Hello. My name is Josh Lail. I am a senior at Mars Hill College with an expected graduation date of May 2007. I am a huge history buff which fits well with my major of Religion. Hopefully studying the early relationship between Christianity and Judaism will further my historical knowledge about the time period as well as further my religious knowledge. I often find myself being wrapped up in at least one course per semester. All early indications are that this may be that course.
Questions I am Interested in:
- What role did Judaizing play in the early church, what problems did it cause, and what are the non-canonical sources for this practice?
- When did the Christian influence spread to Alexandria, and who were the people responsible for taking the Christian message there?
- How did the Jews and Christians get along in Alexandria when Christianity spread there?
- What role did ritual cleansing (the precursor to Christian baptism) play in Rabbinic Judaism?
- How widely known, and accepted, were the Jewish scriptures in early Christian communities where a substantial Jewish population had not existed before?
- We know from the Legatio Ad Gaium what Jews in Alexandria thought about Caligula's decision to rerct a statue of himself in Jerusalem, what about the Jews in Palestine?
- How do we discuss Jesus and define him in the context of this course?
