We will compare and contrast modern American and early Christian constructions of gender, historically, socioculturally, and theologically, using the early Christian formulations within their Greco-Roman and Jewish contexts as a springboard for group discussion and analysis. In the first third of the course, we ask how, in comparison to our own, first century C.E. Jews, Greeks, and Romans seem to have constructed and enacted their gender identities. In the latter two thirds of the course, we analyze how these gender categories impacted early Christianity and how, in turn, adherents shaped them in their own identity formation and theological explorations. Primary sources include Greco-Roman, Second-Temple Jewish, New Testament, and other early Christian texts. (Requires TN 721 or equivalent)