Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean Podcasts

Philip Harland is a professor at York University, near Toronto, who teaches religion and ancient history.  He's put many of his lectures online in the form of Podcasts, 3 complete series' so far and 2 more nearing completion.  The topics vary but center on the first 3 centuries of the common era and religious practices then, frequently the weirdness of early Christianity.

1. Paul and His Communities
   
2. Early Christian Portraits of Jesus
3. Diversity in Early Christianity - Heresy and Struggles
4. Honoring the Gods in the Roman Empire - Centering on Asia Minor (Incomplete)
   
5. Historical Jesus in Context  (incomplete)

I have nearly completed series three and find it quite interesting.  It does require a bit of knowledge on Christianity and the first centuries, but not a huge amount.  One slightly frustrating bit, some of the lectures start with a "you should read this to fully understand the lecture", which would have been much more useful at the end of the previous lecture so that I could have been prepared.
One very useful resource for the background reading on series three is the Gnostic Society's online Nag Hammadi Library .  So far they have provided the Apocryphon of John, Eugnostos the Blessed and The Sophia of Jesus Christ.   Another useful resource for series three is the Internet Encyclopedia of Philospohy's article on Middle Platonism.

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