Shadow of the Galilean by Gerd Theissen

Some things you should paying attention to as you read

Reference to historical characters:

• Pontius Pilate
• Herod the Great (who had died earlier)
• Barabbas (his role in story is fictionally expanded)
• Herod Antipas
• Essenes (ch. 5)
• John the Baptist
• Jesus of Nazareth
• Zealots

Geographical references:

• Jerusalem
• Galilee
• Sepphoris
• Tiberias
• The "wilderness"
• Dead Sea
• Nazareth

Issues:

• What is the relationship between Jews and Romans?
• What tensions exist within Judaism?
• How hellenized can a Jew become and still remain a faithful Jew? (e.g., with regard to: statues, coins, trade, etc.)
• How do people deal with the tension between the God of Israel and the gods of the Hellenistic world?
• Could a person be an adherent of both Judaism and Greco-Roman philosophy?
• What is the relationship between religion and politics?
• What are ways that Jesus' miracles are told, remembered, and recounted?
• Who killed Jesus and why?