{"product_id":"2940046582017","title":"The Great Betrayal: Christians and Jews in the First Four Centuries","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis book is an examination of the transformation of Christianity from a Jewish sect in the first century AD into the official religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth century. It attempts to show (1) that Jesus was born a Jew and died one; (2) that Judaism in the first century was not a rigid, legalistic faith; (3) that Jesus had no reason to repudiate it; (4) that he was killed by the Romans (with the help of the Jewish aristocracy); (5) that he appealed to the Jewish masses in the same way and for the same reasons that other messianic figures did in the first century; (6) that his disciples were also Jews who continued to worship in the Temple and make sacrifices there; (7) that the Jews cannot be said to have rejected Jesus, since they were his only supporters for many years after the Crucifixion; (8) that the Jews had little reason to persecute the early Christians since the latter remained observant Jews; (9) that the New Testament was written, in part, to minimize Jesus’ tie to Judaism; (10) that it is was also written partly to exonerate the Romans and to present Christianity as non-threatening to the Roman Empire; (11) that Christianity underwent a radical transformation under the influence of Hellenism after the first century AD; and (12) that Christians began to believe that their faith had superseded Judaism, which had now become irrelevant and expendable.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sheldon W. Liebman","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072540885232,"sku":"2940046582017","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940046582017_p0.jpg?v=1763695350","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940046582017","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}