; Daniel Boyarin, A Radical Jew; Stanley Stowers, Rereading Romans; Aline Rousselle, Porneia; Michel Foucault, The Care of the Self; as well as primary sources from Mediterranean antiquity.
Format: lecture, discussions, workshops. Requirements: weekly writing assignments (1-2 pages); one (4-6 page) exegesis paper; one class presentation; one historical research paper (15 pages). No prerequisites.

Hour: BUELL