Blurb:

This chapter discusses the origins and growth of a first-century Jewish movement focused on a preacher and miracle worker named Jesus and the increasingly bold claims made about his religious status after his death. As his followers began to argue for his messianic and later supernatural and even divine nature, the Jews who heard this message seem not to have been persuaded that the messianic age had dawned or that a man executed by Rome had any special role in salvation. Furthermore, as Gentiles increasingly joined this movement, the Jewish membership in the movement shrank and believers increasingly dropped observance of Jewish law, minimizing the appeal it may have had for Jews.