Offered :

2022 Term 2

Date & Time:

This course begins on Wednesday 27 April 2022, 7:00-9:00 pm, and meets for 5 consecutive weeks. The last session meets on Wed 25 May.

Description :

Typically one tends to get an understanding of Jesus as presented from the standpoint of the Christian Religious tradition. Within this particular framework, he is understood as the founder of Christianity. What, then, will happen when he is approached by an expert in Jewish history rather than Christian history? This course contextualises Jesus within the historical, cultural, religious and political framework of the late Second Temple Period from the standpoint of Jewish history. Thus we are attempting to understand an historical figure within a particular historical context using a historical, rather than a theological, methodology. We will re-immerse Jesus into this cultural, religious, and political environment—the environment in which he lived and died, and which, naturally, shaped his own religiosity and worldview.

Meet our Instructor

History Instructor Dr Dennis Green, PhD

Dennis holds a PhD from the University of Waikato, and is a graduate of the Oxford Center for Postgraduate Hebrew and Jewish Studies. He lectured for 16 years for the University of Waikato’s Religious Studies Department. He has special interests in the Archaeology and Anthropology of the southern Levant, Iron Age Israelite history and the Second Temple Period of Jewish history. Apart from ongoing research, he is employed doing archaeological excavations in the greater Waikato area.

Location:

All in-person classes are held at the EarthDiverse offices and classrooms located at 401 Anglesea Street, Hamilton Central, Hamilton (located just north of the Hamilton Central Bus Station) (entrance is located on the side of the building, see map below). Those looking for parking for our evening classes can park just in front of the building in any of the available car parks. Daytime parking can be found in our dedicated car parks, or free 2-hour on-street daytime parking can be found just in front on Anglesea Street.



Distance-Learning :

This course has distance-learning options for those unable to attend the live class sessions in Hamilton. Students have three options for attending our courses once they have registered: attend in-person classes in our Hamilton classrooms at the regularly scheduled day and time, attend our live on-line classroom sessions via Zoom at the regular scheduled day and time, watch the live-recorded class sessions at your leisure, at a time, day and place more suited to your schedule. These options can be mixed and matched throughout the course to suit your own availability and location.

Distance-Learning Options:

In addition to our in-person classes in Hamilton, our courses offer distance learning options for those unable to attend classes in-person. Live-streamed Hamilton classes are available via free Zoom software for those living outside the Waikato. Live-streaming allows you to participate fully in your own learning, ask questions of the instructor and participate fully in the same way as if you were in the physical classroom. Those unable to attend the scheduled date and time of the actual class sessions, or those who need to miss a class or two due to previous engagements or unexpected illness, can watch any or all of the live-recorded video sessions on their computers, laptops, tablets or mobile devices and study at their own pace and in their own time. Detailed instructions on how to access our distance learning components will be sent after completing your registration. There are no additional fees for this service. However, distance learners will need access to a desktop or laptop computer with a good quality web-camera (tablet devices and mobile phones can also access our live-streamed classes), a built-in microphone (most modern laptops have built-in microphones) or a headset with a microphone. You will also need to download and install the free Zoom software on your computer or device. Those accessing the video recordings will be able to do so with a simple web browser on any device.

Pricing options

Course curriculum

    1. The “Historical Jesus”: What do we actually know?:

    1. A brief introduction to the late Second Temple Period:

    1. Bursting the bounds of conventional thought:

    1. Week 4: His great act of originality:

    1. This pharisaical, hypocritical tendency in us all:

About this course

  • $100.00
  • 5 lessons
  • 0 hours of video content

Notes:

Detailed Syllabi are available at the start of each Term. Any Term can be taken independently of the others, and there are no prerequisites for any of the Term courses. This class has no assignments, required readings, quizzes, tests or exams. All classes encourage questions and group discussion. PDF copies of each class presentation are emailed to all participants the next day so that you are free to focus on class content rather than taking notes. You are most welcome to come, sit back, relax, take part in and enjoy the discussions! Course fees include a short tea/coffee/snack break in the middle of each session. There are no refunds for missed classes. Guests of registered participants are welcome to attend a single class at no charge. Certificates of Completion for any particular Term Course or Series are available for Professional Development purposes upon request at the end of each Term or Series.

Prerequisites :

There are no prerequisites for this course.