There are episodes in history that never quite end. One occurred around the Mediterranean in the middle of the first century CE, when the first followers of Jesus emerged from Judea with a powerful story about their charismatic teacher, his execution by Roman authorities in Jerusalem, and his resurrection.
Members of this small group of Jews believed they held the key to understanding God’s plan and that they must spread the news fast because time itself was about to end. Their ideas and furious arguments, conducted in person and in letters that crisscrossed the Roman world, continue to shape our own.
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