Earthkeeping News Review

January 2001

The Lost Religion of Jesus
Simply Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity

Keith Akers

Akers, an independent scholar, examines the history of Jewish Christianity, and the implications for understanding the historical Jesus. Early followers of Jesus opposed temple sacrifice, and believed in communal living, compassion for animals, simplicity, and nonviolence. The Gentile church drove out Jewish Christianity, and some core values in Jesus' teachings that are important now in challenging our free enterprise society.