Longer essays (knowledge, understanding, and thinking question) for 3rd Test (40 points on the test)

The broad topic for this question is: The Relationship(s) of Second Temple Judaism and Early Christianity.

Part 1: Briefly explain what is meant by the terms "Second Temple Judaism" and "1st century Messianic Judaism" (alternatively, "the Jesus Community"). Briefly explain how "the Jesus Community" at its earliest stages (during the lifetime of Jesus) related to Second Temple Judaism. (Hints: Historically and theologically, what did Jesus and the first generation of his disciples have in common with Second Temple Judaism? Around what issues might they have diverged from Second Temple Judaism?)

Part 2: Briefly explain the development of early Christianity relative to Second Temple Judaism. That is, in the years following the death of Jesus (roughly the last 60 years of the first century), in what ways did the ongoing communities of followers of Jesus relate to Second Temple Judaism? What issues and events seem to sharpen the distinction between these generations of believers and Second Temple Judaism? (Hints: You may wish to consider portrayals of the relationship found in the Letters of Paul, the Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles. You should also consider the ways in which these Christian texts use and reinterpret Hebrew Scriptures.)

Part 3: (Thinking question): Given your comments in the preceding sections, how is early Christianity best understood -- as a sect within Second Temple Judaism, as a separate religion, or as something else (if the latter define it)? If it is best understood in different ways at different times within the first century, explain why, and when changes occur.