What Was the Jesus Movement Like Before Paul?

Have you ever wondered what the Jesus movement was like before the apostle Paul emerged with what he himself calls “my gospel”?

I am pleased to announce that my new online course, “Christianity Before Paul,” has now been released and is available. The course is entirely online, self-paced, and once enrolled you own all videos and materials for life. There are no class meetings. However, I have added monthly Zoom meetings as a bonus that you can attend live, or watch the recordings if you can’t make the live sessions, in which we dig deeper into the subject and explore additional materials together,

Here is the link to check it out: https://mvp-courses.com/tabor-before-paul

I have previously offered three courses—on the Gospel of Mark, Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Historical Paul—but this new course goes well beyond them. It consists of ten core recorded lectures, followed by six additional topics explored in live Zoom sessions with discussion and Q&A. These sessions are recorded and added permanently to the course materials.

In addition, there is a 300-page course pack with study materials tied to each topic, along with dozens of bonus resources, including books, PDF articles, and videos.

What do I mean by the title Christianity Before Paul? Let me explain briefly.

Several titles might work, and none are fully adequate, but my aim is to trace the essential ideas preserved in the surviving sources that scholars often label “Jewish” or “Judaeo-Christian.” We will focus on the faith and message of John the Baptizer, Jesus, and James the Just, the brother of Jesus, along with the Twelve.

Even the term “Jewish Christianity” can be misleading. I appreciate Paula Fredriksen’s phrase “when Christians were Jews,” though calling them “Christians” at all risks anachronism—and I fully recognize that. Today the word “Christian” evokes a later religion that developed centuries after Jesus of Nazareth, far removed from his time, culture, and the forms of late Second Temple apocalyptic Judaism we can recover.

As the Church Fathers formulated what became orthodox doctrine in the second through fourth centuries—culminating in the Nicene Creed under Emperor Constantine—the original beliefs of Jesus’ earliest Jewish followers were not only set aside but eventually declared heretical. Paul belongs to that long historical trajectory and is a vital part of the story, but he is not solely responsible for the dramatic shift away from what those first followers believed and practiced.

So what does “before Paul” mean? Not simply “other than Paul,” nor merely “in contrast to Paul.” Rather, my aim is to highlight what the New Testament letter attributed to Jesus’ brother Jude calls “the faith once delivered to the saints.” This original faith did not disappear once Paul arrived on the scene. It continued—sometimes dynamically and sometimes in tension—alongside the increasingly dominant Pauline stream that eventually shaped Nicene Christianity as we know it.

The ten core lectures work to extract, as carefully as possible from our sources–New Testament, other texts, and archaeology–the earliest message of John the Baptizer and Jesus—a message echoed by the Twelve and led by James until his death in 62 CE. Afterward, members of Jesus’ extended family and related groups, often known as Nazarenes or Ebionites, carried these traditions forward. The relevant materials are scattered, but in this course we bring them together into a coherent whole.

Beginning in December, we will also explore six supplemental topics in two-hour monthly Zoom sessions: Theophilus of Antioch; Jewish Christian archaeology; women and early Jewish Christianity (“a band of sisters”); Ebionites beyond the Jordan; Gnostic texts; and Marcion’s Gospel. All are included as part of the course. Students also have direct access to me via email and in the live sessions.

Over my 45-year academic career, I taught at the University of Notre Dame, the College of William & Mary, and UNC Charlotte. It is a pleasure now to continue sharing this work in a more direct and sustained way.

You can view the full course description and enroll here:

https://mvp-courses.com/tabor-before-paul/

Our first Zoom meeting will be held on Sunday, December 28, at noon EST. The early-bird price of $49.95 is available through December 31. An Afterpay option is also available at checkout if you prefer to split the payment with no interest.

I look forward to walking these “ancient paths” with you, and seeing many of you live on December 28th.

Best regard,

James

P.S.You do not have to have completed the course by our first meeting at the end of December, you own it for life and can work at your own pace based on your schedule!