Jesus from the 1st to the 21st Century

Historical analysis of the many ways in which Jesus has been imagined since the first century. How the religious image of Jesus has been put to use in the intersecting arenas of politics, gender relations, race/ethnicity, and economics. Antiquity with examination of the earliest depictions of Jesus, both theological and artistic. Depictions of Jesus in the writings of early Church Fathers and later portrayals of Jesus in the Middle Ages and Crusades. Perceptions of Jesus from the 18th to 21st centuries: Jesus as the defender of slave holders and as liberator of slaves, Jesus as feminist and Jesus as patriarch, Jesus as bastion of conservative politics, and Jesus as radical revolutionary. Formerly REL 164.