Why did Jesus happen when he happened? Why the confluence of the Baptism movement of John and the Kingdom movement of Jesus? Why the tiny villages around the Lake? Why the confrontations in Jerusalem? Why then? Why there?

Why were the titles of Caesar Augustus — Divine, Son of God, God from God, Lord, Redeemer, Liberator, and Savior of the World — taken from a Roman emperor on the Palatine hill and given to a Jewish peasant on the Palestine plain? Was it low lampoon or high treason? Either way, the Romans were not laughing.

What were the priorities of Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom? How was the status quo of Roman imperial theology subverted by this obscure Galilean whose message continues to indict empire today?

First Light is a 12-session DVD and web-based study of the historical Jesus and the Kingdom of God with two of the world’s leading Jesus scholars on location throughout the Galilee and Jerusalem.

Participant Reader written by John Dominic Crossan: “It is all I have to say about Jesus after half a century of study–in succinct summary.”

Purchase of First Light includes a one-year license to use the downloadable participant and leader guides. At the end of the first year, the license to use the written materials can be renewed annually for $50.00. Please see policy page for additional information.