Two weeks before the official course start date. My change of geographical location has been recorded and a Bristol based tutor assigned. Online resources, as well as online tutorials, are a new feature that will make study more convenient. Keen to make good use of time and impatient to get going, I have already started studying the first block.
Controversial Figures, the first of the four course books, begins with an exploration of 'Jesus in history: scholarly interpretation and controversy'. The introduction to the chapter is shaped by a range of images that suggest the ways in which Jesus has been represented visually across the centuries. Familiar territory given the theme of my previous sabbatical and good to pick up that thread again.
The last part of the chapter involves a scholarly article that asks the question 'if Jesus was thought to be so dangerous that he had to be executed, why did the Roman authorities not hunt down and eliminate his followers too?' Is it possible, as the author argues, that Jesus was regarded not as a threat to Empire but rather as a madman?
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