I have become accustomed to expressing myself freely about matters well beyond my expertise but only after trying to inform myself. (One might say that that became my expertise as a lawyer.) But, this is first time that I have gone beyond my comfort zone. Religious beliefs constitute a treacherous area in which to stomp around. I tried to hedge the risks by focusing on an intellectual issue susceptible to relatively objective analysis, but I realized quickly that one cannot avoid one's own beliefs in trying to say something potentially interesting about Christianity. I do, however, manage not to talk about faith, but it is and remains the elephant in the room-in many rooms.

My focus is on the first 150 years after the births of Jesus, John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul. This is definitely not a history of the Church or of early Christianity. My interest is in the events leading up to the emergence of Christianity.