So I didn't get any response on my Ideas for Timelines thread, so I decided to go ahead with the one that involves Jesus dying as an infant as a result of his circumcision.
That being said, I am interested in what you guys think both the long term and short term effects of an absent Christ would be. I have been doing some reading on the subject since last night, and from what I am reading, one of the things that definitely Christianity apart at a very early stage, even when it was not necessarily distinct from the various sects of Judaism at the time, was that it was a proselytizing religion aimed at getting more followers. Even as early as the 40s CE, we start to see congregations developing in major Mediterranean cities like Alexandria and Corinth. So if we remove Christianity from the picture, the proselytizing sect of Judaism disappears. How might this affect Judaism at large? I have done some preliminary reading on Hellenistic Judaism, which seems to have been very diverse, and inclusive, abandoning practices that set Jews apart from gentiles such as genital cutting... could this be a precursor to some Jewish philosopher coming around preaching to the gentiles, or perhaps simply opening the doors of Judaism to them, or no?
If not, how do you guys see this affecting Judaism immediately? I can imagine John the Baptist's movement collapsing without Jesus to follow after John's death... but what happens in Judaea afterward? Is it possible that Hellenistic Judaism ccontinues, instead of being absorbed by proselytizing Christians (if that was indeed the case to begin with)? It might not proselytize, but it might also not receive as much discrimination in a world where dualist apocalyptic/messianic religions like Christianity and Islam do not exist?
What kind of religions, if any, might take Christianity's place? I found a thread on here that talked about the possibility of the Cult of Isis and Manichaeism. What do you guys think?