Rev. Dr. K. Jason Coker, the pastor at Wilton Baptist Church, will discuss his recent book James in Postcolonial Perspective. His book discusses how two first century CE Jews, both followers of Jesus, negotiated Jewish identity in relation to the Roman Empire. James, Jesus's brother, argues for a "pure" Jewish identity while confronting Roman assimilation. Paul, a controversial figure in the early Jesus movement, accommodates Greco-Roman culture in ways that put him at odds with James. They both are anti-Roman and attempting to answer the question, what does it mean to be a Jew? This should be an exciting conversation with Rev. Dr. Coker, who wrote this book in our own library here at Temple B'nai Chaim!