San Antonio College Library

Offers a lively and provocative account of what we can learn about Jesus by reading the letters of Paul, providing fresh new insights into both Jesus and Paul. The author painstakingly recreates the world of Christ, a time rich with ideas, prophets, factions, priests, savants and god-drunk fanatics. He insistently stresses throughout the Jewishness of Jesus (e.g., referring to Jesus and Paul as Yeshua and Saul, as they were then known). Equally important,...

The first half of the book draws on a variety of historical sources to portray the complexity of slavery in the early Roman empire. The second half of the book traces the Greco-Roman use of political rhetoric that spoke about populist leaders as 'enslaved' to their followers, especially to members of the lower class.