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In this episode we explore the history of Israelite religion under Hellenism and the Roman empire. We examine the ways in which Judeans responded to, absorbed, and resisted Hellenic culture resulting in messianic movements, the Sadducee sect, Pharisee sect, and Essene sect. We investigate the cosmopolitan culture of Judea under the Seleucid Empire and later the Roman Empire. We examine the changing relationship of various Israelite groups to the Temple and with their imperial overlords. We discuss the cultural milieu from which the Jesus movement emerges. Then we link the early followers of Christ to the broader debates and movements in Jerusalem. This leads us to examine the competing ideas of messianism in Judaism and the intervention of Paul. Finally we discuss the partition and separation of the Jesus movement and the Roman influence on conceptions of Late Antique religion. From this we see the use of heresy and orthodoxy in the division of Christianity from Rabbinic Judaism.
