Jews and Christians in Greco-Roman Antiquity

Course Description:
This course will explore the complex dynamics of Jewish and Christian self-definition, experience, and interaction in the context of Hellenistic and then Roman imperial rule, focusing on the years 200 BCE to 200 CE.

Topics covered will include:

• The history and diversities of “second temple Judaism.”
• The impact of Greek political domination and cultural influence, beginning in 332 BCE.
• The story of Judea and Rome: from treaty alliances, to Roman conquest, to Jewish wars of national liberation, to the complete decimation of the Judean state.
• The survival and reconstitution of Judaism after the destruction of the Judean state.
• Greco-Roman antipathy toward the Judean people and nation.
• The story of the Jesus movement: how a renewal movement within Judaism quickly evolves into multiple streams of “Jesus groups,” and becomes dominated by non-Jewish adherents separated from and hostile to its Judaic origins.
• How Judaic Jesus groups disappear by the fifth century.
• How “orthodox Christianity” becomes the Roman imperial state religion, resulting in the suppression of other forms of “Christianities” and an increasing hostility to the dispersed Judean nation: the roots of European Christian antisemitism.

Dates and time:
Thurs Nov 7    1:30-3:30 pm                   Thomas Sill Multi-Purpose Room
Thurs Nov 14   1:30-3:30 pm                  Thomas Sill Multi-Purpose Room
Thurs Nov 21   1:30-3:30 pm                  Thomas Sill Multi-Purpose Room
Thurs Nov 28   1:30-3:30 pm                  Thomas Sill Multi-Purpose Room
Thurs Dec 5     1:30-3:30 pm                  Thomas Sill Multi-Purpose Room
Thurs Dec 12   1:30-3:30 pm                  Thomas Sill Multi-Purpose Room

Biography:
Dr. Gordon Zerbe concluded his teaching career at CMU in the spring of 2023, beginning as a sessional instructor in the fall of 1988, and then as a full-time professor starting in 1990. He served in a variety of capacities, including two terms in academic administration  (2004–2007; 2014–2017), and two terms as visiting professor at Silliman University Divinity School, Dumaguete City, Philippines (1996–1998; 2002–2004). His primary teaching area was in Biblical and Theological Studies, but he also taught courses in the areas of Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies, Cultural Anthropology, History, and World Religions. His current research interest is in migration and settler-indigenous dynamics in the world of the Bible.

Education
PhD New Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary 1991; MA Cultural Anthropology, Western Washington University 19ti7; MA Biblical Studies (New Testament), Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary 1979; BA Social Work, Tabor College 1976

If you are experiencing difficulty with the online registration process, please call (204) 988-7650 to register by phone.

To learn more about the University of Winnipeg’s 55+ program, please click here.

To view a University of Winnipeg campus map, parking map or accessibility map, please click here.

If you have any questions about this course, or would like to be added to a waitlist, please email b.doran@uwinnipeg.ca.